ASUS has introduced a new cooling methodology with its 'Strix' range of graphics cards. We are told that these gaming cards will run absolutely silent, 0dB, even when indulging in some "light gaming". In fact the Strix card cooling fans never kick into action unless the GPU temperature surpasses 65˚C.
ASUS says that the Strix name comes from the ancient Greek and Roman name for Owl.
Two cards make up the current Strix lineup. These are the Strix R9 280 and Strix GTX 780 – HEXUS readers will know that these punchy gaming GPUs from the AMD and Nvidia stables respectively, due to the nomenclature. The combination of ASUS Strix technology and the ASUS DirectCU II thermal design means that these new graphics cards can run "up to 15% faster, 20% cooler and 3X quieter than reference," which is a good result.
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STRIX-GTX780-OC-6GD5 • NVIDIA GeForce® GTX™ 780 • PCI Express® 3.0 • 6GB GDDR5 memory • 889MHz base clock speed, 941MHz boosted speed • 6008MHz memory clock • 384-bit memory interface • 1 x DVI-D output • 1 x DVI-I output • 1 x DisplayPort output • 1 x HDMI output |
STRIX-R9280-OC-3GD5 • AMD® Radeon™ R9 280 • PCI Express® 3.0 • 3GBGDDR5 memory • 980MHz engine clock speed • 5200MHz memory clock • 384-bit memory interface • 1 x DVI-D output • 1 x DVI-I output • 1 x DisplayPort output • 1 x HDMI output |
So these cards run in passive mode until the GPU hits 65˚C. ASUS says that once the dual fans do start up they do so very gently, at 300RPM. After this they ramp up as necessary to maintain the best performance. It's recommended to have good airflow thoughout your PC system to make the most of this passive silent tech.
ASUS also equips these cards with DIGI+ VRM technology, "an ASUS-exclusive 10-phase power design that reduces power noise by 30% and enhances energy efficiency by 15%, compared to reference designs". This tech also is supposed to boost stability and hardware longevity.
Pricing and availability are yet to be announced.
Incidentally ASUS has now also announced its GTX Titan Z graphics card.
