Review: Asus Strix GTX 960 DirectCU II

Conclusion

Gamers awaiting an affordable GeForce graphics card based on the latest Maxwell architecture will have been anticipating a future-proof x60-series part that raises the bar for mid-range performance.

If that sounds like you, the GeForce GTX 960, priced from £159.99, isn't the card you've been pining for. The latest addition to Nvidia's 900-series stable represents a small performance gain over previous-generation GTX 760, and with a meagre 2GB frame buffer allied to a narrow 128-bit bus, there are genuine concerns over GTX 960's longevity.

We gamers, however, are a tough crowd to please, and only when you look past the fact that GTX 960 isn't as fast as it might have been do you begin to appreciate some of the GPU's finer details. Power consumption is at an all-time low, temperature is really no concern, and noise has all but been eliminated. These enviable characteristics have historically been tied to low-end hardware, yet GTX 960 is perfectly capable of delivering today's games at 1080/60.

Playing to GTX 960's strengths, the Asus DirectCU II is well built, practically inaudible at all times and factory overclocked on both core and memory. It's close to being a well-rounded implementation, however it falls short due to a £30 price premium that puts it up against quicker alternatives. £150 is the sweet spot, we feel, and GTX 960 needs to hit that mark to warrant a recommendation.

We come away feeling as though the GTX 960 is a reasonable upgrade for gamers still relying on GTX 660 or older hardware, yet there's a sense that Nvidia is playing it safe. GTX 960, 970 and 980 all have their strengths, however with no renewed pressure from AMD, have we really seen the best of Maxwell? We're not so sure - there's got to be a GTX 980 Ti and a GTX 960 Ti waiting in the wings, hasn't there?

Asus Strix GTX 960 DirectCU II

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The Asus Strix GTX 960 DirectCU II graphics card is available to purchase from Scan Computers.

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