Asus rx 460 strix review (full review)

Finally we have put the gauntlet on the new Asus RX 460 Strix graphics card, a low-cost model that promises very low power consumption and more than enough performance to enjoy current games with acceptable levels of graphic quality.

This card is aimed at players with undemanding titles such as eSports, although it is still a great option for tight budgets. Don't miss our review!

Asus RX 460 Strix technical features

Unboxing and design

The packaging reminds us a lot of the new STRIX versions of Asus. Why will it be? A full-color cover, with the heatsink in the foreground and the graphics card model.

While in the back we find all the most important technical characteristics of the product.

Once we open the box we find:

• Asus RX 460 Strix 4GB.CD with installation drivers. Quick Guide. 4 pick up cables from Asus.

The Asus RX 460 Strix is designed by AMD Polaris (GCN 4.0) architecture with Global Foundries 14nm Fin-FET process. This new manufacturing process has allowed the creation of a very powerful GPU with a very small size of only 123 mm2. While the dimensions of the graphics card are 19.4 x 12 x 3.5 cm

This new card will be the smallest in the Polaris family thanks to its Baffin GPU made up of a total of 14 Compute Units (CU) that add up to no less than 896 stream processors, 56 TMUs and 16 ROPs at a maximum frequency on the reference card 1, 256 MHz. With these characteristics, the small Baffin core is capable of offering a maximum power of 2.5 TFLOPs, so it is far from meeting the minimum requirement for virtual reality that is set at 5 TFLOPs.

The GPU is accompanied by 4 GB of GDDR5 memory at a frequency of 7, 000 MHz and with a 128-bit interface to achieve a bandwidth of 112 GB / s. A bandwidth figure that will enable good performance thanks to the presence of a new generation of AMD's Delta Color Compression technology that compresses colors to reduce bandwidth consumption.

Its cooling is carried out by the more than known DirectCu II heatsink formed by an aluminum radiator that is crossed by two copper heatpipes with direct contact technology with the GPU and two Cooltech fans with PWM control and operating mode at 0dB. With all this, it promises to keep the Polaris core at a much lower operating temperature compared to the reference model with very low noise. Plus, fans include Asus Wing-Blade technology to generate up to 105% more air pressure.

As power it has a 6-pin connector, enough to give the maximum of this new architecture.

How good a backplate would have been! These details would make a difference compared to other models.

The benefits of AMD's GCN 4.0 architecture continue to support FreeSync technology that eliminates thearing and stuttering of our games to provide a far superior gaming experience with great fluidity of movement. AMD boasts that FreeSync is a free and open technology that can be adopted by any monitor manufacturer to enhance the gaming experience. FreeSync is also characterized by not penalizing game performance at all.

We continue with 100% hardware compatibility with Async Compute to achieve the best possible performance in DirectX 12 as has been demonstrated in previous generations of GCN. With Async Compute, more efficient use of GPU resources is achieved, which results in better FPS rates in games and a better user experience.

Finally we show you the rear connections made up of:

• 1 DVI connection, 1 DisPlayPORT connection, 1 HDMI connection.

PCB and internal components

To remove the heatsink we must unscrew a total of 4 screws. As we can see, it brings 2 excellent heatpipes for its 4 + 1 feeding phases.

As always Asus mounts one of the best PCBs with acclaimed Super Alloy Power II components that help improve card efficiency, minimize energy loss, and the full-load whine coil. And it also reduces by more than 50% the temperature of all components, extending the life of the graphics card.

Test bench and performance tests

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	i7-6700k @ 4200 Mhz..
Base plate:	Asus Maximus VIII Formula.
Memory:	32GB Kingston Fury DDR4 @ 3000 Mhz
Heatsink	Cryorig H7 heatsink
HDD	Samsung 850 EVO SSD.
Graphic card	Asus RX 460 Strix
Power supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2.

For benchmarks we will use the following titles:

• 3DMark Fire Strike normal.3DMark Fire Strike version 4K.Heaven 4.0.Doom 4.Overwatch.Tomb Raider.Battlefield 4.

All tests have been passed with the filters to the maximum unless we indicate otherwise. To have adequate performance, we have carried out three types of tests: the first is the most common at Full HD 1920 x 1080, the second resolution is making the leap to 2K or 1440 gamers (2560 x 1440) and the most enthusiastic with 4K (3840 x 2160). The operating system we have used has been Windows 10 Pro 64 bit and the latest drivers available from the AMD website.

What are we looking for in the tests?

First, the best possible image quality. The most important value for us is the average FPS (Frames per second), the higher the number of FPS the more fluid the game will go. To differentiate the quality a bit, we leave you a table to assess the quality in FPS, but we will also have the minimum Fps in the tests that were thus possible:

FRAMES BY SECONDS
Frames for Seconds. (FPS)	Gameplay
Less than 30 FPS	Limited
30 - 40 FPS	Playable
40 - 60 FPS	Good
Greater than 60 FPS	Fairly Good or Excellent

WE RECOMMEND YOU Asus receives nine awards at the prestigious Good Design Awards 2018

Synthetic benchmarks

As we have been doing in our analysis of graphics cards we have reduced to three synthetic tests, since what really matters is the performance in games. The chosen tests are 3DMARK FireStrike Normal (1080p), 3DMARK FireStrike in 4K quality and Heaven 4.0.

Game Testing

We have decided to make the leap to checking various games manually. The reason? Very simple, we want to give a much more realistic vision and cover tests with current games. Since we make an effort, it is consistent with the level of the website and that of our readers.

Testing in Full HD games

Testing in 2K games

Testing in 4K games

Overclocking

We have made a small rise of 4.5 points from the AMD application but the improvement has been negligible, at least in games it is barely noticeable. In 3DMARK we have risen to +200 points but as it comes from stock it is perfect and we recommend leaving it as is.

Temperature and consumption

The temperatures of the Asus RX 460 Strix are quite good compared to other reference models that AMD launched not long ago. At rest we have obtained 45º C and a maximum of 63º C playing. With overclock the temperatures hardly rose in full performance: 64ºC.

Regarding consumption, we get 65 W at rest and 163 W playing with an Intel i7-6700K processor . When we overclock it goes up to 71 W at rest and 206 W playing at the top.

Final words and conclusion about the Asus RX 460 Strix

The Asus RX 460 Strix is one of the best (not to say the best) RX 460 that we are going to find on the market incorporating the Polaris core , 4GB of GDDR5 memory and a very low TDP. It allows us to overclock (although somewhat small for being a mid-range chip) ideal for eSports and with a strix heatsink capable of leaving excellent temperatures at all times.

In our tests we have been able to verify that it can move any current competition game, see: Counter Strike CS: GO, LoL, Dota and much more. In more demanding titles it is able to defend itself but for this there is the RX 470 and RX 480 series that meets these needs.

We recommend reading the best graphics cards on the market.

In short, if you are looking for a quality graphics card without leaving a kidney in the attempt and playing competitive games, without a doubt we are in front of the best candidate on the market. Its price in stores ranges from 170 euros in its 4GB version.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ SOBER AND ELEGANT DESIGN.	- A BACKPLATE IS MISSING.
+ GOOD OPTION FOR ITS PRICE.	- THERMALPAD IN MEMORIES
+ HEATSINK 0DB.
+ IDEAL FOR ESPORTS OR COMPETITIONS PLAYERS.
+ EXCELLENT TEMPERATURES AND CONSUMPTION.

And after carefully evaluating both the evidence and the product, Professional Review awards him the gold medal:

Asus RX 460 Strix

COMPONENT QUALITY

DISSIPATION

GAMING EXPERIENCE

SONORITY

PRICE

8/10