ASUS Radeon RX 5700 ROG STRIX & TUF: Non-Reference Card Review

Our colleagues at Hardware.info have shared crucial details about ASUS's new custom graphics cards, based on AMD's Navi architecture.

The first models to launch will be the ASUS Radeon RX 5700 ROG STRIX and Radeon RX 5700 ROG TUF.

The ASUS Radeon RX 5700 ROG STRIX features the familiar DirectCU cooling solution, equipped with three fans. The graphics card boasts a rather attractive shroud design and a signature backplate:

Frankly, it doesn't inspire much confidence. Firstly, it's unclear how it will help cool the back of the PCB, given the almost complete lack of cutouts on its surface. Secondly, at least from these photos, it's uncertain how effectively it will prevent the card from sagging.

Currently, it appears to be more of a decorative element, much like many modern solutions.

The second graphics card caught on camera is the ASUS RX 5700 TUF Gaming X3:

Knowing ASUS, the PCB is likely heavily simplified, with power delivery components swapped for cheaper alternatives.

The clock speeds for both new cards are currently unknown. However, we can speculate they won't differ significantly from the reference models.