Asus’ TUF graphics cards have “quietly” built their reputation. Unlike the best Strix cards, TUF graphics cards are increasingly designed to be quiet with understated aesthetics. And this latest generation is big. so big! That’s what it takes to cool the likes of a 450W RTX 4090. Radeon RX 7900 XTX is less demanding than the regular Nvidia RTX 4090 (opens in new tab)so if a mega-sized TUF cooler can handle an RTX 4090, it should easily handle a 355W 7900 XTX.
If you haven’t checked out our review, AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, now is a good time to do so. A deep dive into the architectural breakthrough AMD brings to consumer gaming graphics is worth a look. The AMD-built chiplets and interconnects were built to allow them to talk to each other without sacrificing too much performance, which shouldn’t come as a surprise.
It’s now widely accepted that the 7900 XTX is very competitive with Nvidia’s XTX. RTX4080 For rasterized games, however, the reference card is a compromise due to its compact size and AMD’s desire not to lose too much power efficiency.
of Asus TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XTX OC Edition (opens in new tab) It aims to address the shortcomings of the reference card, allowing the Navi 31 GPU to achieve lower temperatures and reach higher clocks without sacrificing power efficiency or relying on unreasonable noise levels. increase.
Is this silent giant an attractive option? As we’ve seen, the competition is tough, as exemplified by the excellent Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X. (opens in new tab)It’s a Strix competitor, but the price is about the same as the TUF, so Asus has to be better to win the recommendation.
Asus TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XTX OC Edition Specs
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The core specs are the same for all RX 7900 XTX. The TUF 7900 XTX is powered by the Navi 31 chip with all 7 chiplets fully unlocked. This means that all 96 Graphics Compute Die (GCD) compute units are enabled, which is 12 more than the RX 7900 XT’s 84. (opens in new tab)The XTX has 6,144 stream processors, 96 ray accelerators, and 192 AI processors.
The card is equipped with 24GB of 20Gbps GDDR6 memory through a 384-bit memory interface, providing a total memory bandwidth of 960 GB/s.
Asus TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XTX OC Edition Specs
GPUs: Navi 31
Shader unit: 6,144
Boost clock speed: 2,565MHz
Storage capacity: 24GB GDDR6
Memory speed: 20Gbps
output: 3x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x HDMI 2.1
Power connector: 3x 8-pin
price: $1,199 (opens in new tab)| | 1,239 pounds (opens in new tab) | | AUD $2,199 (opens in new tab)
The TUF 7900 XTX’s clock is higher than that of the reference card, with a boost clock of up to 2565MHz. This is actually not much higher than his 2499MHz on the reference card, and much lower than his 2680MHz on the Sapphire Nitro+. However, Asus offers a software OC mode that raises the boost clock to his 2615MHz.
The highlight of the card is its cooler. This is effectively a quad-slot card, 35.2cm long and 15.8cm high, not intended for small form factor systems. But I do like the design. The gray matte finish adds a touch of luxury. Asus hasn’t gone overboard with RGB either, with just a small element and logo on the right side of the card.
The cooler is clearly made for cards in the 450W+ range. It includes a simple baseplate and heatpipe design, with seven heatpipes dissipating heat towards the fins. Thermal padding helps cool the memory chips and some of his VRM circuitry.
Like most premium tier cards, the TUF 7900 XTX comes with a metal backplate. However, I found the backplate to get very hot during operation, actually too hot to touch. Good airflow will take care of it, but be careful. Thankfully, most modern PC cases include front-to-back case airflow, so this isn’t an issue with some cases.
Video output consists of 3 DP 2.1 and 1 HDMI 2.1 ports. Asus has omitted the USB Type-C connection on the reference card.
PCBs are pretty powerful. Contains a 17+4 phase VRM with 70a stage. This can provide enough power for an overclocked Navi 31 GPU. Power is provided by a triple 8-pin power connector. It also includes a dual BIOS with a performance mode and a quiet mode, although the latter is completely unnecessary as the default mode is already quiet.
Asus TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XTX OC Edition benchmarks and performance
Both the 4080 XTX and 7900 XTX have relative strengths and weaknesses. Despite the price, comparative performance data will be revealed to anyone googling “RX 7900 XTX vs RTX 4080”.
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Many times I’ve been blown away by how good high-end GPU coolers are these days. The Asus TUF 7900 XTX is the best, with an amazingly low peak temperature of just 60°C. This is accomplished virtually silently, but it is certainly an open test bench. The temperature inside the case will be slightly higher.
test equipment
CPU: Intel Core i9 12900K
Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Apex
RAM: 2x 16GB G.Skill Trident-Z DDR5-6000 C36
Storage: 2TB Seagate FireCuda 530
cooling: Cooler Master PL360 Flux 360mm AIO
Power supply unit: Corsair AX1000
I thought the Sapphire Nitro+ Vapor-X cooler was the best AMD cooler I’ve come across so far, but the TUF cooler can’t be any better. Again, make sure you keep your backplate cool, as the backplate components don’t benefit from the monster GPU cooler.
The power consumption figures show that the TUF card consumes about 25W less power than the Sapphire. This could also explain Asus’s low boost clock of 100MHz. It’s a big enough difference to show up consistently in subsequent performance numbers.
Synthetic game performance
1440p gaming performance
4K gaming performance
Asus TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XTX OC Edition Analysis
In terms of gaming performance, the results land where I would have expected them to. It’s pulling apart with consistent margins.
The TUF 7900 XTX and RTX 4080 line up where I would expect them to be. The same story repeated endlessly. The 7900 XTX is very good at traditional rasterized titles, but the RTX 4080 is a generation ahead in ray tracing. If RT and the ever-evolving DLSS 3 and frame generation capabilities of Nvidia’s RTX 40 cards matter, the 4080 is a formidable (albeit expensive) power-efficient competitor.
In some games, the TUF 7900 XTX even competes with the RTX 4090, but with demanding ray tracing effects enabled, the RTX 4090 is clear enough and the RTX 4080 not so much.
Does AMD have the driver magic in place? The Navi 31 is a radical consumer GPU and we’re excited to see what the future holds for AMD and future chiplet designs. Do you have a 3D V-Cache GPU?
Asus TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XTX OC Edition Verdict
Even without testing 10 different 450W RTX 4090s, the Asus RX 7900 XTX TUF OC Edition has probably the best cooler we’ve come across so far. GPU manufacturers typically have to find the right balance between low noise levels and low temperatures. If the card gets too hot, the boost clock can drop. Aiming for lower temperatures often means higher fan noise levels. The TUF 7900 XTX has no such dilemma. Backplate aside, the card remains effectively silent, with nothing more than lukewarm. win win.
Build quality is excellent, with a subtle matte metallic finish that looks great. The PCB is well over spec and like all RX 7900s to date it sticks to the tried and true 8-pin power connector.
Asus can clearly afford a slightly higher power limit for higher clocks.
The cards are nothing more than lukewarm and remain effectively silent. win win.
Whether TUF is the right card for you depends on what you value most about your graphics card. For full performance there is his RX 7900 XTX card with higher clocks, not to mention the excellent RT performance and DLSS tech of the RTX 40 series cards. The higher clocked RX 7900 XTX tends to be less power efficient, but it’s not all about perfect performance at any cost.
It’s not the fastest RX 7900 XTX, but you get a noiseless, well-designed card, and those two factors will appeal to many gamers. Fans of quiet computing will rejoice.
TUF faces stiff competition. Premium tier cards such as the Sapphire Nitro+ and Gigabyte Aorus offer similar features and characteristics. Asus attracts loyal buyers, and these customers typically don’t mind paying a little extra for Asus products.
Finally, the Asus TUF 7900 XTX offers very good 4K gaming performance and the cooler is simply excellent. Who knows AMD might find something and release a high performance driver? Doesn’t that shake things up a bit!
