ASUS ROG Strix RX 460 4GB Review

Graphic cards (GPU) are a must-have in a gamer’s PC; while the obvious choice is to grab the top-of-the-line GPU and start gaming, it is mostly out of reach for some due to budget constraints, and lower end GPUs are not as good……. or are they? To answer that, we’ll take a look at the AMD RX460 4GB GPU.

Mighty thanks to Asus Malaysia in providing to us the ROG Strix Radeon RX 460 4GB for this review. Priced at RM741, let us jump right in and see if we could game on this one.

Specifications

Model Name	ROG STRIX-RX460-4G-GAMING
Graphics Engine	AMD Radeon RX 460
Bus Standard	PCI Express 3.0
Video Memory	4GB GDDR5
Engine Clock	1220 MHz (OC Mode) 1200 MHz (Gaming Mode)
Memory Clock	7000 MHz
Memory Interface	128-bit
Interface	DVI Output : Yes x 1 (Native) (DVI-D) HDMI Output : Yes x 1 (Native) (HDMI 2.0) Display Port : Yes x 1 (Native) (Regular DP) HDCP Support : Yes
Accessories	2 x ROG Cable Ties 2 x Orange Color Decals
Software	2 x ROG Cable Ties 2 x Orange Color Decals
Dimensions	194mm x 120mm x 35mm

Unboxing

Packaging wise, the RX 460 comes in the same ROG Strix design that highlights the RGB lighting feature of the graphics card, and the support for HDR, AMD FreeSync, DirectX 12.

Highlighted features such as the patented Wing-Blade fan design, FanConnect for targeted and precise cooling, Aura RGB lighting can be found on the back of the box as well.

The accessories included are the usual user’s guide, drivers CD, World of Warship redeem guide, and the newly added ROG cable ties and the decals for ROG Strix products.

Appearance wise, we can see that ASUS has decided to step up its game with the ROG Strix branding. The ROG Strix RX 460 as we can see, looks way much better than its predecessor, the R7 360, and is one of the best looking entry level graphics card we’ve seen to date.

Apart of the aesthetics from the new shroud design, the ROG Strix RX 460 are also equipped with ASUS’ patented Wing-Blade fans that boasts of 30% more airflow and 3 times quiter performance.

The heatsink used on the ROG Strix RX 460 isn’t exactly those with thin aluminum fins, but rather, a big chunk of aluminum block type heatsink used on most of ASUS’ entry level graphics cards in the past.

Unlike the reference design from AMD, the ROG Strix RX 460 comes with an extra 6-pin PCIe power connector to supply extra power for some extra performance – that is, if you managed to squeeze more performance out of it via overclocking.

While custom cooler by the AIB partners cools the GPU better than a blower-type cooler on a reference card, the dissipated heat will still remain in your chassis and will eventually causes the temperature in the chassis to rise overtime. The FanConnect is a new feature on ASUS’ ROG Strix graphics card which aimed for better cooling performance aided by external cooling fan to improve the overall airflow inside your chassis.

The ROG Strix RX 460 comes with a shorter PCB design similar to the reference RX 460, but with a cleaner finishing on the PCB, all thanks to ASUS’ AUTO-EXTREME Technology.

Unlike higher end cards, the RX 460 comes with a limited but reasonable amount display output which consists of 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI and 1 x DVI-D.

Performance Test

Test Rig Configuration
CPU Cooler	Raijintek Triton 240
CPU	Intel Core i7 4790K @4.6GHz
Motherboard	ASUS Maximus Hero VII
Memory	G.Skill TridentX 2400MHz
Primary Hard Drive	Crucial M500 120GB
Power Supply	Be Quiet! Straight Power 10 600W
Chassis	Cooler Master Test Bench V1.0

We mounted the ASUS ROG Strix RX 460 on our test bench as above and each and every benchmark is conducted in a room of about 30C° ambient temperature.

Performance

We ran a few graphically demanding games, eSports titles, and synthetic benchmarks in our possession on a selected settings at 1080p, which is considered as high for much of our test as usual.The final result of each benchmark is presented in the form of the graph below:

Temperature

Temperature wise, we’ve observed a pretty decent temperature record of 46°C during idle and 66°C on load while running on default clock speed. We’ve tried bumping up the GPU core clock doesn’t seem to give a very significant performance boost, but a raise in temperature instead – we’d say it’s better to leave it at factory default.

Verdict

Performance wise, the ASUS ROG Strix RX 460 has no problem with most of the esports titles at its highest settings, that includes the now seemingly popular FPS Overwatch. Despite the fancy graphics, we’ve manage to pull out a 68 FPS on average on the highest settings.

AAA titles at its highest settings is definitely not the thing for the ROG Strix RX 460. Based on our tests on some of the AAA titles, it has an overall performance that is close to a R7 370, which means you’ll have to turn down the settings to medium if you insists on playing AAA titles with the card.

Price wise, the ASUS ROG Strix RX 460 4GB isn’t the cheapest RX 460 around, and in fact, cost roughly 10% more compared to most of its competitors. Though, that RM741 you’ll be spending on the ROG Strix RX 460 gives you some extras in return, which are not offered by some of its competitor, i.e better aesthetics, clean and solid build, extra cooling features.

Pros