ASUS has been one of the most familiar brand to almost anyone when it comes to PC DIY, therefore we will get to our main focus of the day without any further adieu. This time, we're on the performance review of ASUS' R7 260X Direct CU II OC which falls under the mid-range category, great thanks to ASUS Malaysia for making this performance review possible.
*SRP for ASUS' R7 260X Direct CU II OC 1GB is RM529.00 while ASUS' R7 260X Direct CU II OC 2GB is RM589.00.
Technical Specifications
Technical Specs | ASUS R7260X-DC2OC-2GD5 |
Dimensions | 215.9mm x 129.54mm x38.1mm |
Stream Processor | 896 |
Base Clock | 1188 MHz |
Bus Standard | PCI Express 3.0 |
Video Memory | 2048 MB |
Memory Clock | 7000 MHz |
Memory Interface | 128-bit |
Display Output | DVI Output : Yes x 1 (DVI-I), Yes x 1 (DVI-D) Display Port : Yes X 1 HDMI Output : Yes x 1 HDCP Support : Yes |
Highlights | · Factory overclocked ·DirectCU II Cooler |
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| Detailed specifications on TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.7.8 |
Overview
ASUS' usual approach in highlighting the prominent features at the front of the packaging can be seen on the R7 260X Direct CU II OC - the signature Direct CU II cooler is the main highlight as from our first sight.
The miniature preview of the R7260X DirectCU II OC and the highlighted features allows end user to have a brief idea on the appearance of the card and the features offered.
The content includes the R7 260X Direct CU II OC itself, user's manual, software & drivers CD, DVI to VGA converter and a lovely CrossFire bridge.
ASUS' signature Direct CU II Cooler that is boasted to be able to provide 20% cooler and quieter operation.
Heat pipes to allow fast and efficient heat transfer to the large chunk of heat sink which will later be dissipated by the cooling fans.
The actual size of the PCB appears to be much smaller in size compared to the massive heat sink that makes up the length of 215.9mm.
6pin PCI Express power connector gives you that extra power to juice up the R7 260X Direct CU II OC for extra performance.
A CrossFire finger is spotted on the R7 260X allows you to have two R7 260X cards in a CrossFire configuration for that extra performance gain the AMD way.
The ASUS R7 260X Direct CU II OC offers multiple display output options:
- 2 x DVI ports
- 1 x HDMI port
- 1 x Display Port
It is possible to configure and triple-monitor with only a single card, all thanks to the AMD Eyefinity technology.
Performance Test
Test Rig Configuration | |
CPU Cooler | Corsair H100i |
CPU | I7 4770K @4.3 GHz |
Motherboard | ASUS Sabertooth Z87 |
Memory | Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB |
Primary Hard Drive | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB |
Power Supply | Corsair AX650 |
Chassis | Bitfenix Ronin |
Display Monitor | Dell U2312HM |
Our test will be conducted using the ASUS GTX 750 OC from our previous review as a quick comparison for mid-range card around the similar price range. Both cards is installed to our test rig with the above configuration and room temperature of 31C°.
Performance
The ASUS R7 260X Direct CU II OC is slightly overclocked where adjustments is as following:
- 1260 MHz on the base clock
- 7150 MHz on the memory clock
- No adjustments is done to the voltage
We ran the test with several graphically demanding games and synthetic benchmark in our possession at the resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 4x Anti-aliasing, with the result as presented on the graph below:
It turns out that the ASUS R7 260X Direct CU II OC wasn't doing very well in overall compared to the green camp competitor even after being overclocked.
Temperature
The commonly used GPU stress test utility, FurMark is used for our stress test for maximum heat output. Do note that purpose of this GPU stress test is to check on the highest temperature both cards will reach and this doesn't represent the actual temperature you will be getting during gaming session.
The Direct CU II cooler at the same time, is doing a pretty good job in heat dissipation as the moment when the stress test ends, temperature of the R7 260X Direct CU II OC plunged from 76C° to 42C° in less than a minute and hovers at around 40C.
Final Thoughts
The result is clear that the ASUS R7 260X Direct CU II OC suffers a crushing defeat in performance and we couldn't really think of any reason for someone who is building a mid-range gaming rig to consider for it if the GTX 750 were to be an available option.
Pros
- Factory overclocked and impressive fast memory clock of 7000 MHz
- Comes with AMD Eyefinity that supports up to 4 display simultaneously
- Faster heat dissipation and quieter operation with Direct CU II cooler
- Comes with AMD Crossfire support for extra performance
- Can be crossfire with a 7790
Cons
- It's rather expensive
- Price/performance ratio is below average
The ASUS R7 260X Direct CU II OC will not be our first choice when it comes to building a gaming rig when it comes to budget constraint as we clearly knows that there's other budget friendly alternative that is able to perform better in overall. However, the multiple display output options and AMD Eyefinity support available is something worth to consider especially if 3 output from the green camp GTX 750 isn't enough to satisfy your needs.
Based on its performance and feature that we have experienced throughout the performance review, we're glad to announce that the ASUS' R7 260X Direct CU II OC is hereby awarded with our Tech Critter Bronze Award.
Pros
- Factory overclocked and impressive fast memory clock of 7000 MHz
- Comes with AMD Eyefinity that supports up to 4 display simultaneously
- Faster heat dissipation and quieter operation with Direct CU II cooler
- Comes with AMD Crossfire support for extra performance
- Can be crossfire with a 7790
Cons
- It's rather expensive
- Price/performance ratio is below average
The ASUS R7 260X Direct CU II OC will not be our first choice when it comes to building a gaming rig when it comes to budget constraint as we clearly knows that there's other budget friendly alternative that is able to perform better in overall. However, the multiple display output options and AMD Eyefinity support available is something worth to consider especially if 3 output from the green camp GTX 750 isn't enough to satisfy your needs.
Based on its performance and feature that we have experienced throughout the performance review, we're glad to announce that the ASUS' R7 260X Direct CU II OC is hereby awarded with our Tech Critter Bronze Award.
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