So It Begins: Asus Strix Radeon R9 Fury Graphics Card Detailed

News
By Kevin Carbotte
published

AMD has finally lifted the curtains and shown the world the full details about its forthcoming new GPU, Fury, and we have some details about Asus' Fury card.

Fury is a slightly cut-down version of the recently released Fury X. It features fewer shader cores and texture units, and it runs at a slightly lower clock speed. Furthermore, there is no reference cooler design, and partners will be adding their own heatsink designs. (We have a full review on Sapphire's Fury Tri-X, but that's not the only card that will be available next week.)

Asus will be launching its own Fury-based graphics card on July 14, the Asus Strix Radeon R9 Fury. The card will come equipped with three wing-blade 0 dB fans, which are used to cool off the two 10 mm heat pipes running through the heatsink fins. Asus has also included what it calls Auto-Extreme Technology with Super Allow Power II, which is the latest advancement in the company's power delivery hardware. It also comes equipped with a full-length back-plate. 

Although we don't have details yet on the specifics, it is clear from the images that Asus has redesigned the PCB for its Fury card. It is significantly longer than Sapphire's version, which uses AMD's reference PCB design.

The reference design of AMD's Fury calls for an Engine clock of 1000 MHz. The clock speed of the Strix R9 Fury has not yet been released, but with Asus' track record of overclocking the Strix lineup, it safe to assume this card will have a small frequency bump.

Follow Kevin Carbotte @pumcypuhoy. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Kevin Carbotte

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

See more GPUs News
10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • sicom
    "We're going to shrink down the PCB so manufacturers can artificially increase it back."

    *facepalm*
    Reply
  • childofthekorn
    "We're going to shrink down the PCB so manufacturers can artificially increase it back."

    *facepalm*

    LOL
    Reply
  • Daniel Ladishew
    I realize it kills the chance for a Crossfire situation, but why not make the card triple slot thick so you can keep the PCB the same length? Seems like a chance to make a unique product.
    Reply
  • RazberyBandit
    I can clearly see more than two heatpipes in the images. So while the card may employ two 10mm pipes, it also has two 8mm or 6mm pipes in addition to them.

    Consider the fact that Sapphire's Tri-X version has one 10mm, two 8mm, and two 6mm pipes and it's pretty obvious that only two 10mm pipes couldn't possibly draw enough heat away to effectively cool this GPU and its VRMs.

    What we can't see from these images is if ASUS chose to implement any backside cooling for the GPU or VRMs. Sapphire chose to leave those areas exposed on its Fury Tri-X despite implementing a backplate, and IR images showed the VRMs reaching 90- to 100-degrees Centigrade. That's not just hot, it's very, very hot - fry an egg and boil water hot. And those components just sit there, exposed, leaking heat up into the CPU cooler?
    Reply
  • RazberyBandit
    I realize it kills the chance for a Crossfire situation, but why not make the card triple slot thick so you can keep the PCB the same length? Seems like a chance to make a unique product.
    Based on the images, and those of the Sapphire Tri-X, these cards are already slightly thicker than the standard dual-slot thickness, effectively forcing tri-slot spacing for Crossfire configurations as they stand.

    Tri-slot spacing doesn't kill Crossfire at all. What it does is limit it to boards that have three spaces between their PCIe x16 slots, which isn't really uncommon. Four of the five systems in my house have such spacing, and some of those boards are 5-years old.

    What it does limit is the opportunity for Triple CF configurations to 7- and 8-slot boards with the proper PCIe x16 slot spacing, and outright denies any potential Quad-CF possibilities (barring the use of yet-to-be-seen 3rd-party waterblocks and liquid-cooling configs).
    Reply
  • CelicaGT
    AnandTech has a full breakdown including benches....this one looks like a swing and a hit for AMD. FWIW the Sapphire card looks like a better desigh as far as PCB.
    Reply
  • KublaiKhan
    Maybe the operating system shouldn't be changing every three years? Just a thought....
    Reply
  • RazberyBandit
    I'm not sure why my comment about the heatpipe count was down-voted by someone. Anand's photos of the card clearly show a minimum of 5 heatpipe ends.

    A heatpipe end is visible at the base of the sink's die area behind the pipes bending to the right side: http://images.anandtech.com/doci/9421/ASUSFury.jpg

    Note the four caps on the backside shown here: http://images.anandtech.com/doci/9421/ASUS_STRIX-R9FURY-DC3-4G-GAMING_OverviewNA2.jpg

    Two pipes would only have four ends, and I can count five, so there is clearly at least a third pipe. With the second image showing only one 180-degree bend on the backside, there's no chance both 10mm pipes pass through the die area of the sink.

    Low and behold, Kitguru's got a better pic and review: http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-shilov/asus-readies-strix-radeon-r9-fury-with-directcu-iii-cooler/
    Reply
  • mforce2
    When you see this and the cooling needed for this you start to realize some serious innovation needs to happen or we're screwed.
    I'm not sure quantum computers are the answer but it's clear silicon is reaching its limits.
    Reply
  • loki1944
    According to reviews for the R9 Fury STRIX; it runs in the 70s C under load which is great. My question is, when the heck are these going to be sold in the United States? I just pre-ordered two 980TI STRIX, but have to wait until 10AUG at the earliest to get them. I'd like to get one or two of the Fury STRIX variant for my X58 system, but my goodness it seems like the time between review and actual sale is ridiculous; let alone the wait time for pre-order.
    Reply