ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4060 OC Edition:
Architecture:
As a reminder, the cards in the “Founders Edition” series are unique models offered by NVIDIA. For the RTX 4060 version, NVIDIA will not be offering any, leaving the entire offer to its partners. NVIDIA’s partners will also be offering their own models, either at NVIDIA’s MSRP of 329 euros, or at a higher price. So today we’re reviewing a model priced above MSRP.
This ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4060 OC Edition features an AD107-400 GPU with 3072 CUDA cores, i.e. 1280 cores less than the RTX 4060 Ti. It features TSMC’s 4nm manufacturing process, rather than Samsung’s 8nm, bringing the TGP down to just 115 watts.
Memory: 8 GB of 128-bit GDDR6 memory, which translates into a bandwidth of 272 GB/s. The RTX 3060 Ti had 12 GB of memory and a 256-bit bus (448 GB/s), while the RTX 2060 Super had 8 GB with a 192-bit bus (448 GB/s). So we end up with a virtual RTX 4060 offering lower bandwidth. But NVIDIA assures us that bandwidth actually reaches 453 GB/s, thanks to the increase in L2 cache to 24 MB.
NVIDIA also emphasized the low power consumption of this RTX 4060 model, talking about the savings that can be made over 4 years for a person playing between 10 and 20 hours a week. The RTX 4060 is expected to consume around 2.2 kWh per week, less than an RTX 3060 170W at 3.5 kWh.
The ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4060 OC Edition bundle:
So what’s in the box? First of all, the box retains the Asus color code, and more specifically that of the ROG series. We find a range of colors with mainly a red/pink gradient, green and black.
The bundle includes items such as quick installation instructions, a ROG Strix collector’s card, a cardboard souvenir for assembly and a ROG strip. The absence of a 12 4-pin adapter seems to confirm that Asus has chosen to retain a “traditional” power connector.
Cooling:
Given the dimensions of the box (427 x 227 x 88 mm), needless to say, our ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4060 OC Edition is likely to be quite imposing. Indeed, the size of our sample of the day is 311 x 133 x 62 mm, and will therefore occupy a width of more than 3 slots. We can see straight away that Asus has gone to great lengths to offer a card with imposing cooling.
This isn’t the first time we’ve had a graphics card from the ROG Strix series in our hands, so the design isn’t totally unfamiliar. We’re dealing here with a custom card, i.e. with a cooling system specific to the brand. The board is equipped with three 90 mm Axial-tech fans. These fans have a smaller central hub to optimize the flow of air through the radiator.
Asus uses a different direction of rotation for this board, depending on fan location. The two side fans rotate anti-clockwise. The aim is to minimize turbulence and maximize air dispersion through the radiator. Each fan has 11 blades.
The fans stop when the GPU temperature drops below 50°C, and restart at 55°C with a balanced speed curve to produce as little noise as possible.
The black plastic casing encloses the shorter PCB, and ends with an RGB backlight area at its tip. The board also features a dual BIOS: Pmode (performance) and Qmode (quiet). Asus claims a difference of 2°C between the two BIOSes, with noise levels dropping from 34 dB in Qmode to 40 dB in Pmode.
Last but not least, the rear panel features an imposing stainless steel backplate to ensure the PCB’s rigidity and prevent it from twisting when the board is straddled horizontally. As you can see, the end of the backplate is perforated to allow air blowing over the heat sink to be evacuated.
Asus has provided two 4-pin connectors for connecting two fans to your graphics card. These will act like your graphics card’s, and if the GPU’s temperature rises, they’ll kick in to optimize cooling.
The cooling system :
Let’s move on to disassembling the card’s cooling system. This is secured by six clamping points. The usual four around the graphics chip, but also two more around the power supply stages. This ensures optimum retention of the cooling system.
The aluminum radiator in charge of keeping the various PCB components cool is traversed by four 6 mm heatpipes, which we feel is sufficiently sturdy for our RTX 4060. It’s a cooling system we’ve already come across at Asus, and one that has already proved its worth. Memory chips, the power supply stage and certain PCB chips are covered with heat pads to ensure heat dissipation.
Connectors :
The traditional 8-pin connector is used to power the board. Finally, the board’s video outputs include three DisplayPort 1.4a and one HDMI 2.1a port.
Now that the owner’s tour is over, let’s move on to the technical specifications before beginning the full test of this ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4060 OC Edition.
