Introduction
This review gives us the opportunity to take a close look at the ASUS ROG Strix Radeon RX 7600 OC Edition video card (90YVOIHO-MONMOO). This will be the second custom video card reviewed from the AMD RX 7600 series. You can read our other evaluation here. A detailed review of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 is located here. Today we are also changing up our test suite of games, so let’s get to it.
ASUS doesn’t need much fanfare. The ASUS brand is everywhere in PC gaming and the ROG stack generally represents the best the company has to offer. The RX 7600 custom video cards were released on 25 MAY 2023 following the release of the MBA (made by AMD) the day before. Currently, ASUS lists three RX 7600 video cards on their website, the Dual Radeon RX 7600 OC Edition, the Dual Radeon RX 7600 V2 OC Edition, and our test card,  the ROG Strix Radeon RX 7600 OC. Each of these three cards has a factory overclock.  The ROG Strix Radeon RX 7600 OC features the highest factory overclock and the largest heatsink design. It also is the only one of the three to feature RGB.
Our ASUS ROG Strix Radeon RX 7600 OC features a large composite full-length heatsink making this card 2.9 slots, dual Axial fan design, an all-aluminum backplate, dual BIOS switch, and subtle RGB lighting. The reference AMD Game Clock is 2250MHz, our ASUS card has a Game Clock of 2375MHz out-of-the-box. The Radeon RX 7600 is designed to perform best at 1080p (1920×1080) resolution (which is the most common resolution listed in the current Steam Survey). The video card has 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM.
We received a full retail version of the ROG Strix Radeon RX 7600 OC Edition from ASUS. The warranty is listed as 3 years. The ASUS estore price is $339.99. We are interested to find out what the $70 price premium for this video card has to offer.
The ASUS ROG Strix Radeon RX 7600 OC Edition
Discussion of this video card starts with the packaging. Literally, it may require a mechanical engineering degree to extract the card from its resting place in the box. The packaging is unique, to say the least. Once the box is opened, the video card is nestled in the center, surrounded by cardboard along the edges. One lifts the card out, finding it to be wrapped in a thick plastic film rather than the customary foam. Fortunately, there are illustrations on the packaging that detail how to release the card from the plastic, if you want to salvage the material for later use.
This is a very solid, hefty video card. It is almost double the Sapphire RX 7600 we reviewed earlier. The most striking characteristic is the thickness. The top of the card is covered by a plastic shroud containing fan cowls. There are dual 100mm axial fans with 11 blades. ASUS notes specialized ball bearings for silence and longevity. The heatsink is full cover well exceeding the PCB. The size of the video card is thanks to this big heatsink.
The card has a brushed, vented aluminum backplate. Subtle RGB is seen on the top side near the end of the card. This is controlled by ASUS Aura available in the Armory Crate download. Our ROG Strix is equipped with a dual BIOS switch. There is a Q (quiet) mode and a P (performance) mode. The card comes with the switch set in P mode by default. Also along the back side is a red LED near the power connector. This alerts you if you fail to connect the 8-pin power connector properly.
As we stated this is a thick card. It is rated at 2.9 slots. It measures 11 x 4 ¾ x 2 ¼ inches and weighs in at 2 pounds. There are three Display Port 1.4 I/O ports and one HDMI 2.1 port. The I/O plate is stainless steel. The ASUS ROG Strix RX 7600 has an advertised TBP of 165 Watts. ASUS recommends a minimum of 550 Watt PSU. The video card uses one 8-pin PCIe power connector.
Other than the unique packaging, there wasn’t much else in the box. ASUS did include two ROG-branded Velcro cable management straps.
