NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card Review – ASUS STRIX GTX 950

ASUS STRIX GTX950 DC2OC Overview and Retail Box

We have been told that ASUS will have just a single GeForce GTX 950 video card at launch, the ASUS STRIX GTX 950 DirectCU II OC (part number STRIX-GTX950-DC20C-2GD5-GAMING). This is a fully custom, factory overclocked card that carries an MSRP of $169.99. For that price you end up with a card that is said to be 11.5% faster than the NVIDIA reference card thanks to the 1329MHz core clock with a 1355MHz boost clock. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 reference design has a base clock of 1024 MHz and a boost clock of 1188 MHz, so ASUS has a fairly healthy overclock on this card. ASUS did not overclock the memory on this cards 2GB of GDDR5 memory, so it remains stock at 6600 MHz.

The retail box for the ASUS GeForce GTX 950 STRIX graphics card is a pretty slick looking box. The front of the STRIX packaging above puts emphasis that this gaming graphics card has better and quieter cooling on it. TheASUS GeForce GTX 950 STRIX packaging points out that it is using the DirectCU II cooler for 20% cooler and and 3x quieter than the reference card for as quiet of a gaming experience as possible. Towards the bottom edge of the packaging ASUS lists out a couple more key aspects of the GeForce GTX 950 STRIX: Windows 10 Ready, NVIDIA GameWorks, NVIDIA G-Sync and Microsoft DirectX 12 API support.

The back of the ASUS GeForce GTX 950 STRIX packaging has no shortage of marketing text. The first feature that ASUS shows off back here is the DirectCU II GPU cooler along with the 0dB fan. From there it explains ASUS Auto-Extreme Technology With Super Alloy Power II for enhanced quality and reliability. The Super Allow power consists of a couple different components that all work together for the utmost efficiency and overclocking ability. The fourth and final feature on the back of the box is ASUS GPU Tweak II with XSPlit Gamecaster. The GPU Tweak II software is a handy little utility that makes overclocking the ASUS GeForce GTX 950 STRIX super simple even if you’ve never overclocked before. The XSplit Gamecaster makes it easy to record and share all your gameplay with the click of a button.

Opening up the ASUS GeForce GTX 950 STRIX packaging, the card is securely packed inside the box. No chance of it shifting in here and getting damaged! There certainly isn’t much included with the ASUS GeForce GTX 950 STRIX, but not much is needed with it. There’s a little bit of paperwork, driver and utility disc, STRIX case sticker, and of course the ASUS GeForce GTX 950 STRIX card!