Introduction

Radeon R9 Fury Market Segment Analysis GeForce

GTX 970 Radeon

R9 290X Radeon

R9 390X GeForce

GTX 780 Ti GeForce

GTX 980 Radeon

R9 Fury ASUS R9

Fury Strix Radeon

Fury X GeForce

GTX 980 Ti Shader Units 1664 2816 2816 2880 2048 3584 3584 4096 2816 ROPs 56 64 64 48 64 64 64 64 96 Graphics Processor GM204 Hawaii Hawaii GK110 GM204 Fiji Fiji Fiji GM200 Transistors 5200M 6200M 6200M 7100M 5200M 8900M 8900M 8900M 8000M Memory Size 4096 MB 4096 MB 8192 MB 3072 MB 4096 MB 4096 MB 4096 MB 4096 MB 6144 MB Memory Bus Width 256 bit 512 bit 512 bit 384 bit 256 bit 4096 bit 4096 bit 4096 bit 384 bit Core Clock 1051 MHz+ 1000 MHz 1050 MHz 876 MHz+ 1126 MHz+ 1000 MHz 1000 MHz 1050 MHz 1000 MHz+ Memory Clock 1750 MHz 1250 MHz 1500 MHz 1750 MHz 1750 MHz 500 MHz 500 MHz 500 MHz 1750 MHz Price $310 $300 $430 $390 $480 $549 $579 $650 $650

Two weeks following its flagship Radeon R9 Fury X launch, AMD is launching its little sibling, the R9 Fury, positioned as a big money-maker for the "Fiji" silicon. To say AMD is at the forefront of new technology is an understatement. The company rigorously pursues and in many cases introduces new technology into the PC consumer-graphics space. AMD's past two memorable technological breakthroughs in this space were Graphics CoreNext, a powerful new number-crunching machinery for the GPU, which made not just AMD, but also a lot of crypto-currency enthusiasts a lot of money, and GDDR5 memory in their giant-killing Radeon HD 4870. The past year hasn't been kind to AMD in terms of GPU-market share, which is partly because the company didn't introduce anything major since 2013; all due to competition from NVIDIA with its "Maxwell" architecture and probably also because the company is focusing on high-volume ISV deals, such as new-generation game consoles, and the development of the chip that drives the card we're reviewing today, the Radeon R9 Fury.Unlike the R9 Fury X, this SKU doesn't have a defined reference-design. AMD is allowing its board partners to go to town with it. To make it as affordable as possible, conventional air-based cooling solutions are used. At this time, there are only two board partners offering this card, ASUS and Sapphire. This is surprising because the chip has the potential to not only outsell the R9 Fury X, but also sell in reasonable volumes against NVIDIA's competing products.The card we're reviewing today is the ASUS Radeon R9 Fury STRIX. It features the company's new-generation DirectCU III triple-fan cooling solution, which made its debut with the R9 390X and GTX 980 Ti. Let's tell you up front that it's quieter than the R9 Fury X in idle because it turns its fans off. ASUS decided to not overclock their card, but is still asking a $30 price premium over AMD's MSRP.