ASUS ROG STRIX GTX 1060 Review

👤by David Mitchelson Comments 📅20-01-17
Closer Look

The basis for the STRIX 1060 is the now well-known DirectCU III cooling solution. Adopting a triple fan configuration, this cooler consumes the card. Later in the article we’ll analyse the different aspects of our cooler in plenty of detail.

Overall the design with the plastic shroud looks aggressive, appealing to the eye and will likely pair up with other hardware very well – especially since we can modify the LED lighting strips (seen around the cooling fans), using ASUS Aura software.

The actual size of this graphics card is:

29.8 x 13.4 x4 cm which is considerably bigger than the reference GTX 1060 – this should be taken into account for those with a smaller computer case.


Flipping the card over, on the reverse we have a large steel backplate which protects the components on our graphics card and also prevents it from flexing or bending. Having such a feature on a graphics card is encouraging as it provides rigidity and prevents potential damage. There are pockets of ventilation for significant components.

Unlike other STRIX cards such as the 1070, 1080, our 1060 features no LED-ready ROG logo. ASUS has chosen to omit such a feature on this mid-range card.


As seen on other DirectCU III coolers, the STRIX 1060 arrives with three WingBlade cooling fans which ASUS claim will deliver 30% better cooling and 3X quieter performance. During light load these cooling fans will cease to spin – rendering the card completely silent.

Running along the edge, ASUS has placed Republic of Gamers branding which also synchronizes with the LED lighting.

Being a GTX 1060, our STRIX card lacks the SLI ports as NVIDIA has reserved such functionality for the GTX 1070 and above.


The GTX 1060 arrives with an assortment of video out ports which include:

• 1x Dual Link DVI-D port (Up to 3K)
• 2x DisplayPort 1.4 (8K @ 60Hz)
• 2x HDMI 2.0 port (4K @ 60 Hz) (VR + display)


The inclusion of 2x HDMI over 3x DisplayPort + 1x HDMI means that users can still use one of the HDMI ports for display while using the other HDMI port for a VR headset.

The selection of ports here should entertain most users, it’s great to see DP 1.4 being used as this now supports up to 8K output and was only released a matter of months ago.


Compared to the Founders Edition, the STRIX GTX 1060 carries some extra ports for PCI power – 8-pin over 6-pin – the reason for this is likely due to the extra phases, extended factory overclock and lighting.

Like other STRIX cards the 1060 has tiny LEDs next to the PCI express connections – these LEDs indicate whether the plug is connected properly. A white LED signifying a good connection while RED showing a problem.


At the end of the card there are two fan headers. The idea being – you can connect up cooling fans which are nearby for targeted cooling when the graphics card is under heavy load. Usually fans which are connected using the headers on the motherboard will factor in CPU temperatures – this nifty inclusion will help to drive down temperatures specifically when the GPU is being taxed.

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