High Stakes: Asus ROG Strix 27 Pro Meets its Match

Tony Yu from Asus’ Chinese office released an unboxing video and review of the new Asus ROG Strix 27 Pro monitor. The model features a Fast IPS panel with 5K resolution. In the video, the monitor was showcased with games, particularly Cyberpunk 2077, serving as a real stress test for the hardware platform, including the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 D graphics card. Ray tracing and DLSS in Balanced mode were enabled in the settings.

The result at the resolution of 5120×2880 was an average frame rate of 51.39 FPS, while at 3840×2160, the system showed 77.40 FPS. Thus, performance at 5K was 26 frames per second lower, equivalent to about a 33.6% performance drop. In other words, 5K provided only about 66% of 4K performance, whereas 4K was approximately 50% faster.

The results clearly demonstrate that even Nvidia’s flagship accelerator, with DLSS technology enabled, cannot consistently deliver 60 FPS at 5K resolution in modern AAA titles, particularly if real-time ray tracing is enabled and the graphics settings are at maximum. GeForce RTX 5090 D is a “customized” version of Nvidia’s flagship accelerator for China. Differences from the global version, whose name lacks the letter D, include a reduced GDDR7 memory size from 32 to 24 GB and a reduced memory bus from 512 to 384 bits. Nevertheless, in terms of gaming performance, GeForce RTX 5090 and GeForce RTX 5090 D are equal.

In today’s gaming world, where visual fidelity and realism are continuously pushed to new boundaries, the importance of high frame rates cannot be overstated. Lower FPS, especially dropping below the coveted 60 frames, can lead to noticeable lags and desist the immersive experience gamers expect. This becomes even more pronounced when using real-time ray tracing, which significantly enhances the visual appeal with realistic lighting and shadow effects but puts a significant strain on the hardware. DLSS technology helps, but as demonstrated, it still struggles to maintain performance at higher resolutions like 5K, emphasizing the importance of striking a balance between graphical fidelity and smooth performance.