Not to be out-done by its competitors, Asus is piling on the puny Pascals. The Geforce GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti each get four models branded Dual, Phoenix, Expedition, and of course ROG Strix. Aside from the cooler that Asus straps to them, the cards in the first three series are identical. The ROG Strix version has a few extra tricks up its sleeve.
Almost all of Asus' cards come configured with the standard GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti GPU clocks and RAM. That means the Asus GTX 1050 Dual, Phoenix, and Expedition run 1354 MHz base and 1455 MHz boost clocks, and they come with 2GB of GDDR5 memory running at 7GT/s. Likewise, the "Ti" versions have the fully-enabled GP107 GPU spec'd at 1290 MHz base clock and 1392 MHZ boost clock. Those cards come with 4GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 7GT/s. All six cards have the standard allotment of one DVI-D port, one HDMI 2.0 connector, and one DisplayPort 1.4 output.
Asus says the Phoenix-series graphics cards are designed to be compact. To that end, they get a small black heatsink and a single dual-ball-bearing fan. The Dual-series cards use a larger white cooler with blue accents and—obviously—dual fans. The Expedition-series cards also run a dual-fan cooler, though Asus says they're high-endurance designs intended for extended use by hardcore gamers. The company claims each Expedition card is tested for 144 hours in its "iCafé Lab" that simulates the conditions found in internet gaming cafés.
The ROG Strix version of the GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti is the only one requiring an auxiliary power connection. Asus doesn't say which type, but given the modest power requirements of the GP107 GPU, it's unlikely to be an 8-pin connector. The Strix cards also have an extra DVI port on the rear panel. They come with Asus' FanConnect to allow the GPU to manage case fan speeds, and AuraSync to synchronize the cards' LED lighting with the rest of your Asus hardware. Besides those fancy functions, the cards include a brushed-aluminum backplate and a larger heatsink assembly bearing a pair of ball-bearing fans.
Finally, the "ROG Strix OC" editions will pack factory-boosted GPUs, though Asus doesn't say by how much. Asus says all of its 1050 and 1050 Ti-based cards will be available worldwide starting October 25.