ASUS HD 5870 Matrix & ASUS HD 5870 "V2" Sneak Peek

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ASUS HD 5870 Matrix 2GB & ASUS HD 5870 "V2" Sneak Peek

Every day we here at Hardware Canucks receive countless news bulletins, press releases and bit of information about upcoming products. Some of these make it onto our front page News Section while others are sometimes looked at and deemed uninteresting to our reader base. However, once in a while we get information from a manufacturer that warrants a special, dedicated, multi-page post and this is one of them.

We all know that ATI’s board partners have been relatively fast to release custom versions of their HD 5000 series cards but very few have featured what could be called praise-worth clock speed increases. It seems like aftermarket cooling solutions are par for the course these days particularly on the HD 5800 products but better cooling won’t increase out of box performance. This will soon be changing as ATI gears up for the impending launch of NVIDIA’s GTX 480 and GTX 470 by loosening the reins on their partners’ designs. Some truly awe-inspiring products are almost upon us along with Gigabyte’s HD 5870 Super Overclock, one of those is the ASUS HD 5870 Matrix.

A few hours ago, ASUS sent us some long-awaited information regarding the newest addition to their Republic of Gamers graphics card line and while we still don’t have a total understanding of actual performance, a clearer picture is beginning to emerge. Basically, this will be the top of the line HD 5870 series card from ASUS for the time being and it definitely has some specifications to back up its RoG status. Its core will supposedly operate between 890Mhz to 900Mhz (though changes may be implemented depending on GPU binning) while the memory will retain stock frequencies of 4.8Gbps (4800Mhz). For those of you already moaning at the lack of pre-overclocked GDDR5, all is not lost since ASUS has maintained the reference frequencies even though they have bumped the overall amount to 2GB. Many have been claiming that ATI’s HD 5870 has been held back somewhat by its 1GB frame buffer so it will be interesting to see what effect this has on performance.

In the following pages, we will be showing you some pictures which ASUS sent us today as well as shedding some light on the HD 5870 Matrix’s features. We will also be opening the door on another ASUS card: a custom-built HD 5870 that ASUS will be using as they phase out the reference design. You can treat this as a preview, pictorial overview or whatever else you want but we thought our readers would like to get some additional information about this card and what it has to offer. So without further ado, let’s see what this thing looks like.

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The HD 5870 Matrix 2GB: A Pictorial Overview

The HD 5870 Matrix 2GB: A Pictorial Overview

As you can see from the pictures below, the HD 5870 Matrix 2GB looks a lot like the “original” high end RoG card: the GTX 285 Matrix. It uses the same stunning corrugated black heatsink design that is marked with the Republic of Gamers symbol as well as the LED-lit Matrix logo on the card’s side. This LED will light up in various stages based on the load placed on the card.

One of the most distinct additions is the inclusion two 8-pin power connectors. While the Matrix won’t consume substantially more power than a reference HD 5870 when running its out-of-box overclock, ASUS expects these cards to feature massive overclocking headroom which will dramatically increase power consumption.

Meanwhile, the backplate features HDMI, DisplayPort and DVI connectors which can be used for an Eyefinity setup along with a Safe Boot button. Since you can save overclock profiles directly to the BIOS of the Matrix, you can treat this “Safe Boot” as an ejection seat just in case the profile you save causes critical errors. It’s a great way to get you out of a potentially sticky situation.

Click pictures below to enlarge
Pictures Supplied By ASUS

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Under the Matrix's Heatsink

Under the Matrix's Heatsink

ASUS has spared no expense when it comes to the component choices for their flagship HD 5870. Not only is it decked out in 2GB of GDDR5 memory (8 modules on the front and 8 on the back of the PCB) but it also featured and extremely robust 8+2 phase PWM design that is managed by a digital controller and ensures sufficient power is delivered to the core and memory. The card’s design also features voltage read points for those of you who don’t want to use or simply don’t trust software monitoring.

According to ASUS, their Super Hybrid Engine chip is used for real-time control for voltages, clock speeds and fan output. It can adjust all variables in order to offer the most efficient power profiles while not sacrificing performance.

The cooler on this card is particularly interesting since it features five large direct touch heatpipes which are linked to a massive aluminum fin array. Interestingly, it seems like this heatsink could also be adapted to a GPU with a much larger die area.

Click on pictures below to enlarge
Pictures supplied by ASUS

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ASUS’ New Custom Design HD 5870 1GB “V2”

ASUS’ New Custom Design HD 5870 1GB “V2”

While the Matrix may be something only attainable by people with deep pockets, ASUS has something up their sleeves for the rest of us too. What they will do is essentially phase out ATI’s reference design and replaces it with one of their own…at the same price point. So within the next few months, ASUS will have a standard HD 5870 card that distinguishes itself from those offered by the competition while not asking for a price premium. The pictures are below and it looks pretty good to us.

Even though we don’t have all of the details just yet, we can tell you this “new” card will feature a custom PCB and cooling design but its clock speeds and memory allotment will remain the same as standard HD 5870 cards. The backplate is also changed to offer additional airflow. For your information, here is what the SKU change will look like:

Old: EAH5870/2DIS/1GD5

New: EAH5870/2DIS/1GD5/V2

Click on images below to enlarge
Images provided by ASUS

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