[O/C]ASUS Matrix 5870 Platinum Review

[Overclockers.com]

ASUS Matrix 5870 Platinum Review
by Jeremy Vaughan (hokiealumnus)

​

In the spring, we outlined how manufacturers were reinventing the ATI Radeon 5870 GPU. MIAHALLEN gave us an in-depth look at Gigabyte's offering, the 5870 Super Overclock (SOC). We're back with another such unit today, in the form of the ASUS Matrix 5870 Platinum.

... Return to the article to continue reading.

Digg | Reddit

Discuss this article below and please click on the social media links above to support our content. If you are interested in contributing to the front page (www.overclockers.com), please feel free to contact splat, mdcomp, or hokiealumnus. For the latest updates, follow Overclockers.com on Twitter (@Overclockerscom).

 

[infam0ussteven]

I love the design of the Matrix, the lit up Matrix on the card is a plus! Great review.

 

[Bobnova]

I find the use of direct contact heatpipes directly on the die very interesting, that's the first time i've ever seen it.

 

[Pvt.Dancer]

good review its seems accurate to my experience except mine has a harder time Overclocking than his .

I do love the heat pipes i just put some Shin-Etsu paste on it it was the first time i pulled the heat sink off and it was impressive.

 

[Gwiggles]

Great review! I have two of these and my ONLY gripe is that I can't seem to get iTracker2 to adjust voltage for my second card. They look so pretty, though ^.^

If anyone has any insight into how to do this I'd appreciate it

 

[Fenix1016]

there is a way to get around this for itracker and ill post it soon im checking ocforums from my phone

 

[Fenix1016]

ok finally back on my computer

first of all using itracker in this method can be dangerous as once it set my voltage way higher than i wanted and my cards within in 2 seconds of furmark they were over 80c even with fans at 100% and climbing and i had to safe mode my cards to get the temps to come back down

when u want to use itracker on a set up with multiple cards like mine me (i have 2 of these in crossfire) you have unistall one of the cards and start up your computer and go into itracker now get oc the card to where u want it to be then go to profile manager save the profile then click detail and u may notice a graphics card in the bottom right near the close button to save the memory setting BEFORE CLICKING ON IT make sure you have tested the oc because if you dont you will have to use your safe mode button and all that NOTE* this only saves the 3d one not the 2d settings now do this on the other card and then put all cards back into the system the way you had and hopefully enjoy your overclock but also you may not want i tracker starting after u burn the settings in bc the cards should start at the settings you saved on them and it can cause complications also it does not save you fan settings so your first card will run at the specified settings while the second in auto

use common sense as always and also if you have questions u can post back or message me ill see if i can help but if this method seems hard and confusing or a waste of time uninstall itracker and use another program like msi afterburner since it does apply settings to both gpus and also the fan settings are applied to gpu2 but for me it wont let me tweak voltages

so this is all up to you do your research and proceed at your own risk i hope this helps sorry if its confusing

 

[Pvt.Dancer]

afterburner just dosent work with the matrix 5870 voltage control i think it has to do with the bios but not sure maybe someday there will be a new version that will work with it but as for now its a no go on after burner for us...... sigh.....

 

[xoke]

I find the use of direct contact heatpipes directly on the die very interesting, that's the first time i've ever seen it.

X2!

 

[Gwiggles]

ok finally back on my computer

first of all using itracker in this method can be dangerous as once it set my voltage way higher than i wanted and my cards within in 2 seconds of furmark they were over 80c even with fans at 100% and climbing and i had to safe mode my cards to get the temps to come back down

when u want to use itracker on a set up with multiple cards like mine me (i have 2 of these in crossfire) you have unistall one of the cards and start up your computer and go into itracker now get oc the card to where u want it to be then go to profile manager save the profile then click detail and u may notice a graphics card in the bottom right near the close button to save the memory setting BEFORE CLICKING ON IT make sure you have tested the oc because if you dont you will have to use your safe mode button and all that NOTE* this only saves the 3d one not the 2d settings now do this on the other card and then put all cards back into the system the way you had and hopefully enjoy your overclock but also you may not want i tracker starting after u burn the settings in bc the cards should start at the settings you saved on them and it can cause complications also it does not save you fan settings so your first card will run at the specified settings while the second in auto

use common sense as always and also if you have questions u can post back or message me ill see if i can help but if this method seems hard and confusing or a waste of time uninstall itracker and use another program like msi afterburner since it does apply settings to both gpus and also the fan settings are applied to gpu2 but for me it wont let me tweak voltages

so this is all up to you do your research and proceed at your own risk i hope this helps sorry if its confusing

Thank you very much, sir! I'll try this sometime soon and report back

 

[hokiealumnus]

Thanks for the kind words!

It was definitely a surprise taking the cooler off and seeing the direct-touch heatpipes. Seems to do a darn good job at cooling the GPU off though, so it seems like the potential gamble paid off.

Thanks for helping us out Fenix1016! Hope it works for you Gwiggles.

 

[Brolloks]

Do you know if the OC software works with other 5870's as well?
Nice review btw

 

[hokiealumnus]

Thanks! No I don't know actually, and my other 5870 is out right now so they can figure out why I can't adjust voltages. Here's the product page if you feel like downloading & installing it.

 

[Fenix1016]

just to add to what i said earlier itracker will act differently on different driver versions and this program doesnt always do as it is told as i have done what i said several times with sometimes success another time failure and one time it doubled my voltages and nearly blew my cards i couldnt even barly watch a youtube video without fans hitting 100% and temps at 80c i dont even want to think of what kind of voltages are needed to do that

so if you dont want to hassle around with itracker just use msi afterburner or even possibly ati overdrive but i have not used it yet because this card overclocks pretty well for stock votage this is what im using till either itracker is updated or i find something better

good luck on your ocing

 

[Dolk]

I got mine in Monday, and have not had enough time to actually play with it. One thing I do know is that this a totaly different beast of a card.

For a general statement, to all those learning about overclocking GPUs, in order to overclock voltage, you have to have a specific Voltage Controller. Not all cards will have this, and each one is different. Most refrence cards will have the right Voltage Controller that Afterburner or RivaTuner will be able to access. Non-refrence cards ie all ASUS and XFX cards have different VC. Certain cards like the Matrix have a very uniqe VC that allows you to play with the voltages completely without bounds. Others like the EAH5870 or EAH5850 will only allow you to play at a certain level.

There are ways around VC adjustments by hardmodding or swapping BIOS.

Anyway, I'm going to be doing some OCing all night with this bad boy. Going to make it scream like a little pansy.

One last note, make sure to use iTracker2 1.6 which can be found under the Windows 7 OS option at support.asus.com. It will not show up for DL under the other OS. And make sure to update your BIOS if you have not.

 

[Pvt.Dancer]

Please please please start a thread and give us some results man!

 

[hokiealumnus]

He's already got one going!

 

[Pvt.Dancer]

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[hokiealumnus]

Good lord, were my clocks that bad?

 

[Dolk]

Apparently

But you have to remember I do have my own little groopies

(this is a joke please keep it so)