Last month, ASUS added two new Matrix graphics cards into their Republic of Gamers (ROG) family. One of them is based on AMD’a Radeon R9 290X and the other one is powered by NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 780 Ti. Today we will take a look at the ASUS ROG Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum, designed for hardcore gamers and extreme overclockers.
The Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum features a custom PCB with enhanced components and a dual slot DirectCU II cooler. The card comes with factory overclocked GPU and memory, 14-phase Super Alloy Power, Black Metallic Capacitors, DIGI+ VRM digital power delivery design. Not just that, ASUS also provides subzero overclockers the new Memory Defroster technology, LN2 Mode, VGA Hotwire and many other features to give users a pleasant overclocking experience. The DirectCU II cooler keeps the card running at 20% cooler and 3X quieter acoustics as compared to the reference Geforce GTX 780 Ti.
Product Link: http://www.asus.com/ROG_ROG/MATRIXGTX780TIP3GD5/
Suggested Retail Price: RM 3,099
Specifications
GPU-Z Information
On the paper the Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum is indeed a beast of a card. It is equipped with offers 2880 CUDA cores, 48 ROPs, 240 TMUs, and 3 GB of Hynix-based GDDR5 video memory on a 384-bit memory bus. While the reference GTX 780 Ti has the GPU clocked at 875 MHz and 928 MHz for the GPU Boost clock, The Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum is overclocked to 1006 MHz for the GPU base and 1072 MHz for the boost clock. The video memory sticks to reference GTX 780 Ti’s clock at 7000 MHz.
Unboxing
The Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum is shipped in a large red box featuring ROG theme.
The back of the box describes some of the key features and specifications of the graphics card as well as an awesome picture of the DirectCU II cooler broken down by each of its layers showing a little of what is behind the cover.
Measuring 11.7″ x 6″ x 1.6″, the Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum is a dual-slot solution which is slightly larger than the GTX 780 Ti DirectCU II OC series and comes with two 95 mm blazing fast fans. One of the fans has a unique CoolTech design, which carries hybrid blade and bearing. This fan is capable of providing a multi-directional flow, to dissipate the heat efficiently.
The NVIDIA GK110 Revision B1 GPU chip is soldered at the middle of the graphics card. For record, GK110 was first introduced as a Tesla-only product for powering demanding GPU compute applications. NVIDIA has now also released it as a GeForce GPU. It uses 7.1 billion transistors on a die size that we measured to be 561 mm². The GPU is produced on a 28 nanometer process at TSMC, Taiwan.
The custom PCB features DIGI+ VRM with 14-phase Super Alloy Power’s Japanese-made 10K Black Metallic Capacitors, concrete-core chokes and hardened MOSFETs to deliver a precise digital power for superior efficiency, stability, and performance.
The Safe Mode button resets the graphics card back to default frequencies and voltages. This is useful to get the card back to its original working condition and get the system working normally. The Memory Defroster jumper switch is ASUS’ brand new technology that will help extreme overclocking on the memory modules. This awesome feature defrosts the video memory during subzero overclocking to ensure stability and prevent cold bugs.
The memory chips are based on Hynix-AFR GDDR5 that are known to have a great overclock ability.
The graphics card requires a pair of 8-pin power input. We have some VGA Hotwire terminals to wire the Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum card to the solder points on compatible ROG motherboards and you’re ready to overvolt and overclock. With this cool feature, you can gradually and safely adjust voltages to the GPU, video memory and phase-locked loop (PLL), either via the UEFI BIOS or from the operating system in real time.
The SLI connectors support up to 4-way SLI in multi-GPU configuration.
Also spotted, a tiny jumper switch that allows you to toggle between two modes: “LN2” mode and “Standard” mode. The liquid nitrogen (LN2) jumper switch unlocks restrictions on power target, voltage and overcurrent protection so you can unleash full power from the GPU.
The ROG Color-coded Load Indicator offers an instant and easy-to-understand display of current GPU load levels. For starters, if the LED glows red, this means the Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum is under extreme load, Blue for light loading and orange for medium loading. If the card is operating in safe mode, the LED will turn to green.
The rear I/O panel includes a pair of DVI-D ports, a HDMI port and a DisplayPort. These interfaces support up to three monitors simultaneously for Eyefinity setup.
The black anodized aluminium backplate’s unique design gives aesthetic looks to the graphic card and provides extra rigidity to the PCB.
The DirectCU II cooler is equipped with a massive radiator, which is connected with five anodized black heat pipes. Two of them are 6 mm and the other three are 10 mm in diameter. ASUS utilizes the Vapor Chamber technology which is known to have a better performance than regular cooling systems.
The accessories provided in the box are a pair of dual 6-pin PCIe to 8-pin PCie Y-adapters, a ROG metal sticker, a quick setup guide and the driver/ utility disk.
Test Setup
Test Methodology
The Intel Core i7 4770K processor was overclocked to 4.625 GHz while all the graphics cards used were operating at stock clocks and stock cooler on air cooling. The Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum was set to “Standard” mode. Ambient temperature was around 29°C throughout the benchmarks.
The settings for in-game benchmarks are listed in the table above.
Software & Tools
ASUS GPU Tweak - an overclocking tool with GPU and memory tuning, overvolting, GPU loadline calibration and VRM frequency tuning, allowing for the most extensive control and adjustment parameters for maximum overclocking potential.
ASUS GPU Tweak Streaming - allows you to share on-screen action in real-time. Add scrolling text, pictures, and webcam images to the streaming window easily.
Synthetic Benchmarks
Game Benchmarks
OverClocking & Temperature
Overclocking the Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum was extremely easy, and with all the overclocking features that are available, anyone should be able to get the GPU over 1300 MHz. In our labs we were actually able to increase the GPU clock speed to an impressive 1328 MHz, which is quite good for a GK110 GPU. Meanwhile, memory overclocking was even impressive. We were able to push the GDDR5 frequency to a whopping 8100 MHz from 7000 MHz. Reaching full stability at this clock did require a substantial voltage increase, and as you can see from the screenshot above we were running the voltage at 1.212V.
To summarize, these are around 17% and 16% overclocks for the GPU and memory clocks, respectively. The maximum temperature hit 74°C. In the 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark, this overclock improved the graphics score by 15%.
In 3DMark 11 benchmark, the Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum was successfully overclocked to 1302 MHz on GPU clock and 8003 MHz on memory, with 1.212V of voltage given. These are equivalent to about 12% and 14% overclocks for the GPU and memory clocks, respectively.
In 3DMark 11 benchmark, the Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum was successfully overclocked to 1302 MHz on GPU clock and 8003 MHz on memory, with 1.212V of voltage given. These are equivalent to about 12% and 14% overclocks for the GPU and memory clocks, respectively.
It should be noted that the ambient temperature during the tests was 29°C.
Thoughts & Verdicts
No doubt, ASUS’s ROG Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum is a great graphics card for overclockers. It comes with many features such as a customized PCB, 14-phase digital DIGI+ VRM power design with Super Alloy Power, 10K Black Metallic Capacitors, DirectCU II cooling system, LN2 Mode, Memory Defroster, GPU Tweak software, and the Safe Mode button that can restore default settings in case of bad overclocking. The ROG Color-coded Load Indicator is certainly the coolest gadget of the card.
Our tests showed that the Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum is slightly faster than the GTX 780 Ti DirectCU II OC and the GALAXY GTX 780 Ti Hall of Fame (HOF) in most of the game benchmarks. It is able to handle any latest game titles in the market at high resolution such as 2560 X 1600 at maximum details.
The strong 14-phase VRM allows overclocking on the card without fear, because you know that the power delivery will handle the load effectively. We were really impressed by the overclocking ability of the card. We managed to overclock our Matrix sample at 1328 MHz which is a 17% increment compared to the factory setting. Memory overclocking was remarkable thanks to the Hynix-AFR chips built on the card. We were able to push the memory to a whopping 8003 MHz from 7000 MHz. Impressive!
The dual slot VGA cooler, DirectCU II, gives a dynamic and aggressive look at the card. But under full speed this massive cooler is a bit noisy. The cooler keeps the card running games and synthetic benchmarks at around 70°C or lower on load, which is very good.
In the software side, the GPU Tweak is a nice and very complete overclocking utility. You get all the overclocking features such as GPU and memory tuning, overvolting, GPU load-line calibration and VRM frequency tuning, allowing for maximum overclocking potential.
The ASUS ROG Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum is a high-end product that offers best in-class performance, extreme overclocking and has more state-of-the-art features that any graphics card that we have tested before. Of course this card is not for everyone, but overall the Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum is one hell of a card that would please the most demanding gamers.
Performance: 5/5
Materials: 5/5
Specifications: 5/5
Appearance: 5/5
Performance/Price Value: 4/5
Pros:
+ Higher power limit
+ High factory overclocked GPU and video memory
+ Very good overclocking capabilities
+ Highly binned GPU and memory chips
+ High quality components and solid build
+ Beautiful outlook with black anodized heat pipes and backplate
+ High performance DirectCU II cooler
+ Good temperature even under heavy gaming and quiet
+ ROG Color-coded Load Indicator looks cool
+ Massive overclocking features
+ GPU Tweak overclocking utility
Cons:
- Expensive
- The fan could be a little loud when blasting at full speed (100%)
- No game bundle
ASUS ROG Matrix GTX 780 Ti Platinum received Editor’s Choice Award from OCDrift.com
Disclaimer: OCDrift.com gives out our own award based on the Hardware Performance, OverClocking Ability, Innovation, and Value as determined by the reviewer
owikh84
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