Review: ASUS ROG Poseidon Platinum GTX 780
With exclusive DirectCU H2O hybrid thermal technology, ROG Poseidon Platinum GTX 780 offers you the unique ability to cool either by air or water. Both feature a custom vapor chamber that’s in direct contact with the GPU for faster heat dispersal, with copper heat-pipes and extended cooling fins - keeping the GPU cool no matter how the action gets. Being part of the Republic of Gamers (ROG) series, the expectation is high. It is every enthusiast’s dream card.
Recently, ASUS Malaysia made our day by sending this graphics card for review. Let?s see what this graphics card has to offer.
Product Link: http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/R…ONGTX780P3GD5/
Suggested Retail Price: USD $599 to $629
Specifications
Overview
GPU-Z Information
The GPU offers 2304 stream processors, 48 ROPs and 3GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit memory bus. This card features NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0 technology and has a GPU base clock of 954 MHz, a boost clock of 1006 MHz and the memory is clocked at 1502 MHz (6008 MHz effective).
Unboxing
The graphics card comes in a red box illustrated with the ROG design.
On the back of the box we can see the schematic design of the hybrid cooler.
The Poseidon Platinum GTX 780 is a dual-slot solution measuring 11.3 ” x 5.4 ” x 1.6 “. The DirectCU H2O cooler carries two 90 mm dust-proof fans. ASUS claimed that this unique cooler provides 7°C cooler on air and 24°C cooler with water than reference design. On lower right corner of the cooler there is a “POSEIDON” logo which will not light up at all.
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.
Let’s look closer at the power delivery design of the graphics card. The VRM power design gives 10 phase power with Black Metallic Capacitors so that we don’t have to worry about the overclocking stability.
The memory chips are based on Elpida BBBG GDDR5 that are said to have overclock ability not as good as the Hynix-AFR which can be found on other rivals’ equivalent. It is disappointing that ASUS decided to use these memory chips on such a high end ROG graphics card.
The graphics card draws power from an 8-pin and a 6-pin connector.
The SLI connectors support up to 3-way SLI (4-way with modified driver).
The rear I/O panel includes a DVI-I port, a DVI-D port, a HDMI port and a DisplayPort. These four interfaces support up to four monitors simultaneously for 3D Surround setup.
The aluminum backplate’s unique design does add some aesthetic looks to the graphic card as well as provides extra rigidity to the PCB.
On one the side of the hybrid cooler we have a pair of G1/4 inch fittings for liquid cooling. You can use any standard barbs or compression fittings. Also spotted, an “ASUS Republic of Gamers” logo near the I/O panel which will light up in red colour and blinking when the card is running.
Now we will get down to see the hybrid cooling solution. The DirectCU H2O radiator comes with three beefy heatpipes so that the heat will be dissipated efficiently.ASUS utilizes the Vapor Chamber technology which is known to have a better performance than regular cooling solutions. However, ASUS repeated the same mistake again, the liquid cooling channel is made of anodized aluminum, which would create a galvanic corrosion when contacting with copper based liquid cooling blocks or fittings in the same loop.
Included in the box is a dual 6-pin PCIe to 8-pin PCie Y-adapter, a ROG sticker, a quick setup guide and the driver/utility CD.
Test Setup
Test Methodology
The Intel Core i7 4960X processor was overclocked to 4.625 GHz while all the graphics cards used were operating at stock clocks and stock cooler on air cooling.
As for temperature test and overclocking part, we used Intel Core i7 4770K overclocked at 4.625 GHz with the ASUS Maximus VI Formula.
The settings for the 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
Temperature Test
We tested the Poseidon Platinum GTX 780 under both air and liquid cooling with the help of Furmark burn-in test.
With air cooling and the fan spinning at 2397 RPM, the temperature hovered around 79°C. We noticed that the clock speed dropped slightly from 1097 MHz to 1058 MHz.
During the liquid cooling mode, the temperature dropped to 48°C with fan speed at 1246 RPM. The clock speed maintained at 1097 MHz. The ambient temperature was around 30°C. It should be noted that the fans cannot be turned off so it is impossible to run the graphics card only in liquid cooling mode.
OverClocking
On air cooling, we managed to push the GPU frequency to 1280 MHz (boost) and video memory frequency of 7011 MHz. The maximum temperature hit 62°C with a supplied voltage of 1.193V.
Liquid cooling did not bring us much further other than the fact that the card ran cooler. We only able to push another 13 MHz on the GPU frequency. The maximum temperature hit 46°C with a supplied voltage of 1.195V.
Thoughts & Verdicts
The ASUS ROG Poseidon Platinum GTX 780 is a powerful graphics card that is capable of outperforming the mighty GTX TITAN. The graphics card is solid, packed with high quality components such as Black Metallic Capacitors and Super Alloy Power feature. It is a good graphics card for gamers that are going to be gaming on a 2560×1600 or 2560×1440 panel.
The hybrid cooling with the new innovative DirectCU H2O cooler allows users to decide how they want to cool their graphics card. Liquid cooling enthusiasts could utilize the water cooling feature without voiding the warranty. The only downside on this cooler is that the liquid cooling channel is made of anodized aluminum, which would create a galvanic corrosion when contacting with copper based liquid cooling blocks or fittings in the same loop. They could have used copper or other metal as the material for the premium price we paid.
As for overclocking, we would like to see a faster factory overclocked video memory and the its overclock ability could be pushed further. They could have used the Hynix-AFR or Samsung based memory chips like the rivalry brands did on their cards. Also, something should be done to unlock the voltage that is limiting the overclock ability.
The Poseidon Platinum GTX 780 arrived our shores at the wrong timing when we have the faster GTX 780 Ti in the market already thus making recommendation on this graphics card a bit tough.
We would like to thank [b]ASUS Malaysia[/b] for sending us this sample for review.
Performance: 5/5
Materials: 3/5
Specifications: 5/5
Appearance: 5/5
Performance/Price Value: 4/5
Pros:
+ Outperforms GTX TITAN
+ Equipped with high quality components
+ Massive DirectCU H2O cooler is capable of chilling in air or liquid mode
+ Good temperature and quiet
+ Stunning ROG design
+ Comes with a unique backplate to provide extra protection to the PCB
Cons:
- Price could be lower
- No dual BIOS chips
- Liquid cooling channel made by anodized aluminum would cause corrosion with copper water blocks and fittings in the same loop
- Elpida memory chips have lower overclock ability
- Locked voltage is limiting overclock ability
- Liquid cooling barb or fitting is not included
- Cooler’s top cover is loosen
- It’s not a GTX 780 Ti
ASUS ROG Poseidon Platinum GTX 780 received Silver 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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