ASUS MATRIX 5870/2DIS/2GD5 Pro Reviews

ASUS is known as one of the few graphics card providers that can truly innovate in world of reference designs. If today's V2 and ROG Matrix cards don't demonstrate that enough for you, check out the ASUS ARES dual HD 5870 card that is truly the fastest single graphics card in the world. For users looking for a new Radeon HD 5870 card today then the V2 makes a great choice that is both low in price compared to the rest of the market while offering performance better than the reference GTX 470s from NVIDIA provide. The HD 5870 2GB ROG Matrix card is definitely for users with a more distinguished taste in graphics solutions and not only will you get 2GB of memory on this card but you will also have more overclocking goodies that just about any other GPU available.

If you do not plan to overclock your video card or tweak its hardware settings in any way then the ASUS ROG Matrix 5870 Platinum Edition is probably a waste of money for you. The 2GB of video memory doesn’t make any difference unless you run CrossFireX.

In closing, we found the Matrix 5870 to be a unique card, targeting a specific type of enthusiast. Features like 2GB of video memory, the Super Hybrid Engine chip, load indicator LEDs, and dual video BIOS offer users certain advantages that other products don't. On the other hand, the Matrix commands a hefty price, which puts it out of reach of many consumers.

Better than the reference HD 5870 in every way other than price, the premium makes sense if you're looking for a future-proof card that will continue to deliver as game engines become more complex. The 2,048MB frame-buffer will come in useful for a three-way Eyefinity setup and the cooler's rather good. All things considered, the ASUS effort is roughly on a par with a similar card from Sapphire.

It really is a technological tour de force and while it does have its rough edges, the ASUS HD 5870 Matrix still walks away with our Dam Good Award.