14 DAY TRIAL // When NVIDIA unleashed its GeForce GTX 480 adapter upon the market, it was proven that no AMD card could match its performance. This, however, doesn't seem to have discouraged AMD's partners in any way. In fact, graphics-card makers responded by announcing plans for newer versions of the HD 5870, with more memory and higher clocks. ASUS was one of the first to make such plans known, and the ROG Matrix 5870 is almost ready to make a stand.
The Republic of Gamers Matrix 5870 was detailed back in late March. Then, it was shown that, besides a higher amount of VRAM and faster clock speeds, the video board integrated a certain technology that could boost performance depending on load. Known as Super Hybrid Engine (SHD), this feature can automatically overclock the card if such a need should arise. Additionally, the video adapter will benefit from the iTracker2 hardware-software bridge, which will allow end-users to easily monitor and overclock their device directly.
The ROG Matrix 5870 is built with 1,600 stream processors, 2GB of GDDR5 and a memory interface of 256 bits. GPU and memory clocks are of 894MHz (850MHz in stock) and 4800MHz, respectively. ASUS also outfitted the model with voltage measurements for the GPU core, PCI-E bus and VRAM.
Other specifications include DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, as well as a dual-slot fansink capable of delivering 22% more airflow than the reference solution. This should lead to a 13% lower average temperature, which, in turn, means a higher stability and overclocking headroom.
The ASUS republic of Gamers Matrix 5870 is reportedly going to become available either next week or early next month. As for pricing, consumers may be in for a special surprise, as the Matrix will supposedly sell for only 449 Euro, less than what the GTX 480 is sold for on certain online stores.