ASUS Radeon HD 5870 MATRIX 2GB Graphics Card Pictured

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

i do too tx750

 

[dr emulator (madmax)]

6 pin plugs can provide just as much power. The 8 pin only adds 2 grounds, no power wires.

my thoughts exactly why they have 2 extra grounds beats me but meh what do i care as long as the card works

If it's the white color "Matrix" is what is looking cheap, then actually it's illuminated. Behind there are LEDs of any color you want to set (via software). In the picture below it's illuminated red:

Here it's white:

any colour ey
i wonder how long the white will last before discolouring in all that heat ,still i like it

 

[Blín D'ñero]

And as I recall the original PCIE can supply 150watts from the slot itself and that was later updated with PCIE2 to 225 to 300 watts(?), so I must assume you don't need 2*8 on proper PCIE2 slot motherboards but only on older ones, because no way in hell does a graphicscard need 450Watts all for itself.

You are very wrong.

A single x16 card may now draw up to 300 W of power (75 W from the slot itself, 150 W from an 8-pin PEG connector, 75 W from a second PEG connector), up from 225 W (75 W from the slot, 75 W each from 2 6-pin PEG connectors) or originally 150 W (75 W from the slot, 75 W from a 6-pin PEG connector).

Source The Quick PCI-Express 2.0 Guide
10stripe

 

[OneCool]

No pics of this beast without a cooler yet?

I wanna seeeeeeee

 

[MKmods]

If it's the white color "Matrix" is what is looking cheap, then actually it's illuminated. Behind there are LEDs of any color you want to set (via software). In the picture below it's illuminated red:

http://www.gamexeon.com/forum/imagehosting/90424a2af02449881.jpg

Here it's white:

http://hothardwares.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Asus-Matrix-GTX285-300x193.jpg

I spent hours making my 5770s light up with Red, that would be so cool to have command of different colors, what a great idea.

 

[Binge]

wow ... simply stunning ... ...

but why 2 x 8-pin connectors ... wouldn't 6-pin +8-pin be enough ...

2x8-pin are for people doing LN2, on air or water there's no chance to "safely" use as much juice as the 6+8 pin produces.

 

[mastrdrver]

what purpose does extra ground wires serve then?

are they slamming 2x8 on it for limiting PSU limitations?

Cleaner signals but as stated this isn't a problem until your using LN2.

You are very wrong.

Source The Quick PCI-Express 2.0 Guide
10stripe

That is recommended and what OEMs use but this isn't a OEM card so it is pointless.

As to the q why complain, well for one thing more wires means a thicker cable and 2 of them in this case, also the move is towards lower power consumption and I for one would not want to waste 1000Watts just to play a game that doesn't thrill that much more than before anyway.

What?

What does running two 8-pins have to do with higher power consumption? If your talking about psu efficiency then run a 6 to 8-pin adapter as the loss in grounds won't matter unless your going all out. Remember, the 5870 is rated at a max TPD of 188 watts. Even upping the voltage on the core and using more memory chips isn't going to push the card over 225w (theoretical max of two 6-pins plus slot).

 

[eidairaman1]

i dont see why people are whining about the + 8 when those 2 additional lines are just grounds, I mean seriously You could actually fab ur own wires and hook them to the chassis instead of getting a +8 PSU.

 

[Super XP]

Really?

My last one had 4, it was only 750w : ]

My 750W Corsair also has FOUR 8 that can be converted to 6 if need be.
Still the price is too much. It better be way way cheaper than the HD 5970.

 

[shevanel]

i sort of want to think they are saying this card isnt worth getting over a standard 5870 with 2x6 pin plugs unless youre into HEAVY benchmarking/overclocking/tweaking.

If you want this 2gb version then you need to upgrade your PSU also, typically if you are running something without 2x8 pin connectors. this card is for people who either already have monster PSU's or money is no obstacle.

but if youre not doing LN2 then whats the point? seems like a high premium for a 2gb 5870 especially if you need to upgrade your already capable PSU but it's not so capable because this card requires 2x8 pin power.

I have an antec ea650 and its a solid psu with appropriate power but I would have to scrap it because it only has 1x6 and 1x6+2 ?

im sure this card will not be under $500 So i wonder if someone releases another 2gb version with 2x6 requirements will it be just as expensive?

 

[Wile E]

Which allows it to safely supply up to 150 watts vs 75 watts of a 6 pin connection : ]

Nonsense. It doesn't change the power abilities of the connection at all. 5 grounds provides no benefit when the power still needs to come thru just 3 positive leads. It's just a marketing gimmick. You'd be better off hard-grounding the card to the chassis for extreme benching. It's a marketing gimmick, nothing more.

 

[shevanel]

for arguments sake would 2x6 pin plugs power this card if there were no overlocking going to be done?

Would the 2x6 pin plugs even connect to the card at all?

Sorry, Ive never owned a card that required an 8pin and Im just curious.

 

[Wile E]

for arguments sake would 2x6 pin plugs power this card if there were no overlocking going to be done?

Would the 2x6 pin plugs even connect to the card at all?

Sorry, Ive never owned a card that required an 8pin and Im just curious.

6pin plug will plug right in. The 2 pins on the very left of the connector would remain empty. Don't know if they would let the card power up with just 6pins plugged in tho.

 

[TAViX]

The question is, why in the world do you need more than 1GB of Video RAM???? If it was a professional card I would have understood that...Even nvidia's 896MB of RAM are more than enough to play console ports at max resolution and full details...

 

[Wile E]

The question is, why in the world do you need more than 1GB of Video RAM???? If it was a professional card I would have understood that...Even nvidia's 896MB of RAM are more than enough to play console ports at max resolution and full details...

GTA4 or Eyefinity. For example, 5670x1200 out of 3 24" monitors would use quite a bit of that buffer up I'm sure.

 

[TAViX]

GTA4 or Eyefinity. For example, 5670x1200 out of 3 24" monitors would use quite a bit of that buffer up I'm sure.

Ah, OK. For 7MP resolution even the 2GB will be filled up fast. The GPU cores however will give the worst performance drop I think...
Anyways, If I would have 3 monitors( hypothetical speaking, of course...), I would not even think playing a game at that resolution, without having at least a Crossfire with 2 of those babies!

 

[Wile E]

Ah, OK. For 7MP resolution even the 2GB will be filled up fast. The GPU cores however will give the worst performance drop I think...
Anyways, If I would have 3 monitors( hypothetical speaking, of course...), I would not even think playing a game at that resolution, without having at least a Crossfire with 2 of those babies!

Yeah, but even if you happened to have 4 of them, you would still only have 2GB of frame buffer available, so a 2GB card does still make sense.

 

[50eurouser]

2x8pins is a waste why not 1 1x6+1x8 ? Combinded they could supply 300Watt. Anyway 2Gb is a waste too. Average cost for the card will be ~450€, what a waste ... You can buy 2x HD5850 with that kind of money.

 

[eidairaman1]

The question is, why in the world do you need more than 1GB of Video RAM???? If it was a professional card I would have understood that...Even nvidia's 896MB of RAM are more than enough to play console ports at max resolution and full details...

Explain why Asus Released a 285 with 4GB ram then???

 

[twicksisted]

nobody has a psu with 2 8pin connectors what a FAIL

lol?... i do ... actually i assume most 1000watters have 2X 8 pins...... but i guess these are old skool psus nowadays

 

[Wile E]

2x8pins is a waste why not 1 1x6+1x8 ? Combinded they could supply 300Watt. Anyway 2Gb is a waste too. Average cost for the card will be ~450€, what a waste ... You can buy 2x HD5850 with that kind of money.

Read the posts just above yours. 2GB has it's place in the world. Those that have a setup that can use 2GB of buffer, can likely afford the extra money needed to buy the 2GB cards.

 

[Fourstaff]

There are 2 types of people who buys these cards. Those who really need them and those who will pay extra for epeen extension. Either way, they probably need/want the 2Gb and 8+8 power.

 

[lism]

Explain why Asus Released a 285 with 4GB ram then???

Is'nt that a SLI-on-a-PCB card where 2 GPU's both have 2GB? And in total of 4GB?

Still out of 4GB 2GB only is affective on a card, it offers the double amount of framebuffer for extreme high resolutions, otherwise for regular games it would be overkill.

Some day you'll have 16GB videocards where you can actually install your OS on, or some crazy shit like that. We had 16KB CGA cards back in the past with a filling space of 3 lines a second in DOS on an IBM XT lol.

 

[eidairaman1]

seems i have quadrupled the amt of ram i get for a video card. I am happy 2GB parts are arriving

 

[Hayder_Master]

yeah my dream card, i just hope it's not expensive