Asus Matrix Platinum GeForce GTX 980 Review

[Guest]

Asus offers one of the highest-end GeForce GTX 980s in its Matrix Platinum. We take a close look at this graphics card to see what such an exclusive piece of hardware delivers in exchange for a hefty price tag.

Asus Matrix Platinum GeForce GTX 980 Review : Read more

 

[damric]

I like when reviewers say MT/s instead of MHz

 

[fatboyslimerr]

I don't get how this card can be meant for water-cooling or LN2 but then you void the warranty by removing the cooler......????

 

[envy14tpe]

I believe this is really designed for liquid overclocking. This review compares the air overclock vs liquid cooled overclock. You can see the difference but is it worth the $100 premium?
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/03/03/asus_rog_poseidon_gtx_980_platinum_video_card_review/4#.VP6eCvmUe2Y

 

[loki1944]

Owning two ROG Matrix 290Xs and two ROG Matrix Platinum 780Tis I'll say they are good cards overall and look great, but neither is impressive cooling wise, 290Xs still hit 95C under max load and the 780Tis reach around 85C (my room is around 55-60 degrees F). This looks pretty much the same here on single card cooling, so not exactly impressive for air cooling. Great build quality though and best looking cards ever made in my opinion. I wish more cards were made this solid, but for a lot less $$.

 

[ohim]

Sapphire with Vapor-x has the best cooling solution out there, not only that they keep the GPU chip cooled the VRMs are also cool, only Gigabyte gave attention to VRM cooling as well.. the rest like to run those guys hot.

 

[Damn_Rookie]

I believe this is really designed for liquid overclocking. This review compares the air overclock vs liquid cooled overclock. You can see the difference but is it worth the $100 premium?
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/03/03/asus_rog_poseidon_gtx_980_platinum_video_card_review/4#.VP6eCvmUe2Y

I agree that this card is really designed for the more extreme overclockers out there (using either H2O or LN2), but just to note, the link you provided is for a different model of card; the ASUS ROG Poseidon GTX 980 Platinum, as opposed to the ASUS Matrix Platinum GTX 980 reviewed here. The Poseidon is the one possessing a hybrid air/liquid cooler, letting you watercool while keeping your warranty.

While both cards carry the "Platinum" moniker, they're built on very different underlying boards, with differing power delivery (10-phase for the Poseidon vs 14-phase for the Matrix); the Poseidon being designed for "normal" use, so to speak, and the Matrix designed for breaking LN2 based overclocking records. Honestly, if someone plans to only run it on air, the Matrix is simply overpriced. If they already have a water cooling setup, for the same cost they could get the Poseidon and have a warranty supported liquid cooled 980.

 

[mapesdhs]

The EVGA ACX 2.0 model (1266MHz core) would have been a better comparison
than the Zotac. I've seen lots of people on forums with the EVGA listed in their sig,
but hardly anyone with this Zotac. The EVGA @ stock gives 14512 gfx score for
Firestrike, beating the Matrix Platinum.

Btw, 1329MHz for an oc is really low. I've seen numerous people on forums going
well over 1400 (check the techpowerup Unigine threads). I was able to get 1366
in just a couple of minutes, without any real effort as regards optimisations or
seeing what the voltage limits were. Some people are getting 1500+ with their 980s.

Ian.

PS. Can you confirm whether the Matrix Platinum is genuinely a 2 slot card?
By that I mean, earlier models of some cards of this type are often fractionally
wider than 2 slots, eg. the MSI GTX 580 3GB LX. For mbds with normal 2-slot
spacing, it can make fitting more than one card a real pain (rear fan clash).

 

[Memnarchon]

I believe this is really designed for liquid overclocking. This review compares the air overclock vs liquid cooled overclock. You can see the difference but is it worth the $100 premium?
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/03/03/asus_rog_poseidon_gtx_980_platinum_video_card_review/4#.VP6eCvmUe2Y

This was ROG Poseidon card. It has liquid cooling system built in.
This GPU managed in max overclock (25%) to beat a max overclocked (18%) Sapphire TriX 290X by 25%!!! in their tests.
Well I think this worth $100 premium...

Sapphire with Vapor-x has the best cooling solution out there, not only that they keep the GPU chip cooled the VRMs are also cool, only Gigabyte gave attention to VRM cooling as well.. the rest like to run those guys hot.

Indeed Gigabyte did a great work on their latest coolers.
I think Galax HOF cards have VRM cooling too.

 

[Eggz]

Cool (literally)

Also, I think there's an error on the second page (How we Tested Asus' Matrix Platinum GTX 980), under the "Graphics" section. It lists the stock GTX 980 as having only 2 GB of VRAM, but I think it has 4 GB.

 

[animalosity]

Hrmm...ROG GTX 980 or R9-295x2 for the same price, and still runs cooler with hybrid cooler. You do the math. As much as I think ASUS is an awesome company, they tend to get a bit overzealous on the price. Why not just buy a reference 980. Slap a water block on it for cheaper and still achieve higher overclocks? Dozen ways to skin a cat at $640 bucks...

 

[Guest]

forgot to add... and at much lower prices

 

[Guest]

Giga, MSI and EVGA have much better offerings with their GTX 980 models than this, especially in the OC and cooling departments.

 

[vmem]

I believe this is really designed for liquid overclocking. This review compares the air overclock vs liquid cooled overclock. You can see the difference but is it worth the $100 premium?
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/03/03/asus_rog_poseidon_gtx_980_platinum_video_card_review/4#.VP6eCvmUe2Y

That's the problem with the Matrix Platinum series, because for a bit more of a premium, you can get their gtx 980 Poseidon, which comes with a hybrid waterblock already on it. since the combined cost of buying a separate waterblock plus this care would exceed the price of the poseidon, I don't see why anyone would buy this except to show that they have it IMO

 

[soldier44]

No 8gb of memory no sale. Waiting for the 980 classified Ti then. 4k or bust.

 

[Eggz]

No 8gb of memory no sale. Waiting for the 980 classified Ti then. 4k or bust.

Yeah, it is getting annoying that companies are still on these 1080p cards. I mean, there's still no single GPU card that dominates 1440p, and neither the 290x nor the 980 will keep the minimum above 60 at 1080p for the most demanding games.

That means that 720p is really the highest resolution that can guaranty minimums at refresh rate (almost always) on very high end systems.

This is assuming use of best options available, of course, which is why people with very high end systems buy these expensive cards in the first place (minus excessive AA of course). I still think it will be a long time until we see single GPU cards that will hold down 60 fps on demanding 4K titles when all the bells and whistles are on.

 

[loki1944]

No 8gb of memory no sale. Waiting for the 980 classified Ti then. 4k or bust.

Yeah, it is getting annoying that companies are still on these 1080p cards. I mean, there's still no single GPU card that dominates 1440p, and neither the 290x nor the 980 will keep the minimum above 60 at 1080p for the most demanding games.

That means that 720p is really the highest resolution that can guaranty minimums at refresh rate (almost always) on very high end systems.

This is assuming use of best options available, of course, which is why people with very high end systems buy these expensive cards in the first place (minus excessive AA of course). I still think it will be a long time until we see single GPU cards that will hold down 60 fps on demanding 4K titles when all the bells and whistles are on.

If the steam hardware survey is anything to go by it's not surprising, almost nobody uses 1440p or 2160p monitors on that.

 

[Calculatron]

Certainly better quality build than the reference model, with an ungodly 14-phase VRM for supplying the power. I think the EVGA Kingpin has the same amount, but is still roughly $100 more expensive?

 

[DucBertus]

Hands up anybody who buys these kinds of cards who still need the PCIe power adapters?

Nobody? Thought not.

Dear Asus and other card makers, you can stop adding them to the package of these high end cards. Save a few bucks.

 

[Drejeck]

It doesn't really matter in games a few mhz bump. On other reviews, taking into account only sub 40db cards, Asus Strix 980 and Palit SuperJetStream 980 were worth buying. Same overclock, lower noise than Gigabyte G1, slightly faster than MSi 4G. EVGA costs too much over Palit's and does the same tricks.
If you don't have a problem with the 50 celsius 0dB Strix go with it. Amazon is quite short (.it) on this 2 models I'm looking for.

 

[mapesdhs]

You're right that the EVGA ACX 2.0 currently costs too much (irony as I would have bought a 4th if the price
had dropped a little), but that's the nature of supply & demand; the EVGA has gone up in price because it's
popular, I see it again & again in forum sigs. It's faster than the ASUS or Palit btw, oc's like crazy, and has
the same 0db feature. As you say, the down side is price, which won't change until demand drops and/or
the 980 Ti comes out.

Ian.

 

[racecar56]

"Overclcoked Performance"

 

[uberchemist]

So sad to see a pretty card like this scratched and smudged with greasy fingerprints. Can't you guys handle it with linen gloves out of the package before you take your otherwise very professional photos? Just a suggestion... I assemble all my builds wearing gloves to avoid this.

 

[Digmeahole]

If i am going to pay close to 750 for a 980 it will be a kingpin that can kill this card dead.

 

[mapesdhs]

But that's my point, I really don't think it would at all. A Titan X would do better, but for that kind of
money I'd just use two good 980s SLI, like the ACX2.0 EVGAs I've already obtained.

Ian.