• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Asus HD 7970 Matrix Platinum vs GTX 680

No, I ran it at 1135MHz.

Yea which is like 35MHz over a stock platinum? and 100-150 over a DC2? Come on... My REFERENCE 7970 did 1220/1750 on AIR with the REF cooler for 3-5 months before i got a block for it. Now it does 1380 on benching.

1135 isnt an overclock, its a slight bump in clocks.
 
Mine was voltage locked at 1.08v and I didn't know about the custom BIOS to change it until I'd put it up for sale. At a higher voltage it'd have easily gone up higher.
 
Mine was voltage locked at 1.08v and I didn't know about the custom BIOS to change it until I'd put it up for sale. At a higher voltage it'd have easily gone up higher.

Woop woop, you just said it yourself. DC2s are volt locked, and Matrix cards force you to use GPU Tweak which is riddled with bugs.

OP. Please get a reference card for your own sake. I did the stupid mistake of buying a Matrix and i regret every penny i spent on it.
 
A custom BIOS is a bit easier than sticking a water block on it, and the Matrix Platinum isn't voltage locked. Plus you can't even buy reference 7970s new.
 
1.A custom BIOS is a bit easier than sticking a water block on it,
2.and the Matrix Platinum isn't voltage locked.
3.Plus you can't even buy reference 7970s new.

1. Who said you need a waterblock? I beat your super ultra OC DC2 card with my 100% normal reference card only because mine wasnt voltage locked. The reference cooler is perfectly capable of cooling OCd cards, its just louder.

2. Matrix Platinum is ONLY voltage unlocked in ASUS GPU Tweak, and that is an application you would hate to see.

3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102961 <--- This one is ref for sure. These ones are worth checking out: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161399 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129204
 
I'd rather have 1135MHz and a voltage locked silent card than something that sounds like a jet engine. I tried Asus GPU Tweak. It wasn't that bad. You can still use MSI Afterburner to change core and memory clocks once you've set the voltage.

Anyway, I was more than happy with my Asus 7970 DCII and if I were going to buy a new 7970 I'd happily get another.
 
I'd rather have 1135MHz and a voltage locked silent card than something that sounds like a jet engine. I tried Asus GPU Tweak. It wasn't that bad. You can still use MSI Afterburner to change core and memory clocks once you've set the voltage.

Anyway, I was more than happy with my Asus 7970 DCII and if I were going to buy a new 7970 I'd happily get another.

Lets find whats best for this guy, and dont make him think DC2s are good cards only because you're part of the 99th percentile that actually likes these cards.
 
Matrix Platinum is ONLY voltage unlocked in ASUS GPU Tweak, and that is an application you would hate to see.

Yes GPU Tweak is a pain and not my favourite piece of software.

Having said that sometimes it has it's advantages. Have you ever tried setting voltages for 4 cards with PrecisionX after the first few times it gets a bit annoying and time consuming.
 
thanks for all the responses. I have been researching a lot on the Matrix and have yet to come across any negatives. I personally trust Asus. my current GTX 480 is an Asus and has been brilliant so far and have always used Asus in the past as well and never had any problems. (i have ROG mobo on my work pc & sabertooth on my gaming pc)

All things point to the Matrix, im just in hunt for a decent PSU. the matrix + psu will be only slightly more than the 770 i was planning to get to begin with. i will sell my psu, which is a really good psu and it should make up for the difference.

any suggestions on the psu, i'll be glad to hear it. min 750watts and must be modular
 
thanks for all the responses. I have been

1.researching a lot on the Matrix and have yet to come across any negatives.

2. I personally trust Asus. my current GTX 480 is an Asus and has been brilliant so far and have always used Asus in the past as well and never had any problems.

3. (i have ROG mobo on my work pc & sabertooth on my gaming pc)

4. All things point to the Matrix, im just in hunt for a decent PSU. the matrix + psu will be only slightly more than the 770 i was planning to get to begin with. i will sell my psu, which is a really good psu and it should make up for the difference.

any suggestions on the psu, i'll be glad to hear it. min 750watts and must be modular

1. No negatives? Have you been ignoring my posts?

2. Just because asus made good 480s or whatever doesnt mean their 7970s doesnt suck.

3. We're not talking about mobos. It's irrelevant.

4. NOTHING points toward a Matrix except for the abundant advertising about more phases and better caps etc etc. And you bit the bait and you're gonna pay for it. You'll see. Your card wont be any where near as impressive as most oced reference cards. If you're not OCing? Well then you just failed completely because you could get any other 7970 for much less.
 
1. No negatives? Have you been ignoring my posts?

2. Just because asus made good 480s or whatever doesnt mean their 7970s doesnt suck.

3. We're not talking about mobos. It's irrelevant.

4. NOTHING points toward a Matrix except for the abundant advertising about more phases and better caps etc etc. And you bit the bait and you're gonna pay for it. You'll see. Your card wont be any where near as impressive as most oced reference cards. If you're not OCing? Well then you just failed completely because you could get any other 7970 for much less.

The biggest problem is GPU Tweak, it is quite poor. I tried it out on my Titans last night and ran out of adjustment before my cards ran out of overclocking headroom lol, fortunately this does not happen with the Matrix.

As to the HD 7970 Matrix Platinums, they are very nice cards and faster than 90% of other HD 7970s. If used with waterblocks I would expect to get higher clocks than you with yours as they have 1.4v available to them straight out the box.
 
The biggest problem is GPU Tweak, it is quite poor.

1.I tried it out on my Titans last night and ran out of adjustment before my cards ran out of overclocking headroom lol, fortunately this does not happen with the Matrix.

2. As to the HD 7970 Matrix Platinums, they are very nice cards and faster than 90% of other HD 7970s.

3.If used with waterblocks I would expect to get higher clocks than you with yours as they have 1.4v available to them straight out the box.
1. Are you implying ref 7970s will run out of overclock "headroom" ?

2. Yea at stock...

3. As if reference cards cant do 1.384v...
 
1. No negatives? Have you been ignoring my posts?

2. Just because asus made good 480s or whatever doesnt mean their 7970s doesnt suck.

3. We're not talking about mobos. It's irrelevant.

4. NOTHING points toward a Matrix except for the abundant advertising about more phases and better caps etc etc. And you bit the bait and you're gonna pay for it. You'll see. Your card wont be any where near as impressive as most oced reference cards. If you're not OCing? Well then you just failed completely because you could get any other 7970 for much less.

Well i am going to be overclocking now that i know it wont void the warranty. i have read quite a few reviews that mentions this cards oc capability and how cool and quiet it runs.

I was set on a 770gtx but after giving it some thought, it's only logical to go with an AMD card as all the next gen consoles will be running on AMD apus and therefore they are very likely to be optimised better for AMD cards. Battlefield 4 devs have already said it would be the case for that particular game.

as for choosing this card over others, the price is very reasonable, even if i dont oc it, it's running at 1111mhz which is 111 over the ref cards and i like the extra features it adds like the 100% fan speed button and the metal frame that keeps a heavy card like this very rigid. sure some of the stuff they talk about is marketing buzzwords but Asus, in my experience has always been good. and for the price of a matrix the only other card i can get is a MSI, which frankly is nothing special. it is cheaper but it runs hotter and louder according to reviews.

thanks for your concern and advice though : )
 
1. Who said you need a waterblock? I beat your super ultra OC DC2 card with my 100% normal reference card only because mine wasnt voltage locked. The reference cooler is perfectly capable of cooling OCd cards, its just louder.

2. Matrix Platinum is ONLY voltage unlocked in ASUS GPU Tweak, and that is an application you would hate to see.

3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102961 <--- This one is ref for sure. These ones are worth checking out: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161399 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129204

in every single review it's mentioned that the ref designed cooler is extremely loud. that is a huge deal for me. I would avoid the ref cards at any cost tbh
 
Probably better to just get a standard 7970 if you're having to get a new PSU as well.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-273-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

Is a cracking deal IMO. You couldn't get 7950s for that price a while back.

very good point. Asus HD 7970 DirectCU II TOP is pretty much the same as the matrix minus the extra features. does it have the same overclocking capability?

this would save me a lot of money and save me from buying a new psu as well.
 
Back
Top Bottom