Asus HD 7970 Matrix Platinum 3072MB GDDR5 **IN STOCK**

[pgi947]

Rossi, get hold of a multi meter and read voltages directly to see what read-outs are true, had to do a similar thing with my 7970 as 3 different programs would read out 3 different voltages, Afterburner was the closest to being correct for me though its still ever so slightly out compared to a direct read out. 1.35v set would read 1.362v in AB and 1.3635v actual.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Rossi, get hold of a multi meter and read voltages directly to see what read-outs are true, had to do a similar thing with my 7970 as 3 different programs would read out 3 different voltages, Afterburner was the closest to being correct for me though its still ever so slightly out compared to a direct read out. 1.35v set would read 1.362v in AB and 1.3635v actual.

Could do, though i feel as though i really shouldn't.
I wouldn't mind but i am limited to just one overclocking utility, and it's rubbish.

 

[khaine1711]

Hi 1300MHz, just ramped up the sliders basically. There is one issue though. I do not know what voltage it's running at....1332mv is what GPUTweak has set, but detected is lower and when i use the buttons on the board, it sometimes detects the changes... lol.

Will push further later.

How's the temp and fan noise? I'm curious coz I can't really find any video of Asus DirectCU cooler fan noise under 100% speed.

That and the hundreds of pages complaining about the 7950/7970 DirectCU are the only things holding me back from getting one of these .

Still 1300/1800 is so nice. My Lightning can only get to 1260/1750 or 1200/1800

 

[Yaayuh!]

How's the temp and fan noise? I'm curious coz I can't really find any video of Asus DirectCU cooler fan noise under 100% speed.

That and the hundreds of pages complaining about the 7950/7970 DirectCU are the only things holding me back from getting one of these .

Still 1300/1800 is so nice. My Lightning can only get to 1260/1750 or 1200/1800

Temps @ 100% fan speed are low to mid 60s and is very loud. Though tbh when playing BF3 all i can here are guns and explosions regardless anyway... haha. But far too loud for casual gaming but fantastic for benchmarking
Temps @ Auto fan speed are mid to high 60s. Anything below 70% fan speed is acceptable in regards to noise IMO.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Ok. Conclusion of the ASUS HD7970 Matrix Platinum.

Overclock capabilities
This card can overclock quite far, I've managed 1300/7200 3dmark and heaven stable with 1350mv. However, gpu tweak sucks and I'll get to that in a minute.

Cooling
The hsf on this card (Direct CU II) is extremely good, and you would hope so given its size!!
Gaming @ 1250/7200 with the fans at around 65-70% the noise is acceptable, a massive improvement over the reference as you could imagine.

Gadgets
Being able to change the voltage and select 100% is handy for benching and suicide clocks but not inside a case... ASUS didn't really think about the placement of these buttons, they very tricky to press when in a case, I really have to squeeze my fingers in to press them. Twice I hit the SAFE button by mistake.... Which sets all settings back to default... Very annoying.

Best 7970 out there?
Probably, definitely has the potential to break some records yes, can overclock well, stay cool and can be bought cheaper than the lightning.
But alas, the card itself is fantastic, but that doesn't mean a thing when you can't enable the simplest of things like temperature, voltage and fan monitoring. Yes, I'm talking about gpu tweak.

GPU tweak is based on the same base application that MSIs Afterburner is. So we can really see it's potential. ASUS chose to use it, but their own, badly supported version. With little updates and next to no community awareness, I am shocked and appalled that ASUS see this as acceptable.
I've tried 4 versions now and I'm unable to do the following:
- Set a custom fan profile
- Monitor temperatures accurately
- Monitor voltages and frequencies with any accuracy
- Set voltages, accurately
- Have confidence that my settings save/apply. Sometimes just resets to default..
- Have confidence that the application won't crash

I am so close to sending this back, the only reason I'm not is because I'm holding out for ASUS to release GPU Tweak for the 7970 Matrix Platinum to enable me the features for day-to-day use. How can they provide you with such an amazing piece of kit and not provide the tools to use it properly?

On that note, I can no longer suggest this card for the average user/overclocker. Go spend a little more on the MSI Alternative and have Afterburner.
Only buy this card if:
- You want to break records with extreme cooling
- You're ok with waiting for ASUS to sort out their GPU Tweak, of which there is no promise.

 

[whyscotty]

Thanks for the heads up

 

[LtMatt]

Ok. Conclusion of the ASUS HD7970 Matrix Platinum.

Overclock capabilities
This card can overclock quite far, I've managed 1300/7200 3dmark and heaven stable with 1350mv. However, gpu tweak sucks and I'll get to that in a minute.

Cooling
The hsf on this card (Direct CU II) is extremely good, and you would hope so given its size!!
Gaming @ 1250/7200 with the fans at around 65-70% the noise is acceptable, a massive improvement over the reference as you could imagine.

Gadgets
Being able to change the voltage and select 100% is handy for benching and suicide clocks but not inside a case... ASUS didn't really think about the placement of these buttons, they very tricky to press when in a case, I really have to squeeze my fingers in to press them. Twice I hit the SAFE button by mistake.... Which sets all settings back to default... Very annoying.

Best 7970 out there?
Probably, definitely has the potential to break some records yes, can overclock well, stay cool and can be bought cheaper than the lightning.
But alas, the card itself is fantastic, but that doesn't mean a thing when you can't enable the simplest of things like temperature, voltage and fan monitoring. Yes, I'm talking about gpu tweak.

GPU tweak is based on the same base application that MSIs Afterburner is. So we can really see it's potential. ASUS chose to use it, but their own, badly supported version. With little updates and next to no community awareness, I am shocked and appalled that ASUS see this as acceptable.
I've tried 4 versions now and I'm unable to do the following:
- Set a custom fan profile
- Monitor temperatures accurately
- Monitor voltages and frequencies with any accuracy
- Set voltages, accurately
- Have confidence that my settings save/apply. Sometimes just resets to default..
- Have confidence that the application won't crash

I am so close to sending this back, the only reason I'm not is because I'm holding out for ASUS to release GPU Tweak for the 7970 Matrix Platinum to enable me the features for day-to-day use. How can they provide you with such an amazing piece of kit and not provide the tools to use it properly?

On that note, I can no longer suggest this card for the average user/overclocker. Go spend a little more on the MSI Alternative and have Afterburner.
Only buy this card if:
- You want to break records with extreme cooling
- You're ok with waiting for ASUS to sort out their GPU Tweak, of which there is no promise.

Thanks for the feedback Rossi.

Worth an extra £100 compared to the 7970 reference i have?

 

[Yaayuh!]

The heatsink, the gpu and the potential is worth it over reference IMO.

 

[khaine1711]

Just wondering why can't Afterburner be used for the Matrix? I remember using it on various AMD card, Trixx too.

Guess I may hold on to my 7970 lightning for a while, even though I've already emailed OCuk to see if I could exchange it for a matrix .

 

[8 Pack]

Its the Bios that determines which piece of overclocking software is best used for a given card.

 

[Yaayuh!]

The fan controller and BIOS is only "supported" my GPU Tweak. It was the same with the GTX580 Matrix Platinum, but atleast it worked.

 

[8 Pack]

Sadly yes with regard to GPU tweak!!!

David and the team are working hard to improve it.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Sadly yes with regard to GPU tweak!!!

David and the team are working hard to improve it.

I really hope so. Because this can REALLY damage their sales. If I wasn't an ASUS fan then I'd send it back and I'd be re-posting this everywhere and really letting them have it.
I'm gobsmacked at the state of it with this card.

 

[8 Pack]

I will pass on your thoughts Rossi.

Monday morning I will check for an update on this situation and if I can get a beta for you to try.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Much obliged 8 Pack, that would be fantastic!

 

[Yaayuh!]

Would like to know if anyone else here got this card and can share their opinions/findings.

 

[FredBasset]

Mine should be here tomorrow, I have to say I'm disappointed to hear the issues Rossi has uncovered with GPUTweak.

I use Afterburner a lot so its a shame.

Anyway onwards and upwards, 12.11 drivers the best for these?

Cheers
Fred

 

[Yaayuh!]

Mine should be here tomorrow, I have to say I'm disappointed to hear the issues Rossi has uncovered with GPUTweak.

I use Afterburner a lot so its a shame.

Anyway onwards and upwards, 12.11 drivers the best for these?

Cheers
Fred

I'd be interested to see whether you have the issues as well or not. I'm not ruling out it being a card issue, unlikely as it works fine outside of GPU Tweak..

12.11 Beta4 (from AMD site) gives best and obvious results i've found

 

[FredBasset]

Cheers, I'll hopefully get it installed tomorrow night.

I'm not one for benchmarks but need quite a fast card for Eyefinity and the main title I use doesn't play nicely with Crossfire.

Cheers
Fred

 

[tmaxxthomson]

http://support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=MATRIX-HD7970-P-3GD5&p=9&s=10

firmware update for the card