ASUS HD 5870 Matrix Platinum 2 GB

Another review of the Matrix HD5870. Overclocking scaled to 1020MHz with 1.3V, which is the same like a reference HD5870. There's something strange going on when the reviewer states that the GTX480 might be better bang for the buck. Awaiting the first extreme overclocking review of the Matrix card ... maybe that's the only way we'll see the quality of the PCB.

Among all the glitz, the Matrix Platinum does fumble in a few areas. To start with, price. While some may argue that at with twice the memory and all the other paraphernalia thrown in US $499 is reasonable, you can't be sure of that. Two cards in particular tilt the value for money equation here, the HD 5870 with 1 GB of memory which can be had for even as low as $399 (some of the non-reference designs such as PowerColor HD 5870 PCS+ can be extremely nice with their overclocking potential and fan-noise levels) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480. Also at $499, the GTX 480 has higher performance, some overclocking potential, and things that will make the GTX 480 a better buy for the same price, albeit horrible power draw figures.