The ASUS Matrix GTX580 Platinum is the premier Republic of Gamers graphics card. With its deep ROG bloodline ASUS engineers have designed an extremely impressive video card for Gamers, Overclockers and enthusiasts alike. On the outside the Matrix 580 has an intimidating appearance similar to its non ROG brother the GTX 580 Direct Copper II. Sharing an NVIDIA Fermi 580 graphics processing core, the Matrix and and DCUII support 512 Shader cores, NVIDIA 4-Way SLI and 1.5 Gigabytes of onboard GDDR5 memory. Both cards have two dual link DVI ports, one HDMI 1.4a and one full size Display port and the much desired Direct Copper heat pipe cooling system. How ever, on the inside we see something much more beautiful and well refined about the Matrix. The release of ASUS's Matrix 580 Delivers new features such as GPU TweakIt allowing high performance overclocking and optimization from within windows through a software interface. No more hardware voltage mods required Onboard voltage adjustment buttons (+ -) provide for convenient tuning of your graphics cards core voltage. Asus has raised the bar once again by including a Safe Mode button for quick and easy operational restoration of a corrupted BIOS or failed flashing. ROG engineers have taken the hugely successful GTX 580 Direct Copper II and given it an appropriate ROG makeover with the true embodiment of an Overclocker.
ASUS has a strong history of excellent retail packaging with its motherboards, today I can say that tradition has been fully shared with the ROG graphics card series. Conveniently topped with a carrying handle the retail packaging follows suit with Republic of Gamers mother boards in its ROG red color scheme and bold shimmering title. Looking at the box we first see a very powerful explosion as if the performance of this card can not be bound within the limits of its box. The logos for DirectX 11, NVIDIA CUDA, Phys X, and NVIDIA 3D Vision Ready are seen at the bottom of the box.
After working our way around the box we arrive to find a beautifully crafted GPU with a larger than life feel. Behind the stylishly cut window the pinnacle of graphics cards sits perched as if it is taunting us to let it out!
Located inside the retail box is an elegantly packaged accessories kit. The accessories kit supplied by Asus includes several useful items. Included in the kit a flexiable NVIDIA SLI Cable for connecting two NVIDIA graphics cards for increased performance seen in the upper left. Below the SLI cable are two six pin to 8 pin PCI express 12 volt converters. These cables are used when an older powersupply does not contain enough 8 pin PCI express power cables to power the card.. moving to the top right we see the Graphics Card Speed Setup guide for effortless installation and configuration of your new graphics card. inside you will find quick answers to your questions about the graphics card installation, layout, features and options. Below the setup guide is the ASUS provided driver support DVD The support DVD includes ROG CPU-Z, ROG GPU-Z, GPU TweakIT as well as the required hardware drivers and software for overclocking and tweaking your system. The last two items at the bottom of the picture are a ROG sticker presumably to be installed on your computer case, the last item is an old school DVI to VGA DSUB 15 adapter. The adapter is intended to provide backwards computability to legacy LCD and CRT monitors.
Enough about the retail box, its accessories and their uses! Here is what we have been waiting for! The ASUS Matrix GTX580 Platinum graphics card. Immediately I noticed the long standing tradition of the ROG red and black color scheme, from the heavy armored feel of the fan shroud to its sexy red accents and tapered edges. At the center of the card are two appropriately sized 90mm cooling fans. These fans will provide massive airflow through its enormous cooler. As if packed to survive the Armageddon the card fits snugly in its protective foam enclosure for shipping ensuring your Currier will need to go above and beyond the call of duty to damage this beast!
Turn the card over and we find the GPU back plate for the stabilized mounting of the cooler. The back plate also provides assistance in supporting the 11" long PCB reducing component stress by limiting board flexibility. I find this back plate to very comforting as it helps eliminate deadly accidental short circuits or physically damaged components on the back of the card. Located directly under the GPU core we see the ultra-quality NEC TOKIN proadlizers (prompt, broadband and stabilizer) This is used to reduce high-frequency noise in power supplied to the GPU core. Notice the series of holes in the back plate. These holes are intentionally placed as to allow sufficient airflow for passive cooling of the cards printed circuit board. Directly below the GPU core is the GPU's serial number, you may want to take note of serial number during installation as it may be difficult to access in a fully assembled system. On a side note this graphics card is slightly taller than the reference GTX 580 as the PCB stands taller than the I/O support bracket.
The I/O panel of the GTX580 Platinum is very impressive and feature rich for a graphics card. This card sports an unprecedented Safe Mode BIOS switch to be used in situations of a corrupt BIOS or when flashing the graphics card firmware results in failure. Safe Mode is very useful for Overclockers and trouble shooting in a time crunch. The Matrix has two dual-link DVI-I outputs, a full size version 1.4a HDMI output, and a full size display port for professional workstation displays. To the right of the I/O ports we see the rear thermal exhaust vent for the graphics card cooling system. Note, not all of the heat is removed through the cards I/O exhaust. The open cooler design also dissipates heat into the systems chassis.
ASUS MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM RESOURCES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : UNBOXING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : SYSTEM BUILDING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : OVERCLOCKING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : EXTREME OVERCLOKING
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ASUS has a strong history of excellent retail packaging with its motherboards, today I can say that tradition has been fully shared with the ROG graphics card series. Conveniently topped with a carrying handle the retail packaging follows suit with Republic of Gamers mother boards in its ROG red color scheme and bold shimmering title. Looking at the box we first see a very powerful explosion as if the performance of this card can not be bound within the limits of its box. The logos for DirectX 11, NVIDIA CUDA, Phys X, and NVIDIA 3D Vision Ready are seen at the bottom of the box.
When we turn the box over we can see Asus has provided the owners with a brief overview of the cards features. Flip open the front of the box and we find an informative section with more detail of the ROG Overclocking aspects ad features. On the left side of the box we see pictures depicting the physical TweakIt voltage buttons. Also shown is the GPU Tweak software for GPU Core and Memory tuning and monitoring. Near the bottom there is a nice photo of the GPU's 19 phase power design as well as an exploded view of the Direct Copper II cooling system. Additional information on the inside flap of the retail box informs us of the graphics cards specifications. The Matrix Core is factory overclocked to 816MHz and is complemented with 1.5 Gigabytes of GDDR5 onboard memory through a wide 384bit memory bus. The GDDR5 is also overclocked and comes stock at an amazing 4.8GHz. System builders should note ASUS recommends using a 700 Watt or greater capacity power supply with two 8 pin EPS 12 Volt PCI express power connectors.
The inside flap provides even more detailed information of the unique attributes of this card. The Matrix heatsink acts as a graphics load indicator light blue lights on the Matrix logo represent a light load while red lights represent extreme work load conditions.
The inside flap provides even more detailed information of the unique attributes of this card. The Matrix heatsink acts as a graphics load indicator light blue lights on the Matrix logo represent a light load while red lights represent extreme work load conditions.
After working our way around the box we arrive to find a beautifully crafted GPU with a larger than life feel. Behind the stylishly cut window the pinnacle of graphics cards sits perched as if it is taunting us to let it out!
Located inside the retail box is an elegantly packaged accessories kit. The accessories kit supplied by Asus includes several useful items. Included in the kit a flexiable NVIDIA SLI Cable for connecting two NVIDIA graphics cards for increased performance seen in the upper left. Below the SLI cable are two six pin to 8 pin PCI express 12 volt converters. These cables are used when an older powersupply does not contain enough 8 pin PCI express power cables to power the card.. moving to the top right we see the Graphics Card Speed Setup guide for effortless installation and configuration of your new graphics card. inside you will find quick answers to your questions about the graphics card installation, layout, features and options. Below the setup guide is the ASUS provided driver support DVD The support DVD includes ROG CPU-Z, ROG GPU-Z, GPU TweakIT as well as the required hardware drivers and software for overclocking and tweaking your system. The last two items at the bottom of the picture are a ROG sticker presumably to be installed on your computer case, the last item is an old school DVI to VGA DSUB 15 adapter. The adapter is intended to provide backwards computability to legacy LCD and CRT monitors.
Enough about the retail box, its accessories and their uses! Here is what we have been waiting for! The ASUS Matrix GTX580 Platinum graphics card. Immediately I noticed the long standing tradition of the ROG red and black color scheme, from the heavy armored feel of the fan shroud to its sexy red accents and tapered edges. At the center of the card are two appropriately sized 90mm cooling fans. These fans will provide massive airflow through its enormous cooler. As if packed to survive the Armageddon the card fits snugly in its protective foam enclosure for shipping ensuring your Currier will need to go above and beyond the call of duty to damage this beast!
Turn the card over and we find the GPU back plate for the stabilized mounting of the cooler. The back plate also provides assistance in supporting the 11" long PCB reducing component stress by limiting board flexibility. I find this back plate to very comforting as it helps eliminate deadly accidental short circuits or physically damaged components on the back of the card. Located directly under the GPU core we see the ultra-quality NEC TOKIN proadlizers (prompt, broadband and stabilizer) This is used to reduce high-frequency noise in power supplied to the GPU core. Notice the series of holes in the back plate. These holes are intentionally placed as to allow sufficient airflow for passive cooling of the cards printed circuit board. Directly below the GPU core is the GPU's serial number, you may want to take note of serial number during installation as it may be difficult to access in a fully assembled system. On a side note this graphics card is slightly taller than the reference GTX 580 as the PCB stands taller than the I/O support bracket.
The I/O panel of the GTX580 Platinum is very impressive and feature rich for a graphics card. This card sports an unprecedented Safe Mode BIOS switch to be used in situations of a corrupt BIOS or when flashing the graphics card firmware results in failure. Safe Mode is very useful for Overclockers and trouble shooting in a time crunch. The Matrix has two dual-link DVI-I outputs, a full size version 1.4a HDMI output, and a full size display port for professional workstation displays. To the right of the I/O ports we see the rear thermal exhaust vent for the graphics card cooling system. Note, not all of the heat is removed through the cards I/O exhaust. The open cooler design also dissipates heat into the systems chassis.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : UNBOXING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : SYSTEM BUILDING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : OVERCLOCKING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : EXTREME OVERCLOKING
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ASUS Matrix GTX580 Platinum Unboxing Continued...
Asus has taken it one step further with the GTX580 Platinum cooling solution, the heatsink is a remarkable blend of performance and aesthetics. The use of a five extra large heat pipes and 110 aluminum fins provides excellent cooling for the Fermi graphics chip even under extreme overclocking conditions. At the heart of the cooling system is the Direct Copper II Thermal design. The DCUII architecture uses direct heatsink to GPU Core contact of all five copper heatpipes, providing the most effective means of quickly transporting heat away from the graphics core and out to the aluminum fins to be taken away by the dual 90mm high flow PWM fans. The Direct Copper design has proven its self as a very capable cooler, demonstration over 600% increase in airflow and a 20% reduction in GPU Core temperatures compared to reference designs. I must note a large benefit of the dual 90mm fans is the noticeable reduction in noise generated by the cooler, this is apparent when idle and under full load.
The Overclocking area has several previously unseen features like the handy manual fan override. This button pushes the PWM temperature controlled fans into overdrive with a constant 100% duty cycle. Other features found include the ProbeIt read points for measuring direct voltage of the GPU Core, Memory, PLL, 3.3V rail, 12V rail via a multimeter. Located below the red fan button, the + and - buttons are used for on the fly voltage adjustment. Physical voltage adjustment is very useful for increasing or decreasing GPU Core voltage while running a benchmark or when in need of a little extra gaming juice. To the right of the TweakIt buttons are ten LED lights that display voltage status in a similar way the GPU load indicator operates, all 10 light will give a red light status indicating maximum voltage is being applied to the GPU core.
The above picture shows us four open circuits, easily accessible and conveniently labeled. For extreme users and ideally LN2 Overclockers the shorting of these circuits by use of solder, conductive pen or variable resistor allows the card to operate with Over Current Protection disabled. Disabling OCP is needed to achieve frequencies above 1300MHz core clock. If this is not disabled the cards internal fail safes will trip and protect the card from drawing too much power under load by shutting down the card. The two center circuits are shorted to increase the GPU PLL and PCI express lane reference voltage. The very bottom circuit is a surprising and new mod for graphics cards. Power PWM Frequency refers to the switching frequency of power supplied to the graphics core. Shorting this will double the switching frequency from 250KHz to a staggering 500KHz. The higher switching frequency provides a faster reaction time for the power phases to meet the varying GPU power demand. These mods help the GPU surpass clock speeds upwards of 1600MHz or more when operated at below freezing temperatures for example with Phase change cooling systems, Dry Ice, Liquid Nitrogen, or some lucky Canadians.
Positioned at the far back of the card are two 8pin EPS 12 volt PCI express power connectors used to supply additional 12 volt power to the graphics card for maximum graphics stability and overclocking potential. Directly behind the power connectors are two sets of LED lights. These lights display the status of the 12v auxiliary power connectors and can be helpful in troubleshooting faulty cables or connections. To the left of the 8pin plugs are the six ProbeIt voltage read points I discussed earlier.
With the Cooling assembly removed we can clearly see the unprecedented 19 phase Power for the GPU graphics core. The Matrix Power design consists of Japaneses super alloy capacitors, Super Alloy Chokes that act as electronic filters, Drivers and Digital super alloy VRM's "Voltage Regulator Module". Above the GPUs 19 power phases is an additional 4 power phases for the GPU memory The extra power phases help with energy efficiency, power quality and overclocking potential. The reliability of the video card has been improved with lower power component and board temperatures. Look closly and you will see four gold caped white fuses, these are used to limit the total current draw of the card in order to prevent fatal damage to the VRM's and other components.
To the upper left we see two NVIDIA SLI gold fingers or "Bridge connectors" these are used to connect multiple NVIDIA graphics cards for 3 & 4-Way SLI. The bottom of the card is home to the 164 PCI express 16 pins supporting a full bi-directional 16x graphics lane. Take a step back and gaze upon this naked card for all its beauty, admire this engineering feat of victory as ASUS engineers have bundled an unbelievable amount of performance and ingenuity into an all inclusive gift.
The Matrix GTX 580 Platinum has renewed my joyful ROG spirit within, Bringing back the euphoric moments of my favorite ROG products. ASUS has truly outdone itself, I must thank all of the employees of ASUS for creating a product worthy of the enthusiast community!
ASUS MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM RESOURCES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : UNBOXING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : SYSTEM BUILDING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : OVERCLOCKING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : EXTREME OVERCLOKING
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Below the primary cooling assembly we see the heart of the NVIDIA GTX 580. There are twelve 128MB Samsung DDR5 memory modules soldered to the board for a total of 1536MB of Memory, to power the memory ASUS used high quality solid-state capacitors and chokes in construction of the 4 phase Digital PWM memory power design. The Platinum also has 19 additional power Phases hidden under the secondary VRM heatsink. With the cooler removed you can really see the depth of a 3 slot wide card by looking at the PCI support bracket.
Asus has taken it one step further with the GTX580 Platinum cooling solution, the heatsink is a remarkable blend of performance and aesthetics. The use of a five extra large heat pipes and 110 aluminum fins provides excellent cooling for the Fermi graphics chip even under extreme overclocking conditions. At the heart of the cooling system is the Direct Copper II Thermal design. The DCUII architecture uses direct heatsink to GPU Core contact of all five copper heatpipes, providing the most effective means of quickly transporting heat away from the graphics core and out to the aluminum fins to be taken away by the dual 90mm high flow PWM fans. The Direct Copper design has proven its self as a very capable cooler, demonstration over 600% increase in airflow and a 20% reduction in GPU Core temperatures compared to reference designs. I must note a large benefit of the dual 90mm fans is the noticeable reduction in noise generated by the cooler, this is apparent when idle and under full load.
The Overclocking area has several previously unseen features like the handy manual fan override. This button pushes the PWM temperature controlled fans into overdrive with a constant 100% duty cycle. Other features found include the ProbeIt read points for measuring direct voltage of the GPU Core, Memory, PLL, 3.3V rail, 12V rail via a multimeter. Located below the red fan button, the + and - buttons are used for on the fly voltage adjustment. Physical voltage adjustment is very useful for increasing or decreasing GPU Core voltage while running a benchmark or when in need of a little extra gaming juice. To the right of the TweakIt buttons are ten LED lights that display voltage status in a similar way the GPU load indicator operates, all 10 light will give a red light status indicating maximum voltage is being applied to the GPU core.
The above picture shows us four open circuits, easily accessible and conveniently labeled. For extreme users and ideally LN2 Overclockers the shorting of these circuits by use of solder, conductive pen or variable resistor allows the card to operate with Over Current Protection disabled. Disabling OCP is needed to achieve frequencies above 1300MHz core clock. If this is not disabled the cards internal fail safes will trip and protect the card from drawing too much power under load by shutting down the card. The two center circuits are shorted to increase the GPU PLL and PCI express lane reference voltage. The very bottom circuit is a surprising and new mod for graphics cards. Power PWM Frequency refers to the switching frequency of power supplied to the graphics core. Shorting this will double the switching frequency from 250KHz to a staggering 500KHz. The higher switching frequency provides a faster reaction time for the power phases to meet the varying GPU power demand. These mods help the GPU surpass clock speeds upwards of 1600MHz or more when operated at below freezing temperatures for example with Phase change cooling systems, Dry Ice, Liquid Nitrogen, or some lucky Canadians.
Positioned at the far back of the card are two 8pin EPS 12 volt PCI express power connectors used to supply additional 12 volt power to the graphics card for maximum graphics stability and overclocking potential. Directly behind the power connectors are two sets of LED lights. These lights display the status of the 12v auxiliary power connectors and can be helpful in troubleshooting faulty cables or connections. To the left of the 8pin plugs are the six ProbeIt voltage read points I discussed earlier.
With the Cooling assembly removed we can clearly see the unprecedented 19 phase Power for the GPU graphics core. The Matrix Power design consists of Japaneses super alloy capacitors, Super Alloy Chokes that act as electronic filters, Drivers and Digital super alloy VRM's "Voltage Regulator Module". Above the GPUs 19 power phases is an additional 4 power phases for the GPU memory The extra power phases help with energy efficiency, power quality and overclocking potential. The reliability of the video card has been improved with lower power component and board temperatures. Look closly and you will see four gold caped white fuses, these are used to limit the total current draw of the card in order to prevent fatal damage to the VRM's and other components.
To the upper left we see two NVIDIA SLI gold fingers or "Bridge connectors" these are used to connect multiple NVIDIA graphics cards for 3 & 4-Way SLI. The bottom of the card is home to the 164 PCI express 16 pins supporting a full bi-directional 16x graphics lane. Take a step back and gaze upon this naked card for all its beauty, admire this engineering feat of victory as ASUS engineers have bundled an unbelievable amount of performance and ingenuity into an all inclusive gift.
The Matrix GTX 580 Platinum has renewed my joyful ROG spirit within, Bringing back the euphoric moments of my favorite ROG products. ASUS has truly outdone itself, I must thank all of the employees of ASUS for creating a product worthy of the enthusiast community!
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : UNBOXING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : SYSTEM BUILDING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : OVERCLOCKING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : EXTREME OVERCLOKING
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
GPU Tweak is a new Graphics Processing Unit Overclocking tool to adjust frequencies, voltages, monitor temps, load, fan control... GPU Tweak includes several new and interesting features you will want to check out. I was excited to hear about the new HD on screen video capture ability and BIOS flashing tool.
GPU Tweak Home
GPU Tweak Memory Tuning
GPU Tweak VBIOS Live Update
GPU Tweak Main Settings
GPU Tweak Tuning Settings
GPU Tweak Settings Live Update.
From here Live Update can be enabled and its schedule priority and frequency can be modified.
GPU Tweak Settings Hotkey
GPU Tweak Info
GPU Tweak Monitor
GPU Tweak Monitor Settings
GPU Tweak Apply Overclocking Settings
GPU Tweak OC Profile Save & Burn
GPU Tweak Home
From the home page users will be able to adjust the graphics card core clock, core voltage, Memory Clock, memory voltage. Scroll down the list and there are two settings to adjust the both of the Matrix GTX 580 fan speeds independently.
GPU Tweak Memory Tuning
The ROG memory tuning tab allow the modification of the graphics card on board memory latencies.
GPU Tweak VBIOS Live Update
A unique feature of the GPU Tweak software is the ability to download and update the video card BIOS.
GPU Tweak Main Settings
Within the GPU Tweak settings menu users can configure the tweaking and monitor software to start with windows at boot, as well as enable and disable tool tip hints. This is a huge improvement over the previous Smart Doctor software.
GPU Tweak Tuning Settings
Within the settings for GPU Tweak tuning the PEX_VDD can be added to the homepage as a voltage adjustment. From here you will be able to remove settings you plan on not using. to my surprise ASUS has offered keyboard and mouse sensitivity adjustments. at the bottom of the page is the configuration for the benchmark button, simply brows to and select the .EXE for your favorite benchmark or stress testing tool. On the main menu selecting the benchmark button will launch the desired benchmark. Make sure to check the remember box to resume your saved configuration at boot.
From here Live Update can be enabled and its schedule priority and frequency can be modified.
GPU Tweak Settings Recording.
The integration of on screen video recording is unprecedented for overclocking software. This recording feature supports 720P video recording including audio input capabilities. The file format, audio source and video frame rate can be modified.
The integration of on screen video recording is unprecedented for overclocking software. This recording feature supports 720P video recording including audio input capabilities. The file format, audio source and video frame rate can be modified.
GPU Tweak Settings Hotkey
Multiple OC programs offer hotkey functionality but ASUS provides and impressive array of custom benchmarking functions. Instant application of any 4 user configured profiles, up and down core clock adjustment. For gamers there are hotkeys to enable a silent or OC gaming profile.
GPU Tweak Info
GPU Tweak comes with a ROG version of the famous GPU-Z. GPU-Z provides extremely detailed information about the selected graphics card for verification of clock frequencies.
GPU Tweak Monitor
The GPU Tweak Monitor offers graphical readouts of the Memory temperature, FP Usage, GPU Voltage, Memory Voltage, and PCI express 12 rail voltage. At the bottom of the monitor list it is possible to monitor any graphics card available to the system through the drop down box. The top of each graph lists the Minimum and Maximum readings for the GPU Tweak session.
GPU Tweak Monitor Second Page
Using the slider to scroll down there are an additional 5 monitoring graphs. Seen above the aditional readouts include; GPU usage, GPU Temperature, Power Circuits temperature, VID usage, and PEX_VDD (PCI express Voltage).
Using the slider to scroll down there are an additional 5 monitoring graphs. Seen above the aditional readouts include; GPU usage, GPU Temperature, Power Circuits temperature, VID usage, and PEX_VDD (PCI express Voltage).
GPU Tweak Monitor Settings
Click on the Monitor settings icon. From here additional graphs can be added to or removed from the monitor independently for each graphics card.. Pulling frequency or the "Fetch Interval" can be adjusted for more sensitive readings. make note it is possible to change the monitor display skin for an alternative appearance.
GPU Tweak Apply Overclocking Settings
Overclocking has been simplified by ASUS with GPU Tweak. Simply move the GPU core clock slider and the software will sync the GPU's core voltage in order to stabilize the clock speed within the 1150mV safety range. Make note it is possible to click on the frequency box and manually key in the value or use the left and right arrow keys to increase and decrease the value. More experienced overclockers may want to disable the Core Clock:Voltage sync by deselecting the lock icon. Click the Apply button once desired overclock frequencies have been selected to make them effective.
GPU Tweak OC Profile Save & Burn
After finly tuning your graphics card for performance and stability it is possible to save your successful BIOS profile to one of 4 slots. When settled on a profile compatible with every day needs or maybe extreme overclocking desires it is possible to Burn the profile into the BIOS by flashing the desired changes to the graphics card internal VBIOS. The BIOS Burn feature retains overclocked settings through reboots and POST. From the moment of boot the GPU will power on with its overclocked settings. In the event VBIOS settings are damaged during a Burn or the profile is not stable and prevents proper GPU operations ASUS has provided a Safe Mode button on the Matrix GTX 580 Monitor I/O connections. The Safe Mode button resets the VBIOS to its factory default reviving the card from an otherwise "bricked" state.
ASUS MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM RESOURCES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : UNBOXING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : SYSTEM BUILDING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : OVERCLOCKING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : EXTREME OVERCLOKING
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : UNBOXING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : SYSTEM BUILDING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : OVERCLOCKING
MATRIX GTX580 PLATINUM : EXTREME OVERCLOKING
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reserved*
Im sorry, the 3D Mark Vantage came with the motherboard I was using not the GPU
glenn with 2 n's wrote:
now what has me stuck is the components on the matrix, where there’s the heat spreader. what im down to figuring out is how beneficial would it be, or is it needed if i rigged/modded an additional universal vga block to that heat spreader? or is case air flow more then enough for what kind of cooling the components need?
the goal for this down the road is get it set up now so down the road adding a 2nd matrix for a sli set up will be simple hookup an pop-in.
figured since how you reviewed all the stuff with the matrix, probably know these details?
I recommend having a case fan directing airflow over the VRM heatsink if you plan on overclocking 😄
It is not required to liquid cool the VRM's as the 19 Phase GPU power sufficiently distributes the heat load on the VRM's and reduces overall temperature in that area of the board.
I use the stock VRM cooler to bench this card on liquid Nitrogen at 1500MHz + and have no problems with the VRM's getting too hot.
Thank you all for the feedback, would anyone like to see a point diagram of the card where I indicate the location of board components and describe them in detail?
