# ASUS Radeon HD 5870 MATRIX 2GB Graphics Card Pictured



## btarunr (Feb 11, 2010)

ASUS' Republic of Gamers MATRIX series of graphics cards is getting a new member, the EAH5870 MATRIX. This model, based on the ATI Radeon HD 5870 GPU has high-end construction, cooling, and voltage regulators, out of the box higher clock speeds, overclocking headroom, and twice the amount of memory: 2 GB. The cooler and backplate design resembles that of ASUS' GeForce GTX 285 MATRIX. 

The clock speeds on this card stand at 900 MHz (core) and 1225 MHz (memory, 4900 MHz effective). The card seems to have a stronger VRM circuit that supports higher clock speeds. It draws power from two 8-pin PCI-Express connectors. Display connectivity includes one each of DVI-D, HDMI, and DisplayPort. 

Overclocker-friendly features may include ASUS' VoltageTweak software voltage control, a "safe mode" button that falls back to failsafe clock speed and voltage settings, among other things. There is no word on its availability, though we expect to learn more about this card at the upcoming CeBIT event. 



 

 

 



*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


----------



## ZoneDymo (Feb 11, 2010)

2 x 8-pin wtf :S


----------



## sapetto (Feb 11, 2010)

Pure smex  But it will be overpriced maybe


----------



## cadaveca (Feb 11, 2010)

huh. What about eyefinity? 2GB card, no eyefinity?


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Feb 11, 2010)

ZoneDymo said:


> 2 x 8-pin wtf :S



for overclocking headroom


----------



## TVman (Feb 11, 2010)

nobody has a psu with 2 8pin connectors what a FAIL


----------



## werez (Feb 11, 2010)

now that looks good !


----------



## fullinfusion (Feb 11, 2010)

TVman said:


> nobody has a psu with 2 8pin connectors what a FAIL


What are you talking about?
My psu has 6   8pin connectors 

I cant wait till Wizard gets his hands on one for testing


----------



## pantherx12 (Feb 11, 2010)

TVman said:


> nobody has a psu with 2 8pin connectors what a FAIL





Really?

My last one had 4, it was only 750w : ]


----------



## dir_d (Feb 11, 2010)

Mine has 2 8pins its an 850

This Card is teh sex if it performs well this will be my next card or the MSI lightning.


----------



## Delta6326 (Feb 11, 2010)

TVman said:


> nobody has a psu with 2 8pin connectors what a FAIL



i do with only 800w


----------



## pantherx12 (Feb 11, 2010)

Hells even this psu has 3 ( yes I know, odd number lol)

Don't really fancy this card myself, I'd rather a regular 5870 with aftermarket cooling.


----------



## TVman (Feb 11, 2010)

i was being sarcastic but what EVAR


----------



## pantherx12 (Feb 11, 2010)

I blame the internet for my lack of spotting that <_<


----------



## afw (Feb 11, 2010)

wow ... simply stunning ...  ...

but why 2 x 8-pin connectors ... wouldn't 6-pin +8-pin be enough ...


----------



## Steevo (Feb 11, 2010)

Not if you want to push this bastard to all new heights with moar powah.


----------



## pantherx12 (Feb 11, 2010)

afw said:


> wow ... simply stunning ...  ...
> 
> but why 2 x 8-pin connectors ... wouldn't 6-pin +8-pin be enough ...




its for people with dice pots and phase change coolers and liquid helium reserves.

So they can really really push the card and know power will not be an issue.


----------



## PP Mguire (Feb 11, 2010)

.....do want.....


----------



## Selene (Feb 11, 2010)

very sexy card.


----------



## warup89 (Feb 11, 2010)

...just when i thought this card wouldn't get any more expensive, dang it!....sweet looking card too.


----------



## DailymotionGamer (Feb 11, 2010)

WOW, that card looks like a beast. Nice card, but not my cup of tea.


----------



## WarEagleAU (Feb 11, 2010)

well they did improve the VRM and power circuitry so its not just for the extreme coolers. I Do hope they produce more than 1000 of these and dont charge an arrogant price for it.


----------



## erocker (Feb 11, 2010)

Let's see what kind of "improvements" 2gb of ram gives with this card. Hopefully it's not just higher latency with around the same bandwith of the 1gb cards.


----------



## t77snapshot (Feb 11, 2010)

Memory: 4900mhz effective! 

Wil this card be cheaper then a 5970?


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 11, 2010)

Water block + that card = some awesome, very awesome results.


----------



## cadaveca (Feb 11, 2010)

erocker said:


> Let's see what kind of "improvements" 2gb of ram gives with this card. Hopefully it's not just higher latency with around the same bandwith of the 1gb cards.



I'm with you on this, but I do know that eyefinity has higher mem requirements, due to the extra resolution. Might give a couple of % only...but that can help. curerntly only getting avg 20-30FPS in every game, which isn't enough, and Crossfire adds it's own issues. Hopefully the extra power will allow high enough clocks to push Crossfire into 60FPS+++ area...

But seemingly, DVi/HDMI/DP...ugh. 2xdvi and DP is what I need...


----------



## Animalpak (Feb 11, 2010)

Just a little bit longer than mine.


----------



## pabloc74 (Feb 11, 2010)

TVman said:


> nobody has a psu with 2 8pin connectors what a FAIL



i have 6 connectors


----------



## TheLaughingMan (Feb 11, 2010)

I too will complain about the 2 8-pins.  I thought the 5000 series used less power than their 4000 series parallels.  If that is the case, why would the pin count go up?


----------



## dir_d (Feb 11, 2010)

TheLaughingMan said:


> I too will complain about the 2 8-pins.  I thought the 5000 series used less power than their 4000 series parallels.  If that is the case, why would the pin count go up?



These cards are meant to be overclocked and ran at 1000+Mhz


----------



## Zubasa (Feb 11, 2010)

[I.R.A]_FBi said:


> for overclocking headroom





dir_d said:


> These cards are meant to be overclocked and ran at 1000+Mhz


The thing is even at 1000Mhz+ 6+8pin connectors are more than enough 
The extra pins on a 8-pin connector are just extra ground pins as far as I know.

Edit: Yup.
The 4870X2 did not explode with its 6+8pin connector, I seriously doubt that a Cypress will ever draw more power than a 4870X2.


----------



## Duffman (Feb 11, 2010)

Animalpak said:


> Just a little bit longer than mine.
> 
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/100211/DSC00401.jpg



Is that pic real?  I only see  6 and 8 pin


----------



## TheLaughingMan (Feb 11, 2010)

dir_d said:


> These cards are meant to be overclocked and ran at 1000+Mhz



Well, I am not well versed in these matters.  While I still think with GTX 295's that only have 6/8, then the same configuration should be able to feed this monster as well.  But I guess those do suck at OCing and this may be the solution to allow the 5870 2 GB to go futher.


----------



## Zubasa (Feb 11, 2010)

Duffman said:


> Is that pic real?  I only see  6 and 8 pin


That is the pic of a GTX 285


----------



## InnocentCriminal (Feb 11, 2010)

Now if I had won that instead of the Matrix GTX285 I wouldn't have sold it.


----------



## Duffman (Feb 11, 2010)

Zubasa said:


> That is the pic of a GTX 285



That would explain it then!


----------



## rjkoneill (Feb 11, 2010)

asus gpus are a real pain
i had asus 285s in sli

of course these were none reference so shopping for waterblocks was a massive burden

if asus can refine reference desings to accomodate WC enthusiasts then great

until then, these ROG cards will remain very low on my list of things to bother with at work


----------



## Nick89 (Feb 11, 2010)

FINALLY a 2GB 5870!!!

Now I have reason to get one! /if they start making normal ones.


----------



## Hunt3r (Feb 11, 2010)

Very nice it


----------



## Kitkat (Feb 11, 2010)

side looks cool top looks soooo... cheap



Nick89 said:


> FINALLY a 2GB 5870!!!
> 
> Now I have reason to get one! /if they start making normal ones.



yeah im ready for this 2gb ver to not be "extraordinary" lol that way we could get some


----------



## AsRock (Feb 11, 2010)

TVman said:


> nobody has a psu with 2 8pin connectors what a FAIL



Mine does in fact it has to 2x6 + 2x8.  And even if there was not any the card is most likley to come with one..


That sticker WTF is up with that lol.


----------



## Hunt3r (Feb 11, 2010)

I like the asus gtx 285 ..


----------



## ToTTenTranz (Feb 11, 2010)

erocker said:


> Let's see what kind of "improvements" 2gb of ram gives with this card. Hopefully it's not just higher latency with around the same bandwith of the 1gb cards.



Comparing to a single HD5870 in a single monitor? Little to no difference.

But two of these crossfired, connected to an eyefinity 3-monitor setup should be quite a speedbump over crossfired 1GB versions.



*Plus,* you can now totally max out GTA4 which is like, totally important


----------



## eidairaman1 (Feb 12, 2010)

whats their extreme board? matrix or top?


----------



## eidairaman1 (Feb 12, 2010)

Zubasa said:


> The thing is even at 1000Mhz+ 6+8pin connectors are more than enough
> The extra pins on a 8-pin connector are just extra ground pins as far as I know.
> 
> Edit: Yup.
> ...



ya the black lines should not be hot but common. Id get a Multimeter and see if you get a charge out of them


----------



## Wshlist (Feb 12, 2010)

*over the top.. of the house*

The latest PCIE specs already allow more power than before so 2 x 8pin on top of that  is overkill, even when it's more powerhungry, but perhaps it has 2 for older mobo's or something, still seems 2x6 should be more than enough though, I wonder what that thing eats anyway?
Perhaps they should do away with all those wires and start specifying 2 solid inch thick copper rods to the PSU.
Talking of rods, I think 16 wires combine to a thicker conduit than my lightningrod, think about that for a sec.


----------



## ToTTenTranz (Feb 12, 2010)

eidairaman1 said:


> whats their extreme board? matrix or top?



Matrix.

Tops are usually just standard cards with vgpu adjustment through bios and a small pre-overclock (5% or so).


----------



## Sasqui (Feb 12, 2010)

Now if it were white with an apple logo on it, I'd bite.


----------



## Nick89 (Feb 12, 2010)

Sasqui said:


> Now if it were white with an apple logo on it, I'd bite.



wut?


----------



## ToTTenTranz (Feb 12, 2010)

I wonder if this Matrix version will be more expensive than the 6-output HD5870 2GB that was announced by AMD back in 2009.

Plus, the standard 2GB model will have 8+6 pin connectors.


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Feb 12, 2010)

Sasqui said:


> Now if it were white with an apple logo on it, I'd bite.



bite into a worm ....


----------



## Sasqui (Feb 12, 2010)

[I.R.A]_FBi said:


> bite into a worm ....



LOL,  I think you got the sarcasm in that comment.


----------



## mastrdrver (Feb 12, 2010)

cadaveca said:


> huh. What about eyefinity? 2GB card, no eyefinity?



It will support Eyefinity. On the reference ATI card, the two DVI and HDMI outputs share 2 drivers. This is why you have to use the Display Port to run Eyefinity.

It should be interesting to see how this does again the 1GB card in an Eyefinity setup. Will the extra memory help at higher resolutions?


----------



## Animalpak (Feb 12, 2010)

The true things about Matrix doped editions are :

- They are cooler than stock versions
- Better overclocking performance
- Less crash BSOD

They are absolutley not quiet.


----------



## lism (Feb 12, 2010)

You dont buy a matrix for usual gaming.

Rather higher oc speeds, handpicked GPU's and so on.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Feb 12, 2010)

Id grab one if its truly an asus design as of PCB and cooling designs


----------



## btarunr (Feb 12, 2010)

Kitkat said:


> side looks cool top looks soooo... cheap



If it's the white color "Matrix" is what is looking cheap, then actually it's illuminated. Behind there  are LEDs of any color you want to set (via software). In the picture below it's illuminated red:







Here it's white:


----------



## CDdude55 (Feb 12, 2010)

Very nice.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Feb 12, 2010)

if i can get some numbers from that card I might very well pick it up over the others (and i wanted a XFX but they have yet to release their own PCB designs)


----------



## EarlZ (Feb 12, 2010)

Makes you wonder how it clocks if it had 10x 8pin connectors and 2x 24pins


----------



## Wile E (Feb 12, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> its for people with dice pots and phase change coolers and liquid helium reserves.
> 
> So they can really really push the card and know power will not be an issue.



6 pin plugs can provide just as much power. The 8 pin only adds 2 grounds, no power wires.


----------



## Bjorn_Of_Iceland (Feb 12, 2010)

yeah.. 2 8 pins.. just another show of RoG exessiveness for miniscule gains.


----------



## roast (Feb 12, 2010)

Excellent!

I just want to see more 2GB cards!


----------



## Easo (Feb 12, 2010)

Well, this may be a bit future proof, and if you like to mod games with 4096x4096 textures...


----------



## werez (Feb 12, 2010)

WarEagleAU said:


> well they did improve the VRM and power circuitry so its not just for the extreme coolers. I Do hope they produce more than 1000 of these and dont charge an arrogant price for it.



I have a very strong feeling the price will shock us all to death


----------



## Phxprovost (Feb 12, 2010)

whats with the fujitsu hardware poking its way out of the backplate? and why does anyone care it needs 2x 8 pins? you know everyone here would still use it even if it needed 4 of them, so stop complaining


----------



## shevanel (Feb 12, 2010)

what purpose does extra ground wires serve then?

are they slamming 2x8 on it for limiting  PSU limitations?


----------



## pantherx12 (Feb 12, 2010)

Wile E said:


> 6 pin plugs can provide just as much power. The 8 pin only adds 2 grounds, no power wires.



Which allows it to safely supply up to 150 watts vs 75 watts of a 6 pin connection : ]


----------



## WSP (Feb 12, 2010)

guys you should thank asus for putting 2x8pin.if not,then your 8pin pcie would be a waste,and you have to pay it.
u dont wanna pay stuff u dont use,right?

if asus made it limited,then it is for people with limitless money


----------



## H82LUZ73 (Feb 12, 2010)

ZoneDymo said:


> 2 x 8-pin wtf :S



The card seems to have a stronger VRM circuit that supports higher clock speeds. It draws power from two 8-pin PCI-Express connectors

Meaning the FuJitsi power digital and needs more grounds for it may just maybe eh.Why all you guys complaining about the 2-8 pin it is not like the PSU manufacture`s have been saying they will switch to this standard sometime this year .........Ennermax and Cosair are 2 that i can think of saying it............also Seasonic,Ultra...they all have modular cables that are 8 pin .........


----------



## InnocentCriminal (Feb 12, 2010)

Courtesy of Nordic Hardware.


----------



## pabloc74 (Feb 12, 2010)

matrix 285 it's a beast, but nothing compare to Mars...


----------



## Wshlist (Feb 12, 2010)

As to the q why complain, well for one thing more wires means a thicker cable and 2 of them in this case, also the move is towards lower powerconsumption and I for one would not want to waste 1000Watts just to play a game that doesn't thrill that much more than before anyway.
Not that the power estimates aren't always way too high, people buy 850watts and higher PSU but all tests show a fully loaded OC'ed system at peak doesn't need it.

And as I recall the original PCIE can supply 150watts from the slot itself and that was later updated with PCIE2 to 225 to 300 watts(?), so I must assume you don't need 2*8 on proper PCIE2 slot motherboards but only on older ones, because no way in hell does a graphicscard need 450Watts all for itself.


----------



## dr emulator (madmax) (Feb 12, 2010)

TVman said:


> nobody has a psu with 2 8pin connectors what a FAIL



 er i do corsair hx650w


----------



## H82LUZ73 (Feb 12, 2010)

Wshlist said:


> As to the q why complain, well for one thing more wires means a thicker cable and 2 of them in this case, also the move is towards lower powerconsumption and I for one would not want to waste 1000Watts just to play a game that doesn't thrill that much more than before anyway.
> Not that the power estimates aren't always way too high, people buy 850watts and higher PSU but all tests show a fully loaded OC'ed system at peak doesn't need it.
> 
> And as I recall the original PCIE can supply 150watts from the slot itself and that was later updated with PCIE2 to 225 to 300 watts(?), so I must assume you don't need 2*8 on proper PCIE2 slot motherboards but only on older ones, because no way in hell does a graphicscard need 450Watts all for itself.



that is what power-play is for ,I can`t see this card using more then a stock one to be honest they just add the vrm and 2 8 pins for the overclocks.I just want to add that i run around 38 amps on my 4870`s at full load so yeah a good 650 to 1000 watt is needed.


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Feb 12, 2010)

i do too  tx750


----------



## dr emulator (madmax) (Feb 12, 2010)

Wile E said:


> 6 pin plugs can provide just as much power. The 8 pin only adds 2 grounds, no power wires.



my thoughts exactly why they have 2 extra grounds beats me but meh what do i care as long as the card works 



btarunr said:


> If it's the white color "Matrix" is what is looking cheap, then actually it's illuminated. Behind there  are LEDs of any color you want to set (via software). In the picture below it's illuminated red:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



any colour ey 
i wonder how long the white will last before discolouring in all that heat ,still i like it


----------



## Blín D'ñero (Feb 12, 2010)

Wshlist said:


> And as I recall the original PCIE can supply 150watts from the slot itself and that was later updated with PCIE2 to 225 to 300 watts(?), so I must assume you don't need 2*8 on proper PCIE2 slot motherboards but only on older ones, because no way in hell does a graphicscard need 450Watts all for itself.



You are very wrong.


> A single x16 card may now draw up to 300 W of power (75 W from the slot itself, 150 W from an 8-pin PEG connector, 75 W from a second PEG connector), up from 225 W (75 W from the slot, 75 W each from 2 6-pin PEG connectors) or originally 150 W (75 W from the slot, 75 W from a 6-pin PEG connector).


Source The Quick PCI-Express 2.0 Guide
10stripe


----------



## OneCool (Feb 12, 2010)

No pics of this beast without a cooler yet?

I wanna seeeeeeee


----------



## MKmods (Feb 12, 2010)

btarunr said:


> If it's the white color "Matrix" is what is looking cheap, then actually it's illuminated. Behind there  are LEDs of any color you want to set (via software). In the picture below it's illuminated red:
> 
> http://www.gamexeon.com/forum/imagehosting/90424a2af02449881.jpg
> 
> ...



I spent hours making my 5770s light up with Red, that would be so cool to have command of different colors, what a great idea.


----------



## Binge (Feb 12, 2010)

afw said:


> wow ... simply stunning ...  ...
> 
> but why 2 x 8-pin connectors ... wouldn't 6-pin +8-pin be enough ...



2x8-pin are for people doing LN2, on air or water there's no chance to "safely" use as much juice as the 6+8 pin produces.


----------



## mastrdrver (Feb 13, 2010)

shevanel said:


> what purpose does extra ground wires serve then?
> 
> are they slamming 2x8 on it for limiting  PSU limitations?



Cleaner signals but as stated this isn't a problem until your using LN2.



BlindNero said:


> You are very wrong.
> 
> Source The Quick PCI-Express 2.0 Guide
> 10stripe



That is recommended and what OEMs use but this isn't a OEM card so it is pointless.



Wshlist said:


> As to the q why complain, well for one thing more wires means a thicker cable and 2 of them in this case, also the move is towards lower power consumption and I for one would not want to waste 1000Watts just to play a game that doesn't thrill that much more than before anyway.



What? 

What does running two 8-pins have to do with higher power consumption? If your talking about psu efficiency then run a 6 to 8-pin adapter as the loss in grounds won't matter unless your going all out. Remember, the 5870 is rated at a *max* TPD of 188 watts. Even upping the voltage on the core and using more memory chips isn't going to push the card over 225w (theoretical max of two 6-pins plus slot).


----------



## eidairaman1 (Feb 13, 2010)

i dont see why people are whining about the + 8 when those 2 additional lines are just grounds, I mean seriously You could actually fab ur own wires and hook them to the chassis instead of getting a +8 PSU.


----------



## Super XP (Feb 13, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> Really?
> 
> My last one had 4, it was only 750w : ]


My 750W Corsair also has FOUR 8 that can be converted to 6 if need be.
Still the price is too much. It better be way way cheaper than the HD 5970.


----------



## shevanel (Feb 13, 2010)

i sort of want to think they are saying this card isnt worth getting over a standard 5870 with 2x6 pin plugs unless youre into HEAVY benchmarking/overclocking/tweaking.

 If you want this 2gb version then you need to upgrade your PSU also, typically if you are running something without 2x8 pin connectors. this card is for people who either already have monster PSU's or money is no obstacle.

but if youre not doing LN2 then whats the point? seems like a high premium for a 2gb 5870 especially if you need to upgrade your already capable PSU but it's not so capable because this card requires 2x8 pin power.

I have an antec ea650 and its a solid psu with appropriate power but I would have to scrap it because it only has 1x6 and 1x6+2 ? 

im sure this card will not be under $500 So i wonder if someone releases another 2gb version with 2x6 requirements will it be just as expensive?


----------



## Wile E (Feb 13, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> Which allows it to safely supply up to 150 watts vs 75 watts of a 6 pin connection : ]



Nonsense. It doesn't change the power abilities of the connection at all. 5 grounds provides no benefit when the power still needs to come thru just 3 positive leads. It's just a marketing gimmick. You'd be better off hard-grounding the card to the chassis for extreme benching. It's a marketing gimmick, nothing more.


----------



## shevanel (Feb 13, 2010)

for arguments sake would 2x6 pin plugs power this card if there were no overlocking going to be done?

Would the 2x6 pin plugs even connect to the card at all? 

Sorry, Ive never owned a card that required an 8pin and Im just curious.


----------



## Wile E (Feb 13, 2010)

shevanel said:


> for arguments sake would 2x6 pin plugs power this card if there were no overlocking going to be done?
> 
> Would the 2x6 pin plugs even connect to the card at all?
> 
> Sorry, Ive never owned a card that required an 8pin and Im just curious.



6pin plug will plug right in. The 2 pins on the very left of the connector would remain empty. Don't know if they would let the card power up with just 6pins plugged in tho.


----------



## TAViX (Feb 13, 2010)

The question is, why in the world do you need more than 1GB of Video RAM???? If it was a professional card I would have understood that...Even nvidia's 896MB of RAM are more than enough to play console ports at max resolution and full details...


----------



## Wile E (Feb 13, 2010)

TAViX said:


> The question is, why in the world do you need more than 1GB of Video RAM???? If it was a professional card I would have understood that...Even nvidia's 896MB of RAM are more than enough to play console ports at max resolution and full details...



GTA4 or Eyefinity. For example, 5670x1200 out of 3 24" monitors would use quite a bit of that buffer up I'm sure.


----------



## TAViX (Feb 13, 2010)

Wile E said:


> GTA4 or Eyefinity. For example, 5670x1200 out of 3 24" monitors would use quite a bit of that buffer up I'm sure.



Ah, OK. For 7MP resolution even the 2GB will be filled up fast. The GPU cores however will give the worst performance drop I think...
Anyways, If I would have 3 monitors( hypothetical speaking, of course...), I would not even think playing a game at that resolution, without having at least a Crossfire with 2 of those babies!


----------



## Wile E (Feb 13, 2010)

TAViX said:


> Ah, OK. For 7MP resolution even the 2GB will be filled up fast. The GPU cores however will give the worst performance drop I think...
> Anyways, If I would have 3 monitors( hypothetical speaking, of course...), I would not even think playing a game at that resolution, without having at least a Crossfire with 2 of those babies!



Yeah, but even if you happened to have 4 of them, you would still only have 2GB of frame buffer available, so a 2GB card does still make sense.


----------



## 50eurouser (Feb 13, 2010)

2x8pins is a waste why not 1 1x6+1x8 ? Combinded they could supply 300Watt. Anyway 2Gb is a waste too. Average cost for the card will be ~450€, what a waste ... You can buy 2x HD5850 with that kind of money.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Feb 13, 2010)

TAViX said:


> The question is, why in the world do you need more than 1GB of Video RAM???? If it was a professional card I would have understood that...Even nvidia's 896MB of RAM are more than enough to play console ports at max resolution and full details...



Explain why Asus Released a 285 with 4GB ram then???


----------



## twicksisted (Feb 13, 2010)

TVman said:


> nobody has a psu with 2 8pin connectors what a FAIL



lol?... i do ... actually i assume most 1000watters have 2X 8 pins...... but i guess these are old skool psus nowadays


----------



## Wile E (Feb 13, 2010)

50eurouser said:


> 2x8pins is a waste why not 1 1x6+1x8 ? Combinded they could supply 300Watt. Anyway 2Gb is a waste too. Average cost for the card will be ~450€, what a waste ... You can buy 2x HD5850 with that kind of money.



Read the posts just above yours. 2GB has it's place in the world. Those that have a setup that can use 2GB of buffer, can likely afford the extra money needed to buy the 2GB cards.


----------



## Fourstaff (Feb 13, 2010)

There are 2 types of people who buys these cards. Those who really need them and those who will pay extra for epeen extension. Either way, they probably need/want the 2Gb and 8+8 power.


----------



## lism (Feb 14, 2010)

eidairaman1 said:


> Explain why Asus Released a 285 with 4GB ram then???



Is'nt that a SLI-on-a-PCB card where 2 GPU's both have 2GB? And in total of 4GB?

Still out of 4GB 2GB only is affective on a card, it offers the double amount of framebuffer for extreme high resolutions, otherwise for regular games it would be overkill.

Some day you'll have 16GB videocards where you can actually install your OS on, or some crazy shit like that. We had 16KB CGA cards back in the past with a filling space of 3 lines a second in DOS on an IBM XT lol.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Feb 14, 2010)

seems i have quadrupled the amt of ram i get for a video card. I am happy 2GB parts are arriving


----------



## Hayder_Master (Feb 14, 2010)

yeah my dream card, i just hope it's not expensive


----------



## shevanel (Feb 14, 2010)

hayder.master said:


> yeah my dream card, i just hope it's not expensive



lol is a ref 5870 expensive? yes 

will this one cost more? yes

I'll bet someone $0.25 that it'll cost around $529


----------



## SteelSix (Feb 14, 2010)

nm


----------



## eidairaman1 (Feb 14, 2010)

shevanel said:


> lol is a ref 5870 expensive? yes
> 
> will this one cost more? yes
> 
> I'll bet someone $0.25 that it'll cost around $529



obviously, when there is no competition in the market everything is expensive.


----------



## Zubasa (Feb 14, 2010)

eidairaman1 said:


> Explain why Asus Released a 285 with 4GB ram then???


They never did, the GTX 285 Mars was a "GTX 285 GX2".
So it is effectively a 2GB card.


----------



## Hayder_Master (Feb 15, 2010)

shevanel said:


> lol is a ref 5870 expensive? yes
> 
> will this one cost more? yes
> 
> I'll bet someone $0.25 that it'll cost around $529




ref card about 400$, i hope this one will be around 450$


----------

