The ASUS HD 5870 Matrix Platinum is a bundle of interesting things. It is clear at the outset that ASUS splurged heavily on its design, and used a lavish choice of components, particularly the voltage regulators and twice the amount of memory. The Matrix Platinum zips through any game you throw at it, with most of the eye candy that noticeably improves image quality turned on. Having double the amount of memory (2 GB) continues to be insignificant in our test bed, though it could be a reasonably good investment for three reasons: 1. Future games, current games such as GTA IV (because its programmers suck) that make use of over 1 GB of video memory; 2. positively impacts resale value of the card if you're selling it at a time when having 2 GB on your video card makes a whole lot of sense, or simply if 2 GB is more appealing; and 3. ATI Eyefinity setups, where the GPU has to draw three different display outputs, the extra memory does come handy in some games.

For overclockers, the Matrix Platinum is a treat when it comes to out of the box overclock, headroom to overclock further, and all the features that help. The strong VRM coupled with the voltage-conditioning SuperML capacitor are able to give this card overclocking potential on par with HD 5870 cards with 1 GB memory, especially when it has become a bit of a dogma that cards with twice the number of memory chips tend to overclock less in the memory domain. The iTracker 2 software makes it a breeze to tune clock speeds, voltages, and monitor them. For manual voltage measurements, important vMeasure points are consolidated in a place where it's convenient to measure, especially when the card is inside a case and not a station bench. The Safe Mode button can be a life-saver if you weren't careful enough writing clock speeds and voltage tables to the video BIOS.

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. Between these two contenders, the HD 5870 1GB is what would make us flip the coin. Secondly, 2 GB of memory still doesn't make sense from a value for money standpoint. Unless you're playing GTA4 all the time or have an Eyefinity setup, the additional memory chips are dead-weight which contribute to the card's higher power draw. Most 1 GB HD 5870 cards have pleasant voltage draws with BD playback, something this card lacks. Further, unless you're chasing records, in most cases the 1 GB reference-design card is catching up in terms of performance. At resolutions lower than 1900 x 1200, 2 GB has very little performance benefits.

Our final verdict on the Matrix Platinum is pleasant. The card has some serious aesthetic value, dozens of little features that add to its functionality, and that it's more future-ready than reference-design HD 5870 cards. Have $499, buy. Another option could be the ASUS HD 5870 Matrix non-Platinum which goes for arond $470 but comes at a reduced core clock of 850 MHz.