A Closer Look at the ASUS GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum

The ASUS GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum Edition is a unique card in a number of different ways, primarily due to the fact that it has been designed to fit within more compact chassis. This means ASUS’ engineers kept the card’s overall length to just 11 ½” while retaining a dual slot height despite the inclusion of a massive 14-phase PWM layout. Instead of going for an overly long PCB, the width has been augmented to roughly 5” which may cause some clearance issues for more compact chassis but compatibility should still extend all the way into the mini ITX market.Past the portly width, the usual Matrix design queues are all present and accounted for: there’s a dual fan heatsink that’s covered in a muted black and red shroud alongside black heatpipes. The overall effect is quite sinister in an understated way.Once again ASUS is using their DirectCU II heatsink, though in a highly modified form. Not only has the internal heatsink been expanded by a drastic amount but the heatpipe payload has been augmented by a single large 10mm unit which supplements the existing 6mm pipes.ASUS has also added a hybrid 92mm CoolTech fan which features wide-angle, directional airflow characteristics to speed up heat dispersion from the heatsink. At this point you may be wondering why only a single CoolTech fan has been installed while the other uses a typical 92mm axial design. It may seem like an odd choice but the axial fan’s vertical airflow directionality will actually move hot air towards the front-mounted CoolTech unit which will then push it out the backplate. The layout is actually quite brilliant since it can act as a quasi-blower style setup.The Matrix Platinum uses dust proof fan technology which essentially seals the bearing area, preventing particulate matter from entering. This is supposed to help increase the fan’s average life up to 10,000 hours (for a total MTBF of 50,000 hours) or approximately 25% longer than a typical axial design without this addition.Alongside the heatsink shroud there is a glowing Republic of Gamers logo which indicates how much load the GPU is under. Green represents a persistent VBIOS Safe Mode (more on this below), blue for light load, yellow for medium and red for heavy. It would be great if ASUS had included an option within their GPU Tweak utility to normalize this to a single color but this is still an interesting feature.Things really start to get interesting when looking past the major design points of the Matrix since it’s this card’s minute details that will ultimately sell it to overclockers. On the card’s rearmost PCB edge there’s a Safe Mode button which loads a default profile with stock memory and core clocks in case you’ve increased frequencies to a point where booting into Windows is impossible. Not only does this provide you with peace of mind but it also ensures a completely stable system regardless of your overclock.ASUS has added a backup power connector in the guise of a Molex input just in case the dual 8-pin layout isn’t sufficient for a given set of clock speeds and voltages.There’s also a toggle switch that turns on the innovative Memory Heater. While this feature may only be handy for extreme overclockers, it activates a defrost element around the memory modules which can eliminate GDDR5 cold bugs from ruining an extreme LN2 run.Finally, there’s the usual voltage read points. These include GPU, GDDR5, PLL, Ground Over Voltage and Memory Over Voltage and a general voltage limiter.In order to take advantage of all these features ASUS included a dual BIOS switch which, when switched to the LN2 setting, discards NVIDIA’s required safeguards. It allows for extreme increases in both Power and Voltage Limits to a point where more exotic methods of cooling will be needed.Flipping the card over we can see how massive the PCB really is; it extends about an inch past where a normal PCB would end. ASUS went with a full coverage aluminum heatsink here in order to better disperse topside component heat. You’ll also notice there’s a warranty void if removed sticker on the heatsink’s mounting bracket.Underneath that extensive heatsink there’s a DIGI+ VRM with Black Metallic Capacitors and a 14-phase PWM boasting ASUS’ Super Alloy Power features. With concrete-reinforced chokes and hardened MOSFETS which not only avoid coil whine but are also more resistant to heat buildup during longer overclocking sessions. It’s a truly impressive setup and one which befits a flagship GPU.On the connector front there’s really not all that much interesting going on. The backplate uses a pair of DVI outputs alongside connectors for HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. Meanwhile the main power input is handled by a pair of 8-pin connectors.