ASUS New Launches The ROG MATRIX GTX 580 Graphics Card

ASUS has been synonymous with high-quality and high-performance PC components, and its Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand has been something that hardcore gamers would swear by. Continuing its series of ROG MATRIX high-end graphics cards, the company has launched the ROG MATRIX GTX 580 Series, which combines a proprietary dual-fan DirectCU II thermal design and 19-phase Super Alloy Power components. It also comes with a new set of overclocking and performance tools.
 The PCI Express 2.0 card sports a triple-slot design, thus you will need a spacious PC cabinet to house it in. Power is drawn via two 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors, the adapter for which is bundled along. The minimum system power requirement for this card is 600 W. Output is available via one HDMI, one Display Port and two dual-link DVI ports, thus allowing you to connect it to just about any display device.

While the GTX 580 is clocked at 816 MHz, it comes with a massive 1.5 GB GDDR5 memory running at 4.8 GHz, leaving it with enough firepower and bandwidth for any current or upcoming games at the highest graphics settings. The dual-fan DirectCU II thermal design claims to help keep the card running at around 35 degrees Celsius cooler than the reference card, especially during overclocking, thus increasing the lifespan of the card by up to 2.5 times, and allowing for better overclocking. This cooling design involves copper heat pipes placed in direct contact with the GPU for efficient cooling, and twin sound-dampened fans capable of pulling 600% more air than those which come with reference design.

The 19-phase power circuitry provides stability to the GTX 580 when it is overclocked. There is also a multi-coloured MATRIX LED load indicator on-board, which provides the user an at-a-glance, colour changing visual indication of the card's overall load in real-time. The card also comes with a nifty set of new tools such as GPU Tweak, TweakIt, and ProbeIt to adjust on-the-fly, the clock frequency, voltage, fan speed, and save up to four profiles, to help in getting out the maximum performance. There is even a Safe Mode button for instant restoration of stable settings, should something go wrong.