The ASUS Radeon HD 4870 Matrix is a graphics card that differs in nearly every point from the reference design. Their GPU clock therefore is 800MHz instead of 750MHz and the 512MB of GDDR5 memory comes clocked at just 3800MHz. Furthermore the card comes with a PCB developed by ASUS itself which carries a dual slot cooler and is specially optimized for ASUS's iTracker software. The iTracker software enables a dynamic clock adjustment possible regarding GPU and memory clock speeds. This card is a full own design which does proof quite some innovation and willingness to bring products that are different. This Matrix version as such is one great result of their innovation so far. - OcaHolic

ASUS Radeon HD 4870 Matrix Graphics Board Review

The ASUS Radeon HD 4870 Matrix edition presents itself as a long and black PCB which is provided with power via two 6-pin plugs. ASUS also designed an own cooling solution for this specific card. You'll find two heatpipes and two fans which measure 75mm in diameter and these do not cool the current regulators. The ASUS Radeon HD 4870 Matrix comes with a well thought design and layout which is specially optimized for their iTracker software. With iTracker you can individually configure the card regarding GPU and memory clocks as well as fan speeds. Also the performance is on a high level thanks to the design.

On average the board is between six and nine percent faster than other Radeon HD 4870 based cards. Mostly this is down to the increased GPU and memory clocks. Their iTracker tool is easy and well structured. Unfortunately iTracker is bound to the BIOS which means that if you do not install the iTrack software the cards clocks are low and the fans are too noisy. In other words, if you buy an ASUS Radeon HD 4870 Matrix you really need to install iTracker otherwise you won't get the desired performance figures. Now eventually ASUS will come with a revised BIOS that can also use the card without iTracker.

And as summarizing we can mention the following, regarding performance and ergonomics the ASUS Radeon HD 4870 Matrix card is on a very high level if you install iTracker. Unfortunately the board misses an award because of software issues, though these could be easily fixed in the future.