Asus' RTX 5090 Matrix Platinum costs 4000 Euros and reaches 3 GHz
The fastest graphics card with RTX 5090 will soon be available in Europe. The luxury toy is likely to sell out quickly.
Asus' ROG Matrix Platinum GeForce RTX 5090 sets new records – including in price.
(Image: Asus)
Asus' ROG Matrix Platinum GeForce RTX 5090 will also be available in German-speaking countries in early December. The company announced this last week, with a recommended retail price of 3999 euros. Meanwhile, the first review of the graphics card is also available. It is over 1000 euros pricier than Asus' previous top model, ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 OC. While its price has decreased since its market launch, the level is still absurdly high for a graphics card.
Hardware developer and YouTuber Roman "der8auer" Hartung has already tested and disassembled a first production version of the Matrix Platinum already tested and disassembled. Due to up to 800 watts when using Asus' proprietary BTF connector along with a suitable motherboard in addition to the 12V-2x6 socket, the card is correspondingly faster – but also increasingly inefficient. Hartung averaged around 10 percent more performance with 26 percent more power consumption across all benchmarks with real games compared to an RTX 5090 Founders Edition.
This can only be read out via software due to the lack of test connections for the BTF connector. According to the GPU-Z tool, the combination of 12V-2x6 and BTF reached between 680 and 740 watts under continuous load. Thanks to the new cooler with over 4 slots width and larger fans at the end of the card, the Matrix remains quieter than the Astral. This also applies to the P-Mode, i.e., the graphics card's performance preset, which was disproportionately loud in early versions of the Astral cards.
GPU clock over 3000 MHz without intervention
In contrast to the initial announcement of the Matrix, the GPU's boost clock in P-Mode under continuous load is over 3000 MHz, according to Hartung's test. Asus had promised 2730 MHz; a standard version of an RTX 5090 reaches 2407 MHz. Numerous overclocking (OC) models from graphics card manufacturers already surpass this, however. In addition to the increased performance, the Matrix also has some protective mechanisms for the current problems of Nvidia's high-end graphics cards, such as shunt resistors on the 12V2x-6 connector and a layer detection that is supposed to warn against bending. With a BTF motherboard and only then 800 watts, it cannot currently be installed vertically in a tower case; the corresponding extension cables do not yet exist. The Matrix also only runs with a 12V-2x6 power supply, but then, like other RTX 5090s, with a maximum of 600 watts.
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When disassembling the graphics card, Hartung noted negatively that the so-called liquid metal as a heat-conducting connection between the GPU and the cooler is not protected from leakage with a rubber frame as usual. Instead, Asus has applied a thermal paste barrier around the GPU. This may seem cheap, but it is actually not a disadvantage: if a graphics card with liquid metal is disassembled, it should be completely removed and reapplied to re-establish optimal thermal contact. Since the exact composition of the various metals on the market is not known, they should not be mixed to avoid corrosion. The usual seals are also not designed for multiple installations.
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Limited quantity is an "open secret"
At this point in his video, Hartung also reveals why there are only 1000 units of the Matrix. This is a "requirement from Nvidia." The company does not want 800-watt cards to become the standard. Only if the card manufacturers adhere to such conditions, Hartung continues, are they allowed "freedoms" such as an 800-watt BIOS. That such requirements exist from Nvidia is an "open secret," says der8auer. Nvidia has been known for years to put pressure on both its direct customers, the manufacturers of graphics cards, and journalists for collaboration with sometimes rigid methods to put pressure on. Strangely, the widely rumored limitation of the number of units in Asus' press release for the upcoming market launch of the card is not found.
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