Asus announces ROG Matrix HD 7970GHz graphics card for Rs 35,000

Asus has recently announced the ROG Matrix HD 7970 GHz Edition AMD based graphics card. The GPU has been overclocked to 1,100MHz, and offers overvolting facilities via VGA Hotwire and TweakIt. The latter also enables one-press 100 percent fan speed activation.

Power delivery uses 20-phase architecture, tapped, and managed by DIGI+ VRM and Super Alloy Power components. The Asus GPU Tweak utility has been reloaded for MATRIX HD 7970 GHz Edition, now offering GPU loadline calibration and VRM overclocking. The card is offered in a standard version and a platinum edition, which includes a Diablo III mouse pad. 

“The Asus line of ROG products denotes a special class of gaming and performance. Likewise, the enthusiast-class performance delivered by AMD Radeon HD 7970 graphics represents the pinnacle of the single-GPU game experience. We see ASUS ROG MATRIX HD 7970 GHz Edition as a perfect match of enthusiast-class branding and elite-level graphics performance”, said Matt Skynner, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, AMD Graphics.

Available for Rs 35,000

“ROG MATRIX signifies the spirit of uncompromising performance. We build MATRIX cards with the fastest GPUs available each generation, in this case using AMD’s HD 7970 GHz Edition GPU alongside exclusive ASUS innovations. We believe ROG MATRIX HD 7970 GHz Edition is set to break world performance records yet again”, added Kent Chien, General Manager of the ASUS Graphics Card Business Unit.

It arrives factory-tuned to 1100MHz, which represents a 175MHz frequency gain compared to reference HD 7970 cards. Asus claims that the Matrix HD 7970GHz Edition offers the fastest and most capable graphics card based on AMD technology, and can easily handle every DirectX 11 game with completely smooth performance, and all details set to ultra at 1080p and higher resolutions. A single Matrix HD 7970GHz Edition has the power and quad DisplayPort connectivity to support six-screen displays via AMD Eyefinity technology. 

VGA Hotwire affords easier DIY modification of voltages on Matrix HD 7970 GHz Edition, simplifying the process by removing the need for complicated and risky soldering. Customers connect wires from dedicated headers on compatible ROG motherboards to VGA Hotwire connectors on Matrix HD 7970 GHz Edition, after which changing voltages directly on the hardware level becomes possible via a variety of interfaces. The exclusive TweakIt utility is one such option which is revised for Matrix HD 7970 GHz Edition to offer a wider voltage modulation range, allowing quick changes by simply pressing the + and – keys. TweakIt supports immediate full-rev activation of the dual 100mm fans. At a press, customers can set the fans to 100% speed for maximized airflow and instant cooling, a highly useful feature in overclocking and benchmarking scenarios. The card further includes an overclocking safe mode to quickly restore default settings should a tuning profile prove unstable and at-a-glance LED load indicators to ensure more informed and safer performance modification.   

Matrix HD 7970 GHz Edition ships with massive 20-phase power delivery that supplies ample room for experimental performance tuning. It’s DIGI+ VRM digital voltage regulation design augments precision overclocking capabilities, which are further supported by the use of hardened Super Alloy Power capacitors, chokes and MOSFETs. 

For Matrix HD 7970 GHz Edition, the GPU Tweak utility has been revamped, making better use of the card’s power through the world’s first quad-focus overclocking tool. With its friendly software interface, GPU Tweak enables deep GPU, video memory, voltage, and fan speed adjustments. Asus claims that the new edition adds VRM overclocking and loadline calibration, by that catering to casual overclockers and those dedicated to competitive benchmarking towards new world records. 

The Asus Matrix HD 7970 GHz Edition is priced in India at Rs 35,000, however this price does not include taxes.

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Asus has begun rolling out Android v4.1 (Jelly Bean) for the Transformer Prime

Asus has begun rolling out Android v4.1 (Jelly Bean) for the Transformer Prime. The Transformer Infinity will also receive the update later this week. The Jelly Bean update brings Google Now, performance improvements through Project Butter, and better functionality to the two tablets.

To check if the update is available for your device, head to the ‘About’ section in the settings and select the check for firmware updates option. It is recommended that you charge your tablet to at least 80 percent before you download the update and install it.

Will run faster than ever with Jelly Bean on board

The Asus Transformer Prime was launched in India in March this year for Rs 50,000. Only the Wi-Fi model is available in India at present and it doesn’t seem like they’ll be making a 3G version, since this will eventually be phased out and replaced with the new Transformer 700. The Prime came with Android v3.0 (Honeycomb) at launch, but was upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich a few months ago.

The tablet runs on a 1.3GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, which is the first quad-core CPU for hand-held devices. It has 1GB of RAM. On the screen front, it sports a 10-inch LED backlit display with a resolution of 1280 x 800. It has an 8-megapixel camera on the back, along with a flash that can be useful in low light environments. You can even expand the storage capacity of the tablet through microSD cards up to 32GB in size.

Here is a quick look at the highlighted features of the Asus Transformer Prime:

• 10-inch IPS Capacitive Touchscreen with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution
• EDGE, GPRS, Wi-Fi (3G version available too)
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 8 megapixel camera LED flash, 1080p video recording
• 64GB internal storage, expandable via 32GB microSD card
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• 3.5mm hands free socket

The much-talked-about Google I/O 2012 saw the search giant unveiling the latest flavour of Android, Jelly Bean. Some of the highlighted features of the Jelly Bean OS include Project Butter, which as the name suggests, aims to make the operating system on Android devices significantly smoother than Ice Cream Sandwich; improved text input with a faster and a more accurate keyboard; a new UI and gestures to the camera app, allowing users to swipe sideways, if they want to access a gallery and delete images by swiping them off the screen; and a big upgrade to the notifications bar – you can choose to reply to text messages, or call people directly from the notifications panel itself.

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