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Asus ROG Matrix GTX 980 Gold Edition 20th Anniversary Unleashed – The Fastest GTX 980 Yet

Asus recently unleashed the fastest GTX 980 (according to the company) – the Asus ROG Matrix GTX 980 Gold Edition (GOLD20TH-GTX980-P-4GD5), in line with their 20th anniversary. The Matrix GTX 980 Gold Edition features 1431MHz clock speed, and cooled by the company’s award winning DirectCU II cooler with 0dB fan technology. It also features DiGi+ VRM and a 14-phase Super Alloy Power, Memory Defroster which is really handy when using liquid Nitrogen for cooling, a Safe Mode button and many more. The GTX 980 Gold Edition pretty much looks like the Matrix GTX 980 with the black and red theme, except this time it’s black and gold. More information below.

Asus Matrix GTX 980 Gold Edition 20th Anniversary

Asus ROG Matrix GTX 980 20th Anniversary Gold Edition

Asus first teased their latest and fastest graphics card via Facebook, and asked the readers to guess its core clock speed. In comparison, a reference GTX 980 has a base clock speed of 1126MHz and a boost clock speed of 1216MHz. The Asus STRIX GTX 980 DC2OC has a clock speed of 1178MHz base and 1279MHz boost. Next, the Matrix GTX 980 Platinum has a 1241MHz base and 1342MHz boost. Finally, Asus’ latest creation the GTX 980 Gold Edition has a base clock speed of 1317MHz and a boost clock speed of 1431MHz. These are factory overclock settings, and looking at its design this card is meant to overclock further, even with the use of liquid Nitrogen (LN2) cooling.

Asus Matrix GTX 980 20th Anniversary Gold Edition-01

Basically, the ROG Matrix GTX 980 Gold Edition is very similar to the Matrix GTX 980. The Gold Edition has a higher clock speed, resulting in a tad better out of the box performance. And it’s also obvious that the Gold Edition has a Black/Gold color theme with the 20th Anniversary logo on the shroud as well as on the LED load indicator. The rest of the features and specifications are already similar like: DirectCU II cooler, Memory Defroster, Safe Mode button for VBIOS reload, 14-phase DIGI+ VRM with Black Metallic Capacitors and Super Alloy Power, and the color-coded load indicator.

Asus Matrix GTX 980 20th Anniversary Gold Edition-06 Asus Matrix GTX 980 20th Anniversary Gold Edition-05
Asus Matrix GTX 980 20th Anniversary Gold Edition-07

I’m not sure is this is an April fool’s joke or not, but if the Asus Matrix GTX 980 Gold Edition is legit, expect that it will be available in very limited quantities and will also come with a premium price tag. It will most probably have a higher retail price than the Matrix GTX 980 Platinum. But wait, isn’t Platinum more Expensive than Gold?! However, jokes aside, I don’t see any point in releasing a Gold Edition as of the moment. The upcoming GTX 980 Ti will definitely be faster than this one and will have a more reasonable price tag. Perhaps Asus is trying to target a very specific small niche of PC Enthusiasts or gamers who are willing to spend for something that is limited edition and unique.

Asus Matrix GTX 980 Gold Edition 20th Anniversary

Asus ROG Matrix GTX 980 Gold Edition Specifications

ModelGOLD20TH-GTX980-P-4GD5
Graphics EngineNVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
Bus StandardPCI Express 3.0
OpenGLOpenGL®4.4
Video MemoryGDDR5 4GB
Engine ClockGPU Boost Clock : 1431 MHz
GPU Base Clock : 1317 MHz
CUDA Core2048
Memory Clock7010 MHz ( GDDR5 )
Memory Interface256-bit
InterfaceDVI Output : Yes x 1 (Native) (DVI-I)
HDMI Output : Yes x 1 (Native) (HDMI 2.0)
Display Port : Yes x 3 (Native) (Regular DP)
HDCP Support : Yes
Power Consumptionup to 375W additional 8+8 pin PCIe power required
Accessories2 x Power cable
1 x GOLD 20th Mouse Pad
SoftwareASUS GPU Tweak & Driver
Dimensions11.7 " x 6 " x 1.6 " Inch
29.72 x 15.24 x4.06 Centimeter

Also check out the Best GeForce GTX 980 Graphics Card – My Top 5 Picks

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Peter Paul
Peter is a PC enthusiast and avid gamer with several years of hands-on experience in testing and reviewing PC components, audio equipment, and various tech devices. He offers a genuine, no-nonsense perspective, helping consumers make informed choices in the ever-changing world of technology.

1 thought on “Asus ROG Matrix GTX 980 Gold Edition 20th Anniversary Unleashed – The Fastest GTX 980 Yet”

  1. Pretty sick. Once you pull the cooler off it looks pretty much identical to a EVGA Classified or Kingpin edition. I’d sooner grab one of those EVGA cards with the hybrid cooler on it. It costs probably the same or most likely even less and it will run higher clock speeds than this will on air, for extended periods anyway. Cards like this are meant to be liquid cooled though, if you can find a company to produce a water block, then this card would be epic. Or if you’re using LN2, the similar Classified cards I’ve seen do amazing things. 2.1 GHz + on the GPU and I saw one guy hit 17 GHz on the VRAM. Crazy, the memory bandwidth was like 570 GB/sec.

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