Introduction

While AMD has not officially released any dual-GPU HD 7970 card, we have seen two implementations in recent months: the PowerColor HD 7990 Devil 13 and HIS HD 7970 X2.

Today, ASUS launches their ASUS ARES II dual-GPU HD 7970, which was first announced at CES earlier this year.



The ASUS ARES II is one of the rare cards to come with watercooling out of the box. At its heart are two full HD 7970 graphics processors that each run higher clock speeds than AMD's HD 7970 GHz Edition. In addition to the watercooling (for the GPUs), a fan has been installed to keep memory chips and voltage regulation circuitry cool.

Everything about the ARES II screams "premium". Starting with the thick metal unibody cooler construction, the two included fans, the nice presentation in a suitcase, and the fact that this card is a limited edition with only 1000 pieces produced.

The card also employs the latest PCI-Express Gen 3 bridge from PLX, which ensures maximum performance, even with two ARES II cards in CrossFire.

Price-wise, ASUS has told us that the card will retail at $1599 - quite hefty.