# ASUS ARES 4 GB



## W1zzard (Jul 1, 2010)

ARES is ASUS' latest graphics card monster creation. The card is based on two HD 5870 GPUs running in an internal CrossFire configuration. ASUS has also be generous with the video memory, a total of 4 GB is available on the card. Thanks to a custom heatsink design the card manages to handle the heat well, but can you handle the price of $1000 a piece?

*Show full review*


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## ERazer (Jul 7, 2010)

another great review ! 

comes with mouse not bad still 1000! ouch


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## cadaveca (Jul 7, 2010)

You know, my birthday is coming up at the end of the month...will this card be retail by then? ASUS has me saving ALOT of cash as of late...Crosshair4 Extreme, two of these...I so hope I can get two of 'em before they sell out!


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## mdsx1950 (Jul 7, 2010)

Wow this is really cool. And as always.. excellent review


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## trt740 (Jul 7, 2010)

It seems Asus gets bashed allot on this forum, but say what you want, Asus knows how to present a Item and thier quality just keeps coming.


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## ktr (Jul 7, 2010)

Lol @ performance per dollar chart.


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## mdsx1950 (Jul 7, 2010)

ktr said:


> Lol @ performance per dollar chart.



More disappointing than that was the max power consumption. 436W
For a moment i was considering getting the card until I read the final pages lol.


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## ktr (Jul 7, 2010)

mdsx1950 said:


> More disappointing than that was the max power consumption. 436W



The Ares is basically two 5870, and a single 5870 max at 212W...so, 436W is to be expected.


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## mascotzel (Jul 7, 2010)

What software do you use to measure the temps?
I see only one temp in the review, and this is a dual-gpu card.


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## Easo (Jul 7, 2010)

It eats Crysis, it eats it alive.

^^

Those words should be on ARES package.


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## W1zzard (Jul 7, 2010)

mascotzel said:


> What software do you use to measure the temps?
> I see only one temp in the review, and this is a dual-gpu card.



fixed


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## Animalpak (Jul 7, 2010)

*•Expensive
•Really expensive
•Noisy under load*

hahaha lol love that passage


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Jul 7, 2010)

I'm not sure I'd say "No support for CUDA/PhysX" is a con. Sounds like saying "it's not a nvidia card" is a con.


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## Fourstaff (Jul 7, 2010)

LAN_deRf_HA said:


> I'm not sure I'd say "No support for CUDA/PhysX" is a con. Sounds like saying "it's not a nvidia card" is a con.



There are quite a number of people out there using CUDA, and another significant chunk of idiots who think PhysX is useful, so I think its only fair to list them. 

Asus marketing: "epeen extensions, $1000 each!"

Edit: Finally found a use for this:http://www.techpowerup.com/125989/P...owerJack_Graphics_Card_Support_Accessory.html


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## erocker (Jul 7, 2010)

I want one. Sexiest card ever. Looks like they too care and effort into every aspect of it's design. I think $1000 bucks is a fair price for such a product.


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## trt740 (Jul 7, 2010)

Fourstaff said:


> There are quite a number of people out there using CUDA, and another significant chunk of idiots who think PhysX is useful, so I think its only fair to list them.
> 
> Asus marketing: "epeen extensions, $1000 each!"
> 
> Edit: Finally found a use for this:http://www.techpowerup.com/125989/P...owerJack_Graphics_Card_Support_Accessory.html



Idiots seems strong and a bit unfriendly. Physx is useful if supported as havok will be when it's implemented.


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## (FIH) The Don (Jul 7, 2010)

its prolly gonna end up costing 2000$ PER card that is


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Jul 7, 2010)

Hopefully MS will stop making new DX versions for awhile, allowing DX11 cards to saturate the market. Then maybe we'll finally see physics done with compute shaders and the end of this physx crap will finally come....


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## Fourstaff (Jul 7, 2010)

trt740 said:


> Idiots seems strong and a bit unfriendly. Physx is useful if supported as havok will be when it's implemented.



Indeed it is, but I have yet to come across someone smart picking Nvidia over ATi because of  PhysX. It might be useful, but as for now its about as useful as Firewire.


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## evillman (Jul 7, 2010)

LAN_deRf_HA said:


> Then maybe we'll finally see physics done with compute shaders and the end of this physx crap will finally come....



Or not.


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## trt740 (Jul 7, 2010)

Fourstaff said:


> Indeed it is, but I have yet to come across someone smart picking Nvidia over ATi because of  PhysX. It might be useful, but as for now its about as useful as Firewire.



Well mabye not for  that reason only but it adds to the appeal of the Nvidia product and thats the point of listing it in the cons.


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## cadaveca (Jul 7, 2010)

erocker said:


> I want one. Sexiest card ever. Looks like they too care and effort into every aspect of it's design. I think $1000 bucks is a fair price for such a product.



I agree, mostly, but...


Notice that there could have been 3x8-pin connectors. Notice a lack of missing onboard components. I see it as 1x 8-pin for each gpu, 6-pin is mem, and noticed how W1zz was limited to 1310 memory...

Obviously they could have pumped up the ram speed, but it looks like th actual memory ICs to match aren't ready yet, or are far too expensive...

And when it costs what it does, I think it truly pays to be critical of every little part, but at the smae time, I've got to wonder why the actual 5870's are so long?


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## Mescalamba (Jul 7, 2010)

Well, everything as expected. I can grats ASUS to that nicely packed product. Last similar one was packed very poorly, so this aluminium suitcase is definetly improvement. Not mentioning mouse for free which is nice touch. 

But I would probably get Beyerdynamic T1 for that price..


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## cdawall (Jul 8, 2010)

finally the 4870X2 hasn't got the highest power consumption!


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## Hayder_Master (Jul 8, 2010)

nice review w1zzad, good work
but w1zzard why there is no rate for this card


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## douglatins (Jul 8, 2010)

hayder.master said:


> nice review w1zzad, good work
> but w1zzard why there is no rate for this card



It would be badzors, and he don't want to piss ASUS guys that send him goodies to review. He is keeping his integrity and ASUS love 

Again people don't buy this marketing gimmicks, get two regular reference cards, water cool it and pwns butts. Or get the Toxic card, its a lot more quiet.


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## PopcornMachine (Jul 8, 2010)

$1000 for the biggest hunk of compensatory silicon, with the most unconscionable waste of power ever.


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## OnBoard (Jul 8, 2010)

erocker said:


> I want one. Sexiest card ever. Looks like they too care and effort into every aspect of it's design. I think $1000 bucks is a fair price for such a product.



Me too, would finally get use for all the powerplugs on my PSU  $1000 is a LOT, but this think at least tries to fill it with awesome case, nice accessory and all that copper + metal shroud.

Sadly I won't ever get one, it will be $500 in a year and by that time it has lost it's fastest card ever status. Anyhow  to all who have one/going to get one.

Oh and remember to support the card somehow


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## Hayder_Master (Jul 8, 2010)

douglatins said:


> It would be badzors, and he don't want to piss ASUS guys that send him goodies to review. He is keeping his integrity and ASUS love
> 
> Again people don't buy this marketing gimmicks, get two regular reference cards, water cool it and pwns butts. Or get the Toxic card, its a lot more quiet.



hmmm, as i expect


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## newtekie1 (Jul 8, 2010)

Just noticed Metro:2033 was added to the benchmark suite, awesome!


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## damric (Jul 8, 2010)

It kind of reminds me of an 80's muscle car. It's built like a tank though, lol. Outstanding review as always.


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## Dave63 (Jul 8, 2010)

Great review. Need to lose the $300.00 case and mouse LOL. And use the extra for a psu to run it. LOL.


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## mdsx1950 (Jul 8, 2010)

What sort of a PSU will be able run two of these? 1200W PSU enough?


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## cadaveca (Jul 8, 2010)

mdsx1950 said:


> What sort of a PSU will be able run two of these? 1200W PSU enough?



Not if all you do is play furmark. But in real-world situations, there isn't a real performance benefit form the extra 2 gpus, so most likely, each gpu is in use, but under less load than they would be when on thier own. you might be able to get away with 1000w, but if overclocking, you are gonna need a seperate breaker wired just for your pc.

It would be a total of 44 pins for vga power. Even on EVGA SR2, it's only 40 pins, for all that ram, and 2 cpus! Mind you two side-by-side are about the size of a matx board...

So obscene. I love it.


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## mdsx1950 (Jul 8, 2010)

cadaveca said:


> Not if all you do is play furmark. But in real-world situations, there isn't a real performance benefit form the extra 2 gpus, so most likely, each gpu is in use, but under less load than they would be when on thier own. you might be able to get away with 1000w, but if overclocking, you are gonna need a seperate breaker wired just for your pc.
> 
> It would be a total of 44 pins for vga power. Even on EVGA SR2, it's only 40 pins, for all that ram, and 2 cpus! Mind you two side-by-side are about the size of a matx board...
> 
> So obscene. I love it.



I still havent thought of getting the Ares. But probably i'll start of with one card if i feel like getting it lol. Still waiting for to see the Ares HD5970 . My mobo should be able to handle two of them since it has seven PCI-E x16 slots lol.  And i never OC my graphic cards. So hopefully 1200W can do the job.


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## mtosev (Jul 8, 2010)

its only 1340Eur in Slovenia http://www.funtech.si/si/vsi-oddelki/komp/graficne-kartice/ati-radeon/7970/


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## DaveK (Jul 8, 2010)

That is a nice card, I love the packaging too.


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## tkpenalty (Jul 8, 2010)

this is the bugatti veyron of GPUs...

big, expensive, noisy, fast, quality, ridiculous


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## 983264 (Jul 8, 2010)

At least, this is the successor of ASUS MARS, regarding their brands, and if a GTX 480 x2 comes out, will that beat the ASUS ARES? This is just a speculation...


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## mdsx1950 (Jul 8, 2010)

983264 said:


> At least, this is the successor of ASUS MARS, regarding their brands, and if a GTX 480 x2 comes out, will that beat the ASUS ARES? This is just a speculation...



Probably will be equal but will beat the ARES in Tessellation performance.


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## krisna159 (Jul 8, 2010)

this the beast king Of single card..
big Fat powerful and also power hungger...and expensive too..
anyway..thx Wizz for the review..nice job

i just can only dreaming to have one...:shadedshu


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## erixx (Jul 8, 2010)

Great test wiz, thank you!

As a side-note, will this card put the "oh 480 is a BBQ and eats power" to rest? hehe


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## douglatins (Jul 8, 2010)

This card would be a importers nightmare, 8kg weight and aluminum case, yeah, gift wont work hehe.

Priority Mail® International [More info about Priority Mail® International]
Max. length 42", max. length plus girth combined 79"
	6 - 10 business days 	
$91.25

$86.69

Ok not so much then... Considering a 1000USD card


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## Meizuman (Jul 9, 2010)

Maybe a radial fan would be more efficient. Then again, it could be noisier...  But if they equipped it with the same kind of fan as on the Zerotherm GX series, those are quite quiet.


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## WarEagleAU (Jul 9, 2010)

Couple of things. 

1. I just jizzm'd in my pants.

2. I am in love with the card.

3. I almost crapped my pants at the price, sorry, I want it but I cannot afford it.

4. BAD ASS

5. I want to see Nvidia come out with a dual 480X design, which I think they will. To see how they stack up. (no I am not knocking nvidia or anything like that).

6. Surprised to see the ATI card do well in the DX 11 Uniengine benchmark, I thought I saw where a RADEON card on a review on the site couldn't run the test.


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## wahdangun (Jul 11, 2010)

what a really devastating force, it even eat crysis A live !!!!


but it definitely improvement from mars card, and really look premium, so if i have $1000 laying around I'm definitely buy this monster


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## Melvis (Jul 12, 2010)

Omg that card is just Epic, 2.3kiloes? :O 

This song should be played in the background when viewing this review > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2Ma4BvMUwU


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## Akumos (Jul 15, 2010)

Thanks for the review...

The packaging is awesome!!


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