# ASUS MARS II Graphics Card Pictured



## btarunr (May 30, 2011)

The Republic of Gamers MARS II, detailed earlier, is a new custom dual-GF110 based graphics card in the works at ASUS. Here are some of its first pictures, revealing a monstrosity that's about as long as a Radeon HD 5970, a couple of inches higher, and three slots thick. Its cooler sticks to the black+red color scheme in use with ASUS ROG products for a while now, and uses an intricate cutout design. 

The shroud suspends two 120 mm high-sweep fans that blow air on to two heatsinks with highly dense aluminum fin arrays to which heat is fed by copper heat pipes. The card draws power from three 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors. The card uses two NVIDIA GF110 GPUs with the same core configuration and clock profile as GeForce GTX 580, effectively making MARS II a dual-GTX 580, which also provides the overclocking headroom of a GTX 580, something impossible on a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590. 



 

 

 

 



*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## AlienIsGOD (May 30, 2011)

That thing is HUGE.


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## arterius2 (May 30, 2011)

I only care about 2 things: price and TDP?


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## slyfox2151 (May 30, 2011)

AlienIsGOD said:


> That thing is HUGE.



lol... nearly looks like an ITX motherboard plugged into an ATX via PCI-E


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## roast (May 30, 2011)

I have a plan.

I'm gonna save up enough money for this, then turn around and blow it all on a night out, and get absolutely smashed.

I reckon that would be a better way to spend money.


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## Undead46 (May 30, 2011)

So it's a GTX 590 but they call it a dual-580?

._.


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## claylomax (May 30, 2011)

arterius2 said:


> I only care about 2 things: price and TDP?



This card is for people that don't care about either.


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## Reeves-81 (May 30, 2011)

Giant pointless card is giant and pointless....


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## BUCK NASTY (May 30, 2011)




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## TheGuruStud (May 30, 2011)

What's with the insane amount of 560/570/580/590 variations? I've never seen so many video cards made, especially ones that have no purpose.


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## jalex3 (May 30, 2011)

Not that I would even consider getting this (even if I had the money),  but I'm not fussed on the looks.  Though its nice to see more 90mm fans.

EDIT:  just look at the poor fins  its taken some abuse


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## Andrei23 (May 30, 2011)

a useless behemoth, 6-12 months down the line a single/dual slot card will outdo this card without the need for 24 power connectors


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## silkstone (May 30, 2011)

Undead46 said:


> So it's a GTX 590 but they call it a dual-580?
> 
> ._.



Due to the clocks. A 590 is a dual 580. I guess they can as it's not a reference design...

I can't imagine them (directly) making much money off this thing, but then that's not the point.


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## Play3r (May 30, 2011)

all the fins are bent on the first part of it what a fail.


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## xstayxtruex (May 30, 2011)

lolol 3-8 pin PCIe connections. you'll need a small nuclear reactor to keep that thing running if you decide to overclock it.


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## W1zzard (May 30, 2011)

Play3r said:


> all the fins are bent on the first part of it what a fail.



it's handmade and the only sample they have at the show. and i didnt treat it too nicely taking it out of its display case


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## crow1001 (May 30, 2011)

What's the point, guarantee going 580 SLI will be cheaper.


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## OneCool (May 30, 2011)

W1zzard said:


> it's handmade and the only sample they have at the show. and i didnt treat it too nicely taking it out of its display case




That sounds about right


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## hanzi (May 30, 2011)

> What's the point, guarantee going 580 SLI will be cheaper.



World Record. Just like the first Mars. I only knew gtx 295 Mars, which looks like a VHS tape. Dunno if there's an earlier version


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## btarunr (May 30, 2011)

arterius2 said:


> I only care about 2 things: price and TDP?



Probably $1200, probably 550~650W.


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## W1zzard (May 30, 2011)

in case it's unclear: the little red 100% fan switch is used to switch the fan speed to 100% without any software - great for overclocking. pressing it again returns to normal temperature controlled fan speed.


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## cadaveca (May 30, 2011)

3x 8-pin......damn.


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## arterius2 (May 30, 2011)

btarunr said:


> probably 550~650W.



doubt it, since it's only 3x8pin connector, its not going to be over 400w after you factor in overhead. to be realistic, the msi  480gtx had 2x8pin+1x6pin(450w), and in reality it had TDP of only 275w. so i'm guessing somewhere around 400w TDP for this card (realistically speaking).


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## btarunr (May 30, 2011)

arterius2 said:


> doubt it, since it's only 3x8pin connector, its not going to be over 400w after you factor in overhead. to be realistic, the msi  480gtx had 2x8pin+1x6pin(450w), and in reality it had TDP of only 275w. so i'm guessing somewhere around 400w TDP for this card (realistically speaking).



Those are specifications limits. Nobody follows them in this segment, you can overdraw from the cable by even 40%, it won't burn up. ASUS will recommend what PSU Wattage you'll need. There are many examples of cards from every segment overdrawing from connectors and slots.


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## theJesus (May 30, 2011)

W1z, any plans on doing a review of this?  It would be great to see how it compares to a 590.


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## W1zzard (May 30, 2011)

theJesus said:


> W1z, any plans on doing a review of this?



as soon as asus sends me one. they wouldnt let me get away with the card from the show.. i tried .. maybe next time i should bring some of our trolls, fanboys and ninjas to assist me


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## blibba (May 30, 2011)

theJesus said:


> W1z, any plans on doing a review of this?  It would be great to see how it compares to a 590.



There are plenty of reviews of 580 SLI vs 590. Performance-wise, this is identical to 580 SLI. 

It's only really power consumption and temperatures/noise that we don't know about yet.


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## D4S4 (May 30, 2011)

i wanna see the pcb.


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## Kreij (May 30, 2011)

Can this even be mounted in a regular case (vertical mobo)?
It looks like it weights about 10 lbs.


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## avatar_raq (May 30, 2011)

A card this big and they fail to use two 120mm or at least 90mm fans!! :S


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## theJesus (May 30, 2011)

W1zzard said:


> as soon as asus sends me one. they wouldnt let me get away with the card from the show.. i tried .. maybe next time i should bring some of our trolls, fanboys and ninjas to assist me


Haha, I'm TheMailMan would have had a fun time 


blibba said:


> There are plenty of reviews of 580 SLI vs 590. Performance-wise, this is identical to 580 SLI.
> 
> It's only really power consumption and temperatures/noise that we don't know about yet.


That may be true, but there is also the possibly higher overclocking potential.


Kreij said:


> Can this even be mounted in a regular case (vertical mobo)?
> It looks like it weights about 10 lbs.


Put a stick under it


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## kinc (May 30, 2011)

avatar_raq said:


> A card this big and they fail to use two 120mm or at least 90mm fans!! :S



The fans are *120mm*


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## popswala (May 30, 2011)

Now all we need is longer mobo's to support sli/tri and still be able to run other cards i.e. turner, ssd, audio or expansion cards. O, and we'll need taller cases to have more then 7-8 pci slots. 

Those r freakin power hungry  sweet lookin. Prob lookin round the price of two 580 i'm guessin'.


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## HossHuge (May 30, 2011)

W1zzard said:


> as soon as asus sends me one. they wouldnt let me get away with the card from the show.. i tried .. maybe next time i should bring some of our trolls, fanboys and ninjas to assist me



Can I play the role of the ninja?  I'll be there in the morning...

45 min scooter ride!!!


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## theJesus (May 30, 2011)

popswala said:


> Now all we need is longer mobo's to support sli/tri and still be able to run other cards i.e. turner, ssd, audio or expansion cards. O, and we'll need taller cases to have more then 7-8 pci slots.


Look up HPTX, it's already here.


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## mlee49 (May 30, 2011)

cadaveca said:


> 3x 8-pin......damn.



My thoughts exactly...

I do wonder about the power phase design, must be magnificent.


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## blibba (May 30, 2011)

popswala said:


> Now all we need is longer mobo's to support sli/tri and still be able to run other cards i.e. turner, ssd, audio or expansion cards. O, and we'll need taller cases to have more then 7-8 pci slots.



You can already get (much) taller than standard cases, so you can just have two of these filling the bottom four slots of a standard ATX board (with suitably positioned PCI-E x16 slots) and you'll have the top three slots free for whatever you want


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## laszlo (May 30, 2011)

this won't blend don't fit in blender....


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## blibba (May 30, 2011)

laszlo said:


> this won't blend don't fit in blender....



That didn't stop him with the rake handle! I'm sure there's a way.


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## avatar_raq (May 30, 2011)

kinc said:


> The fans are 120mm



This is what I thought when I saw the pics, then I read this:



btarunr said:


> The shroud suspends two 80 mm



Then btarunr corrected it silently after my post :shadedshu


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## jaredpace (May 30, 2011)

D4S4 said:


> i wanna see the pcb.









might have changed some since they slapped gf110's on


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## LAN_deRf_HA (May 30, 2011)

Hmmm. My perpetually unbuilt but up to date fantasy build just got $1200 more expensive (expecting a $600 premium per card over the 6990).


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## kzinti1 (May 30, 2011)

A complete waste of space. Both in the real world and this Forum. I could easily buy one of these things. I could also buy a metric ton of manure and still have no use for either. They both stink.


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## HUSKIE (May 30, 2011)

is this on the market now yet?


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## Wile E (May 30, 2011)

W1zzard said:


> as soon as asus sends me one. they wouldnt let me get away with the card from the show.. i tried .. maybe next time i should bring some of our *trolls*, fanboys and ninjas to assist me



Me and TheMailMan have that portion covered. Should be easy for us to cause a distraction.


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## ebolamonkey3 (May 30, 2011)

AlienIsGOD said:


> That thing is HUGE.



That's what she said


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## twistedneck (May 31, 2011)

Andrei23 said:


> a useless behemoth, 6-12 months down the line a single/dual slot card will outdo this card without the need for 24 power connectors



six months down the road after that the 'single/dual' card you speak of will be out done by another card that eats less power and is faster.. so there!!!


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## rainwilds (May 31, 2011)

Undead46 said:


> So it's a GTX 590 but they call it a dual-580?
> 
> ._.



Yeah odd. Maybe because it overclocks like a 580 not a 590.


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## rainwilds (May 31, 2011)

Andrei23 said:


> a useless behemoth, 6-12 months down the line a single/dual slot card will outdo this card without the need for 24 power connectors



Exactly what i reckon. Save the cash (if you have it) and crossfire two upcoming 7000 series radeons!


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## LAN_deRf_HA (May 31, 2011)

The only reason to be pissy about this is if you already bought a 590/6990 and are annoyed that you now have to spend twice as much to have the epeen you get from owning the fastest card. 

Fuck diamonds, you can just buy cut glass.


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## Zubasa (May 31, 2011)

hanzi said:


> World Record. Just like the first Mars. I only knew gtx 295 Mars, which looks like a VHS tape. Dunno if there's an earlier version


World Records are so far hold by Quad-SLI GTX 580s 
Single GPU cards are simply alot easier to cool for extreme OCing.
Not to mention they usually have stronger VRMs than their dual GPU counter part.


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## DailymotionGamer (May 31, 2011)

BUCK NASTY said:


> http://img.techpowerup.org/110530/Capture052.jpg



never again ok


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## ..'Ant'.. (May 31, 2011)

That's one sick card!


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## Anarchy0110 (May 31, 2011)

OMG


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## Funtoss (May 31, 2011)

:O wow, it wont even fit in my case!


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## legends84 (May 31, 2011)

I want one   .. but couldn't afford....


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## Relayer (May 31, 2011)

theJesus said:


> W1z, any plans on doing a review of this?  It would be great to see how it compares to a 590.



@ 1.2v. :snicker:


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## theJesus (May 31, 2011)

Relayer said:


> @ 1.2v. :snicker: http://www.redkittiekat.com/p9/devil.gif


_That's_ why they wouldn't let him take their only sample


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## W1zzard (May 31, 2011)

i'm sure asus will let me try 1.2v to get the "wizz proof" seal


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## theJesus (May 31, 2011)

I would pay extra for that on a graphics card lol


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## Relayer (May 31, 2011)

So, is this 1.5GB or 3GB per GPU? If 1.5GB it's not worth any more than the 590 and will still be walked on by the 6990 at resolutions and IQ settings that matter for a card of this pedigree.


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## theJesus (May 31, 2011)

Ooh, 6gb on the card would be nice.  That's more VRAM than I have system RAM


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## Jonap_1st (May 31, 2011)

3 words = What the f*ck..


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## douglatins (May 31, 2011)

They fucked up the heatsink fins on that, they are BEEEEENT!


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## Hayder_Master (May 31, 2011)

I hope they dobled the memory too, 6Gb sexy


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Jun 1, 2011)

Neat and all, but not for me.


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## mlee49 (Jun 1, 2011)

douglatins said:


> They fucked up the heatsink fins on that, they are BEEEEENT!



See post #16.


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## phox (Jun 28, 2011)

silkstone said:


> Due to the clocks. A 590 is a dual 580. I guess they can as it's not a reference design...



Incorrect, this is significantly more powerful, and with more cores than the 590. The 590 is what is more worthless. It is two 570s, yet if you ran two 570s in SLI, you would get better framerate, and a cheaper price than the 590. If anybody wants the power/performance of this asus mars 2, I would recommend using a workstation card. Preferably the Quadro 4000 if your budget is over 1k for a single card; However, the Quadro 2000 is roughly the same price (maybe a little more) than the GTX590, but with much greater performance and lifespan.


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## blibba (Jun 28, 2011)

phox said:


> Incorrect, this is significantly more powerful, and with more cores than the 590. The 590 is what is more worthless. It is two 570s, yet if you ran two 570s in SLI, you would get better framerate, and a cheaper price than the 590. If anybody wants the power/performance of this asus mars 2, I would recommend using a workstation card. Preferably the Quadro 4000 if your budget is over 1k for a single card; However, the Quadro 2000 is roughly the same price (maybe a little more) than the GTX590, but with much greater performance and lifespan.



With only 256 CUDA cores to the GTX590's 1000, even the Quadro 4000 will not come close to competing in games.


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## fraya713 (Jul 5, 2011)

any news on when this card is going to hit the market? haven't found any updates for a while...


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## preludefreak (Jul 18, 2011)

a few questions , will there be a waterblock for that card and can it be used in sli ?


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