# ASUS Working on MARS II Dual GTX 480 Graphics Accelerator



## btarunr (Jul 16, 2010)

After treating the enthusiast community to the Republic of Gamers (ROG) ARES Dual HD 5870 graphics accelerator, ASUS isn't wasting any time is designing its successor, referred to (for now) as "MARS II". This graphics accelerator uses two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 (GF100) GPUs on one board, that's right, the first dual-GPU accelerator based on GF100, which is dreaded for its thermal and electrical characteristics so much, that NVIDIA is content with having the second-fastest graphics card in the market (GTX 480), with no immediate plans of working on a dual-GPU accelerator. 

ASUS' ambitious attempt is in the design stage deep inside its R&D, where the design is in an evaluation state. The R&D gave us some exclusive pictures of the MARS II PCB to treat you with. To begin with, the card's basic design is consistent with almost every other dual-GPU NVIDIA card in recent past. There are two independent GPU systems, each with its own VRM and memory, which are interconnected by an internal SLI, and connected to the system bus by an nForce 200 bridge chip. On this card, two GF100 GPUs with the same configuration as GeForce GTX 480 (GF100-375-A3) are used, each having 480 CUDA cores, and connecting to 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide memory interface. 






ASUS' innovations kick in right from the PCB, since it takes a lot of effort to keep such a design electrically stable, as well form an overclockers' product. MARS II uses a PCB with 3 oz copper layers to increase electrical stability, and used a strong VRM. Each GPU system is fed by an 8+2 phase VRM of its own, which use a new Super Alloy choke that reduces core energy loss. The card takes its power input from three 8-pin power inputs, which are fused. 



 



The card is quad SLI capable, and can pair with another of its kind (and probably single GTX 480s). To cool this monstrosity, ASUS is coming up with a beefier than ever cooling solution. With the product being still at an evaluation stage, how long it will take to reach production, or whether it will in the first place, remains to be seen.

*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## Salsoolo (Jul 16, 2010)

holy


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## arroyo (Jul 16, 2010)

Meh... few months from now the new generation of GPU will come and this card would be on the same performance level as new mainstream one. Why they build such a monster? There always be enthisiasts for this ... but what is the point?

Let's see history of mainstream beating pefromence kings:
7800GX2 = 8800GTS
9800GX2 = GTX260
HD3870X2 = HD4850
HD4870X2 = HD5850


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## AsRock (Jul 16, 2010)

WOW, this going cost like 1k ?.

BT the last two pics would not load for me.


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## Kaiser Kraus (Jul 16, 2010)

Now, we can finally roast something for a change in our wonderfully enclosed cases. 
Given the ARES I intolerable noise levels at load, expect this to be one noisy piece of hardware.
3 8-pin connectors will be needed to power this monster......


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## arnoo1 (Jul 16, 2010)

lol  max power of 525watt xd, that well over max boardpower of 350watt(correct me if i'm wrong), why not dual gtx460?


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## robal (Jul 16, 2010)

Water is the only option for this one.


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## inferKNOX (Jul 16, 2010)

"The new model thermi takes performance up a notch, not only will you now be able to roast whale meat with the grill, but we've ensured that there's enough power to flowing through this baby to roast yourself a whale whole!"


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## pr0n Inspector (Jul 16, 2010)

I can't help but touch myself after seeing that neatly arranged power section.


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## $ReaPeR$ (Jul 16, 2010)

arnoo1 said:


> lol  max power of 525watt xd, that well over max boardpower of 350watt(correct me if i'm wrong), why not dual gtx460?



because then it wouldnt be THE MARS CARD..




inferKNOX said:


> "The new model thermi takes performance up a notch, not only will you now be able to roast whale meat with the grill, but we've ensured that there's enough power to flowing through this baby to roast yourself a whale whole!"



axaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxa very funny mate  



AsRock said:


> WOW, this going cost like 1k ?.
> 
> more like 1,200$ since Mars 1 is 1,000$


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## stupido (Jul 16, 2010)

arnoo1 said:


> lol  max power of 525watt xd, that well over max boardpower of 350watt(correct me if i'm wrong), why not dual gtx460?


that is a good question...
though I think the naming scheme is meaning "we are using 2x"most-powerful-GPU@the-moment" or just SLI/CF on a single PCB  

though I would really like to see 2xGF104 instead of 2xGF100... should be much better card - gaming I mean...


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## yogurt_21 (Jul 16, 2010)

arroyo said:


> Meh... few months from now the new generation of GPU will come and this card would be on the same performance level as new mainstream one. Why they build such a monster? There always be enthisiasts for this ... but what is the point?
> 
> Let's see history of mainstream beating pefromence kings:
> 7800GX2 = 8800GTS
> ...



ummm nope, your comparisons are off,

7800GX2 = 8800GTS - couldn't really find anything on this but the original gx2's were pretty slow due to driver issues so I'd more compare it to a 7900GTX actually.
9800GX2 = GTX2*75*
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_275_Amp_Edition/29.html
HD3870X2 = HD48*7*0
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_4850/23.html
HD4870X2 = HD58*7*0
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_5870/30.html

being that those are upper mid or lower highend you've got more than 1 generation if you go dual. If you throw in the gtx295 it competes with the 480 quite nicely. 
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_480_Fermi/32.html

my ftw edition being faster still. 

so last gen dual gpu highend = current gen single gpu highend for the most part these days. 

the draw backs are of course higher heat and power requirements than the newer cards, but that won't matter to someone who already has the dual gpu.

so this card will likely last a bit, it's just going to be expensive as hell and of course only be available in limited quantities.


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## techtard (Jul 16, 2010)

If you run 2 of these monsters in SLI you can probably expect the police to bust down your door mistakenly thinking you  run a meth lab in your basement.


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## _JP_ (Jul 16, 2010)

btarunr said:


> To cool this monstrosity, ASUS is coming up with a beefier than ever cooling solution.



Uhm, I think water cooling would be the only viable solution, but considering how few manufacturers release cards with an water cooling kit in them, this might be the first 4 slot air cooler we're going to see.
And even with a design like that, ASUS would probably be forced to put the most powerful Delta fans in that cooler.
Guess that thing will be able to get as loud as a Jumbo-jet taking off.


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## 1nf3rn0x (Jul 16, 2010)

btarunr, didn't I tell you GTX 480x2 would be released, yet you remained skeptical! Ha!


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## RejZoR (Jul 16, 2010)

3x 8-pin power connectors  I hope it comes with attached phase change unit...


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## kylzer (Jul 16, 2010)

What a beast but damn the price would kill


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## Animalpak (Jul 16, 2010)

Ohmygaaaawwwddddd !!!!!!!!!


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## Melvis (Jul 16, 2010)

The 4870X2 is starting to look like it is good on power draw lol


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## CDdude55 (Jul 16, 2010)

HOLY...F***ing...CRAP.

Even the thought of putting two of these in SLI is enough for my mind to explode. The cooling soultion is probably gonna be godlike.(unless they just go with water cooling)

I know damn well i won't be able to afford this nor be able to power it. I'll just stick with picking up a second 470.


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## the54thvoid (Jul 16, 2010)

1nf3rn0x said:


> btarunr, didn't I tell you GTX 480x2 would be released, yet you remained skeptical! Ha!



On Btarunr's behalf, may i quote:
_
"With the product being still at an evaluation stage, how long it will take to reach production, or whether it will in the first place, remains to be seen. "_

Besides, this isn't NV's solution, it is Asus - and they are nutters.  I'm sure they can make it but the cooling solution will be a single plane ticket to alaska and a hole in the frozen ground to put it in.

They'll call it 'Mars to Fermi - Baked Alaska done right'

Qudos to Asus for being mental enough to try anything!

To be fair though (or not so fair) most product reviews for the Mars and the Ares aren't very appreciative.


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## mdm-adph (Jul 16, 2010)

This thing is going to be hotter than the sun.  And I'm not talking about sales numbers.


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## majestic12 (Jul 16, 2010)

give this card 1.21 gigawatts and run it at 88.7 miles per hour and let's see what happens.  Having a nuclear reactor may be necessary to run it though.


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## dir_d (Jul 16, 2010)

I dont think they will get the cooling down, it took them almost 6months to get ARES cooling down.


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## CDdude55 (Jul 16, 2010)

Ya, they're really gonna have to pull something out there ass in terms of cooling it. Don't think they could just do water cooling as of course, it's not the standard like air is. But really, most people who are actually gonna buy this card, will probably be running a water setup anyways.(and a PSU touched by god)

Cause it's gonna take them forever to find a sufficent enough air cooler to keep that card within reasonable temps.


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## Kreij (Jul 16, 2010)

Leaked pic from the MARS II R&D Cooling lab ....


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## btarunr (Jul 16, 2010)

Oh, looks like they compacted it. I thought ASUS was constructing a hyperbolic cooling tower in your backyard.


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## Kreij (Jul 16, 2010)

The cooling tower is for when you run quad SLI


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## lism (Jul 16, 2010)

Geezus.

This is defenitly a huge monster.


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## BraveSoul (Jul 16, 2010)

i like this, u get to play all the games at full, and it serves as a heater, seriously, it gets so cold in my room during winter, my hands get numb and i cant shoot as good 
_____________________________




Antec1200 filter project


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## [Ion] (Jul 16, 2010)

Damn 

Power draw that would double that of my entire computer


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## the54thvoid (Jul 16, 2010)

By jove I've got it!!!

I'm going to get two and seal them in a vacuum chamber - run off the heat pipes into a water tank and boil the water.  The water will boil off into steam which i'll push through pipes to create pressure to turn a generator and create power from it - which i can then use to power my cards.....


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## [Ion] (Jul 16, 2010)

the54thvoid said:


> By jove I've got it!!!
> 
> I'm going to get two and seal them in a vacuum chamber - run off the heat pipes into a water tank and boil the water.  The water will boil off into steam which i'll push through pipes to create pressure to turn a generator and create power from it - which i can then use to power my cards.....



 

Something about laws of thermodynamics I think


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## evillman (Jul 16, 2010)

About 12" long.


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## AsRock (Jul 16, 2010)

Kreij said:


> Leaked pic from the MARS II R&D Cooling lab ....
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/100716/giant_fan.jpg



Np just need some good headphones and attach the fan to ermm the window ?. Although still be required to remove a good part of your house too.  But just imagine peoples reactions LMAO.


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## AKlass (Jul 16, 2010)

I wouldn't be surprise if these cost 2k each and came standard with a LN2 pot. Or cost 3k each for the card and a freon compressor. Or cost some ridiculousness amount, take up 3 slots and has as much silver/copper/fans that the PCB can hold.


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jul 16, 2010)

pointless card is pointless


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## Tank (Jul 16, 2010)

liewe moer!

that's huge...


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## DaJMasta (Jul 16, 2010)

Gross.  I look at the picture and I can't help but think that this card is the Double Down of the PC graphics world.


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Jul 16, 2010)

This card might stay on top of the performance pile for a long while actually, since I don't believe there will be any die shrinks till deep into next year, just attempts at making the current stuff more efficient.


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## mdsx1950 (Jul 16, 2010)

Finally! 

This card will probably be better than the ARES so its gonna cost a fortune.


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## a_ump (Jul 16, 2010)

honestly tho i can't see there being a problem with putting stock waterblocks on them. I can see em going for $1299-1499, and at that price its not enthusiasts that'll be getting em but extremists. And probly same scenario of only 1000 being made, won't have a problem selling them.


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## wiak (Jul 16, 2010)

w1zzard is gonna grill some beef on this one when he reviews it


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## wiak (Jul 16, 2010)

dont you w1zzard i know you are here


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 16, 2010)

My power bill just spiked looking at the photos!


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## Tartaros (Jul 16, 2010)

Maybe what dr. Emmet Brown said about buying uranium in a drugstore is not so far in time... we'll need it if asus is going to make a supadupa card everytime ati or nvidia releases a gpu


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## CDdude55 (Jul 16, 2010)

wiak said:


> w1zzard is gonna grill some beef on this one when he reviews it



Whats he gonna use to power two of those damn things?(maybe a solid 1600w im thinking)


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## erocker (Jul 16, 2010)

This thing could heat a small apartment. It actually wouldn't be that bad of a purchase if you would use it to heat your pad and I'm not joking. You could run some nice duct-work out the back of your case.


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## erek (Jul 16, 2010)

arroyo said:


> Meh... few months from now the new generation of GPU will come and this card would be on the same performance level as new mainstream one. Why they build such a monster? There always be enthisiasts for this ... but what is the point?
> 
> Let's see history of mainstream beating pefromence kings:
> 7800GX2 = 8800GTS
> ...



you're wrong, the 9800GX2 is faster than a GTX 280


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## AphexDreamer (Jul 16, 2010)

well at least my Broken Matrix 5870 isn't the hottest card in existence any more.


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## kid41212003 (Jul 16, 2010)

The most neatly arranged board I have ever seen.


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## segalaw19800 (Jul 16, 2010)

Cooling for this will be what..


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## evillman (Jul 16, 2010)

CDdude55 said:


> Whats he gonna use to power two of those damn things?(maybe a solid 1600w im thinking)



The same thing that he used on GTX 480 SLI.

What we really want to know is what he's going to use on "GTX 495" Quad-SLI.
Dual 1500W PSUs?


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## btarunr (Jul 16, 2010)

Although ASUS didn't mention this, I expect this card to have 6 GB of memory (3 GB per GPU). Crank everything up in GTA 4 at 2560 x 1600, and V-synced frame-rates.


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## CDdude55 (Jul 16, 2010)

evillman said:


> The same thing that he used on GTX 480 SLI.
> 
> What we really want to know is what he's going to use on "GTX 495" Quad-SLI.
> Dual 1500W PSUs?



Thats what i'm talking about, if he used a 1600w PSU on two 480's(tho you could run those on a solid 1200w) then two of these which equals 4 fermi's in one rig will be mind blowing.

_Then again_, i've seen a rig use 4x GTX 480's in 4-Way SLI and a 980x CPU with a Silverstone 1600w that only hit about 60% load(the PSU) running 3Dmark.


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## (FIH) The Don (Jul 16, 2010)

i do hope they put on 4 or more display connections so people can run 3 screen with 3d without having to buy 2 of those monsters


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## AphexDreamer (Jul 16, 2010)

(FIH) The Don said:


> i do hope they put on 4 or more display connections so people can run 3 screen with 3d without having to buy 2 of those monsters





I'm sure they would much rather like it if you bought two. Just sayin.


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## Salsoolo (Jul 16, 2010)

CDdude55 said:


> Ya, they're really gonna have to pull something out there ass in terms of cooling it. Don't think they could just do water cooling as of course, it's not the standard like air is. But really, most people who are actually gonna buy this card, will probably be running a water setup anyways.(and a PSU touched by god)
> 
> Cause it's gonna take them forever to find a sufficent enough air cooler to keep that card within reasonable temps.


+1
i also think that only the h2o crowd should buy this \>][


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## fatguy1992 (Jul 16, 2010)

I hate the heatsink mounting holes, unlikely i'd be able to put my SS on it.


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## popswala (Jul 16, 2010)

That's gonna be a beast. It's gonna cost a heck of a lot like there last limited edition cards that looked cool but cost 1K. That's ridiculous. Why do manufactures insist on putting the connectors on the far side near a window or something? Why not on the short side so cables can head straight into a hole for hiding them. JMO. I like to hide every inch of cable as I can.

By the time they release this if they do. ATI will have something to surpass this like 6xxx. Come on nvidia. Just jump to 6xx and get it over with. lol.


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## Perseid (Jul 17, 2010)

popswala said:


> By the time they release this if they do. ATI will have something to surpass this like 6xxx. Come on nvidia. Just jump to 6xx and get it over with. lol.



As someone else said, you have to remember that this isn't nVidia doing this. This is ASUS's doing, and personally I think they're doing it for bragging rights. They know they're not going to sell very many of these. 

And as for speculation on the power supply, maybe it'll come with a big flaming hole you have to occasionally feed small rodents into.


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## 983264 (Jul 17, 2010)

*Holy Crap WTF FTW*

Woah, there's another microwave producing card coming right up, bet it's going to eat more than 600W of power, then in quad SLI it will be 1000w+ of power consumption, and it's goin to weigh 3kg, 'cause it's cooling system is going to be more heavier... ^^


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## cdawall (Jul 17, 2010)

i think a 3 slot copper heat pipe based cooling solution would cool these cards just fine the heat output is not more than a quad core AMD CPU i think a heatpipe cooler that resembles that will be used with twin 60mm fans.


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## 1nf3rn0x (Jul 17, 2010)

Anyone up for a BBQ?


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## cauby (Jul 17, 2010)

Oh God.Are they trying to substitute the LHC as the most terrifying thing on Earth?Really,the ARES uses 8+8+6 pin already,so i guess this card will use 4x8 pin?And for the potential buyers,I don't see any value on a card like that:it'll be ungodly hot,noisy and power-hungry,so why not just wait till Nvidia brings their own dual-chip card based on GF104?Two GTX460 in SLI come really close to the 5970,so why not just use the full GF104 chip and create a better card?
ASUS is really greedy.


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## Reeves-81 (Jul 17, 2010)

[I.R.A]_FBi said:


> pointless card is pointless



Lol, well said.


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## TAViX (Jul 17, 2010)

My Arc Generator is standing by for the SLI interface. 



arroyo said:


> Meh... few months from now the new generation of GPU will come and this card would be on the same performance level as new mainstream one. Why they build such a monster? There always be enthisiasts for this ... but what is the point?
> 
> Let's see history of mainstream beating pefromence kings:
> 7800GX2 = 8800GTS
> ...



I don't know about nvidia, but the last two from ATI are completely WRONG!!
For example, and don't take my word just check some benches, the ATI HD 4870X2 is 15% FASTER than *HD5870*, not HD5850. I'm guessing the same is for HD3870X2...


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## Wile E (Jul 17, 2010)

Throw in a single slot full coverage block, and I'd buy one if I had the money.


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## remixedcat (Jul 17, 2010)

Yes cooling would be an issue, but I am like OMG OMG about this still LOL>


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## Hayder_Master (Jul 17, 2010)

other crazy thing coming up from asus


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## AsRock (Jul 17, 2010)

That fan connector i see 5 pin could they be planning to run 2 fans on that ?. Or maybe just one in the middle so the heat leaves the card from either side.


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## TechnicalFreak (Jul 17, 2010)

Wonder what the PSU requirements are for one of those..


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## Per Hansson (Jul 17, 2010)

Cards like these make me wonder...
I mean you could buy 4x normal fermis several weeks ago if you bribed the company so you could have their whole stock that is

Why pay extra for something like this which will be old by the time you can buy it in stores?


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## Animalpak (Jul 18, 2010)

I'm tired of reading comments "pointless" is useless "... This is a product for enthusiast ...



Asus at least not like other companies that only think about profit and sales, there's passion and dedication in what they do and these graphics cards is shown.

These cards are just experiments made by true enthusiast people.


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## CDdude55 (Jul 18, 2010)

Animalpak said:


> I'm tired of reading comments "pointless" is useless "... This is a product for enthusiast ...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



True

Ya, i really don't see how someone could call this card pointless or useless at all. Whats so pointless or useless about it?

Chances are the people who can afford to buy this card can afford to buy a great case with great cooling(perhaps watercooling), and a nice powerful PSU to go with it. Of course the power consumption is gonna be high and chances are it's gonna run hot, where's the mystery?. These cards are for full frontal power, and are meant for those with deep pockets and have the resources for cooling and powering these cards. It maybe pointless and stupid for the majority, but it has it's market, and they're gonna be damn happy to get there hands on one or even two of these if/when they are released.

Those that are able and willing to spend around $1000 for a video card, should be able to have enough to cool and power the damn thing.


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## HillBeast (Jul 18, 2010)

Oh dear.


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## fritoking (Jul 18, 2010)

the54thvoid said:


> By jove I've got it!!!
> 
> I'm going to get two and seal them in a vacuum chamber - run off the heat pipes into a water tank and boil the water.  The water will boil off into steam which i'll push through pipes to create pressure to turn a generator and create power from it - which i can then use to power my cards.....




that is great.....


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## Steevo (Jul 18, 2010)

I know what happens to cards like this. 5 people buy them and are all like






But in 6 months when the next gen comes out and they are still eating cheesy mac out of a can, and when they realize they have no money for a upgrade and the next gen provides the same performance they become like








And then in like two years when they finally have enough to buy a new card they always brag about how awesome and great their card was, even though they hated it. even though inside they feel like








So who wants to step up with their fail and take part in the last step here?



the54thvoid said:


> By jove I've got it!!!
> 
> I'm going to get two and seal them in a vacuum chamber - run off the heat pipes into a water tank and boil the water.  The water will boil off into steam which i'll push through pipes to create pressure to turn a generator and create power from it - which i can then use to power my cards.....




You sir deserve a cookie!!!


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## Per Hansson (Jul 18, 2010)

Steevo; your cookie looks delicious!


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## dir_d (Jul 18, 2010)

Yea i gotta admit that is a pretty good looking cookie...


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jul 18, 2010)

ican has cookie?


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## mdsx1950 (Jul 18, 2010)

Animalpak said:


> I'm tired of reading comments "pointless" is useless "... This is a product for enthusiast ...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



+1



Steevo said:


> I know what happens to cards like this. 5 people buy them and are all like
> http://www.coronene.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/super_awsome_rad_kidjpg.jpeg
> 
> But in 6 months when the next gen comes out and they are still eating cheesy mac out of a can, and when they realize they have no money for a upgrade and the next gen provides the same performance they become like
> ...



A person who can afford 1 or 2 can definitely switch to the next gen as it comes out.  They wont be stuck with that one card for 2 years LMAO! Its kinda obvious don't you think. 

Its a $1000+ card. Big deal, there a couple of people on TPU running GTX 480 SLi, and i don't think they will be stuck with those cards for 2 years. Hell, i saw some guy running Tri or Quad SLi GTX 480s. lol


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## btarunr (Jul 19, 2010)

Steevo said:


> I know what happens to cards like this. 5 people buy them and are all like
> http://www.coronene.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/super_awsome_rad_kidjpg.jpeg
> 
> But in 6 months when the next gen comes out and they are still eating cheesy mac out of a can, and when they realize they have no money for a upgrade and the next gen provides the same performance they become like
> ...



Nah, this is for people who spend any money on the fastest, even if it's outperformed in 6 months by a product half its price. There are people who spend $1000s each month on speed-boats, on automobiles, on robots, on RC aircraft, on rockets, and then there are people who spend $1000s on performance computer hardware. ASUS does have a market to cash in on. Intel has been selling $1000 processors which are outperformed in a short while, for ages.


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## mixa (Jul 19, 2010)

The only way this can see real world "life" is if they supply it together with 1000+ W PSU and a water cooling system.From all the GTX 480 I`ve seen and tested, I`m certain that there is no way to consume anything under 600W under load (if not more).Yes it will be heck of a monster performer, but wtf, I`m having trouble chilling just one GPU with water, not to mention 2 on the same PCB....
In agree that 460x2 would have been much better choice than 480x2 ....

Oh and forget about 1000 USD price , this is going for about 1200+ (maybe even 1200 euro) at release.


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## erixx (Jul 19, 2010)




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## mdsx1950 (Jul 19, 2010)

mixa said:


> The only way this can see real world "life" is if they supply it together with 1000+ W PSU and a water cooling system.From all the GTX 480 I`ve seen and tested, I`m certain that there is no way to consume anything under 600W under load (if not more).Yes it will be heck of a monster performer, but wtf, I`m having trouble chilling just one GPU with water, not to mention 2 on the same PCB....
> In agree that 460x2 would have been much better choice than 480x2 ....
> 
> Oh and forget about 1000 USD price , this is going for about 1200+ (maybe even 1200 euro) at release.



460X2? That won't even beat the MARS 1.


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## inferKNOX (Jul 19, 2010)

_JP_ said:


> Uhm, I think water cooling would be the only viable solution, but considering how few manufacturers release cards with an water cooling kit in them, *this might be the first 4 slot air cooler we're going to see.
> And even with a design like that, ASUS would probably be forced to put the most powerful Delta fans in that cooler.
> Guess that thing will be able to get as loud as a Jumbo-jet taking off.*



Or at least as loud as a vuvuzela!
World Cup 2010 fever will live on in the MARS II!
If you hated the vuvuzelas while trying to hear the soccer commentary in FIFA 2010, you're gonna have a ball trying to hear the in-game cutscenes with the MARS II!


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## aj28 (Jul 19, 2010)

mixa said:


> The only way this can see real world "life" is if they supply it together with 1000+ W PSU and a water cooling system.From all the GTX 480 I`ve seen and tested, I`m certain that there is no way to consume anything under 600W under load (if not more).Yes it will be heck of a monster performer, but wtf, I`m having trouble chilling just one GPU with water, not to mention 2 on the same PCB....
> In agree that 460x2 would have been much better choice than 480x2 ....
> 
> Oh and forget about 1000 USD price , this is going for about 1200+ (maybe even 1200 euro) at release.



That might not be a bad idea... ASUS could re-brand a beefy PCP&C PSU and a self-contained water cooling system, with modular options which allow you to remove the included pump/rad from the loop and use your own. Oh, and apply Arctic Ceramique from the factory so no one attempts to take the cooler off!!


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