ASUS Mars II 3 GB Dual GTX 580

[qubit]

So are they going to drop an Ares II Dual 6970 monstrosity for 1500 that is 10% faster than this?

No, because it would damage this nvidia fanboy's ego.

 

[HalfAHertz]

its sort of a collector's edition card, nothing that will sell in masses. and yes, i do agree 10% difference from HD6990 in 2560X1600 dont make it THAT faster. considering the power consumption of that thing nothing here is a miracle

AHEM, it's actually 11% faster if you normalize it according to the 6990 . See, this 1% makes a whole lot more difference!

 

[xBruce88x]

Can this run Crysis?

... did you even look at the charts? in short, yes.

 

[MRCL]

But the most important thing is the DVI to VGA adapter, don't forget that.

 

[Maban]

Is there a quad-SLI review in the works?

 

[btarunr]

Can this run Crysis?

Can you read?

 

[the54thvoid]

So are they going to drop an Ares II Dual 6970 monstrosity for 1500 that is 10% faster than this?

Umm, it's called the 6990.

This card is what AMD successfully did (apart from noise) with the 6990. It is two normal (slight OC) 580's. The MARS II is a superb card but like the earlier Bugatti Veyron analogy it is just a rich (or rich tech fan) collectors card.

All the folk saying 'waste of time' etc are missing the point. It's a prestige item, like a Bugatti, a Ferrari or a luxury yacht. It has no real world practicality. Folk really need to get a reality check on life. A well engineered card by Asus is what it is.

The problems lie with Nvidia's actual design. GF 110 is still a power hog. The fact the 6990 comes within 10% average of this is testament to AMD's design technology and implementation.

Unless Nvidia sort out their design for their next series, I see AMD getting ludicrous perf per watt versus the green team.

 

[mlee49]

3 PCIE 8 pin power connectors, in 2 years graphics cards will come with their own power supplies.

Gawd, just to run one of these requires a solid 800W PSU. Glad Asus did it.

 

[qubit]

Can this run Crysis?

Nah, nothing can run Crysis, it's far too demanding.

 

[Widjaja]

Can this run Crysis?

I believe this is still supposed to be funny.

The purpose of this card was simply to say nVidia is faster than anything AMD has.
Didn't really matter too much about by how much or what it will cost.

 

[W1zzard]

Is there a quad-SLI review in the works?

not at this time .. card is already packaged up to go to the next reviewer

 

[WhiteLotus]

Nice to know that whoever it is gets Wizzards sloppy seconds.

 

[TheMailMan78]

What an awesome card......and an "awesome" price to match.

 

[douglatins]

How the hell does this a editors choice. Its louder, hotter, less overclockable, more expensive and only saves one PCI slot compaired to a dual MSI lightning or GB SOC.
Uncool wiz

 

[WhiteLotus]

How the hell does this a editors choice. Its louder, hotter, less overclockable, more expensive and only saves one PCI slot compaired to a dual MSI lightning or GB SOC.
Uncool wiz

I also thought that, and have often wondered just how he calculates the end score. I guess this card makes up for all those down falls with shear power.

 

[yogurt_21]

still curious how it fares against 580 sli, especially being 500$ more expensive than 580 sli.

I mean shoot 1500$ gets you dual 580's, full coverage water blocks, a whole new watercooling system, and a couple games.

 

[Jegergrim]

I wonder if Nvidia expects this to be sold in large quantities O.O

 

[Batou1986]

This thing really makes no sense, even from Asus's point of view.
At $1400 I really doubt they will sell enough to turn a profit on the cost of design.
For that amount of money I could buy a 6990 and I7 setup to match.

 

[douglatins]

I also thought that, and have often wondered just how he calculates the end score. I guess this card makes up for all those down falls with shear power.

I would give it a 8ish for innovation 7 if price had a bigger importance.
Dont get me wrong the ASUS matrix are great, even though 3slot coolers aren't my thing. But it costs 30usd more i dunno

 

[TheMailMan78]

I think you guy are missing the point of this card. This is a niche product. This is a GPU for the guy who doesn't care about costs and wants only the best. Its not about bang for the buck. You don't buy a Shelby "Super Snake" and brag about MPG. Savvy? I mean honestly I bet there will only be a few thousand made IF that. W1zz rated it for what it is and I agree. This card is not designed for mortals like us.

 

[mtosev]

thx w1z
the card fails at the most important factor (price - 1500USD LULWUT?)

 

[claylomax]

Hi W1z, which is the default load voltage on this card? On the voltage tuning section you say: "We could only raise the GPU voltage from 1.050 V to 1.075 V" I assume the voltage is 1.050v; but then on the clock profiles it says 1.08v (which is 1.075v). Because that's where the overclocking headroom comes as the GTX 590's default load voltage is 0.97v.

 

[etayorius]

"Prestige"... haha, i love it when people are willing to pay humongous amounts of money for shit they dont need or they could get cheaper (in this case performance of a SLI/Crossfirex setup) just to prove social status haha.

 

[WhiteLotus]

I think you guy are missing the point of this card. This is a niche product. This is a GPU for the guy who doesn't care about costs and wants only the best. Its not about bang for the buck. You don't buy a Shelby "Super Snake" and brag about MPG. Savvy? I mean honestly I bet there will only be a few thousand made IF that. W1zz rated it for what it is and I agree. This card is not designed for mortals like us.

I am aware of that. I still wonder how he calculates the final score, and what score is deemed good enough to be awarded the choice awards.

 

[TheMailMan78]

I am aware of that. I still wonder how he calculates the final score, and what score is deemed good enough to be awarded the choice awards.

I think its in his "IMO" realm. Honestly I have bought two cards based off of W1zzards "IMO" reviews and the man has yet to let me down.