ASUS Mars II 3 GB Dual GTX 580

[alexsubri]

Why would you compare quadfire versus a dual gpu . . . that is neither fair nor needed and completely pointless.

nvm :shadedshu , i forgot that the 6990 is 4gb ..but still for $1500 is should be better than any other graphic card on the market , no doubt about it.

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

nvm :shadedshu , i forgot that the 6990 is 4gb ..but still for $1500 is should be better than any other graphic card on the market , no doubt about it.

right .. . but you still didn't say why you would want 4 GPU's compared to 2 GPU's . . I am puzzeled.

 

[fullinfusion]

Just tossing this out there; Why use an old 11.4 Ati driver when the later drivers *11.7,11.8 prove to be much better and faster? Nvidia an old driver too? I know its a reference point but really?

Nice review though! But im taking this review with a grain of salt..

Oh and the price!!! Smoke another rock asus! What a joke!

 

[W1zzard]

Why use an old 11.4 Ati driver

has been discussed in many reviews before. i cant rebench all those cards every time a new driver comes out. count how many individual results are in this review then estimate how much work this would be. a full rebench is coming soon, though

 

[fullinfusion]

has been discussed in many reviews before. i cant rebench all those cards every time a new driver comes out. count how many individual results are in this review then estimate how much work this would be. a full rebench is coming soon, though

I musta missed it. I was thinking a driver that shows a good improvement is a worthy replacement over a 4 month old driver. But Wizzard thats why you get paid the big bucks for all the hard work

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

has been discussed in many reviews before. i cant rebench all those cards every time a new driver comes out. count how many individual results are in this review then estimate how much work this would be. a full rebench is coming soon, though

that's a ton of work!

 

[Steevo]

I have always appreciated your reviews W1zz, but on this one I have to ask really why a 9.4? The power consumption, the price, the noise, and the minor performance increase.

If the value you assign arbitrary? Or do you use some sort of scale or scope of with extra points for features?

The only reason I ask is that many users have hit the nail on the head, 10-12% more performance than a 6990 for twice the price? And not to mention the need for a new power supply, a new....well everything to go with it.


I can count on my two hands the number of people who will actually use this card to its full (well perhaps my hands and feet) but still 9.4?




Amazing tech nonetheless, it looks awkward naked, with all the power components exposed.

 

[TheMailMan78]

has been discussed in many reviews before. i cant rebench all those cards every time a new driver comes out. count how many individual results are in this review then estimate how much work this would be. a full rebench is coming soon, though

Do the new drivers off that much of a benefit to warrant a re-bench? Or is it just about that time?

 

[Fourstaff]

Do the new drivers off that much of a benefit to warrant a re-bench? Or is it just about that time?

I know that there is sometimes a significant difference between cards just launched and the same card 1 year later with driver improvements, but since that the GTX580 is out for some time now I think the difference will be minimal.

 

[W1zzard]

Do the new drivers off that much of a benefit to warrant a re-bench? Or is it just about that time?

most certainly the differences will be minimal, but to avoid endless "omgz old drivrs" comments i just rebench from time to time .. also lets me add new benchmarks or update the benchmarks to the latest version

 

[TheMailMan78]

most certainly the differences will be minimal, but to avoid endless "omgz old drivrs" comments i just rebench from time to time .. also lets me add new benchmarks or update the benchmarks to the latest version

I figured as much. I was just curious. All these cards are long in the tooth now and there is only so much milk you can get from a cow.

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

most certainly the differences will be minimal, but to avoid endless "omgz old drivrs" comments i just rebench from time to time .. also lets me add new benchmarks or update the benchmarks to the latest version

That's a lot of work to silence the meme's.

 

[the54thvoid]

I've read a few reviews across the web for the card and each reviewer has had the same issues. It's been a flying visit before they've had it pass it on. Some sites didn't even get to test it against more than a couple of cards.

Hats off to W1z for getting so many titles in. It's a fucking £1000+ card, it's not going to be sitting in someones test bench for days on end waiting for every update.

I like what Kit Guru said about it:

Looking at this product from the point of view as a ‘value for money’ proposition is pointless.

I am giving this the MUST HAVE award. Obviously not for the general audience reading this, but for the collectors and enthusiast users with high levels of disposable income. I would think all 999 in this limited run will sell out quickly.

Like the prior analogies, a Bugatti Veyron is a pretty pointless car in practical terms but it's a technical marvel. And people will buy them.

 

[douglatins]

I would like to see if nvidia released a card like this, people would be promoting they as demigod, just like people are doing to asus. No matter how you look it, 1500USD is offensive. People complained a lot to amd for a 700usd card.
It doesnt matter how many vrms, backplates, pci power plugs you cram it in a card.
This card fails as a product.
Its just like apple releasing a goldplated ipad. At least gold will remain valuable. This card will be irrelevant in less than a year.
What they should sell is a subscription service for those that can afford this, so they get every new card that comes in the mail, and charge 10k for it, cause who cares right?

Also comparing limited edition to "tech" products to say mechanical marvels is sort of an offense. You tell me how much a veyron will cost in a decade and how much a mars is going to worth. One will be still one of the fastest cars in the world, the other a pretty pointless paperweight.

 

[buttah42]

Hmm so I guess I'll be the first to ask this question. When is this card going to be released and where would it be available?

 

[Ev1LrYu]

right .. . but you still didn't say why you would want 4 GPU's compared to 2 GPU's . . I am puzzeled.

I am guessing its purely because it is 2x the price of the 6990.


Amazing card, now if only I could shit(gold)brix.



....


On second thought not worth the pain in the ass

 

[AlphaStormX]

Asus makes the best motherboards, graphics cards and best cooling for them. Asus have made a card that thrashed the GTX 590 and Radeon 6990. Shame I can't afford it .

 

[AlphaStormX]

Gtx 695?

I would like to see if nvidia released a card like this, people would be promoting they as demigod, just like people are doing to asus.

Well Nvidia might release a £1000 card which is TRI CORE. Gtx 695, anyone?

 

[TheMailMan78]

Asus makes the best motherboards, graphics cards and best cooling for them. Asus have made a card that thrashed the GTX 590 and Radeon 6990. Shame I can't afford it .

Mobo's sure. I don't agree on the GPU's or cooling.

 

[ensabrenoir]

Yes a masterpiece in unnecessary excessiveness for the bored exclusive. Yes, every man should own one... and use it to play solitaire on 12 30 inch 3d screens.

 

[wolf]

Seriously fast card, but given its stature I did expect a little more to be honest...

I'd have liked to see 3gb per GPU, the thing costs $1500 man, slap on some more memory and make it as over the top as it appears to be...

And a higher overclock, somethin that really sets it apart and gives it a noticeable lead over GTX580 SLi even... something like ~850 core and ~1050mhz memory.

anyone with enough money to burn on this could likely consider two MSI Lightning XE editions (the 3gb ones) and overclock them. at the cost of only one more slot you'd have a faster and longer lasting setup alright, for hundreds cheaper, and it's still waaay over the top.

 

[Boilerhog]

Massive piece of kit! I want 2 now,DROOL.

I still have my 999.00 us, 512, 6800 ultra x 2 BFG, that was 1299.00 canadian at the time and tax was just over 2800.00.
also have pairs of 7950 GX2 and 9800 GX2.
of course, i can only do this during shutdown season, money is good an i'm "StUpId"!
HELLLLL YEESSSS! i do it again in a second.
if there was stock available when i had money like that ,timing is everything, with this kind of hardware,had the 6800's for 4 days before 7800 went on shelves .took a month to get them ,lol,
Great Review, Wiz.

 

[hugz]

ASUS Mars II, the most idiotic purchase ever, twice as much as GTX590.

 

[Helltech]

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

AFAIK they are only making 999 of these, judging by the certification you get with the card. With that known "large quantities" is all just opinion. Can you consider even 100 percent of them being "sold" large quantities?

Also I'm not sure if Nvidia themselves cares if ASUS sells a lot of these. Wasn't there a big fiasco between ASUS and Nvidia a while ago with dual-GPU cards where Nvidia was upset because ASUS "one-upped" them in an unveiling. I don't even remember what that was about, but I recall it happening.

How the hell does a card so heavy stay on the motherboard without bending or warping in some way?!

The card comes with a PCI-e "support" bracket that goes on the second PCI-e slot under where the card is plugged into, the card can't bend because it hits that "support" bracket.

Think of it as a door-stopper for PCI-e slots. Actually, I kind of hope/wish ASUS starts selling these, they are a pretty good idea for any card.

 

[techtard]

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.

Not really, this card is a super engineered monster. The original Ares was Asus' own monster 5870 based dual card, like the original Mars was a dual nVidia card.

If Asus deploys an Ares II that is as over engineered as this, it will most likely eat the Mars IIs lunch.

Hell, you can hit the factory overclock setting on a 6990 and you are practically neck and neck with this thing.

This card is a nice feat of engineering to prove what can be done when you have a Jurassic Park style 'Spare no expense' attitude.

If someone wants to waste their money on this then they can go right ahead. The will be kicking themselves in 6 months when the next gen cards come out and smash this for one third of the price.

Though AMD has been enjoying a performance per watt advantage over nVidia since the ATI 4xxx series,it might not happen again next gen as AMD is shifting over to a more GP-GPU solution like nVidia.