Enter the world's fastest video card

[SXRguyinMA]

basically a 5870x2 :eek:

http://promos.asus.com/US/ares/

[Airbozo]

Hehe, $1200....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121388

Nice find though!

[Oneslowz28]

I will take 3. :p

[mDust]

I thought the 5970 was already a 5870x2, but under-clocked a bit.

I think if ASUS is making devilish treats such as this, they should just start making their own brand graphics cards and start competing directly with teams red and green. They might not be able to do it directly due to the need to continue making crossfire and sli capable motherboards, but they could just setup another subsidiary company like asRock. The subsidiary company could offer some fresh competition in the ever stale graphics card market...the pot needs to be stirred.

[Konrad]

It seems inevitable that Asus will eventually join the band. Gigabyte is already getting their startup going. Intel has already positioned itself the the "leader" in it's own niche (low-/mid-end chipset integrated graphics on millions of machines), though remember how badly their first few products sucked. ATI/nV (and to a lesser extent Intel and even VIA) have a huge head start in this arena.

The advantage that mega-OEMs like Asus/Gigabyte have is they order things like ATI/nV chipsets and GDDRAM in huge bulk; they can cost-effectively test and sort the parts out at different speeds and always offer "factory overclocked" versions of each product for a premium. They can leverage their position and experience as top-tier mobo makers in the graphics market if they really want to, although for now they just license and rebrand chipsets from the real players.

[x88x]

Heheheh, fastest for now. Just wait for Asus' next trick; the Mars 2. :twisted:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/18/asus-mars-2-teases-superpowered-dual-geforce-gtx-480-goodness/

Same trick as the Ares, but with GTX480's. :twisted:

[SXRguyinMA]

if one gtx480 sucks that much juice and makes that much heat I can imagine what that thing will need :eek

it'll be a 3-slot card because of the need for a massive cooler, and you'll need to supply 4 8-pin pci-e connectors for power, with a 1kw psu minimum lol :D

[x88x]

Actually just 3 8-pin connectors, from the prototype. I'm gonna take a leap here though and guess a 4-slot cooler though, just because that would be the absolute peak of uselessness. :D

[BuzzKillington]

Jesus. I love eye candy and all but if I ever *need* a 1000+watt psu, I'll switch to consoles.

[x88x]

if I ever *need* a 1000+watt psu, I'll switch to consoles.

Heehee, I know you didn't mean it the way I read it, but I can't help but find the contradiction here hilarious. :D

[Diamon]

It does save you from the inconvenience of having buy a new GXF card for at least the next five years.

Who am I kidding? We love buying GFX cards (as well as other hardware) :D

[mDust]

if one gtx480 sucks that much juice and makes that much heat I can imagine what that thing will need :eek

it'll be a 3-slot card because of the need for a massive cooler, and you'll need to supply 4 8-pin pci-e connectors for power, with a 1kw psu minimum lol :D

It will be cooled by molten rock. I read that somewhere in the specs...:whistler:


Who am I kidding? We love buying GFX cards (as well as other hardware)
I much prefer 'acquiring' new GFX cards to 'buying' new GFX cards. ;)

[x88x]

It will be cooled by molten rock. I read that somewhere in the specs...:whistler:

No, no, no, you misread. It's actually a phase-change system that uses rock as a thermal medium. :P

[mDust]

No, no, no, you misread. It's actually a phase-change system that uses rock as a thermal medium. :P

HAHA! Vaporized rock...:)

[Luke122]

HAHA! Vaporized rock...:)

Specific heat capacity of vaporized rock might actually be too low..

[mDust]

Specific heat capacity of vaporized rock might actually be too low..

:facepalm:
Do the engineers at ASUS know about this?? How are they going to keep the Mars cool now? Heat pipes down to the Earths mantle? A plasma jet?

[Collinstheclown]

A coworker of mine just ordered 2 of these. Yes... TWO, as in, $2400.

I'm hoping i can get a couple pics of it.




-CollinstheClown

[x88x]

One interesting thing with the Ares is, if you look at the HS/F design, the heatsink for the two GPU chips and the mosfets/whatever-that-is-in-the-middle are separate from the heatsink for all the RAM/etc, making it easier to watercool properly without a full coverage block. ...not that I expect the cost would be a problem for anyone buying one of these, but with Asus only putting out a limited number of them, they'd have to wait for when some waterblock manufacturer makes up a custom one for it.

[Diamon]

Hmm, this gives me a business idea! Making custom solid gold waterblocks for these beasts before the big manufacturers come up with some cooling of their own :D

And I'll sell some solid gold rads to go with them as well ^^

[x88x]

Silver or copper would actually be better. Both have a higher thermal conductivity than gold. IIRC, the top four naturally occuring substances are, in order: diamond, silver, copper, gold.

[Diamon]

Silver or copper would actually be better. Both have a higher thermal conductivity than gold.

But that's not the point now, is it? And I'd have a hard time milling diamond...

Still an interesting post tho :up:

[Konrad]

Graphene, Graphite, diamond, carbon-fiber, silver, copper, gold, aluminum - in that order.

The first two are significantly cheaper than diamond, and easier to machine (though they usually respond better to sintering processes).

[Oneslowz28]

Well since I know there is no way we will be getting a review sample to test, I will go ahead and show you what another review site just got in.


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs026.snc4/33676_1585198039602_1525315285_1480777_3362118_n.j pg

Trubritar videos has not 1 Ares but 2!

[SXRguyinMA]

:eek: linky?

[StormRider]

freebie?;) pwease? :D

[Oneslowz28]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYPxM0yUcpg&feature=autofb

[TheGreatSatan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYPxM0yUcpg&feature=autofb

Oh god, he's wearing one of those retarded magic bracelets:rolleyes:

[diluzio91]

^ well... it goes well with his magic graphics card in a way...

[TheGreatSatan]

I'll get one in 6 months for $200

[SXRguyinMA]

lol

[Oneslowz28]

I'll get one in 6 months for $200

Actually you probably wont. They only made 1000 of them and from what I read on FB, they have sold over half already.

[x88x]

Actually you probably wont. They only made 1000 of them and from what I read on FB, they have sold over half already.

Ah, but how many of those people are going to drop them and get the MARS 2 (same idea but with the GTX 480) when Asus makes it?

[SXRguyinMA]

and how many of those 1000 have gone to sites for review? like the 2 that guy got? I'd be pissed if I paid that kind of $ for a card and found out some guy beat the crap out of it before I even got it

[StormRider]

Oh god, he's wearing one of those retarded magic bracelets:rolleyes:
he has two ares cards. your argument is invalid

[Oneslowz28]

From what I have seen, Trubritar is the only site to get an ares for review. I asked and the request was promptly denied. For all I know, they purchased them.

I doubt that the MARS 2 will replace these. From what I have heard the Ares is supposed to post better numbers.

[Oneslowz28]

I have 2 Gigabyte 5870s in my PC right now in Crossfire X so I will bench them and see what numbers they put up. Then we can compare to the Ares.

[x88x]

From what I have heard the Ares is supposed to post better numbers.

I would be surprised if this is the case. I could, of course, be completely wrong, but it just doesn't mesh with me. GTX480 SLI will significantly outperform 5870 CF (http://techreport.com/articles.x/19404/11), and unless they completely botch the MARS II, which I'm thinking is unlikely, there's no reason I see why they shouldn't be able to get it to outperform the Ares. Of course, I'm operating on rumors and hearsay as to the actual specs/etc for the MARS II since not much info has actually been release yet (they haven't even said how much VRAM it'll have, just "more than 3GB").

[SXRguyinMA]

yea but will the redonkulous price and heat output of the MARS II be worth what little (if any) advantage it may have?

[TheGreatSatan]

http://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/asus_mars_ii_0.jpg

http://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/asus_mars_ii_2.jpg