This is it, folks. The titular God of War
himself, if he is in graphics card form. The Asus ROG ARES 2 is the second
coming of one of the most powerful graphics cards ever made, and it's now here
to rain chaos and destruction upon the mortal realm. This issue, we ride out to
battle in our spelunking gear to take on this unconquerable might
Hybrid Air/Liquid Thermal Design
The ARES 2 is so powerful that it'll
require a unique combination of air and liquid cooling to keep it from
incinerating the PC. This hybrid Air/Liquid Thermal Design uses a dedicated
liquid cooling system with a dust-proof fan to effectively dissipate heat from
critical components, knock down temperatures and keep things stable. To throw
in some figures, the system is about 31-degrees Celsius cooler that a reference
GTX 690 card.
The
ARES 2 is so powerful that it'll require a unique combination of air and liquid
cooling to keep it from incinerating the PC.
Power For Power
The ARES 2 expectedly consumes a lot of
power. It uses three 8-pin PCIe plugs and up to 500W to run.
Display Ports Galore
The ARES 2 provides dual DVI ports along
with four regular display ports, letting you take advantage of the card's power
to output into multiple screens. It doesn't have a HDMI port, but a DVI to HDMI
adaptor helps you bypass it.
It
doesn't have a HDMI port, but a DVI to HDMI adaptor helps you bypass it.
Dual HD 7970
The ARES 2 achieves its godly might from
dual Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition CPUs and a massive 6GB GDDR5 video memory,
impressively condensed in a standard 2-slot height. It is reportedly 130%
faster than a HD 7970, easily making it the fastest GPU so far. The ARES 2 has
a GPU base clock of 1,050MHz, GPU boost clock of 1,100MHz, and 6,600MHz in memory
clock. The memory interface is 768-bit.
GPU Tweak
Gamers and over-clockers will be able to
tinker around with the ARES 2 much more easily with ASUS' proprietary GPU Tweak
software. This graphical overclocking tool does not only show detailed specs,
actual card status and a monitoring widget (with real-time parameter info); it
also lets you easily change these parameters and will automatically check and
update your drivers.
The
ARES 2 achieves its godly might from dual Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition CPUs and a
massive 6GB GDDR5 video memory, impressively condensed in a standard 2-slot
height.
Super Insides
The ARES 2 is built with massive 20-phase
power delivery, which ensures ample room for experimental performance tuning.
Its DIGI-i-VRM digital voltage regulation design helps augment precision
overclocking capabilities, which are further supported by hardened Super Allow
Power capacitors, chokes and MOSFETs. Additionally, these components are forged
under extreme pressure and temperatures, which increases the reliability of the
hardware and overall lifespan (while eliminating choke buzzing noises, meaning
that it'll run as quiet as dreams).
Strong Armor
Even the outsides of the ARES 2 are made of
the strongest parts. The front panel of the card is made of a unibody aluminum
shield, while an aluminum back plating reinforces the other side.
The
ARES 2 is built with massive 20-phase power delivery, which ensures ample room
for experimental performance tuning.
Collector's Item
All of this goodness doesn't come without a
price. The ARES 2 only has 1,000 pieces produced, and will cost $1720 to own.
The card even comes bundled with a ROG-themed attaché case and a laser-etched
aluminum back-plate.
