Asus Ares hands on WORLD FIRST
Cooler than ...
Published: 30th June 2010 | Source: ASUS | Price: £1000 |

Cooler than Samuel L Jackson
Definitely a serious chunk of copper here. Last time we saw this much shiny copper we had the plumbers in.
As befits a twin-GPU card we have a serious amount of power input. 2 8-pins and a 6-pin. It does seem a lot but as many single GPU ATI cards use an 8 and a 6, it's actually less than we'd expect. Should you love probing things then there are some points on the back to push your multimeter up against.
The rear of the card is sturdy to say the least. Although the 5870 chips run cool and so shouldn't warp the board just because we have two of them, it's more to support those lumps of copper we'll get to in a moment.
Regular viewers will remember us reviewing the EAH5870 V2 the other day which is a perfect reference design HD5870. Just to emphasise how BIG this Ares is we thought it would be cool to put the two up against each other for size comparisons.
The fan on the Ares is a 100mm one, and it comes as no surprise that the Ares is a beefy boy indeed. Never mind the quality, feel the width.
Oldsters in the audience might be stroking their beards at this point and thinking they've seen this before somewhere. Sure enough this is an alternative take on the old ASUS 7800.
It's especially visible in this shot. Not only how close they are in design, but also how far and fast technology has moved on. The once gorgeous 7800 cooler now looks positively amateur.
Of course just because it's a grands worth of card doesn't stop us from being interested in what that shield covers...
Most Recent Comments

and you have 2 of them woooop i cant wait for next week

Seriously though, ASUS do love you. They gave you TWO for crying out loud lol. Fingers crossed they let you give one of them away

Cracking job though Tom, I'd be bricking myself stripping down £1000 of hardware to its constituent parts.
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Originally Posted by name='wraithien'
why dont Asus have a custom waterblock for it instead of air cooling?
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Originally Posted by name='douglatins'
Lets hope this is not another mars, also WTF guys. How do you get stuff so early?
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Originally Posted by name='douglatins'
also WTF guys. How do you get stuff so early?
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What cracks me up is the heatsink. It looks like something you would find in the nose of a supercar

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Originally Posted by name='Runebeard'
Knowing Tom's friends Bitspower, who made one for the MARS, they'll probably do limited editions for ARES as well. |

Well NEW YEAR is "only" six months away, here's hoping these beasts will be included in you know what normally happens then...
Of course it is theoretically possible that ASUS might do a MARS2. That would be hot, figuratively and literally. They should call that one SATURN


I just watched the entire video and wrote down some notes so I can ask a couple of questions. Don't worry I am not going to ask anything techy or that would breach the NDA because I've been under a couple of them myself so I know how they are.
So, I shall begin with... Is it heavy? Also when the review does come can you include the weight? I admit that things like that do turn me on
Sadly this card is totally out of my league on account of it costing more than my entire rig. Infact, I would hazard a guess and say I have spent less than a grand on both of my rigs 
My second question is over the pronounciation of the company name. In the states it was deemed to be Azoos yet you seem to pronounce it Aceuss. What do the company address themselves as when you speak to them and they pick up the phone?
That might seem like a really stupid question but things like that bother me
I remember calling the Celeron a Celeeron (in pronouncing it) but others called it the Selleron (as in Celery).Totally agree about the power cables. That is quite silly really. Although having said that most PSU manus have done away with the eight pin plugs now. Neither of my PSUs have them (750w Hipro and a 750w Delta) so that might be why? either way I agree you would be crazy to feed the power that they need down into those adapters.
Now for some funnier questions..
Do you get to keep them?

And when you got them was it in the park on a bench? were you wearing a grey trench coat and addressed the Asus rep as 'Grey Squirrel'?
Haha, for some reason when I look at the way they are packed it reminds me of Trigger Happy

I call it Ace-US just like the guy I deal with does, but HQ and the US I do belive say AS-OOSE


Make sure you give those cards a ruddy good pasting before you pass them on. And leave your fingerprints and DNA all over them

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Originally Posted by name='thestepster'
what set up you using it on mate? r3e with the 908x?
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Originally Posted by name='delusion77'
holy shit
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Originally Posted by name='tinytomlogan'
I dont want to give too much away but I will be very busy...
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Also BTW, is there a small buzzer/speaker on that card?
I, and I think almost everyone on the forum, await your review with baited breath! What an amazing looking card, and along with the extras it's pretty much a mind-blowing package for any enthusiast. Just a shame it's out most of our price range. That doesn't make me any less excited about it though!
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Originally Posted by name='alexhull24'
Massive pat on the back to you Tom, you've done extremely well to get your hands on not just one, but two of those rare beasts!
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Originally Posted by name='VonBlade'
Don't forget that this is Overclock3D, and not just Tom.
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and then 1000fps in crysis will be had ha ha ha ha jokes
looking forward to the performance of these bad boys in crossfire 
Best regards
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Originally Posted by name='silenthill'
Hi, I have just joined after viewing your video on the Asus Ares and you really must be thrilled to be the first guys to have these cards and I 'm looking forward to see the test results on the 7th of July, I wish you all the best and hope you will accept me as a new member.
Best regards |


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Originally Posted by name='FragTek'
For the record I pronounce it Ace-us as well.
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Oh maybe AUSU will hear me and make my dream come true
I could re-cut it and carry my Walther in it!!!
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Originally Posted by name='Sunny Sahota'
lol imagine buying an Ares only to find that inside the case was 2 silenced 9mm pistols with the Agency logos and your name LOOOOL
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Originally Posted by name='silenthill'
I’d probably die from the shock
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looking forward to the performance specs!
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Originally Posted by name='Sunny Sahota'
haha hopfully i can get a hold of one as soon as OCUK get them in. fingers crossed eh? lol
looking forward to the performance specs! |




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