Graphics Cards Guide

Compare This

ASUS Ares

18 Aug 2010

The ASUS Ares packs two full Radeon HD 5870 Cypress XT chips under its massive triple-slot cooler and is quite simply the world's fastest graphics card.

Tags: ati, asus, evergreen, ares

Filter by Manufacturers

HWZ's Overall Rating: 8.0

Performance:

Features:

Value:

Blazing Fast

Impressive overclocking potential

Effective cooler

Incredibly pricey

Extremely Noisy at full load

Not much faster than 2 x 5870 cards

<div id="product-review" class="article">
			<h2 class="header-green">ASUS Ares - God of War Cometh</h2>
		<span class="byline">Reviewed by Kenny Yeo on Saturday, 21 Aug 2010</span>
		<div class="share">
	<div
		id="addthis_div_519f4a790d5a0" 
		class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style"
		addthis:url="http://www.hardwarezone.com/review-asus-ares-god-war-cometh"		addthis:title="ASUS Ares - God of War Cometh"	>
		<a class="addthis_button_google_plusone" g:plusone:count="false"></a>
		<a class="addthis_button_facebook"></a>
		<a class="addthis_button_twitter"></a>
		
		<a class="addthis_button_email"></a>
	</div>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
	window.addEvent ('domready', function ()
	{
 		//AddThis thing
		addthis_share = window.addthis_share || {};
		addthis_share.url_transforms = {
			add: {
				utm_source: 'addthis',
				utm_medium: 'referral',
				utm_campaign: 'addthis',
				utm_content: 'ASUS%2BAres%2B-%2BGod%2Bof%2BWar%2BCometh'
			}
		}
		
		addthis_config = window.addthis_config || {};
		addthis_config.data_track_clickback = true;
		addthis_config.data_ga_property = 'UA-166763-1';
		//window.addthis && addthis.toolbox (".addthis_toolbox");
		 
	});
//]]>
</script>		<div class="content resizeable">
						<div id="page-1" class="page">
		 		<h2 class="page-title">Power of the Gods</h2>
		 		<h3 class="page_title">Power of the Gods</h3>
<p>In Greek mythology, Ares is the God of War and Bloodshed. He personifies violence and all that is terrible and horrible about war. Hence, it is fitting that ASUS&rsquo;s latest and possibly greatest graphics card be christened &ldquo;Ares&rdquo;.</p>
<p>What makes the Ares card deserving of sharing a name with a Greek god you might wonder? For starters, it has a massive triple-slot custom cooler that features extensive use of aluminum and copper. And then its equally hefty weight of 2.1kg - a single Radeon HD 5870 (not a small card by any means) in comparison weighs merely 0.95kg.</p>
<p>But most of all, it's the hardware underneath that makes the Ares a beast of a graphics card. While the dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970 might be ATI&rsquo;s top dog at the moment, it actually uses two down clocked Cypress XT chips. Not only are the GPUs on the Radeon HD 5970 down clocked - from 850MHz to 725MHz - so is the memory - from 4800MHz DDR to 4000MHz DDR. ASUS&rsquo; Ares, on the other hand, offers the full package, packing twin Cypress XT chips clocked at 850MHz with memory running at a heady 4800MHz DDR. What&rsquo;s more, it comes with a whopping 4GB of super quick GDDR5 framebuffer. In short, the Ares is nothing less than a beast of a graphics card.</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="362" width="500" src="/files/images/case.jpg" alt="" title="As befits a special card, the ASUS Ares comes in a special briefcase. Cool or trying too hard? You decide." /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="339" width="500" src="/files/images/inside.jpg" alt="" title="Inside, you'll find the card along with basic accessories such as a HDMI to DVI adapter, PCIe connectors, and a ASUS ROG gaming mouse." /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="415" width="500" src="/files/images/compare_0.jpg" alt="" title="The Radeon HD 5870 is not a small card, but look how the Ares dwarfs it." /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="325" width="500" src="/files/images/power_7.jpg" alt="" title="To power this behemoth of a graphics card, you'll need two 8-pin and a single 6-pin PCIe power connector." /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="257" width="500" src="/files/images/ports_14.jpg" alt="" title="The Ares makes do with a single DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort for video output. " /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="338" width="500" src="/files/images/cooler_10.jpg" alt="" title="Thick copper heat pipes ensure the GPUs are kept cool." /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><br />
&nbsp;</p>			</div>
		</div>
			<div class="pagination" >
		<span class="desc">Page 1 of 6</span>
		<ul>
			<li class="prevnext prev"><a href="/review-asus-ares-god-war-cometh" class="disabled">&lsaquo; Prev</a></li>
			<li class="skip">
				<form id="PageAddForm" method="post" action="/go"><fieldset style="display:none;"><input type="hidden" name="_method" value="POST" /></fieldset>					<select name="data[Page][url]" class="page-selector" id="PageUrl">
<option value="/review-asus-ares-god-war-cometh" selected="selected">Power of the Gods</option>
<option value="/review-asus-ares-god-war-cometh/test-setup-194">Test Setup</option>
<option value="/review-asus-ares-god-war-cometh/results-i">Results</option>
<option value="/review-asus-ares-god-war-cometh/results-continued">Results (continued)</option>
<option value="/review-asus-ares-god-war-cometh/temperature-power-consumption-overclocking-15">Temperature &amp; Power Consumption &amp; Overclocking</option>
<option value="/review-asus-ares-god-war-cometh/conclusion-368">Conclusion</option>
</select>					<input type="submit" class="submit" value="Go" />				</form>			</li>
			<li class="prevnext next"><a href="/review-asus-ares-god-war-cometh/test-setup-194" class="">Next &rsaquo;</a></li>
		</ul>
	</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
	window.addEvent ('domready', function ()
	{
 
		var container = document.getElement ('#product-review'),
			content = container && container.getElement ('.content'),
			pagination = container && container.getElement ('.pagination'),
			form = pagination && pagination.getElement ('form'),
			menu = form && form.getElement ('.page-selector'),
			links = {
				prev: pagination && pagination.getElement ('.prev a'),
				next: pagination && pagination.getElement ('.next a')
			},
			page = -1,
			desc = 'Page {curPage} of {lastPage}'
		;

// Tag as Javascript-enabled
		pagination.addClass ('js');

menu.addEvent ('change', function (e)
		{
			var curPage = this.selectedIndex + 1,
				lastPage = this.length,
				url = this.get ('value'),
				pageContent = container && container.getElement ('.page')
			;

// Disable controls
			menu.set ('disabled', 'disabled').blur ();
			if (pageContent) pageContent.setStyle ('opacity', .5);

new Request.HTML ({
				'url': url,
				'method': 'get',
				'link': 'cancel',
				'update': content,
				'onSuccess': function ()
				{
					// Update controls
					menu.erase ('disabled');
					links.prev
						.set ('href', menu.getChildren ('option')[(curPage > 1)? curPage - 2: curPage - 1].get ('value'))
						[(curPage > 1)? 'removeClass': 'addClass'] ('disabled')
					;
					links.next
						.set ('href', menu.getChildren ('option')[(curPage < lastPage)? curPage: curPage - 1].get ('value'))
						[(curPage < lastPage)? 'removeClass': 'addClass'] ('disabled')
					;
					pagination.getElement ('.desc').set ('text', desc.substitute ({ curPage: curPage, lastPage: lastPage}));

captureIntraLinks ();
					new Fx.Scroll (window).toElement (container);
				},
				'onFailure': function ()
				{
					// Restore controls
					menu.erase ('disabled');
					if (pageContent) pageContent.setStyle ('opacity', 1);
				}
			}).send ();
		});
		$$([links.prev, links.next]).addEvent ('click', function (e)
		{
			e.stop (); this.blur ();
			if (!this.hasClass ('disabled'))
				menu.set ('value', this.get ('href')).fireEvent ('change');
		});
		form.addEvent ('submit', function (e)
		{
			e.stop (); this.blur ();
			menu.fireEvent ('change');
		})

// Capture all intra-page links and hook to js
		function captureIntraLinks ()
		{
			content.getElements ('a[href^="#"]').flatten().each (function (link)
			{
				var target = link.get ('href').substr (6).trim ();
				if (target && target.match (/^\d+$/) && target <= menu.length)
					link.addEvent ('click', function (e)
					{
						e.stop (); this.blur ();
						menu.selectedIndex = target - 1;
						menu.fireEvent ('change');
					});
			});
		}
		captureIntraLinks ();

// Trigger initial pagination state
		var target = location.hash && location.hash.substr (6).trim ();
		if (target && target.match (/^\d+$/) && target <= menu.length && target != page)
		{
			menu.selectedIndex = target - 1;
			menu.fireEvent ('change');
		}
 
	});
//]]>
</script>
				<div class="footer">
		
<div class="tags" style="">
	<span class="label" style="">Tags:</span> <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/106-ati">ati</a>, <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/345-asus">asus</a>, <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/797-evergreen">evergreen</a>, <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/1231-ares">ares</a></div>
		</div>
				</div>

<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
	window.addEvent ('domready', function ()
	{
 
		var section = $('tab-product-content-review'),
			dropdown = section.getElement ('#reviews-list'),
			tId = 0
		;

if (section && dropdown)
		{
			var list = dropdown.getElement ('ul'),
				links = list.getElements ('li a')
			;

dropdown.addClass ('js');
			list.set ('morph', { 'link': 'cancel' });

$$(dropdown, list).addEvents ({
				'mousemove': function ()
				{
					$clear (tId);
				},
				'mouseenter': function ()
				{
					list.set ('morph', {'duration': 'short'}).morph ({ 'opacity': 1 });
				},
				'mouseleave': function ()
				{
					tId = function () { list.set ('morph', {'duration': 'short'}).morph ({ 'opacity': 0}); }.delay (1000);
				}
			}).fireEvent ('mouseleave');

links.addEvent ('click', function (e)
			{
				e.stop ();
				//unescape the 'alt' prooperty
				var o = new Element('i', { 'html': this.get ('alt')});
				new Request.HTML ({
					'url': o.get('text') + '&as=ajax',
					'method': 'get',
					'link': 'cancel',
					'update': section.empty().grab(new Element('div')
						.addClass ('waiter')
						.grab (new Element ('span', {
							text: 'Please wait while we load your article ...'
						}))
					)
				}).send ();
			})

section.getElements ('.footer .comments a').addEvent ('click', function (e)
			{
				e.stop ();
				new Fx.Scroll (window).toElement ($('tab-product-details'));

var href = this.get ('href').match (/#.+$/), target = href && href[0];
				if (target)
					(function () { new Fx.Scroll (window).toElement ($(target.substr (1))); })
						.delay (3000);

$('tab-product-comments').getChildren ('a')[0].fireEvent ('click');
			})
		}
		if( $$('.image-caption-container').length < 1 )
		{	
			$$('.article .content img[title]').each (function (img)
			{
				// skip if title is empty
				if (!img.get ('title')) return;
			
				new Element ('span', {'class': 'image-caption-container'})
					.addClass (['left', 'right'].contains (img.get ('align'))? img.get ('align'): '')
					.set ('width', img.get ('width'))
					.replaces (img)
					.grab (img)
					.grab (new Element ('div', {
						'class': 'image-caption',
						'html': img.get ('title').trim ()
					}))
				;
				img.erase ('align');
			
				var link = img.getParents ('a');
				if (link) link.addClass ('captioned');
			});
		}
 
	});
//]]>
</script>

Graphics Cards Guide

ASUS Ares

Filter by Manufacturers

You may also be interested in...