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Asus' ROG Ares II: Four Dual-GPU Graphics Cards, Compared

Asus' ROG Ares II: Four Dual-GPU Graphics Cards, Compared
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Earlier this year, Asus joined the extreme high-end graphics club with its own dual-Tahiti-based card, liquid-cooled and overclocked. You can't buy it anymore, but we got our hands on one and are adding it to our database of performance data.

As in the automotive world, the extreme high-end of computer hardware is almost always fun to look at, and rarely practical to own. With its Ares II, Asus set out to build the fastest graphics card in the world, matched by stunning presentation. The final product was mostly supposed to serve as demonstration that the company could build such a performance-oriented product, even if it was only available in limited quantities (the company claims only 1,000 were made, of which only a fraction made it to the U.S.).

So, why bother looking at it now? Because we had one in the lab, that's why. Oh, and it just so happens that only two samples of the other "fastest dual-GPU card in the world" ever left its manufacturer's lab. That was HIS' Radeon HD 7970 X2 (not X2), and we got both of them last year. Creates a nice little comparison, right? The Ares II offers an additional 50 MHz on the core clock, plus liquid cooling to deal with the incredible heat generated by two Tahiti GPUs.

We previously rounded up HIS' Radeon HD 7970 X2, PowerColor's AX7990 6GBD5-A2DHJ Devil13, and EVGA's GeForce GTX 690 in Radeon HD 7990 And GeForce GTX 690: Bring Out The Big Guns. Now that we have the Ares II, it only makes sense to add it to our round-up numbers. We're using the same benchmark system and drivers to keep the comparison fair. It would have been great to get those other dual-Tahiti boards into the lab to run them with the very latest drivers, but they're both such rare museum pieces that it simply wasn't possible. We settled on turning back the clock and adding Asus's effort. Incidentally, we didn't add Nvidia's GeForce GTX Titan for much the same reason (not that it would have mattered, since one Titan is slower than a GTX 690).

Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 Vs. The Dual-Tahiti Competition
 Asus Ares II
HIS Radeon HD 7970 X2
PowerColor AX7990 6GBD5-A2DHJ Devil13EVGA GeForce GTX 690
Shader Units2 x 20482 x 1536
GPU Clock Frequency
1100 MHz
1050 MHz925 / 1000 MHz (BIOS)
915 MHz + GPU Boost
ROPs2 x 32
2 x 32
GPU2 x Tahiti
2 x GK104
Transistors2 x 4.31 million
2 x 3.5 million
Memory Size
2 x 3 GB2 x 2 GB
Memory Bus
2 x 384-bit2 x 256-bit
Memory Clock Frequency
1650 MHz
1500 MHz
1375 MHz1502 MHz


On paper, Asus' Ares II looks good. HIS' Radeon HD 7970 X2 runs 50 MHz faster than PowerColor's Devil13 card at its overclocked BIOS setting, which is why it proved to be the faster board in our original round-up.

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  • 0 Hide
    fantanel , 3 April 2013 10:29
    wow.
  • 0 Hide
    Marcopolo123 , 3 April 2013 11:45
    Lol gtx 690 pretty decent card ...
    Titan nice power consumption
  • 0 Hide
    noiren , 3 April 2013 14:27
    The Asus card is pretty impressive but judging from your results unless you really want that card I don't know why you just wouldn't buy two 7970 in crossfire it'd a lot cheaper and similar results.
  • 0 Hide
    Pailin , 3 April 2013 14:38
    RadeonPro tool to reduce microstuttering... curious.

    Why have I somehow missed hearing about this!? Going to go check this out thanks :) 
  • 0 Hide
    HEXiT , 3 April 2013 20:34
    the real difference is the noise output on the cards. yeah your gonna get similar results in some games from a 7970 xfire and do it cheaper, but it will likely not be quiet. the ares 2 will do the job even more effectively if you dump its fans and replace them with noctua nff12's they are quieter on the most part and push way mor air and have a higher static pressure.. end result would likely be 2-3'c cooler for the same or less noise.
    the ares 2 will also overclock possibly higher than 1200. so yeah it costs a bit, but its a lot more than the sum of its totally redesigned pcb/vrm parts.
  • 0 Hide
    Marcopolo123 , 3 April 2013 21:36
    Waterblocks
    Watercool setup :) 
  • 0 Hide
    SuperPCRepair , 5 April 2013 22:43
    That is a monster......