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Legit Video Card Reviews

ASUS ARES 4GB Limited Edition Video Card Review

A Closer Look at ARES

The ASUS ARES 5870 x2 4GB GDDR5 graphics card is expensive at $1200, but we can say that it is one of the coolest looking video cards that we have ever seen! The PCB of the ASUS ARES measures 11.5 inches in length and the card stands at 5 inches tall. In keeping with the Republic of Gamers motif the ASUS ARES is tricked out with a sharp looking black and red theme. Going back a few years we can see that the design is very similar to the original dual GPU graphics card from ASUS, the EN7800GT Dual/2DHTV/512M.

Flipping the ASUS ARES video card over we don't find too many interesting things, but the back plate does act like a heat sink and also protects the back of the board from being damaged. In the top corner we can see the single CrossFireX interconnect that is required if you plan on running a pair of these graphics cards. We envy you if you get two of these to run in CrossFire! You could always mix and match another Radeon HD 5870 with this card though if we understand what we were told correctly.

On the middle of the back of the card ASUS has provided a ground and voltage checks for VDDC1 and VDDC2 for those that want to check voltages with an actual meter on the card itself.

The ASUS ARES features two 8-pin PCIe and a single 6-pin PCIe power connector that is required for proper operation. ASUS says that a minimum 750W system power supply with a +12V current rating of 40A is required for proper operation.

The I/O panel features HDMI, DisplayPort and DVI connections. Notice that the card is thicker than a traditional dual-slot graphics card, so be ready for one of these cards to take up three slots on your motherboard! Since the ARES doesn't have two DVI connections it can only support two displays in up to 2560x1600 resolution. If you want to run ATI Eyefinity then the highest that you can go up to on three panels is 1920x1200 resolution.

The cover was designed to be easily removed and as you can tell, the cover on the ASUS ARES will not restrict airflow!

Speaking of airflow, ASUS designed the ARES to be easily taken apart. This is ideal for enthusiasts as you can easily clean out the cooling fins or change the heat sinks to another type if needed. 

Each GPU  is kept cool by four massive 8mm heat pipes that use 99.9% oxygen-free-copper for the very best heat dissipation according to ASUS.

All this metal and copper does add up though in weight!The ASUS ARES weighed in at just under five pounds when we tossed it on our digital scale!  Not only is this the most expensive video card that we have ever reviewed, but it is also the heaviest!

Here is the ASUS ARES sitting next to the ASUS Radeon HD 5870. Just a tad larger.

Next Page - The History Behind ASUS ARES

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