ASUS Ares II Overkill3D Review
Up Close
Published: 30th January 2013 | Source: ASUS | Price: £1200 |
Up Close
We've already taken a look at the Ares II in our recent preview, but we can't help having another look at what £1200 buys you. As always with the extreme models in the ASUS line the Ares II comes in a case guaranteed to survive even the most extreme postal service abuse. Opening this is an event.
Here it is in all its glory. As we'd expect the foam is extremely tightly cut, with no wiggle room at all. Because of the move from air cooling to a water loop the radiator dominates the eye more than the card itself. This has also meant that the designer had a lot of freedom with the cover and it replicates the heatsinks we saw on the Maximus V. It is strangely bland to be honest. When we think of the monstrous Ares bristling with highly-polished copper heatpipes, the Ares II is rather meh.
As you'd expect with something that has two Tahiti XTs at the heart of it, the Ares II requires three 8pin PCIe power inputs. At the other end of the card is a Crossfire finger. Something we're going to take advantage of in today's review.
The cooler is familiar to anyone who's seen the Corsair H100 and the idea is the same as the PNY GTX580. It's certainly not the prettiest beneath the hood, but as long as the card remains cool and quiet then that's the important part.
Most Recent Comments
Not my cup of tea with the whole AIO WC though..... i like modding, but to buy it like that, seems odd
The card looks great and benches even better..That is a lot of CASH
I do miss the Crysis benchmark where you blow the hell out of the chopper
Ron
|
Originally Posted by kejser11
That does it! I´ll stick to Devil 13, where You do get the accessories at a much lower price and virtually the same power. I will NOT pay £500 - 600 for a metal suitcase worth around £50! Come again, Asus. You know better!!!
|
However after googling furiously for ~ 2 minutes I could not find a place that actually sold the Devil13, save for a few "new" ones on eBay, and of course you can see the flaw in siding with a product that is not readily available at this moment, and is labelled as 'discontinued' on Newegg.
That is a real shame, considering that the card was only revealed around the end of September last year....
Hopefully this AIO monstrosity does not stick, as it is clearly a huge hindrance to anyone who buys it and a disastrous design choice.
"You can't take it with you can you" as Ofan said, and not for any E-Peen thing, but for the hell of it...
|
Originally Posted by DifferentClone
It's alright saying that, and normally I would agree wholeheartedly with you. The price is not justified at all, and can be considered rather insulting to those who realise where the extra money is going. The Devil13 is certainly the better buy.
However after googling furiously for ~ 2 minutes I could not find a place that actually sold the Devil13, save for a few "new" ones on eBay, and of course you can see the flaw in siding with a product that is not readily available at this moment, and is labelled as 'discontinued' on Newegg. That is a real shame, considering that the card was only revealed around the end of September last year.... Hopefully this AIO monstrosity does not stick, as it is clearly a huge hindrance to anyone who buys it and a disastrous design choice. |
P.S: That price is about 40% of an ARES II, so I will defenitely not go there...
CSS Valid
http://www.overclock3d.net/gfx/artic...125234280l.jpg
Continue Reading