ASUS ARES II Dual HD 7970 Video Card Review

Overclockers.com · 01-28-13, 11:00 AM

Quote:

In the land of overclockers, where gamers lie. Two GPUs were forged by AMD, one card to find them. One card to rule them all and in the darkness bind them.

... Return to article to continue reading.

wagex · 01-28-13, 11:03 AM

argh dat card be sexy

p.s. nice review hokie

Boulard83 · 01-28-13, 11:16 AM

Great review ! thanks

EarthDog · 01-28-13, 11:29 AM

Incredible card and even better review. Great work as usual Jeremy!

Robert17 · 01-28-13, 11:47 AM

OOOF !!

Metlcub · 01-28-13, 12:15 PM

Great review, damn that is one sexy card, But Holly cow $1500 ouch.

Janus67 · 01-28-13, 12:44 PM

Nice review hokie!

Gorgeous card, but that is soooo expensive!

Are you going to trifire bench as well?!

hokiealumnus · 01-28-13, 12:53 PM

Yep. Just installed the driver at lunch. Hope to have tri-fire benches by the end of the week. 'ish. Depends on how long ASUS lets me play with it.

Bobnova · 01-28-13, 12:54 PM

$600 more than the Powercolor 7990? No thanks.

wagex · 01-28-13, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobnova

$600 more than the Powercolor 7990? No thanks.

buuuuuut baaaaaaahhb it has teh waters precious

pwnmachine · 01-28-13, 01:02 PM

Man that card is one sexy beast, excellent review Hokie

I'm surprised to see the 6990 lag so far behind, I assume this is all due to drivers? Or were those old benchmarks?

hokiealumnus · 01-28-13, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwnmachine

Man that card is one sexy beast, excellent review Hokie

I'm surprised to see the 6990 lag so far behind, I assume this is all due to drivers? Or were those old benchmarks?

Due to drivers partially. The last time I rebenched that one was with Catalyst 11.x. Regrettably, time to rebench every time a new driver comes out is not something I possess.

EarthDog · 01-28-13, 01:10 PM

That and the performance drivers do not effect the 6xxxx series anyway. Im sure there are some improvements to be had with drivers on the 6 series since then, but nothing like the 12.11 beta's did to the 7xxx series.

pwnmachine · 01-28-13, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hokiealumnus

Due to drivers partially. The last time I rebenched that one was with Catalyst 11.x. Regrettably, time to rebench every time a new driver comes out is not something I possess.

Understandable, but as ED mentioned I really doubt they would have made that much of a difference anyways.

Lvcoyote · 01-28-13, 01:39 PM

Thanks for another great review hokie!

Culbrelai · 01-28-13, 02:00 PM

So two GTX 670s would bench higher than it?

Lol, AMD.

Janus67 · 01-28-13, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Culbrelai

So two GTX 670s would bench higher than it?

Lol, AMD.

Depends on the benchmark, looking at HWBot comparing water cooled results with 2x7970 and 2x670 the 7970s win.

Checked 3dm11, heaven, and 3dmVantage and the best results (dual 7970s) won by several thousand points.

EarthDog · 01-28-13, 02:52 PM

7970's beat 680's in benchmarking for the most part. Especially ambient... They can overclock with voltage control and can be pushed much higher than Kepler cards, not to mention tessellation can be disabled on AMD too.

hokiealumnus · 01-28-13, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Culbrelai

So two GTX 670s would bench higher than it?

Lol, AMD.

As pointed out, that's a negative.

Top 2x GTX 670 results on the bot:
Heaven Xtreme - 4322.31
3DMark 11 - 17893

My ARES II results:
Heaven Xtreme - 5333.04
3DMark 11 - 18576

I didn't beat the best results in Vantage & 03 though, but my CPU wasn't too heavily overclocked at only 4.8 GHz.

EDIT - Interestingly, beating the top GTX 670 result on the bot in Heaven Xtreme didn't even require tessellation to be turned off. My overclocked score with tessellation on was 4452.353. The CPU was only at 4.0GHz too, not that it makes a lot of difference in Heaven.

bmwbaxter · 01-28-13, 04:01 PM

Excellent review as always! I have to say that is one of the nicest GPU's I have ever seen, even compared to the other ROG products.

01-28-13, 11:03 AM	#2
wagex Premium Member #13 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: newkirk, oklahoma	argh dat card be sexy p.s. nice review hokie __________________ rig-NZXT source 210 elite --serv-- generic rack mount---------------htpc-apex htpc case 2500k 4.5ghz 1.3v------------------ 2x e5345 xeon quad--------------------e6600 @ 3.0ghz p67-ud4 ------------------------------ s5000pslsata --------------------------- gigabyte g41 8gb gskill 2x4 1600 --------2x2gb samsung ddr2 667 fbdimms-----------2x2b ddr3 1600 6950 dirt 3 edition ----------------- onboard -----------------------------------HD 5450 corsair hx850-------------------------ocz 700w----------------------------------275w came with case custom loop --------------------------771 stock heatsinks---------------------xigmatek durin win 7x64------------------------------server 2008 r2 enterprise--------------win 7 64 bit steam user name : Wagex (you happy bro?) HEAT "You can't get magical Harry Potter temps with big overclocks, PHYSICS has a lot to do with it." -conumdrum
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01-28-13, 11:16 AM	#3
Boulard83 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Quebec - Canada	Great review ! thanks __________________ • Le Québécois • • • • • BTTB / W7 pro • • • • EVGA X79 FTW • I7 3820 • PH-TC14PE • 16gb G.Skill 2133mhz • EVGA GTX 670 + Accelero TTII Tecnofront HWD BenchTable • Antec TPQ-1200-OC • 2x Agility 4 256gb • Surround Asus VE278Q 5760x1080 • • • • HTPC / W7 pro • • • • Asus Z77-m Pro • 2500K • NH-C12P • 2x4gb G.Skill Ares 1600mhz Asus GTX 650 TI • Agility 4 128gb • Enermax Naxn 550w • Lian Li PC-C60B • • • • Server / WHS 2011 • • • • Gigabyte H77m-D3H • G2020 • 2x4gb G.Skill 1600mhz • X25m 80gb 2x 1TB Black • 1x 2TB green • CX430M • Hauppage HVR-2250
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01-28-13, 11:29 AM	#4
EarthDog Senior PITA Member Overclockers.com Editor Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Stuck in Maryland...	Incredible card and even better review. Great work as usual Jeremy! __________________ C2D/C2Q Overclocking Guide / i3/i5/i7 (s1366/1156) Overclocking Guide/Info / SandyBridge/ Ivybridge Overclocking Guide / AMD Overclocking Guide / Power Supply Guide SSD Reliability/Write Endurance / JOIN THE BENCHING TEAM! / Bulldozer Overclocking Guide / Forum Etiquette Want to see your writing featured on the overclockers.com Front Page? PM me, I can help! "We have more information and more ways of accessing it than ever, yet seem increasingly less inclined to do so."- Michael Wilbon
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01-28-13, 11:47 AM	#5
Robert17 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Republic of Texas	OOOF !! __________________ Main rig: MSI Z77 MPower\|\|Intel i7-3770K @4.2GHz\|\|Corsair H60 Antec EA 650w\|\|G.Skill Ripjaws X 2133 x8\|\|Crucial M4 128GB Seagate 1Tb F1 7200 32Mb\|\|Galaxy Geforce 660ti NZXT Phantom Black\|\|fans 1x140, 3x120, 3x200\|\|Asus VN247H-P\|\|Win7 Pro 64-bit You can _____ when pink elephants fly
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01-28-13, 12:15 PM	#6
Metlcub Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Cumming Ga	Great review, damn that is one sexy card, But Holly cow $1500 ouch. __________________ Mobo ASRock z77 Extreem4 CPU i7-2600k @ 4.2 1.20v CPU HS/F Corsair H-100 RAM Corsair Veng 12gig DDR3-1600 GPU Asus DCII GTX570 Storage Hyper X 3k 240g , Force 3 120g, 2tb HDD DVD Samsung BD/DVD/CD Inputs Logitech G510 and G700 Sound X-fi Extreem / Sennheiser PC-350 Case Haf X Advanced PSU TT TR2 RX 750w My Heatware
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ASUS ARES II Dual HD 7970 Video Card Review

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01-28-13, 12:44 PM	#7
Janus67 Benching Team Leader Wannabe Admin Senior Join Date: May 2005 Location: Ohio State	Nice review hokie! Gorgeous card, but that is soooo expensive! Are you going to trifire bench as well?! __________________ Ivy Bridge Benching and Gaming: Asus Maximus V Extreme 0010 BIOS : Intel i7 3770k w/ Phanteks PH-TC14 : 8GB 2x4GB G.Skill TridentX DDR3-2666 : MSI 7970 Lightning Edition Other Benched Hardware: GA-EX58a-UD3R; Rampage Extreme; Rampage Formula; GA-EP45-UD3R; P5K-Deluxe; MIVE -- 2500k; 2600k; 920; E6300; E6550; E6600; E8400; Q6600 -- 6950; 4870; 8800GTS Other Components: Crucial M4 128GB SSD : 2x1TB Samsung F3 in Raid0 : Silverstone Strider Gold 1250W : Auria EQ276W 27'' & Dell 2407FPW : KPC Tek9 Fat and Gemini LN2 Pots Benchmark, Win Prizes - In the Overclocktagon!
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01-28-13, 12:53 PM	#8
hokiealumnus Water Cooled Moderator Overclockers.com Lead Editor Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Raleigh, NC	Yep. Just installed the driver at lunch. Hope to have tri-fire benches by the end of the week. 'ish. Depends on how long ASUS lets me play with it. __________________ Enjoy benchmarks? Join the benching team! \| New to water cooling? Read the Beginner's Guide to Water Cooling Your PC. xsuperbgx - "As a wise man once said: "Less talky. More clocky."" \| cyberfish - "When overclocked, it's undefined behavior." I.M.O.G. - "Vaseline on Ivy Bridge is a bad idea. But not so bad of an idea that it can't be fixed with a torpedo heater, a dishwasher, an oven, and a few hours. " \m/ OverClockers mATX L33T Club \m/ - Join Now! - My mITX Build
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01-28-13, 12:54 PM	#9
Bobnova Air Superiority Senior Member Benching Team Leader Join Date: May 2009 Location: Humboldt	$600 more than the Powercolor 7990? No thanks. __________________ "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." -- Einstein (maybe) How to check your PSU with a multimeter. 17bXw5t51rEBXGavJFMJsC8g7HQgThUGc7 Heatware.
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01-28-13, 01:02 PM	#11
pwnmachine Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Alberta, Canada	Man that card is one sexy beast, excellent review Hokie I'm surprised to see the 6990 lag so far behind, I assume this is all due to drivers? Or were those old benchmarks? __________________ i5 2500k @ 4.8 gHz. 1.3v..................Q9650 @ 4.0 gHz. Kingston Hyper 1600mHz 4gb..........XMS3 1600mHz 4gb Asus P8P67 Pro B3...........................790i Ultra FTW XFX 5970 BE + XFX 5850..................GTX 260 2xSLI CM Hyper 212/Thermalright HR-03...Scythe Mugen II CM Cosmos S Modified......................NZXT H2 Custom Maple Gaming Case
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01-28-13, 01:10 PM	#13
EarthDog Senior PITA Member Overclockers.com Editor Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Stuck in Maryland...	That and the performance drivers do not effect the 6xxxx series anyway. Im sure there are some improvements to be had with drivers on the 6 series since then, but nothing like the 12.11 beta's did to the 7xxx series. __________________ C2D/C2Q Overclocking Guide / i3/i5/i7 (s1366/1156) Overclocking Guide/Info / SandyBridge/ Ivybridge Overclocking Guide / AMD Overclocking Guide / Power Supply Guide SSD Reliability/Write Endurance / JOIN THE BENCHING TEAM! / Bulldozer Overclocking Guide / Forum Etiquette Want to see your writing featured on the overclockers.com Front Page? PM me, I can help! "We have more information and more ways of accessing it than ever, yet seem increasingly less inclined to do so."- Michael Wilbon
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01-28-13, 01:39 PM	#15
Lvcoyote Member Overclockers.com Editor Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Omak, WA	Thanks for another great review hokie!
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01-28-13, 02:00 PM	#16
Culbrelai Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA	So two GTX 670s would bench higher than it? Lol, AMD. __________________ Current: PowerBragger 10,000 Case: CM Cosmos II MoBo: EVGA SR-2 CPUs: 2x Xeon E5620 @ 3.51GHz 24/7 Cooling: 2x CM 212 EVO PSU: Corsair AX1200 RAM: 24GB Corsair XMS3 1333mhz GFX: Zotac GTX 670 4GB Monitor: ASUS VE248H @ 1080p, 60hz, 2ms response HDD: 2TB WD Caviar Black OS drive, with 1TB & 400GB drives additionally. And how come the long haired nvidia guy hasnt burst in yet like the coolaid guy in family guy? "OH YEEEEAAAAAHHHH!!!"
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01-28-13, 02:52 PM	#18
EarthDog Senior PITA Member Overclockers.com Editor Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Stuck in Maryland...	7970's beat 680's in benchmarking for the most part. Especially ambient... They can overclock with voltage control and can be pushed much higher than Kepler cards, not to mention tessellation can be disabled on AMD too. __________________ C2D/C2Q Overclocking Guide / i3/i5/i7 (s1366/1156) Overclocking Guide/Info / SandyBridge/ Ivybridge Overclocking Guide / AMD Overclocking Guide / Power Supply Guide SSD Reliability/Write Endurance / JOIN THE BENCHING TEAM! / Bulldozer Overclocking Guide / Forum Etiquette Want to see your writing featured on the overclockers.com Front Page? PM me, I can help! "We have more information and more ways of accessing it than ever, yet seem increasingly less inclined to do so."- Michael Wilbon
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01-28-13, 04:01 PM	#20
bmwbaxter Premium Member #5 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: London, Ontario, Canada	Excellent review as always! I have to say that is one of the nicest GPU's I have ever seen, even compared to the other ROG products. __________________ SSD > PCMark 05 freeagent - Torture is watching all these 2600k's kicking my rig in the mosfets HeatWare News Team Profile Monthly Benching Competition
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