Asus ROG MARS II Graphics Card Review

It seems obvious, but we have to say it – The Asus Republic Of Gamers MARS II is a product designed specifically for a small, hardcore audience comprised of overclockers, modders and wealthy enthusiast users.

At £1,149 inc vat, 98% of the people reading this review will not be able to afford it. The other 2% will already be online trying to secure a pre-order for one or even two of these cards for their next high end system build. When you get into this specific sector, the price really does become irrelevant.

Asus have an rich heritage of creating some of the most desirable graphics solutions on the market and deservedly so. Their Republic Of Gamers limited edition cards are spectacular showcases of engineering and design prowess, falling well outside Nvidia or AMD's reference specifications. You might think it can't be done, but ASUS will normally find a way.

Nvidia's GTX580 is, in my opinion, the finest video card that they have ever produced. They have taken the excellent reference design and pimped it out in every possible way. The PCB is an immensely tricky custom design which highlights the resourcefulness and intelligence of the ASUS engineering team.

A few months ago I would have questioned the long term risks associated with placing two GTX580's on a single PCB at these speeds, but thanks to a proprietary 21 phase power design, hardcore heatpipe copper coolers and twin 120mm fans, the temperatures never exceeded 85c when gaming. Power delivery has been very stable and performance is much as we would expect from a dual GTX580 solution.

Awarding a score to this product is difficult, because while most of us will look at the price in horror, this card is not targeted at the mainstream high end audience. After all, for £1,149, you could pick up two HD6990's or even three GTX580's, with change left for a new kit of high performance gaming memory. You could even buy a complete new gaming system with monitor for the same price. We could score this card as a ‘5 out of 10' based just on the cost, but this is missing the point completely.

Looking at this product from the point of view as a ‘value for money' proposition is pointless. This is not why it is made, and we can't help but admire ASUS for having the balls to try such radical designs. As a lover of high end hardware, these cards always hit the spot for me, and while I would never buy one myself I can understand why people do. This is a showpiece video card, a testament to what can be achieved if you think outside the limitations of the reference designs.

The Mars II is a stunning piece of engineering and perhaps even a long term investment. A decade down the line, this will be a collectors item and potentially worth a lot more money that it costs today. It might sound like a stretch right now, but we have seen mint condition 3DFX Voodoo cards being sold on Ebay for thousands of pounds.

I am giving this the MUST HAVE award. Obviously not for the general audience reading this, but for the collectors and enthusiast users with high levels of disposable income. I would think all 999 in this limited run will sell out quickly.

Pros:

• Technically, an immensely impressive showcase of ASUS engineering.
• Performance is exceptional.
• Cooler works very well.
• Overclocks well with the supplied software.
• Collectors item, only 999 will be made.

Cons:

• The price.
• It isn't the quietest card you could buy.
• Did we say the price?

Kitguru says: Its fast, its furious and yes, it is also a lot of cash. It isn't as fast as two AMD HD6990's in CrossfireX and costs more, but if you want a rare collectors item and are an Nvidia fanboy, this is is a heck of a card to hang onto.

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