Asus Republic of Gamers has recently unleashed their limited edition / water cooled dual GPU graphics card, based on two Hawaii XT R9 290X core – the Asus ROG Ares III. The Asus Ares III Limited Edition features dual R9 290X graphics processor, factory overclocked to 1030MHz making it 15% faster than the GTX Titan Z in 4K resolution. It features a custom designed EK water block made specially for water-cooled systems. It also features 16 phase Super Alloy Power and DIGI+ VRM with black metallic capacitors resulting in 30% less power noise and 5x more durable. Check out the rest of its features and specifications below.
Asus ROG Ares III Features
Featuring a hand-carved EK water block, ROG Ares III has a premium, water-cooled design that provides 25% cooler temperatures than the reference Radeon R9 295X2. ROG Ares III is made with exclusive ASUS Super Alloy Power components for enhanced durability and cooling, and comes with GPU Tweak for overclocking and online streaming that is as simple as it is flexible.
Engineering craftsmanship in a limited-edition card
Meticulously-engineered and carefully-crafted with close attention to detail, ROG Ares III includes premium design elements such as its sleek form factor and EK water block that is hand-carved for a precision fit with the card. This ultimate water-cooled graphics card runs 25% cooler than the reference R9 295X2. Under the Fire Strike Extreme benchmark, ROG Ares III runs 15% faster than GTX Titan Z. In 4K Ultra High Definition (3840×2160) resolution, it runs Battlefield 4 at an incredible 33% greater frame rate.
The Asus ROG Ares III will be manufactured in a limited run of just 500 individually-numbered units, making it highly-collectible.
Digi+ VRM with black metallic capacitors and 16-phase Super Alloy Power
The Asus ROG Ares III features Digi+ voltage-regulator module (VRM) technology with a 16-phase concrete-core power design and Japanese-made 10K black metallic capacitors, reducing power noise by 30% and enhancing energy efficiency by 15% without generating distracting whines and buzzes, compared to the reference 12-phase Radeon R9 295X. Digi+ VRM also widens voltage-modulation tolerance and improves overall stability and increases overclocking potential.
ROG-themed GPU Tweak and live streaming utility
The Asus ROG Ares III comes with GPU Tweak, an exclusive ASUS tool that enables users to squeeze the very best performance from their graphics card. GPU Tweak provides the ability to finely control clock speeds, voltages, fan performance and more in real time from an intuitive user interface, so overclocking is easy and can be carried out with high confidence.
GPU Tweak also includes a streaming tool that lets users share on-screen action over the internet in real time, meaning others can watch live as games are played. It is even possible to add a title to the streaming window along with scrolling text, pictures and webcam images.
Asus ROG Ares III Specifications
| Model name | ARESIII-8GD5 |
| Graphics engine | AMD Radeon R9 290X x2 |
| Bus standard | OpenGL 4.4 |
| Video memory | 8GB GDDR5 |
| Engine clock | 1030MHz |
| Memory clock | 5000MHz |
| Memory interface | 512-bit x2 |
| Digital max resolution | 4096 X 2160 |
| DVI output | 1 x Native Dual-link DVI-D |
| HDMI output | 1 x Native HDMI |
| HDCP compliant | Yes |
| DisplayPort | 1 x Native DisplayPort 1.2 |
| Adapters/cables bundled | 3 x Power cable 1 x AMD Radeon Gold Reward game coupon 2 x G1/4 threaded fitting 1 x ROG 8GB USB flash drive |
| Software bundled | ASUS utilities and driver GPU Tweak |
| Dimensions | 5.67 x 11.81in |
Price and Availability
As of today, Asus hasn’t revealed the retail price of their limited edition Asus ROG Ares III. However, I suspect that this will be a very expensive graphics card, more or less around $2,000 (just an estimate), thanks to the custom-made water cooling solution, plus “premium-ness” of the card, and not to mention Asus will only be producing 500 units.
That’s one sexy card.