ASUS' MARS II GTX 580 SLI about as fast as it gets

This card is overkill, in every way shape and form. It's heavy, it's bulky, it's amazingly sturdy, and it'll eat any benchmark for breakfast, then pick the bones for tea. If one was particularly violent, this card would become a very effective projectile given the sheer mass of metal bracing the 33cm by 16cm brute.

Lengthy cards often come at the cost of build integrity, such that the PCB flexes due to lack of support. The MARS II GTX 580 SLI not only combats this issue, it far exceeds our expectations - this is one of the best cards we've tested in terms of physical sturdiness. It screams "drop test me", but given that this is one of 1000 limited edition cards ever made, and that impact resistance is completely irrelevant to the routine usage of a graphics card, we had to resist the temptation. It's a far cry from the somewhat flimsy ASUS GTX 580 we tested in May issue.

Underneath the luring shroud lies two GF110 cores clocked at 782MHz, about 10Mhz higher than a stock GTX 580. This is surprising given that underclocking is one of the first things dual GPU cards are subject to to reduce heat output, and power input. Speaking of which, you'll need three 8-pin power connectors to bring this baby to life! But don't fret, ASUS includes two 6-pin to 8-pin adapters, so they've got you covered. A DVI to D-SUB adapter is also included.

Maintaining what is naturally a fiery spirit requires a more than adequate cooling system. We're reintroduced to ASUSs DirectCU II cooling tech, made popular by other GTX 5xx series cards in their product range. Essentially this means copper heatpipes running directly to, and contacting, each core directly.

Our testing revealed cool and quiet operation whilst idling, but once stressed, the card emits an extended war cry to remind you that yes, you're rendering your game with an awesome piece of very expensive kit. This is to be expected, you can't have dual-GPU without the accompanying noise, it's all part of the experience. There's even a button on the card to force constant 100% fan speed if you feel that it is required.

After about 2 seconds of admiring the stock clock rate of the GTX 580 SLI, we concluded that we could do better. We tried 850MHz on each GPU, setting 1.1v on the first, and 1.063v on the second (ASUS GPU Tweak didn't give us the option of 1.1v). FurMark and OCCT confirmed that this was stable, and didn't appear to trigger any sneaky GPU throttling, which was nice.

Eventually we reached 900MHz stable, at which point we suspected that the clock rate wasn't being set properly. We proved that it was being set by pushing it further and causing FurMark to crash the system. And that was the end of our fun, because upon rebooting, the maximum stable overclock fell way back to 850MHz again. Whilst this sounds terrible, it's actually quite decent for a card of this nature. We're certain 900MHz+ is achievable with a good sample though.

It goes without saying, this card is the most powerful on the market. Given that the GTX590 is essentially two underclocked GTX580s sandwiched together, there's no doubt that two GTX580's are going to leave it in its wake. Comparing it to ASUS's very own GTX 590 (reviewed in May), there's a clear lead set by the GTX 580 SLI, especially in Lost Planet 2 (12FPS difference), Unigine Heaven (13FPS difference with normal tessellation) and 3DMark 11 (X3348 vs X4417).

Buying one of these cards is not for the fainthearted. It's pricy, with a street value approximately double that of the GTX590! We can't lie, we absolutely love this GPU. It's the very essence of what attracts us to enthusiast computing - it's powerful, beautiful, and unique. With only 1000 of these units up for grabs, ASUS has labeled the card a collector's item. It even comes with a laser etched aluminium plate to tell you so. We sincerely doubt that this card will retain nearly as much value as the initial outlay, so you'll have to be a collector without the intention of investment. Unless, of course, you invest in being the coolest gamer on the block.

ASUS MARS II GTX 580 SLI

Reference (XFX HD5850):