Techpowerup tested the extreme card from ASUS, the Mars 2. For those who forgot the technical specs of the thing, it's a real dual GTX 580, with 2x 512 Cuda cores, 2 x 1536MB of GDDR5, frequencies pushed to 781/1562/4004 MHz, that is to say a significant boost more than a standard GTX 580.
It is partly on this last point that the Mars 2 makes the difference with the timid GTX 590, the latter having frequencies largely revised downward, which did not fail to cut it in our test against its designated competitor the HD 6990. Obviously, such a card with all its features to facilitate and control overclocking, it has a price that exceeds 1300 euros, rarity and technological prowess have good backs when it comes to billing!
Content
Spoiler
Graphics cardDriver CD + Documentation
SLI Bridge
DVI to Analog VGA Adapter
2x PCIe Power Cable
Limited Edition Certificate
ASUS ROG Case Badge
2x Foam Spacer
Spoiler
Test System - VGA Rev. 15
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.8 GHz
(Bloomfield, 8192 KB Cache)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X58 Extreme
Intel X58 & ICH10R
Memory: 3x 2048 MB Mushkin Redline XP3-12800 DDR3
@ 1520 MHz 8-7-7-16
Harddisk: WD Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500 GB
Power Supply: Antec HCP-1200 1200W
Software: Windows 7 64-bit Service Pack 1
Drivers: MARS II & GTX 590: 280.26
NVIDIA: 270.61
ATI: Catalyst 11.4
HD 6670: 8.82.2 RC2
Display: LG Flatron W3000H 30" 2560x1600 1024 x 768, without anti-aliasing. This is a standard resolution, without the demanding display parameters.
1280 x 1024, 2x anti-aliasing. Common resolution for most smaller flat screens today (17" - 19"). A little eye candy activated in the drivers.
1680 x 1050, 4x anti-aliasing. Most common widescreen resolution on large screens (19" - 22"). Very nice graphics driver settings.
1920 x 1200, 4x anti-aliasing. Typical widescreen resolution for large screens (22" - 26"). Very nice graphics driver settings.
2560 x 1600, 4x anti-aliasing. The highest possible resolution for commonly available displays (30"). Very nice graphics driver settings.
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.8 GHz
(Bloomfield, 8192 KB Cache)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X58 Extreme
Intel X58 & ICH10R
Memory: 3x 2048 MB Mushkin Redline XP3-12800 DDR3
@ 1520 MHz 8-7-7-16
Harddisk: WD Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500 GB
Power Supply: Antec HCP-1200 1200W
Software: Windows 7 64-bit Service Pack 1
Drivers: MARS II & GTX 590: 280.26
NVIDIA: 270.61
ATI: Catalyst 11.4
HD 6670: 8.82.2 RC2
Display: LG Flatron W3000H 30" 2560x1600 1024 x 768, without anti-aliasing. This is a standard resolution, without the demanding display parameters.
1280 x 1024, 2x anti-aliasing. Common resolution for most smaller flat screens today (17" - 19"). A little eye candy activated in the drivers.
1680 x 1050, 4x anti-aliasing. Most common widescreen resolution on large screens (19" - 22"). Very nice graphics driver settings.
1920 x 1200, 4x anti-aliasing. Typical widescreen resolution for large screens (22" - 26"). Very nice graphics driver settings.
2560 x 1600, 4x anti-aliasing. The highest possible resolution for commonly available displays (30"). Very nice graphics driver settings.
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Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Crysis 2
StarCraft II
Crysis 2
StarCraft II
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Overclocking
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The overclocking listed in this section was obtained with the default fan and voltage settings as defined in the VGA BIOS. Please note that each sample overclocks differently, which is why our results here cannot serve as a guide for what you can expect from your card.
SourceThe +
Extremely high performance
Much faster than GTX 590 and HD 6990
Robust PWM design
Good overclocking potential
Quieter than GTX 590 at idle
Software voltage control via I2C
Limited edition bragging rights
Hardware modding pads for soldering
No NVIDIA power limiting system
Native full-size HDMI and DisplayPort output
Manual 100% fan speed switch
DirectX 11 support
CUDA / PhysX support
The -
Very high price
High power consumption
Loud fan under load
Very limited voltage setting options
Backplate attached to fan mounting blocks restricting access to the back of the board for modding
a crazy thing for so little extra performance 
(all things considered)
Everything for PC