The box for the ASUS ARES is massive - and was packed within another, less interesting box. Lists most things you'll need to know on it, but is otherwise standard.
Source: Atomicmpc.com.au
Opening the top of the box reveals the briefcase hidden inside, packaged with thick foam that should keep the briefcase well protected (as well as its precious ARES cargo).
A BRIEFCASE! We can't begin to say how excited we ar- wait, we're not that excited. It is rather cool though, and certainly feels very sturdy.
It also comes with an ARES logo stamped into a metallic plate and riveted on. Crafty users could probably pry this off and use the case for whatever their heart desires, but it's pretty innocuous either way.
The top of the briefcase is secured with clasps, and the combination lock is cable tied to "000". Not that secure, but possibly changeable.
Popping both the clasps (which made a neat snick) reveals the guts that ASUS have thrown in here.
We also noticed in the briefcase some figures about the card, like its "Noisy Level". Compared to a "Genaric Radeon", the card seems quite impressive!
It also comes with "a galactic 4GB GDDR5", and a "Solar wind-worthy cooling [system]" which lets you "Go supernova without the scorching heat!"
Everything in here is nestled into very dense foam, and with the many layers of boxes and briefcase added to the mix, it's a stretch to see how this card could be damaged in shipping.
We pulled the ARES out and immediately noticed its weight - 2.2kg. While a far cry from what was mused to us at the recent Insights event, it's still the heaviest card we've held.
Display options are DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort. There's also some ventilation in the bracket, though this will provide minimal exhaust.
As we can see in this shot, airflow isn't piped directly to the bracket. High case airflow is definitely a requirement.
Each RV870 core is cooled by an impressive lump of copper, boasting four 8mm heatpipes bent into a U shape to distribute heat evenly. There's also an onboard speaker that'll scream at you when things go wrong.
The end of the ARES shows off the serious cooling going on here. The PCB is sandwiched between two aluminium plates which cool the power delivery system, and visible is the huge orange copper cooler - one of two.
The other heatsink that cools the second core. Airflow is provided by a large 120mm fan mounted centrally to both these heatsinks.
The rear of the card is cooled by a large aluminium plate, grooved for higher surface area.
The top edge of the card also features hard voltage measurement points, a boon for overclockers.
Taking a brief look at the rest of the package, ASUS include a HDMI>DVI adapter, two 6-pin PCIe to 8-pin cables, a CrossFire bridge, a cheap-feeling ROG mouse and a ROG sticker.
The box for the ASUS ARES is massive - and was packed within another, less interesting box. Lists most things you'll need to know on it, but is otherwise standard.
Source: Atomicmpc.com.au