Asus Mars 760 Review: Two GPUs In SLI; One $650 Graphics Card

Features
By Don Woligroski
published

We like the idea of two GK104 GPUs in SLI on one graphics card. Sounds like a GeForce GTX 690, right? Except that board costs $1000 and Asus' Mars 760 sells for $650. In a world with sub-$700 GeForce GTX 780 Tis, can this dual-GPU stunner still impress?

Results: Battlefield 4, 2560x1440

Our first benchmark is run on one QHD display at its native 2560x1440 and the Ultra graphics preset.

Nvidia's FCAT tool set is not compatible with Battlefield 4, so the results we're presenting potentially include dropped and runt frames; this cannot be helped. There's nothing to worry about when it comes to single-GPU configurations, but dual-GPU cards and arrays won't necessarily be represented accurately if frame pacing is not working properly.

As far as the Fraps-reported frame rates go, none of these configurations drop below 30 FPS (aside from the GeForce GTX 690 at one point). For the most part, every data point is playable, though AMD's Radeon R9 290X serves up higher minimum frame rates than the rest of the field.

Fraps might not collect data late enough in the display pipeline to register certain display problems, it does at least maintain an accurate frame time record.

The results show us why you can't necessarily base your experiential evaluation on average frame rates. AMD's Radeon HD 7950 Boost cards in CrossFire fare the worst, but the GeForce GTX 690 and Asus Mars 760 exhibit some spikes as well. Curiously, the Radeon HD 7990 doesn't show the same issue as the 7950s. The single-GPU solutions perform impeccably.

Don Woligroski
55 Comments Comment from the forums
  • AMD Radeon
    i would like to see dual GTX 780 Ti in one card
    Reply
  • vinhn
    @AMD Radeon, everyone would like to see it, not everyone would buy it, the market knows that, there's a reason why they would rather release the dual 760 rather than a 1600$ dual 780 Ti.
    Reply
  • Immaculate
    Why an i5-2550K?
    Reply
  • blackmagnum
    Bring on the Kepler cards already.
    Reply
  • vertexx
    I'm not sure why you would even publish this review without a 780ti in the comparison.
    Reply
  • Shneiky
    It was actually disappointing that there was no regular 760 SLI in there. It would have helped to see if the Asus's solution gives better results then regular 2 760s.
    Reply
  • bemused_fred
    Looking at the way that various card configurations bounce around in the charts, with the ranking of cards varying from page to page, the only thing I'm taking away from this article is not to bother with dual-GPU set-ups. It seems their performance is entirely decided by how well-optimised the games are for Nvidia or AMD, and not their actual specs.
    Reply
  • Raheel Hasan
    Too high price only $30 below 780ti, it should be around $550.
    Reply
  • Adroid
    I'm confused why the 780 and 770 aren't shown here - especially since the 780 is at the same price point.
    Reply
  • Au_equus
    without the gtx 780 ti, you are missing half the article, as ASUS, according to the price, was presenting this card as an alternative to the 780 ti at its price/performance. I stopped reading after the first BM.
    Reply