The ROG Ares III is not a standard graphics card. ASUS manufactured it in a limited run of just 500 individually-numbered , each hand-selected, hand-carved, and individually validated — making it as much a collector’s artefact as a piece of functional hardware. The Ares line represents ROG’s annual “fastest gaming graphics card on the planet” challenge: the Ares I carried dual HD 5870s, the Ares II dual HD 7970s, and the Ares III took that crown with dual R9 290X Hawaii XT GPUs at a time when nothing else on the market could touch it. A decade later, these cards surface rarely — owning one means owning a numbered piece of PC hardware history.

Dual R9 290X — 5632 Stream Processors, 11.5 TFLOPS

The Ares III delivers 11.5 TFLOPS of compute across 5632 stream processors, with both GPUs factory-overclocked to 1030 MHz and 8GB of GDDR5 running at 5000 MHz effective. AMD TrueAudio technology with a dedicated Programmable Audio Pipeline (PAP) reduces CPU load during audio processing, and XDMA CrossFire links the two GPUs peer-to-peer without requiring an external CrossFire bridge connector. The 512-bit memory interface across both GPUs delivers 640 GB/s of combined memory bandwidth. Each GPU is paired with 4GB of GDDR5 — 8GB combined — across a 14-layer PCB with topology optimised specifically for dual-GPU power delivery stability.

Hand-Carved EK Water Block — Single Slot, 25% Cooler

The Ares III’s EK water block features an engraved ROG logo and ARES name cutout, precision-machined on a brushed aluminium cover plate, with an individually-numbered serial plate affirming its limited-edition status. The barb fitting points sit on the top of the card at the front for clean loop routing, and a pair of G1/4 threaded fittings are included. The result is a single-slot card that runs 25% cooler than AMD’s reference R9 295X2 under equivalent load — performance that depends on the quality of your water cooling loop, with a 360mm radiator kit the minimum recommended configuration for adequate thermal headroom.

DIGI+ VRM — 16-Phase Super Alloy Power, Japanese 10K Capacitors

ASUS’s DIGI+ VRM technology delivers a 16-phase concrete-core power design with Japanese-made 10K black metallic capacitors, reducing power noise by 30% and improving energy efficiency by 15% compared to the reference R9 295X2’s 12-phase design. Super Alloy Power chokes and hardened MOSFETs round out a power delivery stage built for sustained overclocking without component stress or coil whine. GPU Tweak provides real-time control over clock speeds, voltages, fan targets, and power limits.

What’s in the Box

The Ares III ships in a metal carry case befitting its collector status, complete with: the hand-carved EK water block, 3× braided PCIe power extension cables, 2× G1/4 threaded fittings, ROG 8GB USB flash drive, GPU Tweak software, and driver disc. Everything needed for water loop integration is included.

Water cooling loop required: This card has no fan or heatsink — it must be connected to an external custom water cooling loop before powering on. A 360mm radiator kit is the minimum recommended configuration. Do not operate without coolant actively flowing through the block.

Legacy platform note: The R9 290X launched in 2013 on AMD’s GCN architecture. This card does not support DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan ray tracing, FSR 2 or newer, or any modern AMD Adrenalin software features. It is sold as a collector’s and enthusiast item — buyers should set performance expectations accordingly relative to current-generation hardware.

VRAM note: While the combined pool is 8GB, the effective usable VRAM in CrossFire operation mirrors across both GPUs — the functional VRAM for gaming purposes is 4GB per GPU, not 8GB combined.

Specs at a Glance

• GPUs: 2× AMD Radeon R9 290X Hawaii XT (factory OC, hand-binned)
• GPU Clock: 1030 MHz | Stream Processors: 5632 combined (2816 per GPU)
• Compute: 11.5 TFLOPS | Texture Fill Rate: 352 GT/s
• VRAM: 8GB GDDR5 (4GB per GPU), 512-bit combined, 5000 MHz effective
• Memory Bandwidth: 640 GB/s combined
• Cooling: Hand-carved EK water block (external loop required)
• Slot Width: Single slot
• Power Connectors: 1× 8-pin + 1× 6-pin PCIe
• Outputs: DVI + HDMI + DisplayPort
• PCIe: 3.0 x16 | DirectX: 11.2 | OpenGL: 4.3
• Production Run: 500 individually-numbered units
• Includes: Metal carry case, EK water block, braided power cables, G1/4 fittings, 8GB ROG USB drive

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