Asus announces Ares high end gaming PC

Posted at: 11:30am 18th June 2008 by Ben Hardwidge

Two 1KW power supplies, a built-in liquid cooling system and a factory overclocked 4GHz CPU

At the opposite end of the scale from the tiny Eee PC, Asus has just announced that it’s entering the high-end gaming PC business with its new Ares PC, which will feature the Republic of Gamers badge. Okay, so the PC’s name might bear too much of a resemblance to a British rear end for comfort, but the Ares promises some very high-end specs.

At the core of the machine is a Core 2 Extreme QX9650, which Asus says it will factory-overclock to up to 4GHz with the help of a built-in liquid cooling system. As well as this, the Ares can be kitted out with up to 8GB of 1,333MHz DDR3 memory, and it comes with an nForce 790i SLI-based 3-way SLI GeForce GTX 280 graphics setup too. Of course, this means you’ll need a beefy PSU for the Ares, and Asus hasn’t skimped here, offering not one, but two 1KW PSUs.

Asus is also particularly chuffed with the design of the Ares’ case, which it says ‘opens a new chapter in gaming hardware design.’ According to Asus, the design was ‘inspired by ancient and modern armour from both Eastern and Western cultures, and presents an aesthetic appeal that exudes pure power.’

The extravagant design won’t be to everybody’s tastes, especially when compared to the smooth and minimalist design of the new Voodoo Omen, but it certainly looks distinctive. Asus says the machine will also come with a Blu-Ray drive, as well as a Logitech G9 mouse and a gaming keyboard. Asus hasn’t finalised the pricing or warranty details of the PC yet, but the company told Custom PC that the machine would be available via retail in the third quarter of this year.

Would you be interested in a factory-overclocked high-end PC such as this at the right price? Let us know your thoughts.