ASUS embarks on MARS monster graphics mission

In what is fast becoming a bit of a trend for ASUS, the company has leaked the first images of a new in-development monster graphics card called MARS 2. The card will feature dual-Fermi graphics processors, potential triple monitor stereoscopic capabilities and will no doubt require some delicate power supply calculations before it even gets near to a motherboard.

This beast of a card will have two NVIDIA Fermi GF100 graphics processors which, unlike the low power GF104 processor in the recently announced GeForce GTX 460, will take three PCI-Express 8-pin power connectors to supply the MARS 2 with enough juice. Each of the Fermi processors packs in three billion transistors and can be seen in singular form on the GeForce GTX 480.

ASUS claims that its new monster, which will have over 3GB of memory on a single circuit board, is "destined to be the fastest graphics card on the planet" and should offer triple monitor 3D viewing capabilities, a first for an NVIDIA card. It's also going to be a bit of a space hog, being 11.81 inches long and wider than anything else currently available. The first images released by the company don't show any mechanisms to keep the card from melting but ASUS has promised more news soon. We'll keep you posted.