HIS HD7970 IceQX² Turbo & HIS HD7950 IceQ Review

1. Introduction2. HIS HD7950 IceQ3. HIS HD7950 IceQ (Super High Res Gallery)4. HIS HD7970 IceQX² Turbo5. HIS HD7970 IceQX² Turbo (Super High Res Gallery)6. Testing Methodology7. Synthetic: Unigine Heaven Benchmark8. Synthetic: 3DMark Vantage9. Synthetic: 3DMark 1110. Image Quality: HQV Benchmark 2.011. Gaming: F1 2011 (1080p)12. Gaming: Alien V Predator (1080p)13. Gaming: Tom Clancy HAWX 2 (1080p)14. Gaming: Resident Evil 5 (1080p)15. Gaming: Far Cry 2 (1200p)16. Gaming: Total War Shogun 2 (1080p)17. Gaming: Dirt ShowDown (5760x1080)18. Gaming: Battlefield 3 (5760x1080)19. Gaming: Max Payne 3 (5760x1080) DX1120. Technical: Thermal Dynamics21. Technical: Acoustics Performance22. Technical: Power Consumption23. Technical: Overclocking24. Closing Thoughts25. View All Pages

There really has never been a better time to buy a graphics card, there are no shortage of choices today regardless of the budget you have available. This does mean that companies such as Sapphire, VTX3D, HIS, XFX, ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI are all working hard to land the sale.

The HIS HD7950 IceQ is a very capable video card and one that would be suitable for a wide audience who are currently using a 1080p monitor.

It has enough power to drive the latest Direct X 11 games at this resolution and is also very quiet, due to the non aggressive fan profile that HIS have adopted. It does get a little hotter than some other modified HD7950's we have reviewed in recent months, but the low noise levels will appeal to a wide enthusiast audience who want a quiet running system for gaming.

The cooler is not the most attractive design however it is perfectly adequate for the task at hand and the design ensures that hot air will be forced outside the case. We are surprised that HIS supplied it in such a modest state of tune, as we were able to overclock the core from 925mhz to 1,083mhz. This had a hugely positive bearing on the frame rate performance as we would expect.

HIS do irk me in regards to their marketing and shambolic release methods. They seem to have so many similar cards available which completely confuse the customer. The HIS HD7950 IceQ should be available on Overclockers UK, however if you head to this page then there is only an 800mhz version of this card available for £259.99 inc vat. We aren't sure if Overclockers have the wrong core speed listed, or if this is a different version. Additionally, when we started the review, this card was listed at £239.99 inc vat, and for some reason it jumped in price by £20 Thursday afternoon.

OCUK do list a faster version called the “HIS HD 7950 IceQ X² BOOST” which has a superior two fan cooling system and an even higher 950mhz core clock speed, it is listed at £269.99 inc vat. For £10 extra it would seem like a no brainer, but the price point of these cards is getting dangerously close to an entry level HD7970, around £300 inc vat.

We are impressed with the card we reviewed, however I am not sure what price, or which configuration will be available to the end user if they buy today online. You can head to this page and try and work it out yourself.

Pros:

• good ‘out of box' clock speed and performance.
• quiet.
• massive headroom for overclocking.

Cons:

• runs a little hotter than some other modified HD7950's.
• tough competition.
• could be clocked much higher

Kitguru says: If you can find this card at a good price then its certainly worth buying.

The HIS HD7970 IceQX² Turbo is undoubtedly a very fast graphics card and one that will suit the high end enthusiast audience budgeting around the £350 price point.

The custom cooler on the HIS HD7970 IceQX² Turbo is remarkable, actually outperforming competitor coolers from Sapphire and ASUS. The dual fan configuration is quite aggressive however, meaning that it is clearly audible when gaming. The ASUS Matrix HD7970 Platinum is much quieter for instance.

In regards to gaming performance there is little to fault. The HIS HD7970 IceQX² Turbo is a much better option if you want to game at 5760×1080 with the latest Direct X 11 titles – as signified with our Max Payne 3 testing today.

The range of HIS HD7970 graphics cards is available at Overclockers UK, and again we experienced a similar listing problem. I would assume that this is the same card as the one we reviewed today, although Overclockers UK have the memory speed listed at 5,600mhz when it should actually be 6,000mhz (1,500mhz x 4).

At £339.95 inc vat it offers very good value for money, although for £20 extra I would opt for the Sapphire HD7970 Vapor X due to the higher build quality, lower fan noise and enhanced local warranty support.

Pros:

• Very fast
• good overclocking headroom
• runs cool.
• looks great.

Cons:

• a little louder than we would like.
• fierce competition at this price.

Kitguru says: An impressively designed graphics card that is highly recommended.

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