HIS HD 6870 IceQ X Turbo X VGA Card

Manufacturer: Hightech Information System
Supplied by: Hightech Information System
Street Price: $235


by Dean Barker  (3/31/2011)
 

Introduction

HIS, long known for their factory modified products has something new out; the HIS HD 6870 IceQ X Turbo X VGA card.  Yes, the name IceQ X Turbo X doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but its features sure do.  Never satisfied with leaving something standard, HIS put their R&D people to work to produce the worlds fastest HD 6870 card.  Perhaps 'performance' is a better word than fastest.  Saying "fast" suggests simply raw speed.  While the HIS HD 6870 IceQ X Turbo X does provide with a factory overclock, it also brings more to the table.  As we've mentioned before, HIS's motto is 'Faster, Cooler, Quieter."  The addition of HIS's latest generation cooler, the IceQ X takes care of the later two points.

We've seen the HIS HD 6870 in turbo trim here and were very impressed.  Having a look at this same performance oriented card with the stylish and functional cooler will indeed be a treat.  We want to thank the people of HIS for supporting this review today.  Without further ado, let's jump right in with the white papers and HD 6800 features.

 

	HIS HD 6870 IceQ X Turbo X	ATI HD 6870	HIS HD 6850
Interface	PCI-E 2.1	PCI-E 2.1	PCI-E 2.1
GPU	Barts	Barts	Barts
Core Clock	975MHz	900MHz	775MHz
Memory Clock	4.6GHz	4.2GHz	4.0GHz
Memory Size	1024MB	1024MB	1024MB
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory Interface	256 bit	256 bit	256 bit
Dimensions	12.6x4.2x26.2cm	13.5x4.2x23.5cm	12.6x4.2x23.2cm
Street Price	$235	$225	$175

Features. 

• Microsoft DirectX 11 support for the HD 6800 series means that the latest games with realistic lighting and lifelike imagery will look exactly the way the game designers envisioned.
   

• AMD Eyefinity: How does making your display stretch out across three monitors grab you.  Weather for gaming or productivity, a half hexagon WILL do it better.  Every heard of surround sound?  How about surround view!
   

• AMD HD3D Technology: Stereo 3D display/glasses support in addition to Stereo 3D gaming and Blu-ray 3D builds in technology and longevity for the card's performance and usability.
   

• AMD Advanced Parallel Processing Technology: Shifting some of the demanding processing demands from the CPU to the GPU improves video playback performance while freeing up resources for other tasks.
   

• AMD CrossFireX Technology: The HD 6800 is fully capable of expanding options by letting the end user add in a second video card to give you breakneck speed and fluid game play even at the most demanding settings.

HIS HD 6870 IceQ X Turbo X

HIS HD 6870 Turbo cards are factory overclocked with a warranty.  Now let me clarify something here.  I said the HIS HD 6870 Turbo which is what we reviewed recently.  HIS's Turbo X takes things to an entirely new level.  The HD 6870 reference clock is 900MHz on the core and 4.2GHz on the memory.  The HIS Turbo version of that card tweaks things to 920MHz on the core and 4.48GHz on the GDDR5 memory.  With the IceQ X cooler, HIS takes things to the X level and jacks their card up to 975MHz on the core and 4.6GHz on the memory.  That's quite a bump.  Let me remind you also, that's a factory bump with a two year warranty.

Opening up the package, we find the HIS HD 6870 IceQ X Turbo X card, a ATI CrossFireX Bridge Cable, two Molex to 6-pin PCI-E power adapter cables, a DVI to VGA adapter, HIS Power Up Case Badge, Quick install guide and installation CD.

 

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