| HIS Radeon HD 7870 IceQ Turbo 2GB |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Video Cards | |
| Written by Steven Iglesias-Hearst | |
| Monday, 26 March 2012 | |
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Closer Look: HIS Radeon HD7870In this section we will have a good tour of the HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo 2GB video card and discuss its main features.
The HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo is packed in a relatively large package, accessories wise there is only a DVI to VGA adapter included and a single crossfire bridge. No power adapter cables are included but I never use them any way. There is a new addition to the arsenal though, in the form of a "Weight Lifter". I'm sure I don't need to explain its purpose to you, I'm just glad that HIS appear to be taking some responsibility to extend the life of their heavier video cards.
When we look at the HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo video card it's easy to see why it might need a bit of support, measuring just less than 12" long and it is also a double slot design. The IceQ HSF assembly features an 80 x 21.5mm radial blower fan that cools the 28nm Pitcairn HD7870 GPU really well while remaining virtually silent (on auto).
The HIS Radeon HD7870 IceQ Turbo video card has only one CrossFire connection which means 2-way crossfire is as high as you can go with this series. On the right we spy two 6-pin power connectors, HIS recommend using at least a 500W power supply. The HD7870 IceQ Turbo uses two 8mm and two 6mm copper heatpipes to transfer the heat from the GPU to the main heatsink fin array. We have become accustomed to having these heatpipes either nickel plated or well polished, but these look rather raw and unfinished to me.
The HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo video card cooling design calls upon what HIS call a "Black Hole Impeller". What this means to us end users is that regardless of whether this video card is in single or dual configuration, it will not be starved of airflow because it can take in air from both sides of the fan. The shroud doesn't completely cover the heatsink so that means some warm air will exhaust inside your case, but most of it will exhaust out the rear.
For output we have two mini display port connectors, a full size HDMI port and one dual-link DVI-I connector. Bundled with the card you get a DVI to D-SUB adapter, so as far as connectors go HIS have really covered all the bases here.
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Comments
Right now, the price to performance ratio of the latest 7000s is just ... uncompetitive, even when you stack them up against the 560Tis, 6870s, and other mid-range chips of the last generation.
The 7970 appears to have been released with dethroning the 580GTX 3gb in mind - similar price point, but somewhat better performance.
With the 680 GTX now out and the expected lower end models, it seems that waiting is the way to go. AMD and their partners will inevitably be making some price cuts. Plus, sooner or later, the custom AIB boards will come out for Nvidia in this generation.