HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo Detailed Features

In this section we shall take an in-depth look at the HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo 2GB video card and see what makes it tick.

With the cooling assembly removed we can get a better look at the aluminum/copper heatsink. There isn't really much to it but as you will see later in the article it performs very well indeed.

With the cooler assembly fully removed we also get a better look at the board. The overall layout of all the components is a little different than what we are used to on high end video cards. The layout has moved the power phase/VRM section to the left of the PCB (opposed to near the power connectors). Advances in nano-scale manufacturing technologies mean that 2GB of memory can be squeezed into a much smaller package, here we have only eight memory modules. Just two years ago 1GB video cards would have needed eight modules. All in all the PCB looks good with no real waste of space and the soldering quality is of a very high standard.

The back of the PCB is utilised mainly for resistors and the soldering quality is excellent for such tiny components. Man loses the war to the machine when it comes to detailed work like this. These days you won't generally see RAM on the reverse side of a 2GB video card design thanks to the smaller manufacturing process that allows more density in a smaller package.

The HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo uses 2GB of hynix H5GQ2H24MFR-TC2 memory divided between eight modules, rated at 2.5GHz (5GHz effective) at 1.5V.

A quick reminder of the size (above) and below we can see the weight lifter in use. I found that the weight lifter wouldn't extend far enough when I placed it in the floor of the case, so I had to sit it on top of the power supply. This would of course be a non-issue for a case with a top mounted PSU.

In the next section we will look at the main features and specifications of the HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo 1GB video card.

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