HIS
UPDATE: The card we recieved from HIS was apparently an engineerig sample. The final version of this board does have the thermal sensor on board. The fan switch is also not included in the shipping product, but is software controlled via their overclocking software which the X700 Pro IceQ will ship with. This just adds to the list of features that make the HIS card more attractive than the rest of the cards in our roundup.The Radeon X700 Pro IceQ from HIS is a huge card. Strapping an arctic cooling solution on an X800 seemed obvious to me, but I didn't quite understand the attraction of this one until I plugged it in and could barely make out the fan noise. This part is quiet and can get even less noisy (there is a low/high switch on the back that controls fan speed).
The IceQ promises to remain cool, which we have no doubt that it does. Though we wish we could verify just how cool it keeps the chip, especially with the virtually silent design.
The downside to this part will be the price premium. This was the only part that came with an HDTV dongle, and the cooling solution doesn't come for free. We also received VIVO with our part, though that is listed as an option on the box So it may or may not be included in your retail package (read the details closely before buying).
HIS offers an "iTURBO" version of this part as well. It comes with overclocking software, which can overclock safely to a preset 460/960, among other things.
The oddity of the HIS part is that it didn't overclock as well as our other two 256MB X700 Pro parts. Just goes to show that cooling isn't everything when it comes to overclocking.
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Gaia Hunter - Tuesday, December 14, 2004 - link
@11:Dont forget most 6800 vanillas can easly be softmoded with rivatuner:
-All will get the 6th vertex unit;
-Good chance of getting the additionall 4 pixel pipes too.
I was able to go to 16,6. That gave me a 25% boost in 3dmark03 and 33% bost in 3dmark05.~
Also consider 6800 LE (around $250). Most can get 12 pipes and 5 vertex. If u get lucky u can get to 16,6.
While u cant always do this, consider that nvidia is implementing a new way to mask the Pipilines! think about that :)
Questar - Tuesday, December 14, 2004 - link
>>Mid range and PCIe dont mix right now. who would get mid range card if they were dishing out big bucks to get a PCIe setup??Me. Assuming 3Ghz is midrange.
Alphafox78 - Tuesday, December 14, 2004 - link
Mid range and PCIe dont mix right now. who would get mid range card if they were dishing out big bucks to get a PCIe setup?? AGP still has 98% market share, but I guess the 2% high end stuff is worth forgetting agp over.DerekWilson - Tuesday, December 14, 2004 - link
#18the wildcat is a professional card, not a consumer level card. the wildcat realizm 200 competes with the quadro, not the geforce.
nurazlanshah - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link
im just wondering, why dont people just use 3dlabs wildcat realizm 200 if they really want the best computer and if they have the money? i would do that.http://www.3dlabs.com/products/product.asp?prod=29...
skunkbuster - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link
#16, i think they do that in order to eliminate the cpu as being a bottleneckalexlck - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link
nice review but there is something that i don't understand.When people is looking for a mid-range video card, they are usually having a medicore setup. so what's the point to test a mid-range card with a
$1,000+ CPU?
can you please retest those cards with 3Ghz/3000+ cpu?
Which, i think, will give some more realistic results.
ShadowVlican - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link
i can confirm #12 statement about the "2004 Performance" cause i see that too.. stoopid ad :/too bad ati... better bring out the new X800s now and lower the price too :D cause ur X700Pro can't touch the 6600gt :P
DerekWilson - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link
Thanks Pete. Corrected the typo.Pete - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link
Hey Derek, slight typo in the Doom 3 benches. I think you mwant to say AA rather than aniso in the first sentence, as HQ mode in D3 uses 8xAF by default.Sorry, I can't get as excited about this article as the last simply b/c the cards are uninspiring. Better luck next SKU, ATI.