Product on Review: R9 280X IceQ X2 TURBO 2GB
Manufacturer and Sponsor: HIS
Street Price: £299.99 inc. VAT (GBP)
We've sampled a couple of AMD's R9 280X models so far and neither products have blown us away. Being that they are essentially a re-badged HD7970, the flagship Radeon card from the previous generation, it is hard to be impressed. Nonetheless, the HD7970, sorry, R9 280X has more than enough grunt to compete with the best cards out there. There are a few minor tweaks to the architecture but none that make the 280X as ground breaking as its bigger brother, the 290X. In short with the R9 280X you are getting a HD7970 GHz edition with a few extra bells and whistles. Whether these additions present any tangible benefits we will leave for you to decide.
The model we are sampling today is the HIS R9 280X ICEQ X2 3GB GDDR5. HIS have made some big improvements to the ICEQ range of coolers, not least the x2 version we are examining today. First off, the old bulbous, translucent plastic has been replaced with the very cool metal frame and as the name suggests, there are twin fans keeping the heatsink cool. The card itself is of the 'Turbo' variety meaning it is factory overclocked. At 1050MHz however, it is not the fastest 280X out of the blocks being some 100MHz off the fastest available but still, it hits the middle of the range of pre-overclocked R9 280X cards currently available. How much of a difference this will make to its market position we will endeavour to find out however one thing is for sure, at £299 it is among the most expensive so it has it's work cut out!
About HIS
HIS is proud to be AMD's Authorized 1st Tier AIB Partner, Certified Partner and Launching Partner. Long term and favourable relationship with AMD, enable HIS to work closely with AMD to promote the HIS AMD Graphics Board; and to strive for best value on the marketing and sales of HIS AMD Product Line. In Sept 2003, HIS incorporated the state-of-the art Supreme Cooling Technology in the award winning HIS 9800Pro IceQ, which caught the attention of worldwide media. Since then, HIS IceQ series and the latest IceQ X series has been the limelight in the market for its outstanding performance and features over the other rivals. Today, HIS continues its avid commitment to quality product and service. HIS is certain to be Your Choice of Graphics Board Supplier.
