HARDWARE

A Trio From HIS: 7970 IceQ X² GHz Edition, 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock And 7850 IceQ Turbo X Graphics Cards Review (Part 3)

4/1/2013 11:44:36 AM

The wrapper of HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock 3GB is designed in the same style as its senior version’s, except the product’s name and the lack of the advantage of the cooling system.

There is a Boost Clock badge in the middle of the box, but its information does not match with our testing data as well as that on the official website.

Wrapper, accessories, manufactured country and warranty are the same as HIS 7970 IceQ X2 GHz Edition, but HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock offer a less expensive price of $319.

HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock is the visual difference with its senior relatives, which have the same size, video interface and cooling system.

The cooling system

The cooling system

HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock

HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock

The only difference that could be found is the 6-pin and 8-pin connections instead of two 8-pin connections.

6-pin and 8-pin connections

6-pin and 8-pin connections

We can remind you that the reference Radeon HD 7950 has two 6-pin power connections. HIS version has the same power requirement as the reference card: consume maximally 200W and a PSU 500W or better.

HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock takes after HIS 7970 IceQ X² GHz Edition in its PCB design, except some specific elements which are not easy to recognize.

PCB design

PCB design

The card seems to be used with the DirectFETs, with the solid capacitors and 6+1+1 phase power system and a CHiL CHL8228G controller.

DirectFETs, solid capacitors

DirectFETs, solid capacitors

The website of the producer say about a 4+1+1 (CPU + memory + PLL) which we tend not to agree about.

There is no unusual sign of Tahiti Pro chip in HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock. Its sign can be read on GPU’s metallic frame.

Tahiti Pro chip

Tahiti Pro chip

GPU clock rate is 850MHz but we have never recognized this rate in our tests. It has always been 950MHz (The so-called boost mode, therefore card’s specified Boost Clock). By the way, that is such an impressive overclock. The voltage is 1.25V in 3D mode and 0.806V in 2D mode. The GPU is clocked at 300MHz in 2D applications.

The card is equipped with a 3GB GDDr5 memory in 12 Elpida memory chip on the surface of the PCB.

12 Elpida memory chip

12 Elpida memory chip

Based on our experience, we chose Hynix to Elpida when considering about overclock potential. HIS has to attempt to reduce its expenditure by installing cheaper variants. Labeled W2032BBBG-50-F, the memory chips are estimated 5000MHz. We really did clock at that frequency, providing the maximum bandwidth of 240GB/s via a 384-bit bus.

 The maximum bandwidth of 240 GB/s through a 384-bit bus

 The maximum bandwidth of 240 GB/s through a 384-bit bus

HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock owns the cooling system like the premium HD 7970:

The cooler of HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock

The cooler of HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock

We again describe, so let’s move to the part of checking its performance. First, let’s start with the default interface.

The auto fan mode

The auto fan mode

The maximum fan speed

The maximum fan speed

Because IceQ X2 works well on high-speed Radeon HD 7970, it should not have any problem with HD 7950. In fact, the GPU is 70°C hot in auto fan mode (2640RPM) and 66°C in the maximum fan speed mode (3880RPM)

The temperature is 4 to 5°C lower in each mode after replacing the default thermal interface with ARCTIC MX-4.

The auto fan mode

The auto fan mode

The maximum fan speed mode

The maximum fan speed mode

We could also add something to this that the fan speed increased from 2640 to 2470RPM in the auto fan mode, so we made quite little noise. The practical benefits of replacing the default thermal interface are obvious.

However, we checked the overclock ability of the card with its default interface. The GPU clock rate could be increased from 950 to 1140 MHz, about 34.1% higher than the GPU frequency of the reference AMD Radeon HD 7950. However, the memory chips were disappointing that they were just 5960MHz.

GPU clock rate can be increased from 950 to 1140MHz

GPU clock rate can be increased from 950 to 1140MHz

Thus, the result of HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock clock rate is 1140/5960 MHz

HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock clock rate is 1140/5960 MHz

HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock clock rate is 1140/5960 MHz

Just like HIS 7970 IceQ X² GHz Edition, the GPU’s peek thermal increases 3°C at 2830 RPM at the overclocking frequencies.

The GPU’s peek thermal increases 3°C

The GPU’s peek thermal increases 3°C

Specifications

·         Graphic processor: “Tahiti Pro” (TSMC)

·         Production process: 28nm (low-k)

·         Mold size: 365mm2

·         Transistor: 4314mln

·         GPU frequency: 3D (850 – 950 (boost) MHz), 2D (300MHz)

·         GPU voltage: 1.25V (3D), 0.806V (2D)

·         Unified shader processor: 1792

·         Texturing unit: 112

·         Rasterization: 32 (ROPs)

·         The maximum theoretical filling rate: 30.4 (Gpixel/s)

·         Texture rate: 106.4 (Gtexel/s)

·         Pixel shader/ Peek shader: 5.0/5.0

·         Supportive memory type: GDDR5

·         Frequency of video memory: 5000MHz (3D), 600MHz (2D)

·         Memory capacity: 3072MB

·         Momery bus: 384 bit

·         Memory bandwidth: 240.0 GB/s

·         Maximum power comsumption: 200W (3D), 70/3W (2D)

·         PSU requirement: 500W

·         Reference PCB size (D x R x S): 311x150x42 mm

·         Interface: PCI- Express x 16 (v3.0)

·         Output: 1DVI (Dual-link), 1 HDMI, 2 DisplayPort mini

·         Retail price: $319

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