At first I would like to thank HIS for offering a sample of their R9 280X iPower IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock 3GB Video Card for testing and reviewing.

 

 

About HIS:

 

“HIS - Hightech Information System Limited is an internationally acclaimed graphics cards company. Time and time again, HIS were compared and tested by hundreds of worldly renowned critics. The results are phenomena, HIS have proven to offer far superior, cooler, quieter, and faster graphic cards than any other leading rivals. Up to the fourth quarter of 2011, HIS has won over 1600 awards with AMD graphic solution from major media worldwide. HIS is being recognized by providing performance leading and award-wining products: IceQ, IceQ X and Turbo Edition.

HIS was established in 1987 with the mission to produce the highest quality PC products in the industry. Besides strong devotion to excellent products and services, HIS has been conducting business with the aim to "Glorifying God". Honesty and integrity are the two key principals of how HIS are conducted. Ethical business practice has been an everyday commitment to our clients, vendors, and investors.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, and with sales offices and distribution networks in Europe, Middle East, North and South America, Asia Pacific Regions; our worldwide customers benefits from efficient and localized services. ISO Certified, HIS's manufacturing facility in China is managed by a team of professionals with expertise in quality control and production planning. Working with world-class clients, HIS has been consistently meeting high quality standards and fulfilled volume order in short lead-time.

HIS is proud to be AMD's Authorized 1st Tier AIB Partner, Certified Partner and Launching Partner. Long term and favorable 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.”

AMD has recently launched the new Radeon series with a brand new naming, R9 and R7. We are talking here at the top of the line R9 290X, followed by the non-X version, which have the latest GCN 2.0 implemented, followed by the R9 280X and R9 270X. The 260X, 250 and 240 versions take part of the R7 series, which is defined to include the mainstream and low-end GPUs.

 

 

In this review we will take a look at a customized HIS version of the AMD Radeon R9 280X, which is quite similar with the Radeon HD 7970 Ghz edition we have taken a look on some time ago, considering that both come with the same Tahiti core, 2048 stream processors, 32ROPs and a total of 4.3 Million transistors.

 

 

 

We are dealing again with 3GB of GDDR5 memory and a 384-bit bus width at the same 1500MHz frequency as the 7970 Ghz edition, while the core clock has a maximum frequency boost of 1050MHz (compared to the 1000Mhz speed of the stock version).

 

The HIS R9 280X iPower IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock card has a custom PCB version with dual 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors and a well-built cooling system which is efficient, has been proven with the previous Radeon generation and the card does not exceed two slots in height.

 

The PowerTune function is now available on the full range so the GPU clock gets modified depending on power draw, heat and performance factors. Eyefinity has been also updated to V2 DDM, with the ability of 5x1 landscape and custom multi-monitor resolutions. Also, with the new series we are permitted to use the Eyefinity feature without the need of a DisplayPort adapter.

 

 

If the card provides for example two DVI ports and one HDMI, we can use all three to set up Eyefinity.

 

At the latest presentation, AMD has also introduced the TrueAudio DSP, which is unfortunately not included with the 280X, but it is present in the 260X and also top of the line 290/290X.

 

Mantle is a new API introduced with the latest seriers, which gives the game developers direct access to the GPUs by using the Graphics Core Next architecture. AMD has recently clarified that Mantle creates for PC a development platform which is similar to the one for the consoles, which already offer low-level APIs, close-to-metal programming, easier development and more. By creating a more console-like developer environment, Mantle improves time to market, reduces development costs and allows more efficient rendering and ultimately improves performance for gamers.

 

Product Features:

 

Product Specifications:

 

 

The latest Radeon R9 280X card from HIS is shipped in a quite large cardboard box (but this is not necessary a bad thing, since we get a lot of protection material on the inside), which describes the supported technologies with several icons on the front side:

 

 

 

 

 

On one of the box sides we are explained the system requirements:

 

 

 

On the other side we can check out the list of box contents; HIS has decided not to include an installation disk this time, but it is still present inside the list:

 

 

 

A more in-depth explanation of the features can be found on the back side, along with logos of the multiple awards received in the past from review websites:

 

 

 

After removing the external packaging, we will reveal another box, with the HIS logo in the middle:

 

 

 

By lifting the top, we will find one envelope along with a leaflet which lets us know how to insert the card into the slot without damaging it:

 

 

 

The card along with the rest of the bundle is placed in a thick mold of protective material, for avoiding any kind of damages during transport:

 

 

 

Coming back to the envelope, we will find the Quick Installation Guide and a small HIS case sticker:

 

 

Besides the card, the manufacturer has also included one Crossfire bridge, along with a DVI to VGA adapter:

 

 

 

The IceQ X2 cooling system is composed from two 89mm Dual Axial Fans which cool the large heatsink underneath them:

 

 

 

The fans come with specially designed blades for increasing air velocity while keeping the noise at minimum levels. These fans also have an advertised life span of up to 50000 hours:

 

 

 

On the left side of the shroud we will find one IceQ logo along with a Turbo sticker:

 

 

 

The cooling system is also equipped with 3x6mm heatpipes which help transmitting the heat from the GPU to the upper areas for evacuation:

 

 

 

 

The length of the heatsink exceeds the one of the PCB:

 

 

 

As we have mentioned before, the HIS 280x Turbo comes with two 8-pin PCI-Express connectors thanks to the beefier VRM:

 

 

 

Here is a look on the back side of the PCB; the card also features a metallic plate to avoid bending:

 

 

 

As on the 7970 or 7950, we can find two Crossfire fingers:

 

 

 

The card is also equipped with a BIOS switch:

 

 

 

On the I/O we have two Mini DisplayPort, one HDMI and one dual-link DVI-I port:

 

 

 

In order to get access to the top side of the PCB, we will first have to remove the GPU backplate which is held with four spring-loaded screws:

 

 

 

The cooling system can be removed quite easily after this step and we will also reveal the metallic front plate which covers most of the card surface and helps eliminate heat from all the components. In order to disassembly this one too, we will have to remove 10 extra screws from the back (however, there are two extra which link the plate to the I/O shield). Using a plate like this greatly improves the durability of the board since PCB flexing is not present:

 

 

 

After the previously mentioned screws have been removed, we must lift off the plate little-by-little so the thermal pads won’t get damaged in the process:

 

 

 

The card is equipped with 12 SKHynix H5GQ2H24AFR GDDR5 SGRAM memory chips which total 3GB on a 384-bit Bus and are rated for 1.5V at 6Gb/s speed:

 

 

 

The board is also equipped with a 7+2 PWM design, 7 for the GPU and 2 for the memory. This design is very welcome for achieving better overclocks since the stock version only comes with a 5+2 variant:

 

 

 

The VRM section is driven by the well-known CHiL 8228G controller, which we have found on other cards in the past:

 

 

 

In the bottom right corner we will get to see the PWM fan header, which powers both 89mm fans:

 

 

 

 

Near the GPU we will find some rubber spacers which will also help avoiding scratches in the nearby area when fitting the heatsink:

 

 

 

The GPU is fully polished, without no markings at all, same situation as we have found with the HIS 7950:

 

 

 

The heatsink is quite massive and as we have mentioned before, we are dealing with 5 heatpipes, two which are 8mm in size and the rest are 6mm:

 

 

 

The GPU copper block is nicely milled and around it we can find a second set of transparent plastic spacers:

 

 

 

 

Test Setup

 

CPU: Intel I5 3570K Retail @ 4.7GHz

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 OC

RAM: GeIL Black Dragon 2x4GB DDR2133 (@1600)

Video: Currently reviewed card

Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W

SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 240GB

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

 

With the help of the GPU-Z 0.7.3 utility, we could extract lots of information regarding the video card clocks,memory type, pixel and texture fill rate and so on:

 

 

To extract even more information, we have used the AIDA64 utility:

 

 

Temperature tests:

For finding out the temperatures in both IDLE and Full Load with the fan set on Auto, we left the computer IDLE for about 25 minutes and then started monitoring with HWINFO64 and logged the values obtained while running Heaven 4.0 at 2560x1440 resolution for an additional 40 to 50 minutes, with details at Maximum and Tesselation set to Extreme. During this time, the ambient temperature was held steady at 21 degrees Celsius:

 

From the HIS website, we can download the iTurbo video card utility, which is very handy for customizing the fan speeds, monitoring several parameters or performing overclocking. The interface is user-friendly and presents itself like a wheel:

 

 

The UI can open up in a larger form, in order to expose the full-sized interface. The menus can be accessed on top of the applications and these include Home, Info, Overclock and so on. In the Home tab we can find more news regarding the manufacturer, the ongoing promotions or the latest drivers:

 

 

 

The Info tab will display various hardware information regarding the card like card name, GPU series name, die size, memory size, bus width, ROPs and so on:

 

 

 

The Overclock tab comes with adjustments for the GPU Clock, Memory Clock, Board Power Limit (also present in CCC), but also VDDC. These modifications can be saved by assigning them to different profiles or we can simply jump to the factory defaults:

 

 

 

From the Fan Control tab, we will be able to monitor the current fan status or adjust the speed to a fixed or custom profile. These modifications can be saved as “Quiet” or “Cool”:

 

 

 

The final tab, Settings, lets us adjust some of the global options like Load on Startup, Show memory clocks, Disable 2D clocks and so on:

 

 

 

Noise measurements

Before measuring out the noise the video card was producing, we have first measured the noise inside the room the tests took place and we found out it was 28.7dBA (with everything turned off).

At all times, the sound meter was placed 20cm near the video card.

The GPU fan was controlled by the latest version of Catalyst Control Center:

 

 

3DMark 2003

[pts]

3DMark Vantage

[pts]

3DMark 11

[pts]

3DMark 2013

[pts]

Unigine Heaven 4.0

[FPS/pts]

Aliens vs Predator

[FPS]

Hitman Absolution

[FPS]

DIRT 3

[FPS]

Sleeping Dogs

[FPS]

Stalker: COP

[FPS]

Tomb Raider

[FPS]

Final Fantasy XIV –Maximum Preset

[FPS]

Crysis 2 – Ultra Preset

[FPS]

Bioshock Infinite – Ultra DDOF Preset

[FPS]

Resident Evil 6

[pts]

Batman Arhkam City GOTY

[FPS]

METRO 2033

[FPS]

DIRT Showdown

[FPS]

F1 2013

[FPS]

Metro: Last Light

[FPS]

 

GRID 2

[FPS]

 

HIS has made a good decision to include their winning design IceQ X2 cooling system which is efficient while keeping the noise at very acceptable levels. While the top heatsink is massive, the PCB does not bend thanks to the included metallic plate, which also helps cooling the rest of the components. This is not all: the VRM area has been enhanced in order to provide more overclocking potential. While the GPU frequency is 50MHz over the stock version, we could raise it even further to 1205MHz and the memory from 1500Mhz to 1590MHz, and this WITHOUT modifying the operating voltages.

 

 

 

Regarding the performance of the board, we could say that it wins over the 7970 Ghz Edition, but not by far, both cards are neck-to-neck most of the time. The card is also quite close to the GTX 770 and in some AMD-optimized games, our sample even exceeds the performance of the Gigabyte OC 770 WF card.

 

For added value we have the iTurbo utility which supports the latest card releases and allows us to fine-tune the fan speed, define new profiles, but also to overclock the card with ease by modifying the power limits and voltages.

 

The HIS Radeon R9 280X IceQ X2 Turbo card is available online for about 262 Euros, which makes it definitely a better deal compared to the 7970 GHz Edition, that can be found in the same price range.

 

HIS R9 280X iPower IceQ X2 Turbo Boost Clock 3GB Video Card is Recommended For:

 

We would like to thank again to HIS for making this review possible!