[section_title title=”Conclusion”]
The HIS 7950 IceQ X² Boost is by no means a cheap card but it certainly does look quite the part. However, does it warrant its current price tag and is this something you should be looking at if you were looking to spend roughly this much on a GPU? It’s time to gather the thoughts together and to see what I thought of it. Due to us having switched up the benching suite, and the way that we take down the FPS and such, our previous results had to be omitted which is a big shame. However, let that not deter us and let’s get on with the final part of this review.
The card remained very cool throughout my testing and I must say that I was actually surprised at how quiet it was too. Even with the card at full fan speed, it was audible but it was definitely not of disturbance to me in any way. Noise is always subjective but I do like a quiet system. The cooler assembly itself was brilliant too and it is great to see that they included that heat spreader to make sure that there is more surface area for the many components it cools as well as making the card a more rigid one too.
In terms of its actual performance, this is the first 7950 we’ve had so it is a little difficult to judge, especially as we changed up the benching suite to benefit the readers of future reviews. So, based on what information I do have in front of me. How did it do? Well, in actual fact, it did quite well! The card trades blows with the EVGA 4GB GTX 760 which Gavin tested recently but on occasion, it decimates the GTX 770. I do believe that this is largely down to a driver issue in some games but the results are as they are. I retested each result many times and it reproduced the same score(s) which meant it had to be legit.
The price of the card is at the higher end of the spectrum of the HD 7950 classes but at £280, this card definitely has an amazing build quality. I am one who will always pay that little bit extra to get a well-built card, and I think that HIS have nailed it with this one. Everything from the quality of the components to the cooler design itself, it is thought through carefully and designed as it should be.
Overclocking did produce some results which a little lower than expected but things like that happen and it cannot be avoided. Sometimes you get lucky with the silicone lottery and sometimes you do not. It’s not something which is predictable so your mileage may vary.
To sum it up in a nutshell: expensive but manufactured with high-end components to ensure that it lasts longer and is more durable. The card remained very cool, even under overclocked conditions and it did so whilst being very quiet too. It’s got the capabilities for multi-monitor gaming as well. With its 3GB of VRAM on-board, you should be able to crank some settings that love to chew through the VRAM right to the top.
Many thanks to HIS for providing us with this sample.
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Performance
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Design
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Value
Summary
The HIS IceQ X2 HD7950 is a solid performer with a fantastic looking design, great cooling and shows solid performance in the way of our testing. Too put it simply; good card, good cooler, good performance, enough said!
[…] will be taking a look at today features their IceQ X2 cooler and if we go back to my review of the HIS 7950 IceQ X², you’ll notice that the cooler is more or less identical to that. In fact, it is the same cooler […]