HIS has made it's name well-known in the past with it's IceQ Series of ATi Graphics Cards. From it's X800 series of graphics cards, we have seen the IceQ cooling on their cards evolve. IceQ cooling of HIS has advanced to the third stage and we review HIS X1800GTO IceQ3 and see what it offers in terms of improved cooling... and evaluate the "unlocking" capability on this card.

 

Below are the specifications of this card against it's closest competitors:

Specification/Model HIS X1800GTO IceQ3 ATi X1800XL GeForce 7600GT GeForce 7900GT
Pixel Pipelines 12 16 12 24
Geometry Pipelines 8 8 5 8
Core Clock 520MHz 500MHz 560MHz 450MHz
Memory Clock (DDR) 500MHz 500MHz 700MHz 660MHz

Here are some features of the latest IceQ 3 cooling solution of HIS:
1, Innovative design: Significantly improve cooling performance and lower weight.
2, Heatpipe with sintered powder wicks: Heat is rapidly transferred from the core area reducing the GPU temperature.
3, Isolated heatsinks: Memory and GPU heatsinks are completely separated, preventing any heat transfer from GPU to memory.
4, Bi-directional air in-take channels: Cool air is drawn from both sides of the fan. Improving air flow. This ensure effective cooling even for CrossFire platform.
5, Ultra silent and durable fan: Significantly reduced noise level and extended service lift.
6, Larger heatsink surface area: Ensure maximum heat dissipation.
7, Dual-slot cooling design: Directly exhausts hot air out of PC case.