HIS HD6950 IceQ 2GB Review

The AMD HD6950 offers great value for money but reference designs suffer from a loud cooler. HIS have added their IceQ cooler to rectify this…

Product on Review: HIS HD6950 IceQ 2GB
Manufacturer and Sponsor: HIS
Street Price: £229 inc. VAT (GBP)

Established in 1987 and based in Hong Kong, HIS (Hightech Information Services) have produced a wealth of high quality graphics cards, often proving to be superior, especially in terms of cooling than their leading rivals. Being a 1st Tier partner to AMD it should come as no surprise then that HIS have released their own incarnation of the AMD 6950, which hopes to lure customers with its IceQ cooler. We have reviewed a card with this cooler before in the guise of the HIS HD6970 IceQ Turbo so while this example is not overclocked, the IceQ cooler should run much cooler (and quieter) than a reference HD6950 which will only add to its appeal.

IceQ cooling technology is among the best out there for AMD Graphics cards and has evolved over the years to the high performing, efficient state we find today. HIS claim the new design enables the HD6950 to run 18c cooler than the reference AMD version, a very bold statement indeed! This is done by means of 4 copper heatpipes and a ‘Black Hole Impeller’ which we will look at later in the review.

Great cooling is not the only feature HIS boast though. The HIS HD6950 IceQ also comes with a custom designed blue PCB and is all backed up by a two year warranty. As with many HIS cards, it has a free copy of DiRT 3 and, if you know where to look, a bonus copy of Deus-X: Human Evolution under the product name HIS ATI Radeon HD 6950 IceQ X PLUS Edition which for all intents and purposes is the same card with additional the additional game thrown in. With Battlefield 3’s release, there has never been a better time to upgrade your GPU. The question is, does the HIS HD6950 IceQ 2GB tick all the right boxes? I think it’s time we found 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.

Let’s take a look at what HIS has to offer…

Specification

Cayman is the rightful heir to the successful Cypress core. For the most part, the architecture is much the same with some tweaks to increase efficiency and performance per die size. The GPU comes in two variants, Cayman Pro and Cayman XT, the former found on board the HD6950 and the latter on the HD6970. Originally, the Cayman core was poised to be manufactured on the 32nm manufacturing process which would have brought along many new features and possibly better performance in the same package. However, TSMC cancelled the process so Cayman had to resort to the more mature 40nm process, sacrificing many of the new features promised.

The biggest change to the architecture is the use of the VLIW4 design instead of the VLIW5 design used since DX9 graphics cards were first introduced. The main reason was to increase efficiency in newer DX10/11 titles and to put more emphasis on GPGPU computing. The VLIW4 architecture introduces a narrower Stream Processing Unit, in which the 5th stream processor named the “t-unit” has been removed leaving just 4. Despite the Unit only being able to process 4 operations instead of 5, the advantage is that the space saved allows the core to have more SIMD clusters. The end result is that Cayman can have up to 24 SIMD clusters (24 on the HD6970 and 22 on the HD6950) whereas Cypress only had up to 20 SIMDs (20 on the HD5870 and 18 on the HD5850), giving Cayman a 10% improvement per mm squared compared to previous VLIW5 architecture (as used on Barts also). The architecture is now more catered towards GPU Compute than before and the higher SIMD count also gives additional texturing performance. Each SIMD from both architectures contains 4 texture units so Cayman now benefits from up to 96 units rather than the 80 available on Cypress.

Cayman: VLIW4, 24 SIMD clusters, 96 texture units
Cypress: VLIW5, 20 SIMD clusters, 80 texture units

Another benefit of the new core is its improved dual 8th generation tessellator that bring up to 3 times the tessellation performance of the HD5870.

As mentioned, Cayman comes in two variants as found on the HD6950 and HD6970. The key difference is that the HD6950 has 22 SIMD clusters instead of 24 on the HD6970, leading to fewer texture units (88 vs. 96) and fewer stream processors (1408 vs. 1536). The GPU boasts an impressive 2.64 billion transistors on a die size 389mm squared. For reference, the mainstream Barts core sports 1.7 billion transistors on a 255mm squared package. A 256-bit GDDR5 memory bus is still supported but this time 2GB of VRAM is provided to compete with Nvidia’s offerings.

Product Specifications
Graphics Engine: AMD HD6950
Model: HIS HD6950 2GB GDDR5 IceQ
Product Number: H695Q2G2M
Bus Standard: PCI Express x16 2.1 (Compatible with 1.1)
Memory Size (MB): 2048 GDDR5
Memory Interface: 256-bit
Core Clock Speed (MHz): 800
Stream Processors: 1408
Shader Clock (MHz): 800
Memory Clock Speed (MHz): 5000

3D API: Direct X 11 & OpenGL 4.0
DVI Output: 2 (DVI-I & 1 DVI-D)
HDMI: 1 (HDMI 1.4a w/audio via DVI to HDMI x1(8 channel LPCM & bitstream))
DisplayPort: 4 DPs 1.2
HDCP Support: Yes
DVI Output (Max Resolution): 2560 x 1600
D-Sub Output: 2048×1536
Crossfire Support: Yes
Card Dimension: 13.8 x 4.6 x 28.7 cm (HxWxD)

Features

Get Immersed with AMD Eyefinity Technology
•Enable ultra-high resolution multi-monitor gaming with 2GB of high speed GDDR5 memory.
•Expand your favourite games across up to 4 displays with AMD Eyefinity technology for an expansive field of view.
•See more of the battle than ever before with up to 4 simultaneous displays.
•Get the freedom and flexibility to upgrade. This modular solution enables you to add additional displays.
•Put your productivity into overdrive and let up to 4 displays put all the information you need right before your eyes.
•Don’t choose between play and work. Let up to 4 displays help you enjoy games, movies and the web at the same time.

Get Amazing EyeDefinition Graphics with DirectX 11 Technology
•New and advanced architecture featuring full DirectX® 11 support and scalable geometry processing.
•Featuring a new and advanced architecture with scalable geometry processing, the AMD Radeon HD™ 6900 Series is purpose-built to dominate your games.
•Maximum efficiency & performance. AMD PowerTune technology puts exceptionally intelligent power management under your control.
•Raise the bar for beautifully smooth image quality with Enhanced Quality Anti-Aliasing (EQAA).
•Dual advanced programmable tessellation engines for twice the geometry processing performance of previous generations.
•Play your favorite games in full stereo 3D, and get incredibly rich and interactive gameplay with AMD HD3D technology.

Speed Up Applications and Enjoy Brilliant Video with AMD EyeSpeed Technology
•Unleash the most demanding applications with AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) technology.
•Supports double precision floating point arithmetic to handle computationally intense workloads.
•Smooth visual quality with AMD EyeSpeed visual acceleration technology.
•Experience Blu-ray 3D as it was intended with AMD HD3D technology.
•Take advantage of AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 Series graphics’ Dolby TrueHD and 3D HDTV support.

Put out Stunning Visual and Unrivalled Audio Experience with HD3D Technology
•Stereo 3D display/glasses support
•Stereo 3D gaming
•Blu-ray™ 3D support
•3rd Party stereo 3D middleware software support
•Launching with AMD Radeon™ 6900 Series GPUs

Microsoft DirectX 11
Enable PC users to enjoy an advanced computing experience and to do more with their PC

AMD Eyefinity Multi-Display Technology
Unlocks the power of GPU’s processor cores to accelerate the most demanding system tasks

AMD CrossFireX™ Technology
Gets up to 1.8X of a graphics performance boost in dual mode.

3rd Generation TeraScale Engine
Provides increased processing power for the latest games and accelerated applications

40nm Process Technology
Provides enhanced processor performance while using less power and better transistor efficiency than previous generation technology

Dolly®TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio Support
Get a fully immersive high-definition audio experience with the latest Blu-ray movies

AMD PowerPlay™ Technology
Power draw scales according to activity so when GPU activity is low, the power draw is minimal

Enhanced Unified Video Decoder (UVD) 3
Watch the hottest Blu-ray movies, online video and other HD content beyond 1080p with low power and low noise with GPU acceleration and enhanced Unified Video Decoder (UVD) 3 features

HIS Exclusive Innovations

Cooler
HIS 6950 IceQ is cooler than the Reference Cooler.

Quieter
HIS 6950 IceQ is over 18dB quieter than the Reference Cooler, significantly reducing noise level.

4 Heatpipes
Optimize cooling performance by removing heat from the core area, providing ultimate solution for professional gamers and HTCP users.

Black Hole Impeller
Cool air is drawn from both sides of the fan to thereby enhance the cooling efficiency.

High Quality Components
High-end components and techniques reinforce stability and durability.

•Dynamic Phase Control PWM IC – A significant energy saving technique for reducing power consumption.
•Solid State Choke (SSC) – Durable Iron that can maximize current capacity, power efficiency and stability.
•Full Solid State Capacitors – Extend the lifespan and storage capabilities.

Packaging & Contents

The front of the box

The box we have is not a full retail packaging unfortunately but I am led to believe that the full retail packaging will be pretty much identical to the blue/white affair found on the IceQ range. The box you see above is the inner box from removing the more decorative out sleeve.

Inner Box

Opening the very sturdy inner box we find a compartmentalised section which contains an accessory tray and beneath that the main GPU unit, itself housed in a rigid plastic box complete with foam inserts to hold the unit tight and to protect it from vibrations.

Accessories

The included accessories are very thorough. We are given a driver/utility CD (inc wallet), VGA/DVI adapter, 2x twin Molex to 6 pin PCIe adapters, 2x installation guides, a Dirt 3 coupon and perhaps most interesting of all, a GPU bracket. The bracket is a great addition as it seems HIS have gone some way to consider the sheer weight of the cooler which puts a lot of strain on the motherboards PCIe slot. This adjustable bracket is easy to fit and will ensure that the card is held horizontal rather than bowing under the strains of its own weight.

First Look

The card itself appears to be identical to the HIS HD6970 IceQ Turbo were reviewed HERE. Alas, this is not a Turbo edition but does come with the large IceQ cooler. The cooler is obviously the dominating feature of the card and the aesthetics are what I lovingly refer to as a Marmite: You either love it or hate it!

Let’s take a closer look at the HIS HD6950 IceQ’s features…

Closer Look

Card Front

As previously stated, the large cooler dominates proceedings, all but hiding the PCB beneath. The white translucent plastic of the coolers shroud is moderately flexible and houses a combination of thick aluminium fins and quadruple heatpipes. To the far in is the Blackhole impellor which sucks air from outside of the cooler, pushed the cool air across the aluminium fin array and out the back of the I/O vented panel. While I have been impressed of late with the open air cooling designs of some cards, I do prefer the card to be completely covered with a shroud as this ensure all of the hot air is exhausted and not recirculated inside a PC enclosure, adding to the ambient heat.

Card Rear

The rear of the GPU is again, in the same guise as it’s bigger brother the HD6970 as it uses the same blue PCB. I’m not the biggest fan of coloured PCB’s but should you like blue then you will be happy with the colour scheme of the HIS HD6950.

CrossFire tabs

With two CrossFire tabs, the HIS HD6950 can be coupled up with any other card from the same family for a powerful multi-GPU gaming experience. HIS have included a single Crossfire bridge in the package precisely for this purpose.

2x 6pin PCIe power ports

HIS recommend a 500W PSU to power this GPU via the PCIe port and 2x6pin PCIe power ports. Should your PSU not have the required 2x 6pin PCIe power cables, HIS have included two adaptors which will convert 2xMolex connectors to one PCIe 6pin plug.

I/O Backplate

The I/O backplate has a multitude of connectors including 2x DVI ports, 2x Mini Display ports and a single HDMI port. Multiple monitors are of course supported should you have the required connectors. The connectivity of this card is nothing short of exceptional but unfortunately, the I/O venting area is halved thanks to the additional DVI port. Hopefully this will not restrict the cards exhaust to drastically.

Strengthening Bracket

HIS have listened to feedback and have now incorporated a bracket to the card to prevent the heavy cooler from bowing the PCB. It’s great to see HIS sitting up and taking notice of the consumer this way. Along with the plastic GPU brace included in the accessories we no longer have an ugly drooping GPU in our setup, rather than card is positioned perfectly in line with the motherboard.

Aesthetics

Overall, the HID HD6960 IceQ is a difficult card to assess on looks alone as the cooler is such that you will either appreciate the looks or detest them. There is no middle ground here I’m afraid. Personally, the coolers looks are beginning to grow on me and while I would certainly have preferred the copper pipes to be nickel plated to match the rest of the design, the do give off an aura of powerful cooling.

Let’s see what’s hidden beneath the IceQ cooler…

Closer Look Pt.2

IceQ Cooling

Removing the IceQ cooling assembly was a very easy affair thanks to just the four spring loaded screws holding the cooler to the graphics card. Surprisingly, despite its weight the actual heatsink was relatively small in comparison to the shroud. As you can see from the picture above, the cooler uses thermal tape as TIM for the memory and the core has standard paste.

Contact

The contact between the baseplate and both the memory and especially the core was spot on so I see no reason why you would want to replace the TIM on this unit. The baseplate is machined well enough but it is dull in its finish and not shiny like some baseplates we have come across. It remains to be seen just how effective this is though.

Heatsink

Here we see the heatsink itself. The baseplate has four heatpipes soldered to it (2x8mm + 2x6mm) which sprout out from the side furthest from the PCIe port and then curve back into the aluminium finned heatsink array. As with other designs, using heatpipes assists in the even dissipation of heat and makes the whole heatsink more efficient.

Heatpipe

As noted above, the heatpipes not only make contact with the aluminium fins but are soldered to them. This process ensures even coverage and thus the heat is therefore passed between heatpipe and fins without any breakage.

Naked HD6950

Here we see a shot of the HD6950 without any clothing. With the main heatsink removed we can see a fairly standard layout with the 4x 512MB Hynix memory modules framing the GPU core. Strangely, the VRM module is towards the I/O area which is the opposite end than what we are used to seeing. The MOSFETs have a separate aluminium cooler which can be removed via two screws and like the memory, has thermal tape to transfer heat to the heatsink.

Voltage Controller

The HIS HD6950 employs the CHiL 8214 as its digital multi-phase buck controller rather than Volterra to control the 4+1 phase design of the HD6950. The programmable chip should ensure the efficiencies and hopefully overclocking are top notch which again, we will put to the test later in the review.

Voltage Regulation Module

The four inductors in the VRM module come courtesy of MAGIC Technology. There’s nothing truly magic about them unfortunately other than simply being shielded coils. Solid caps are also used throughout the mainboard so while this is nothing truly awe inspiring, this unit should stand up to some punishment without falling over.

Hynix Memory

We do like Hynix memory here at Vortez, particular as it overclocks so much better than Samsung. The H5GQ2H24MFR modules in use here are good for 5000Mhz (effective) so we hope to stretch the stock clocks of 4800MHz at least to this level.

HD6950 Core

Finally we arrive at the beating heart of the HD6950, the Cayman Pro core itself. Clocked at a very modest 800MHz I hope to see this increased in our overclocking section but I fear the software restrictions in place on the HD6950 will limit proceedings somewhat. I guess there is only one way to find out…

Test Setup

We have recently made a slight amendment to our selection of hardware and our test setup. The reason for this is that we felt the current crop of resolutions were not stressing the latest generation of graphics cards enough. With this in mind, we have added a Dell 3007 WFP-HC to our system, allowing us to stress the cards by utilising a 2560×1600 resolution. We will however, still include 1920×1200 results as this is one of the most popular resolutions used by gamers.

Display – Dell 3007 WFP-HC
Case – Corsair 650D
CPU Cooler – Corsair H100
CPU – Intel Core i7 920 @ 4GHz
RAM – 6GB (3x2GB) Kingston DDR3 1600mhz 8-8-8-20 C1
Motherboard – ASUS Rampage III Extreme
Power Supply –Antec High Current Pro 1200W
Hard Drive – GSkill Falcon 128GB & Hitachi 250GB

Please note: PSU requirements
While a 550w PSU is recommended by MSI for a single card configuration I feel it is important to stress the need to use a quality PSU. All to often we are contacted by people encountering difficulties in powering and overclocking high spec systems who insist they are using a high wattage PSU. Do not be fooled by inferior, poor quality power supply units that claim high wattage figures. At best a poor PSU will not be able to maintain those values and perhaps more importantly could potentially be a fire hazard! PSU rail stability can have a dramatic effect on overclocking too so while it may appear that the component is at fault, it could very easily be the PSU that has high amounts of ripple which is causing the hardware/overclocking errors.

A PSU is the single most important component in a modern high powered PC. If you are going to spend money in any area of your PC, the PSU should be considered first as a quality sample will likely out last any other aspect of your PC and thus investment in a good example is a very wise decision. For this reason ANTEC have kindly sponsored our test bed by providing the immense, top quality High Current Pro 1200W PSU which will satisfy even the most power hungry of PC configurations! PSU’s of this calibre are at the very top of the performance hierachy and while they may seem expensive compared to inferior quality PSUs, they are worth their weight in gold as a PSU such as the ANTEC High Current Pro 1200W provides both future proofing and perhaps most importantly, piece of mind that your valuable PC components are in safe hands.

Graphics Cards:

HIS HD6950 IceQ 2GB – ATI Catalyst 11.9

KFA2 GTX570 1280MB – Forceware 280.26
MSI GTX570 1280MB Power Edition OC – Forceware 280.26 – **NOTE – New Driver Installed**
ZOTAC GTX580 3GB AMP2! + SLI – Forceware 275.33
GIGABYTE GTX570 1280MB ‘SOC’ Edition – Forceware 275.33
ZOTAC GTX560 1GB AMP! Edition 950/4200MHz – Forceware 275.33
SLI NVIDIA GTX560 1GB 950/4200MHz – Forceware 275.33
HIS HD6970 2GB IceQ Mix@ 880/5500MHz – ATI Catalyst 11.5
Lucid HydraLogix = HIS HD6970 2GB IceQ Mix & MSI nGTX580 3072MB Lightning Xtreme Edition @ Factory clockspeeds
MSI nGTX580 3072MB Lightning Xtreme Edition Overclocked – Forceware 275.33
ASUS HD6990 @830/5000MHz & AWSUM enabled (pre-overclocked) – ATI Catalyst 11.5
HIS HD6970 2048MB IceQ Turbo – ATI Catalyst 11.5
Gigabyte GTX560 1024MB – Forceware 275.27
MSI R6970 2048MB Lightning– ATI Catalyst 11.4 (8.840.3.0)
Inno3D GTX560Ti 1024MB – Forceware 266.66
Inno3D GTX570 1280MB – Forceware 263.09
ASUS GTX580 1536MB – Forceware 262.99
ASUS HD6970 2048MB – ATI Catalyst 11.4 (8.840.3.0)

Driver versions are extremely important when comparing a graphics card. It is however often important to update a driver version, especially when a new GPU is released and thus any change in driver will be clearly stated.

Overclocking
For today’s review we will use the Afterburner utility from the MSI to overclock the test subject.

Games:
Crysis 2
Crysis Warhead
Metro 2033
Dirt 3
Mafia II
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Far Cry 2
Alien vs. Predator

The games above represent equal bias toward both AMD and NVidia and are among the most demanding games available at present. Future releases will be evaluated for consistency and accuracy and then potentially added to the list when they become available

Synthetic benchmarks:
Futuremark 3DMark 11
Unigine Heaven 2.5
Tessmark 0.2.2
Furmark 1.9.0

Synthetic benchmarks are used to stress each feature of a GPU which may not be present in today’s games. While nothing is certain, the benchmarks above do at least give us an insight into the possible future performance of the graphics card on test, invaluable when evaluating the potential lifespan of a graphics card.

Temperature, power consumption and acoustics:
Furmark 1.9.0

The above application is feared by most manufacturers as it has been known to destroy GPU’s. While it is not indicative of ‘real world’ performance, it does represent the maximum possible stress your GPU could be placed under making it the hardest test to pass. For that reason alone, it is worthy of inclusion in our suite of benchmarks. Power consumption will be evaluated from the wall and will be a total system draw of the specification above.

Sound will be measured from a distance of 20 cm from the actual GPU with the case open. All system fans will be set to their lowest settings. Readings will be taken at both idle and 100% load.

Bundled Software

The included utility disc is nothing out of the ordinary with out of date (as expected) GPU drivers for Windows XP, Vista and the latest Windows 7 incarnations. Thankfully, there is also a link which will take you to the AMD support site rather than HIS’ own, ensuring that you have the latest driver available for download.

In terms of utilities, HIS bundle a multi-monitor management software known as Hydra-vision. These are already implemented in the Catalyst Control Centre so there is no need to install the utility separately. Sadly there are no overclocking or monitoring utilities included on the CD other than an outdated Catalyst control centre which you would be wise to update along with the included driver. This is a real shame given the graphics card on test and its potential.

Navigating to the final tab allows you to register the product (Member registration also required). Clicking on the next title down takes you to the HIS awards and Reviews section of their website where they link to reviews of previous hardware which has won critical acclaim.

An area where the HIS does excel is the detailed instruction manual. A downloadable .pdf file describes basic installation and backplate removal in good detail. Below this we find a link to the online support centre, assuming you have taken the time to register both yourself as a member and the product previously.
Lastly, we arrive at the included wallpapers which are of good quality and cater for various resolutions. All of the included wallpapers feature the Excalibur sword, a familiar trademark of HIS digital.

Overall, I was somewhat disappointed there wasn’t an included overclocking utility other than AMD’s own Overdrive utility included with the Catalyst control centre. Perhaps best of all the included software is the fantastic Codemasters game, DiRT3 which comes courtesy of a download code.

Let’s see how far we can push this card in the overclocking section…

Overclocking & Temperature Analysis

Overclocking

As you can see from the GPU-Z screenshot above, the HIS HD6950 IceQ 2GB begins life at 800MHz on the core and 5000MHz (effective) memory clockspeeds, both of which match the reference design of AMD.

Unfortunately, the miserly 840MHz limit prevented our overclocking exploits. The HIS HD6950 reached this speed without needing in any adjustment on the voltage but 40MHz over stock left us a little frustrated as we felt that the card had much more to give. We did however have a little more luck with the memory thanks to the very useful Hynix memory IC’s. With an already blistering 5000MHz we were surprised to find that this could be pushed even further to 5300MHz before we started to encounter stability issues.

Core temperatures

To measure the temperature of the card we first measure the ambient temperature. Our review station resides in an air conditioned room with the temperature set to a comfortable 23c.

An excellent showing from HIS! While not the coolest card on test, the IceQ cooler performed extremely well when compared to the reference design. Particularly good were the idle temps which rarely went above 34c.

Let’s move on to the acoustics and power consumption of today’s review sample…

Acoustics & Power Consumption

Acoustics

A feature often overlooked when purchasing a graphics card is the noise that it emits. We all hear (no pun intended) of graphics cards that run like a jet engine which can have a detrimental effect on a gaming session, regardless of the FPS it churns out. It is therefore extremely important that a graphics card should operate as quietly as possible.

To test for this we will be using a sound meter and microphone setup which will be placed 20cm away from the GPU. The test will take place in a quiet (not sound proof) room with the results for the GPU fan at low (30%) and highest (100%) settings.

Results

It came as no surprise that the IceQ cooler on this card performed exactly the same as the cooler on its bigger brother, the HIS HD6970 IceQ Turbo given that both coolers are identical. When compared to the reference design though it is clear that the IceQ cooler is much quieter both at idle and load levels due in part to the efficiency of the cooler. The cooler the core, the less rpm’s are required and thus the less noise is produced. The ‘Black hole impellor’ coupled with the e HIS IceQ cooler is perhaps not the most attractive on the market, it is however a damn fine heatsink assembly, proven by the consistent results we have obtained across all three reviews we have now completed on various IceQ equipped cards.

Power Consumption

For this test, we will be using a wall meter with the test setup plugged in minus the Monitor. Readings were taken at both stock and overclocked conditions each having readings also taken in idle and 100% load (Furmark). Furmark is perhaps not indicative of a true gaming environment and indeed is not recommended by NVIDIA or AMD to test stability of a card but in my view, much like Prime95 for CPU’s, it puts the graphics card under the highest possible stress and presents a good ‘worst case’ scenario. So while it is unlikely your card will ever be stressed as much under normal conditions, it is a good indicator of a theoretical maximum.

Results

I was so surprised at this result that I had to check the wall meter a few times. Nevertheless the results read pretty much the same each and every time which is a great showing from HIS, making it the least power hungry card on test.

Let’s see how the card performs in our suite of benchmarks…

Crysis 2

Crytek took an internet beating from its loyal fans due to the fact that they pandered to the console masses and dumbed down the graphics to DirectX 9. Fortunately, fans of the PC version of Crysis managed to force Cryteks hand and they have since developed a DX11 patch and have also enhanced the textures with added tesselation. It is for this reason that we have decided to include it in our suite of benchmarks.

To test the cards we used the Crysis 2 benchmark courtesy of Adrenaline with both the 1.9 patch, DX11 update and Hi-res texture pack. Settings were manually placed to Ultra, DX11 and tessellation enabled with the Central Park map being run 3 times per resolution benchmark test.

Crysis Warhead

Following the success of Crysis, the stand alone expansion “Warhead” was hotly anticipated to bring more game play, more weapons, improved visuals whilst maintaining better performance, the latter being what gamers wanted most. After all how many people upgraded their rigs just to play this game… In the game, you play as the upbeat Brit Sergeant “Psycho” Sykes, chasing down a Korean nuclear warhead. Throw in some ice shooting aliens and we’re bound to have a great game. It sure delivered.

Testing was done using Framebuffer’s Crysis Warhead benchmarking tool. The tests were configured to DirectX 10 at Enthusiast levels. Each test on the Ambush map was looped three times from which the average FPS was recorded.

Far Cry 2

One of the most hyped games of 2008, Far Cry 2 had some big shoes to fill. It was built to be the next best thing since well… Far Cry I suppose. Combining an open-world game play with highly detailed graphics, physics and AI, what more could we possibly want? The game puts us in the body of a malaria inflicted mercenary hunting down the “Jackal” in the heart of Africa, in a bid to stop an on-going conflict between two rival factions. The storyline can be hard to follow sometimes but I’m no game reviewer, so let’s concentrate on the graphics and performance. After all, we all need to know if our hardware will be able to handle the scorching savannah burning at the hands of our flamethrowers.

The bundled benchmarking tool was used on Far Cry 2, configuring the settings to Ultra and DX10. The small ranch level was chosen and each configuration was looped three times from which the average FPS was recorded.

Metro 2033

Based on the novel by the same name, Metro 2033 is a first person shooter with elements of survival horror. As Artyom, you trawl through the mutant infested metro systems of post-apocalyptic Moscow. The game delivers presents a grim ambience that reflects on the overall atmosphere of the underground setting. Metro 2033 uses the setting as a back drop to showcase some of the best visuals of any games out now, making it the ideal benchmark for those looking for the best graphics card.

The bundled benchmarking tool was used on Metro 2033, configuring the settings to Very High and making use of DirectX 11. The frontline scene was looped 3 times for each configuration. The average FPS was recorded at the end.

Alien Vs. Predator

Spawned from the popular Alien and Predator franchises, Rebellion have collaborated to bring the legendary war to us through the medium of a first-person shooter. The game forces you to hunt, prey and most importantly survive in the swamp colony of Freya’s prospect as a Predator, Alien or Marine. The stunning visuals add to the sense of dread and terror that we have become so accustomed to seeing with the series.

The stand-alone Alien VS Predator benchmark tool was used for testing here. All the settings were set to very high and Tessellation was applied. The average FPS was recorded at the end.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Battlefield Bad Company 2 is the new rendition of the widely successful Battlefield series of game. Having more in common with the console release of Bad Company, the sequel hopes to inject the DNA of the timeless Battlefield 2 online experience with the witty action packed single player shooting adventure of the original. As Private Preston Marlowe, your goal as a member of Bad Company is to once again save the world by securing a scalar weapon device.

Fraps was used to test performance. Each test was conducted at the start of the ‘Cold War’ level ensuring that the same actions and paths were taken during the 2 minute sample. All settings were set to the highest available in game with AF set to 16x and HBAO turned on. The average FPS was recorded by FRAPS at the end of each walk through.

DiRT 3

As players race to elevate their global standing, DiRT 3 is back delivering mud, sweat and gears world over: from the intense weather-beaten rally stages of Europe, Africa and the US, to executing performance driving showcases and career challenges where car control is pushed to spectacular limits.

The in-game benchmarking tool was used to test performance. All the display settings were set to the maximum available and DirectX 11 was applied. The average FPS was recorded at the end.

Mafia II

Following the success of Mafia back in 2002, the third person action adventure game is back with a new grittier and darker world. As Vito Scaletta, an aspiring made man, your job is to work through the twist and turns of Mafia lifestyle. The more blood spilt, the more you get in return but the lifestyle was never meant to be an ideal one. Set in the visually stunning Empire City, the wartime references provide the ever present back drop to a rife period in America’s history, in which potential for exploitation becomes Vito’s key focus.

The in-game benchmarking tool was used to test performance. All the display settings were set to the maximum available in-game. PhsyX was only enabled if specified in the charts. The average FPS was recorded at the end.

TessMark 0.2.2

TessMark 0.2.2 is an OpenGL benchmark and tech demo that uses the new hardware tessellation (or GPU tessellation) features exposed by the OpenGL 4 API. Hardware tessellation makes it possible to divide a polygon into smaller ones (according to the tessellation level factor) in order to increase polygons density: the higher the tessellation level, the higher the polygon density. A high tessellation level requires much GPU processing power.

TessMark was run in fullscreen, benchmark mode using map set 1 and configured to use OpenGL 4.

3DMark 2011 & Unigine Heaven 2.5

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world’s most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC’s gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading.

Unigine Heaven 2.5

Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine™ engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.

Conclusion

The HD6950 has proven very popular due to its good cost per frame value and while this card is a little more expensive than a reference design, it still offers fair value for money considering it is priced around the same as its custom cooled competitors. Unfortunately, due to the card not being of a reference design it is unknown whether the card could be unlocked to a full blown HD6970 so you will have to make that judgement yourselves. I have my doubts due to this being a more recent GPU core and likely being locked down to the core rather than early revisions which were simply BIOS locked.

The performance of the card, while falling below that of the GTX570, is still a force to be reckoned with. It cut through the majority of games with relative ease at 1920×1200 and even put in a good display (pun intended) at the highest resolution runs. Adding AA had less of an effect on the HD6950 compared to the GTX570 thanks to the 2GB of GDDR5 used so if you like your image quality feel free to pile on the AA with this card!

I was left frustrated with the overclocking of the HIS HD6950 IceQ as this card has so much more to offer in the overclocking department. The card was clearly held back by the software based overclocking which when you have a custom cooled card that performs so well only compounds the frustration. It did hit the maximum available on the core and never once skipped a beat without requiring any voltage increase. The heat produced because of this overclock (and with voltage maxed even though it wasn’t needed)was still well within safe parameters and thus the acoustics did not suffer as the fan rarely surpassed the test setup fan noise. The excellent choice of Hynix memory proved itself as it overclocked past HD6970 levels and was rock solid throughout our suite of benchmarks.

Aesthetically, the card is identical to other IceQ models we have reviewed previously so the love it or leave it looks are still present thanks to the massive IceQ cooler. The package, while not full retail, was very good and HIS get a big thumbs up for including a quality game in the form of Codemasters DiRT 3. So it’s all good then?

The decision will come down to whether you feel comfortable settling for second best I’m afraid. The HD6950 falls just short of its bigger brother, the HD6970 IceQ Turbo and further still behind the GTX570, however it easily outperforms a GTX560, especially at high resolutions with all the trimmings applied. Unfortunately, priced at £229 it has edged a little too close for comfort to the GTX570 and therefore is not the ‘bang-per-buck’ graphics card we anticipated. Were the price sub £200, the HIS HD6950 IceQ would be a no-brainer. This is perhaps the most defining factor. If you want raw performance AND you have a little extra cash, the GTX570 is the way to go. However, if you value image quality, the HD6950 takes less of a hit when AA is applied. Couple this with cool, quiet and low running costs in comparison, the HIS HD6950 IceQ begins to make much more sense.

Pros:
+ Great cooling
+ Included DiRT3 Game
+ Quiet with fan in auto
+ Good power consumption figures

Cons:
– Love it or hate it looks
– Large cooler might be restrictive for some