HIS 290x IceQx2 Turbo & XFX 290x/290

[Fastx]

http://videocardz.com/48556/radeon-r9-290x-iceq-x2-turbo-pictured

http://videocardz.com/48543/xfx-launches-radeon-r9-290x-r9-290-double-dissipation

 

[SlowSpyder]

The non-reference cards are coming pretty fast now, glad to see that. I can't tell if I think the HIS card is really cool looking or really ugly. Maybe a little of both, like Soldier Field.

 

[Fastx]

The non-reference cards are coming pretty fast now, glad to see that. I can't tell if I think the HIS card is really cool looking or really ugly. Maybe a little of both, like Soldier Field.

Not liking the HIS, makes me think of my grandmas jewelry she wears at times.

 

[Face2Face]

Not liking the HIS, makes me think of my grandmas jewelry she wears at times.

- - It does look rather vintage and what the heck is with the heatpipe cover plate thingy? The XFX card looks awesome, but will probably perform worse than reference..... buy hey it's got a built in flashlight.

 

[p_monks33]

The new XFX coolers are really nice looking, as long as they aren't plagued with the high VRM temps that the DD 7950/7970 saw, that would be my go to card.

 

[lavaheadache]

The HIS is gross.. Terrible looking even. The XFX, meh.... they are dead to me, not ever a consideration to me anymore. Their rev.2 cards are always garbage... It's amazing how they went from my #1 choice to avoid like the plague.

 

[Imouto]

Why did HIS size that cooler so big and kept the fans so tiny? Their diameter could have been 2 cm larger each.

And I hope that "Turbo" sticker is a Photoshop append and won't reach retail.

 

[blackened23]

That is hands down the ugliest aftermarket card i've ever seen. The HIS card, that is.

 

[24601]

And the win goes to Sapphire, MSI and presumably Gigabyte (judging by their 780 and 780 GHz card designs) for having the only designs that have good VRM cooling (without having pretty subpar GPU cooling like I would assume the XFX DD has)

I'm definitely going to try to buy one on launch for either of those three to test/flip if the launch prices are super low.

 

[thilanliyan]

I have a similar looking cooler on a HIS 7950. The cooler itself is not too bad, and VRM's get their own heatsink IIRC.

And amazingly, the card can run at stock clocks (950/1250) at only 0.975v.

 

[24601]

I have a similar looking cooler on a HIS 7950. The cooler itself is not too bad, and VRM's get their own heatsink IIRC.

As shown by the ASUS DCUII example, even what would previously be thought of as a good sized dedicated heatsink for the VRMs are woefully insufficient for the 290/290x.

Sapphire, MSI and Gigabyte bolt their VRM heatsinks directly to their main HSF, with the Sapphire having the best VRM heatsink design possible, with it being literally just the thermal conductance aluminum that is directly connected to the largest surface area of heatsinks on the entire card.

XFX also has decent VRM cooling but it's performance for the GPU cooling seems to be not even within spitting distance of the other major players.

 

[Teizo]

HIS must have hired one of Noctua's designers

 

[Face2Face]

HIS must have hired one of Noctua's designers

Or they actually think people like the new look of the Z87 Asus motherboards..... :thumbsdown:

 

[3DVagabond]

It looks like an HIS card. Just a different color. In the end, if it ends up being the best performing cooler, that's what will matter. Consistently, the highest O/C's I saw in reviews for 7970's were HIS with this cooler.

 

[Pandora's Box]

Ugh, was hoping HIS was going to use their IceQ Blower style cooler.

 

[Sohaltang]

I would be interested in the HIS. Looks dont really matter to me if it fixes the reference heat issues. The XFX is like someone above said "dead to me". Would never ever buy another xfx product

 

[blastingcap]

XFX made a big slip-up with their 79xx series coolers, but their new R9 280x DD design is actually decent: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7400/the-radeon-r9-280x-review-feat-asus-xfx And they also have lifetime warranty on it. Their aftermarket R9 290 series looks like it is using the same or a similar cooler.

I hate how they have LEDs on the cooler itself, though, makes me want to tape over it. I'm not a fan of colored LEDs on fans, cases (except power/HDD indicators), and now GPU coolers. Ugh.

 

[Rvenger]

I see a Blue PCB on the HIS. Gold and Blue.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

The HIS cooler is awesome, hopefully we get different colors.

 

[akahoovy]

Ugh, was hoping HIS was going to use their IceQ Blower style cooler.

Same. A 290 with AIB blower style cooler would be the perfect card for crossfire.

 

[Silverforce11]

Same. A 290 with AIB blower style cooler would be the perfect card for crossfire.

Its a real shame they didnt release their 2.5 slot blower models anymore, it worked really well.. but i think its ugliness and the very small % of gamers who use multi-cards (where this design is superior) put them off doing it.

 

[Attic]

The HIS is ooooglie.

But if it cools well that's all good.

 

[Sunburn74]

XFX made a big slip-up with their 79xx series coolers, but their new R9 280x DD design is actually decent.

What exactly was the issue with their previous design btw? I see a lot of references to it on this forum, but no explanation

 

[Silverforce11]

What exactly was the issue with their previous design btw? I see a lot of references to it on this forum, but no explanation

Small, high RPM, low-CFM fans without heatsinks on VRMs. Not a good combination.

 

[blastingcap]

What exactly was the issue with their previous design btw? I see a lot of references to it on this forum, but no explanation

The XFX 79xx cooler was built cheaply without enough heatpipes to do the job as well as competitors. Their 79xx cards had barely adequate cooling to play games at stock. Anything heavier like an overclock and the cooler had trouble keeping VRMs and core and memory cool without resorting to stark increase in noise

http://www.hardware.fr/articles/853-17/thermographie-infrarouge-cartes-graphiques.html