HIS HD3870 ICEQ w/Valves Black Box for 134.99 Shipped +10 MIR

LordGestle

Senior member
Jan 2, 2001
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HIS HD3870 ICEQ w/Valves Black Box for 134.99 Shipped +10 MIR
Newegg Link

Obviously the unload prior to the new models coming out (4850@199$), but I thought it was a good deal if you were looking for the Valve's Black Box that conatains Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2.

Just some things to note as I own one:
1) The heatsink is painted copper. Still I found it cooled better than the stock HD3870 (owned a reference model).
2) Bios flash, or rivatuner, may be necessary to increase the Fan speed to keep the card cooler.
3) The included screw driver is YMMV as I didn't get one when I bought it shortly after release.
4) Warranty is 1 year.
 

Foxery

Golden Member
Jan 24, 2008
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It was. I think you can redeem the voucher that comes with these video cards, but promotions like this one are the only way to get it.


Actually, I just grabbed my box and it contains a big picture of Gordon Freeman which says:
"Free games on Steam! As a purchaser of a new ATI Radeon graphics card, you are eligible to receive a free copy of HL2: Lost Coast and HL2: Deathmatch when you create a Steam account. This is a limited time offer. Some conditions apply."

There's then a link to a web site which doesn't appear to even require proof of ownership, it just says sign up and receive free stuff. Err. Think I won't post that part publicly ;)


BTW, the cooler on HIS' IceQ cards is a dream. Very quiet, very cool. I can't imagine buying a card without one again.
 

ther00kie16

Golden Member
Mar 28, 2008
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I think Lost Coast has always been free but I'm not sure about HL2: Deathmatch though I don't know if anyone plays that anyway.
And it's funny how newegg lists the Black Box for $50 but also says it needs to be purchased with a VGA combo.
 

Lurker1

Senior member
Sep 27, 2003
666
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Bought the orange box for $19. What's the black got that the orange doesn't, other than potential collectors value?
 

nsiderTalon

Senior member
Apr 20, 2008
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Wiki says it's HL2 and HL2:EP1 that's in orange box and not black box. Black box only included new content.
 

Tullphan

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2001
3,507
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What's the quality like on this particular brand?
Just curious since it only had a 1 yr. warranty.
 

sapiens74

Platinum Member
Jan 14, 2004
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thanks op jumped on this one.


Note...

I replaced the thermal grease with AS5 runs cool and quiet


Also the DVI-HDMI adapter they use is the same as the older 2000 series. I tried my 3850 adapter and it doesn't pass audio

After that was solved, this bad boy is running 1080p on my new Sony 46".


Great card
 

LordGestle

Senior member
Jan 2, 2001
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I have owned this product for about 6-7 months with no issues. I know with previous generations that HIS was one of the top more expensive brands because of the ICEQ cooling. As far as resale value they tend to be a little higher compared to other ATI makes. I have not dealt with Support but I have read a few good reports from HIS where as for Sapphire, for example, I haven't heard off any possitives on the forums.

I also replaced the thermal grease with AS5 and flashed the firmware to increase the fan speed at lower temps. I didn't have any issue with the stock tim or speeds, but making that change did decrease my load temps to around 60-70 vs 80c if I recall.

As Sapien pointed out its great for a HTPC machine, as long as you have space for the dual slot cooler, as it offloads the newer HD codecs to the GPU from the CPU.

I use mine for gaming/htpc and the performance is pretty close to a 8800GT (also own one) in the games that I play that I just play on which one is on at the moment.

It aslo comes with the DVI-HDMI adpater, but I have yet to test it so that may be an issue if you intended to use it for sound across HDMI as Sapien also pointed out(one of the major features of this card vs 8X00 series).

 

Tullphan

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2001
3,507
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I got a $10 credit w/Newegg & am torn between this & the 4850.
There's been some talk of the heat ouput (due to poorly designed HSF) on the 4850...whether or not it'll be an issue in a Stacker I don't know.
Is there $50 performance difference between the 2?
 

funboy6942

Lifer
Nov 13, 2001
15,311
395
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Originally posted by: Tullphan
I got a $10 credit w/Newegg & am torn between this & the 4850.
There's been some talk of the heat ouput (due to poorly designed HSF) on the 4850...whether or not it'll be an issue in a Stacker I don't know.
Is there $50 performance difference between the 2?

I would look at the thread I posted on the 4850 for it has a review against the 3870, a card I used to own till about a week ago, and it just spanks it like a read headded step child. The 3870 cannot ccompete with the 4850, and this is the 4850 were talking about, wait till the 4870 or the 4870x2 comes out and it will be so far ahead the 3870 it wont be funny, which is funny anyway because usually the next get cards are just slightly ahead of the past cards, and this one is so far ahead of the 3870, not even worth talking about how far ahead the 3850, its insane. Its like it went and jumped 3 more gens when you look and see how much faster it went up from all older cards of nvida and themself being ati. Its just crazy and look forward to the release of the other 2 in the 4xxx series.