MSI 7950 TF3 vs HIS 7950 IceQ2

[p_monks33]

Anyone have opinions on these two cards vs each other. Price is competitive I will be overclocking, and have no experience with HIS cards. I like the looks of the HIS, just curious of the overclockability and the noise factors.

 

[lavaheadache]

Titan =P

 

[UNhooked]

Both are good but I think MSI has unlocked voltage not sure about the HIS. My Bro has a HIS 4870 and it's still chugging just fine.

 

[p_monks33]

Anyone own the HIS 7950 that could comment on unlocked voltage and noise?

 

[raghu78]

the HIS HD 7950 iceq x2 boost is one of the best HD 7950 cards. built on a reference HD 7970 PCB. 8 + 6 pin power. unlocked voltage. excellent cooler. more power phases than reference HD 7950.

http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-731.shtml

http://www.legionhardware.com/artic...hz_edition_7950_iceq_xsup2_boost_clock,3.html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/his_radeon_7950_x_iceq_review,1.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7950_X2_Boost/1.html
http://www.overclockers.com/his-hd-7950-iceq-x2-boost-clock-graphics-card-review

check if your case can fit the graphics card, as its 311 mm long.

 

[p_monks33]

Cosmos 2 is a big ole girl so I think any card out there fits no problem.

 

[thilanliyan]

I have both incidentally. I like both, but the cooling (especially the VRMs) on the HIS is better. However, I don't know much about the after sales service of HIS. MSI is generally good I think. The core and mem voltages are unlocked on the HIS card too and I am able to control it with MSI AB.

 

[p_monks33]

Thanks for the advice, I really am leaning toward the HIS

 

[Dankk]

I second the HIS IceQ. I had an IceQ card a couple years back and it was really slick. Thing ran really cool.

 

[p_monks33]

Went with the HIS ICEQ² , Got the card last night, does 1250 core/ 1700 memory pretty easily with a small voltage bump, it is quiet, and runs around 60c load. I can't really find a single thing to complain about with this card. I would say it is right up there with the 680 lightning in build quality and silicon quality. Kudos to HIS, you have made a believer out of me.

 

[zettler]

Is this the one?

http://www.amazon.com/HIS-Boost-Cloc...HIS+7950+IceQ2

 

[Rvenger]

HIS has been stepping it up this generation.

 

[blastingcap]

HIS has been stepping it up this generation.

Amen, they had crappy cooler, like embarassingly bad ones last gen, but their higher-end coolers are much better this generation.

 

[ozzy702]

I have fourof the HIS 7950 IceQ's. They're decent cards, although I believe my sapphire dual X seems to cool better. The one nice thing about the four HIS cards I've received is they have fairly high ASIC ratings and don't seem to need much voltage. I keep them clocked around 975-1050mhz depending on how warm it is outside. I don't like seeing temps higher than mid 70's and with two cards the top card always runs a little warmer (this is in a room that's between 72 and 78 F) One annoying thing about the HIS cards is they don't report their VRM temps.

Edit: I do not have the IceQ2's but they certainly look promising.

 

[sublime420ec]

yay your smart fella! i'm always trying to get people on here to buy HIS they rarely listen...and it's there loss 😛 i mean HIS has been around since 1987 for a reason 😉

 

[p_monks33]

This year I have been impressed with HIS, and Galaxy twin fan cards.

 

[Face2Face]

yay your smart fella! i'm always trying to get people on here to buy HIS they rarely listen...and it's there loss 😛 i mean HIS has been around since 1987 for a reason 😉

I remeber when I bought my first HIS card... it was also my last 😀 Went back 3 times on my dime, No thanks...

But seriously the 7950 your purchased sounds like a gem :thumbsup:

Can you check your vrm temps?

 

[lavaheadache]

I had an hd3850 iceq3 or something like that. Was a decent card too

 

[p_monks33]

I will check the VRM temps later, I guess I'm surprised, because I had a HIS 6950 that was the center fan junk cooler, and hated how cheap the heatsink was on it. Easily broke 85c under normal gaming, I feel they have come a long way with the design of this card.

 

[blastingcap]

Yeah the IceQ Turbo got good reviews everywhere for cooling and wasn't loud either.

 

[24601]

The IceQ (not ^2) 7950 has excellent blower but inferior VRM and power circuitry compared to reference.

The IceQ^2, if using reference or better power circuitry, is clearly superior to the TF3 in the cooling department.

TF3 is twin 80mm fans with about 60% possible card volume of heat-sink.

IceQ^2 is twin 89mm fans with about 90-110% possible card volume of heat-sink (Even the heat-sink is larger than the PCB and goes all the way down to the PCB and up to the top of the shroud)

I think the IceQ^2 is the best air cooler on the market at the moment.

This is shown by the fact that the 399 USD IceQ^2 7970 goes out of stock almost immediately whenever it's restocked on Newegg.
I got the TF3 and the IceQ^2 7970s onto nowinstock.com a while ago, here is the data.
http://www.nowinstock.net/computers/videocards/amd/7970/
http://www.nowinstock.net/computers/videocards/amd/7970/full_history.php