It uses the iPower design with extra PWM phases and factory overclocking

Oct 22, 2013 06:35 GMT  ·  By

Advanced Micro Devices has still not launched the Radeon R9 290X graphics card, but the rest of the R9/R7 collection has already come out, which is why products like HIS' latest creation are also selling.

The new product from Hightech Information System (HIS) is called HIS R9 280X iPower IceQX2 Turbo Boost Clock 3GB GDDR5.

The name alone is enough to reveal a couple of the key assets of the newcomers: the card has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory and a high-end custom cooler.

Said custom cooler is the IceQX2, with two fans and a noise level of below 28dB, although the noise rises when games and other tough workloads are run and, thus, increase the heat generated by the GPU and memory chips.

The cooler is just part of what makes the HIS card unique though. Another asset is the iPower design, which involves a PWM (power regulation module) with nine phases (6+1+1+1) instead of 7 (5+1+1), DirectFET MOSFET, and two 8-pin power ports (vs 6+8-pin).

The extra power allows for the factory overclocking and a greater than usual potential for custom overclocking as well.

In fact, HIS made a point of utilizing a PCB with 2 ounces copper layer, the Dynamic Phase Control PWM IC and superior circuitry. It even bundled the iTurbo overclocking software.

For those who want the performance number, the GPU operates at 1000 MHz, instead of the 850 MHz of the reference board. That puts the boost clock at 1050 MHz. The memory was left at 6 GHz though.

HIS' graphics card also possesses a 384-bit interface and four display outputs (dual-link DVI, HDMI, two DisplayPort 1.2).

Sadly, HIS didn't include the price of the R9 280X IceQX2 Turbo Boost Clock 3 GB in its official announcement, but we suspect it is somewhere around $350 / €350.