HIS overclocked their HD 4870 IceQ 4+ Turbo card to 770MHz, where the GDDR5 memory runs at 1000MHz (4000MHz effectively). We know that the new GTX 260 with 216 shader processors is a bit faster than the reference HD 4870 card, but HIS just might have what it takes to even things out.
We did some additional overclocking, and marked it with an OC suffix. The OC clocks are 808MHz for the GPU and 1100MHz for the memory. We could've probably squeezed out a couple of MHz more for the memory, but we liked the round number 4400MHz.
Futuremark tests
We got the first results from synthetic tests, where 3DMark06 sees HIS beat the GTX 260, but newer 3DMark Vantage obviously doesn’t share the same opinion.
higher is better
higher is better
higher is better
Gaming
We already said that newer games benefit from additional memory, especially if you’re a fan of high resolutions where the frame buffer becomes an important efficiency contributor. FarCry 2 stands as a testament to that, but you’ll see that World in Conflict won’t rely so much on memory quantity (at least not when 512MB and 1024MB are compared, the difference between 256MB and 512MB is much more evident).
The HD 4870 vs GTX 260 is a fierce battle, and only at the highest resolution does GTX 260 show a more noticeable 9% advantage, whereas the rest show a pretty even battle. Not even our HIS card at Turbo clocks managed to save Radeon HD 4870’s honor, except when we additionally overclocked it.
At the highest resolution, 2560x1600 with antialiasing, the 512MB card falls behind the 1GB version by as much as 75%
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higher is better
higher is better
higher is better
higher is better
higher is better
higher is better
higher is better
The following game, HIS card’s higher clocks result in up to 5% better scores compared to the reference HD 4870, and our additional overclocking clearly proves that HIS HD 4870 IceQ 4+ Turbo has what it takes to lock horns with the GTX 260.
Conclusion
HIS HD 4870 IceQ 4+ Turbo is a non-reference HD 4870 card with 1GB of memory. Radeon HD 4870 1GB cards are direct competitors to Geforce GTX 260 cards, and we now know that HIS with its Turbo version of HD 4870, is the GTX 260’s worthy opponent. HIS’s offer includes no less than 9 different HD 4870 cards, and our today’s guest is one of those featuring the new IceQ4+ cooler.
The new IceQ4 cooler features 8mm heatpipes and larger copper surface, and it does a great job of cooling the GPU and the memory. Temperatures are up to 25 degrees lower than on reference cards, but the fan gets loud. Still, you can easily make it run quieter using the Overdrive option in ATI Catalyst Control Center driver.
The card comes with 1024MB of GDDR5 memory, and the advantage of more memory shows in latest games. The memory runs at 1000MHz (4000MHz effectively) whereas the core speeds are 770MHz.
We’ve seen that HIS HD 4870 IceQ 4+ Turbo is priced at some €10 more than the non-overclocked HIS HD 4870 IceQ 4+, which is about €30 more than the cheapest HD 4870 1GB (priced at about €185). GTX 260 cards are in the same price range, so choosing might be difficult. Fans of HIS brand won’t think twice, but we’ll leave such decisions to you. The card packs speed, power, special cooling and looks, and if you want to play all the latest games - look no further.