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The VerdictWell one thing has become a certain fact, you really can't go wrong with a HiS product now can you? At least not the products we tested from them.
Directly compared to the the 6600 GT both cards have some advantages and disadvantages. But make no mistake, considering it's equal price the GeForce 6600 GT does have the overall lead in performance and it has a newer feature set (Shader Model 3). When you are in doubt what to buy, well look at the results as they speak for themselves. But although the GeForce 6600 GT has an edge over the x700 Pro, thanks to HiS this product is very close to that competition. The x600 series then, well the x700 slaughters them. The new iTurbo feature, well I really like it. The novice user, with the flip of a switch, can overclock his/her card and that gives it a very competitive edge. Add to that HiS once again made a fantastic bundle, sure this version is a little more expensive, but look at all the extras.
Again I just really like HiS gear and this demonstrates a really good product. Thanks to the exceptional cooling, overclockability we can say that this is a very nice product to buy. IceQ Turbo cooling itself, some of you will dislike the sheer size of it, others will love the look. But from a reviewers point of view I need to state that such a cooling solution simply works really swell. If you plan to overclock a graphics card then cooling just is very important, the product is geared up and ready for that.
If we forget the new iTurbo's software
overclocking and look at a manual overclock then all I can be is positive. This was the true deal, a production line board. We really like the software package and VIVO functions. A little free bonus is that excellent software bundle; Counter Strike Condition Zero, ULead's VideoStudio, Picture Pro, PowerDVD 5 it is making it a very sturdy package. Installation was as easy as a breeze, no problems at all. Stability then, it never crashed even once although Halo refused to run thanks to a weird Catalyst driver issue. Of course this particular model also had Video in and out. I gave it a quick quality scan with DScaler software over the S-Video in/output. All I can say is one you set that resolution properly you'll just love the video quality. I just wish we had a HDTV plasma screen here, yummie!
When we combine all facts then we need to state that HiS did a really outstanding job here, a product that is well placed in that mid-range segment, a product that can compete with GeForce 6600 GT. HiS is offering one of the best boards available with a very interesting bundle. Definitely worth an editor's choice! One more thing, the version we tested as stated is a little more expensive, you can also opt a non-vivo version or drop the IceQ Turbo cooler and go for a model with regular fan. Personally, I'd stick to this one, but I'm not in control of your wallet of course.
Right then, next week we'll have ATi's Reference x850 XT and x800 XL reviews up. Catch you then ;)
H.
Radeon x700 Pro IceQ Turbo (VIVO)
HIS 256 Mb GDDR3
Product type: Graphics card
Manufacturer: HIS
Website: www.HISdigital.com
