HIS 4870 IceQ 4+ Turbo 1GB PCIe Graphics Card
Conclusion
Published: 24th December 2008 | Source: HIS | Price: £229 |
With a price tag expected to be around £229, the HIS 4870 IceQ 4+ Turbo 1GB is clearly positioned to be a direct threat to NVIDIA's recently released GTX260 216 cards - and a threat it certainly is. Factory overclocked to 770MHz with GDDR5 running at 1000MHz , the IceQ4+ Turbo managed to give the Zotac GTX2602 we happened to have in our office at the same time a proverbial run-around, beating it in both GRID, Crysis and Unreal Tournament 3 while also coming within a few FPS of the GTX260 in games such as Far Cry 2 and Quake Wars.This combined with the stunning look and performance of the IceQ4+ cooler that kept the GPU temperatures well under 60°C at all times and noise levels to little more than a whisper certainly makes the card worth every penny.
In our previous review of the HIS 4850 IceQ4 TurboX, we concluded that the card was the "crème de la crème of 4850 series cards". This is something that also rings true for the HIS 4870 IceQ 4+ Turbo 1Gb in the 4870 series....There really is no 4870 that we've seen or tested to date which can come close.
The Good
- Exchanges blows with the GTX260 216, beating it in several games.
- Excellent aftermarket IceQ 4+ cooler keeps GPU temps and noise under control.
- Healthy overclock places the card well ahead of a stock HD4850 512MB.
- Competitively priced.
- Looks great.
The Mediocre
- Rather basic package. Most GTX260 216 cards are shipped with a game.
The Bad
- Still no 4870x2 version HIS...c'mon pull your finger out!
Based on the performance, looks and price of the HIS 4870 IceQ 4+ Turbo we are delighted to award the card Overclock3D "Best In Class" for the ATI HD4870 based series of cards.
Thanks to HIS for providing the 4870 IceQ 4+ Turbo for review. Discuss this review in our forums.
Most Recent Comments
This is a great read! I thoroughly enjoyed it.. The estimated price also seems good.. Santa may have a revised list rushed to him 
If I had the £ to get a 4870 it would def be this. Great cooler, factory oced, good price.
Great review as always Jim!
Great review as always Jim!
Great review, even tho I'd not personally buy it, I think this card offers a decent amount of spanking for the price, particularly nVidia's mid-range card.
Gorgeous pictures too Jimbo.. whoever told you to use a flash gun must be amazing..
I so wish I could afford to but this card,nice review as normal,however one small spelling mistake:the farcry engine is Dunia not dunai
Because of the simple package, it does make the GTX260 a bit more desirable for anyone who doesn't own the packaged game.
Roughly same price between the two.
Clock the GTX260 higher and it will probably beat the Turbo 4870.
And where the heck is the special screw driver thingy?
Roughly same price between the two.
Clock the GTX260 higher and it will probably beat the Turbo 4870.
And where the heck is the special screw driver thingy?
Fine review, and a super card.
I have to ask though.. This part..
Why? It's odd that such a high end card can be ***** slapped into yester year on one game, yet hold its own and win a few on others. This about driver optimisations? The games that are popular they tweak the drivers for knowing that they will be used as benches?
I have to ask though.. This part..
Finally we come to the GRID results and as we can see, this is certainly a place where the green team fall flat on their face. Across all resolutions the HIS 4870 IceQ4+ Turbo wipes the floor with the GTX260 and in some cases even the stock clocked Sapphire HD 4870 512Mb sends the Zotac packing.
Why? It's odd that such a high end card can be ***** slapped into yester year on one game, yet hold its own and win a few on others. This about driver optimisations? The games that are popular they tweak the drivers for knowing that they will be used as benches?
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Originally Posted by name='fruityness'
Why? It's odd that such a high end card can be ***** slapped into yester year on one game, yet hold its own and win a few on others. This about driver optimisations? The games that are popular they tweak the drivers for knowing that they will be used as benches? |
It's quite possible that NV could turn around tomorrow with a new driver that drastically improves GRID performance on the GTX260 and the 4870 gets a good spanking.What ever happens its great to see ATI finaly giving Nvid something to worry about and work for.
Great review Jimbo, your a machine where do you get the time!
Great review Jimbo, your a machine where do you get the time!
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Originally Posted by name='Jim'
Drivers, game engine, backhander between the developers and ATI...who knows
It's quite possible that NV could turn around tomorrow with a new driver that drastically improves GRID performance on the GTX260 and the 4870 gets a good spanking. |
But it's created by a game design platform called Gamebryo, similar to the version used to make DAoC and WAR.
Having a finger in the dev pie can always influence performance.
Would of been interesting to see crossfire performance with a pair of these against the gtx260 in sli, also gtx 280 single & sli.
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Originally Posted by name='Nelly'
Would of been interesting to see crossfire performance with a pair of these against the gtx260 in sli, also gtx 280 single & sli.
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The only thing I would disagree with is the cooler. The fan on this thing is like a leaf blower on full noise!
Main reason I purchased this HIS was because of this review saying the cooler was 'whisper' quiet.
First thing I did was get myself an MCW60-4870.
Nice review otherwise.
Main reason I purchased this HIS was because of this review saying the cooler was 'whisper' quiet.
First thing I did was get myself an MCW60-4870.
Nice review otherwise.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='crunchie'
The only thing I would disagree with is the cooler. The fan on this thing is like a leaf blower on full noise!
Main reason I purchased this HIS was because of this review saying the cooler was 'whisper' quiet. First thing I did was get myself an MCW60-4870. Nice review otherwise. |
Hi Jim. Nice review 
.
When I first installed the card I checked the temp through CCC and was surprised to see that it was 67C, no fan running. So I manually ran it using CCC. Anything below 40% fan speed was ok and brought the temps down quite a bit (the cooler itself works really good).
Testing it out and running the fan flat out, I thought that my case was going to start moving across the floor. Loudest fan I have ever heard.
I had included the card into my water loop within a week of buying it, so it's all good now.
Pity I paid a premium price for the HIS though because of it's cooler. Ended up coughing up another $AU139 for the MCW60-4870 too
.
All's well that ends well though
.When I first installed the card I checked the temp through CCC and was surprised to see that it was 67C, no fan running. So I manually ran it using CCC. Anything below 40% fan speed was ok and brought the temps down quite a bit (the cooler itself works really good).
Testing it out and running the fan flat out, I thought that my case was going to start moving across the floor. Loudest fan I have ever heard
.I had included the card into my water loop within a week of buying it, so it's all good now.
Pity I paid a premium price for the HIS though because of it's cooler. Ended up coughing up another $AU139 for the MCW60-4870 too
.All's well that ends well though
I just leave the cards on auto (Ihave 2) and they are real quiet, never go much above 60c, deffo works much better than a reference 4870 cooler.
Water sure is nice though. Stays below 40C and quiet to boot .
.Aye built many with water mate, got one on the go now idling at 32c.
Im all for water, but where Ive not had time to do my own :crys: Id had to stay air, and just wanted to say that the coolers are much better than the stock ones and worth the extra few quid.
4870's get hot because of the digital PWM's, so the cooler really does do a good job.
Im all for water, but where Ive not had time to do my own :crys: Id had to stay air, and just wanted to say that the coolers are much better than the stock ones and worth the extra few quid.
4870's get hot because of the digital PWM's, so the cooler really does do a good job.
Got mine idling at 28C and the cpu at 26C atm . GPU's VDDC slave temps are in the mid 30C's.
I had nothing against the ICEQ cooler. It did the job nicely. Just could not handle the noise.
I've just changed the stock 120 fans on the radiator with a couple of 90cfm coolermasters. Running at 2000rpm and they can hardly be heard.
What sort of an OC can these HIS' get to? Had mine to 850 clock and 1100 mem with no artifacting. Haven't tried to go higher.
. GPU's VDDC slave temps are in the mid 30C's. I had nothing against the ICEQ cooler. It did the job nicely. Just could not handle the noise.
I've just changed the stock 120 fans on the radiator with a couple of 90cfm coolermasters. Running at 2000rpm and they can hardly be heard.
What sort of an OC can these HIS' get to? Had mine to 850 clock and 1100 mem with no artifacting. Haven't tried to go higher.
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HIS 4870 IceQ4+ Turbo 1GB PCIe Graphics Card