HIS is not an unfamiliar name around. In the past, we have seen HIS flourish with enthusiast products like the HIS Radeon HD 3870 X2 and we have seen them hit home with fan free products like the Radeon HD 3450 card. Today, we get the opportunity to check their HIS Radeon HD 4850 IceQ4 TurboX with full high definition 1080p suport. The board utilizes 512MB of GDDR3 memory, has two dual link DVI outputs and TV output. We will admit, the competition should be worried. The TurboX arrived factory overclocked and ready to rock 'n roll in your computer. And don't make a mistake this is still a Radeon HD 4850, but adapted to offer more gaming performance while keeping it quiet. - Overclockers Online

HIS Radeon HD 4850 IceQ4 Cool TurboX Card Review

Now the HIS Radeon HD 4850 IceQ4 TurboX came in a rather bland package compared to what other manufacturers are using. HIS has opted to print a large IceQ4 on the center of the box and throw in a few pictures of the accessories included. The front reminds us a bit of the fantastic 4 logo, so perhaps this card will be fantastic. What's missing from the front of the box is a picture of the card, but that gets covered on the back with a large picture and embedded images of various features HIS has decided to highlight. On the short side of the box we get a picture of the card and the direction of air flow through the cooling solution.

On the other side we get a quick list of the contents inside the box. On the other side of the box, we have a list of features in different languages, awards HIS has won and stickers with different serial numbers. As you may have read, this is the world's fastest GPU despite being powered by the standard Radeon HD 4850. This is accomplished by overclocking the card beyond stock ATI speeds. The regular core comes clocked at 625MHz but the TurboX is set at 685MHz, just under a ten percent gain. The memory comes clocked at 2200MHz compared to the stock 1866MHz, using Samsung 0.8ns modules that are rated for 2400MHz.

To overclock the video card, you're very limited with the Catalyst control center. The maximum setting is 700/2400MHz which is not nearly enough for this card. Overclocking is a manual process with AMD's own utility. Slowly increase the core speed and once you have a stable core setting, you do the same for the memory. At the end of the day, we were capped out at 775/2400MHz. This is a moderate gain from the 685/2200MHz stock but we wish that we could have squeezed a little more out of the memory as we've seen these memory modules go as far as 2480MHz, so your mileage will vary a bit depending on the quality.

When the HIS Radeon HD 4850 IceQ 4 TurboX finally arrived, we knew we were in for a treat. It comes overclocked from the factory by a hefty margin without increasing the heat on the card or the noise. Compared to our Toxic edition and overclocked GeForce 8800 GT, this card is whisper quiet. We weren't even sure if the fan was working properly because it was so quiet. It sounds cliche, but with every aftermarket cooler or stock cooler we've tried, they always end up being louder than we thought they would be. Not with the IceQ4, cause really the HIS engineers have done a fine job at perfecting this cooler by an extra mile.

The card comes bundled with accessories you normally don't see but they will come in handy. We've put the screwdriver to use a few times since getting the card a week ago. These fine details add additional value to a card that offers so much. The HIS Radeon HD 4850 beat out the GeForce 8800 GT and the other two Radeon HD 4850 cards we threw at it. While it does cost a little more than the rest, if you want a card that will last and comes with features no one else has, this should be the only card on your list.