Board examination & bundle
HIS has used IceQ cooling on most Radeon cards from 9550 upwards. The idea remains the same: extensive cooling that should provide some scope for overclocking. However, HIS releases both 'Turbo' and standard editions of its IceQ products, where the former has a guaranteed overclock and the latter doesn't. We're dealing with the latter today.
The appearance of the HIS X1900 GT IceQ3 is dominated by the cooler and artwork. Blue and red? Perhaps not the most inspirational combination of colours, but we won't knock any points off for that.
Atop the card, a heatpipe draws heat from the GPU towards the largest part of the card's heatsink. Look familiar? Compare it to the X1950 XTX's cooler from the front and top; they're similar, but not quite the same. Perhaps HIS's choice of cooler for its IceQ products inspired ATI's new and much-improved cooler?
Nothing much to report around the back of the card, aside from the usual labels and what seems to be an RoHS sticker.
The backplane has the two dual-link DVI ports that we love to see here at HEXUS, most of us having big-arse display fetishes. The number of holes on the mini-DIN connector indicate that it's got VIVO support, along with component output, as discussed when we looked at the card's specification.
Bundle
HIS has gone for a refreshingly simple box that's still quite pretty... not that we're that interested in what the box looks like, honest.
All the cabling you might want is included with this card. There's a VIVO lead, S-Video and composite cables, component connections and a PEG power adapter. Two DVI-to-VGA adapters ensure analogue monitor users can still get connected up. A fan grille is supplied for card too, given its dual-slot configuration.
Bundled software includes an HIS driver and utility CD (with Catalyst 6.4), the game Flatout, a 2-channel audio version of PowerDVD 6 and a platinum pack bonus DVD with software as listed on HIS's website. No mind-blowing software can be found in the bundle, but at least the quantity of items available is nice.
A user manual and case sticker finish off what is a comprehensive bundle. HIS has provided the buyer with everything they might need to get what they want from this card.
