HIS Radeon HD 2600 XT IceQ Turbo
HIS’ IceQ version of the Radeon HD 2600 XT is much quieter and runs at higher clock speeds than the standard models. The large IceQ heatsink/fan combination ensures low temperatures and even lower noise levels, creating a certain amount of overclocking headroom, as indicated by the “Turbo” moniker. His advertises the card as being clocked at 830 MHz (GPU) and 1860 MHz (memory, physical clock speed is 930 MHz).
While you could probably overclock the Zalman version of this card to similar levels, the IceQ version offers two advantages. On the one hand, you don’t risk voiding your warranty due to overclocking, on the other you get to enjoy the performance that is independent of the driver and needs no additional tweaking. In 2D mode, the card’s temperature reaches 50°C, in 3D mode it climbs to 66°C.
There is only a €6 price difference between the two Zalman and the IceQ version of the His Radeon HD 2600 XT. Thanks to the better stock performance of the IceQ Turbo version, both offer virtually identical value for your money. In the end, we think that the Zalman version is only really interesting if you are limited to a single-slot cooling solution. If you have the space for a dual-slot cooler, we recommend choosing the faster IceQ Turbo card.
First ! e vai!
"The HIS card only comes with DVI connectors, which makes dual-link a sensible choice for the 1920 resolution."
Uh. No, it really doesn't.
The HDMI(1.2 and below) type A connector is equivalent to
a single-link DVI-D connector; the adaptor is purely
mechanical. Dual-link DVI is equivalent to the HDMI type
B connector, which is largely unused (although I have
hopes, because HDMI 1.3 type B can do 680MPix/s).
1920x1080p/60 fits quite nicely through the bandwidth
limit (165MHz) of an HDMI 1.2 type A connector, and
equally well through a single-link DVI connector -
as you can tell by the multitude of single-link DVI
24" 1920x1200@60Hz monitors on the market.
Dual-link DVI would give you 48bpp colour support at
1920x1080, but that's irrelevant if only a single link
is being used, via an HDMI adaptor. Also, the DVI
connector is perfectly capable of transmitting the
audio component of HDMI (the audio component uses the
same signal wires as the video), if it can be routed
to the card. Whether the content permits the audio to
be routed without HDCP is beyond my expertise.
Also, at the risk of testing my mathematical abilities:
"In Windows XP, the performance delta between the two cards in cumulative frame rate is now less than 20fps (Geforce 8800GTS 1878.9 fps, Radeon HD 2900 XT 1809.6 fps)."
That sounds like "less than 70fps" to me (not that it
makes much difference, obviously - they *are* close.)