Test: HIS HD6970 IceQ Mix

Konklusion

At sammenfatte dette kort er en smule svært. Det er både med et smil og med et suk at jeg runder artiklen her af. Generelt, så er grafikkortet et virkelig lækkert kort. Der kommer noget mere med i pakken, og der skal ikke bruges aktive adaptere til et eyefinity setup. Kigger vi på hvad LucidLogix har leveret til dette kort, altså Hydra chippen, så er mine følelser lidt blandet. Når teknologien virker, så viser den for alvor tænder, men det er desværre i meget få spil at teknologien faktisk virker, og det var faktisk kun i Call of Juarez at der rigtig kunne bruges de krafter der nu er til rådighed. Jeg forstår godt at HIS har valgt ikke at lave flere end 500 eksemplarer af dette kort. Det har sikkert været som en test for at se om Hydra teknologien har noget at byde på, og jeg synes også at HIS skal have en tommel op for at prøve noget nyt, det kunne jo være at det rent faktisk havde virket i praksis. Det der gør at teknologien egentlig ikke virker, virker til at være driveren til den Hydra chip. Det virker lidt som om at LucidLogix egentlig er ligeglad med deres software. Sidste driver opdatering var den 31. maj 2011, så det er en 3 måneder siden. Hver spil skal have sin egen profil i driveren for at fungere, og har Lucidlogix ikke lavet en profil, er chancen for at der ikke er understøttelse for spillet stor, og hvis der endelig er, så er ydelse ikke rigtig noget værd. Der er desværre alt for meget GPU kraft der blot går spildt når softwaren ikke kan finde ud af at bruge de GPUer der er tilgængelige.

Innovation/Teknologi - 5
Jeg synes at HIS har gjort det godt. Det er AMD bedste GPU, og det har fået den seneste teknologi fra AMD. Derudover så er der kommet Eyefinity 5 uden at der skal bruges dyre aktive omformere. Jeg har også givet point for at der er kommet en Hydra chip på, da det teknologisk er meget nyt.

Bundle/Tilbehør - 4
Som jeg skrev i afsnittet, så synes jeg at det er synd man aldrig rigtig får spil med til sit nye grafikkort længere. Her fås DiRT 3 med, samt en god slat kabler. Kigger vi på hvad jeg savner, så er dette en moderat bundle, men i forhold til i dag, så er der faktisk rigtig meget med.

Design/Layout - 4
Grafikkortet larmer en smule under fuld load, og når der kommer et grafikkort mere tæt på, så bliver det lidt varmere, og larmer derfor endnu mere. I idle giver kortet ikke ret meget lyd fra sig. Skal der sammenlignes med reference køleren, så er IceQ køleren en del bedre hvad angår både larm og køling.

Software/BIOS - 3
Den medfølgende software (driveren) fungerede upåklageligt og skal derfor have 3.

Ydelse - 4
Her giver jeg samme karakter ligesom det normale IceQ grafikkort. Grunden er at selve kortet ikke fejler noget i ydelsen. Det falder en smule bagud imod GTX570, men nu havde vi også fat i en overclocket version af det. Ydelsen på Hydra chippen er helt vildt god, når den virker. I dette tilfælde virkede den kun i Call of Juarez, og viste sig at fungerer meget bedre end almindelig CrossFire, men prisen for en god ydelse i Call of Juarez betales med helt elendig ydelse i andre spil og programmer.

Pris - 3
Et eksemplar af dette kort koster 325 euro, hvilket er lige omkring DKR 2400,-. Her skal så tillægges dansk moms, og så ender vi nok på DKR 2900-3000,-. Sammenligner vi med IceQ Turbo kortet som vi har haft til test, så virker det ikke rigtig til at være pengene værd. Det er ganske enkelt ikke en krone værd at få den Hydra chip med, da den blot gør sådan at nogle spil ikke vil køre, og der leveres dårligere ydelse i mange andre spil end hvad et enkelt kort kan klare. Vil man ikke køre CrossFire, har man jo ikke brug for Hydra Chippen. Det giver ingen mening at købe kortet med, og så blot køre med det ene, for at opgraderer senere hen, så er det bedre med versionen uden Hydra chippen, og så evt. tilføje et grafikkort som HD6950 til omkring DKR 1500,- mere, istedet for et ENGTX570 til DKR 2300,-. Men lad os nu ikke glemme DiRT 3 spillet der følger med, skal man ud og købe det kommer det til at koste godt og vel DKR 250,- og så er man alligevel oppe på det kortet med Hydra chippen koster, derfor giver jeg 3.

UK summary

To summarize this card is a bit difficult. It is with both a smile and a sigh that I round this article off. Generally, the graphics card is a really nice card. There is more in the bundle and there is no need for active adapters when using Eyefinity. Looking at what LucidLogix has delivered to this card, the Hydra chip, my feelings are a bit mixed. When the technology works, it really shows its teeth, but unfortunately only a few games is supported fully, and it was only in Call of Juarez that the Hydra chip showed what it can do in all the tests. I understand that HIS has chosen not to make more than 500 copies of this card. It has probably been a test to see if the Hydra technology has something to offer, and I also think that HIS should get a thumbs up for trying something new, it might actually have worked. The reason why the Hydra technology does not work seems to be the driver for the Hydra chip. It seems a bit that LucidLogix really don't care about their software. The last driver update was 31 May 2011, so it is about 3 month ago. Each game must have its own profile in the drive to work, and if LucidLogix did not create a profile, chances are that there is no support for that game, and if there is, the performance is not really worth anything. Unfortunately too much GPU power just goes wasted when the software cannot figure out how to use the GPUs available.

Innovation/Technology - 5
I think that HIS has done well. It is the best AMD GPU, and it has got the latest technology from AMD. In addition, there is Eyefinity 5 without having to use expensive active converters. I have also given points for the mounted Hydra chip as the technology is new.

Bundle/Accessories - 4
As I wrote in the section, I think it is a shame that you never really get a game with new graphics cards anymore. With this card you get DiRT 3 with a good amount of cables. Looking at what I miss, this is a moderate bundle, but compared to today, the bundle is quite good.

Design/Layout - 4
The graphics card is a bit noisy under full load, and when there is another graphics card close to it, it gets a bit warmer, and therefore even more noisy. In idle the card is pretty silent. Comparing it with the reference cooler, then the IceQ cooler is a lot better in terms of both noise and cooling.

Software/BIOS - 3
The included software (the driver) worked flawlessly and must therefore get 3.

Performance - 4
Here I give the same as the normal IceQ card. The reason is that there is nothing wrong with the performance of it. It falls a bit behind against the GTX570, but we were using an overclocked version of it. The performance of the Hydra chip is very good, when it works. In this case it worked only in Call of Juarez, and proved to function much better than regular CrossFire, but the prove of good performance in Call of Juarez is paid with totally miserable performance in other games and programs.

Price - 3
A copy of this card costs 325 euros, which is just around DKK 2400,-. When we add the Danish VAT, we end up at DKK 2900-3000,-. If we compare with the IceQ Turbo card we already tested, it seems to not really be worth the money. The Hydra chip is simply not worth a penny because it just makes some games unuseable, and if the game will run, the performance just gets worse. And if you are not planning of running with two cards, the Hydra chip is not really needed. It makes no sense to buy the card and then just run with one to upgrade later, then the version without the Hydra chip is better, as a HD6950 which costs about DKK 1500,- gives more performance than the DKK 2350,- ENGTX570 card does. But let's not forget the DiRT 3 game that comes with it. If you should buy the game it is going to cost about DKK 250,- and then we are about at the same price as the card, and that is why I give 3.

Test: HIS HD6970 IceQ Mix

Innovation / Teknologi	5
Bundle - Tilbehør	4
Design - Layout	4
Software - BIOS	3
Ydelse	4
Pris	3
Samlet	76%