HIS Radeon R9 280X iPower IceQ X² Video Card Review

By Steven Iglesias-Hearst

Manufacturer: Hightech Information System Ltd.
Product Name: R9 280X iPower IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock 3GB GDDR5 PCI-E DLDVI-I/HDMI/2xMini DP
Model Number: H280XQMT3G2M
UPC:  4895139008777
Price As Tested: $319.99 (NewEgg / Amazon)

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Hightech Information System Ltd.

Since AMD announced their GPU 14 R9 series video cards, AIB partners have been tweaking and tuning their own aftermarket designs. In this article,  Benchmark Reviews tests the HIS Radeon R9 280X iPower IceQ X2 Turbo Boost 3GB video card.  As the name suggests, this particular model features the high end IceQ X2 cooler from the HIS labs and slightly faster Core and Memory speeds. I have seen the evolution of this cooler first hand and I know it to be fully capable. Two 89mm dual axial fans and five heatpipes (2 x 8mm and 3 x 6mm) ensure that your temperatures will stay well within safe limits, even during overclocking.

Many say that these R9 and R7 GPU’s are simply re-brands of the 7000 series of AMD video cards but I think there is slightly more to it than that. Yes they are re-branded GPU’s, but they feature faster core speeds and faster memory that the previous generation of 7000 series video cards. Also, AMD have had more time to fine tune their drivers to get the best possible performance out of these new SKU’s.

HIS Radeon R9 280X Specifications