HIS 6850 IceQ X Turbo 1GB Pro Reviews

I have no problems recommending this card to anyone who is in the market for a great mid range card, you certainly could do much worse.

In strict mathematical sense, you can expect to pay 20% more for the 6870 IceQ X Turbo X over a standard reference card, while the 6850 IceQ X Turbo is fetching about 15% more. Unfortunately, both premiums are higher than the actual performance gains we've recorded during testing. The Radeon HD 6870 IceQ X Turbo X was ~7% faster than a stock card and the 6850 IceQ X Turbo yielded only 4% more performance. However, the cards' upgraded cooler proved to be a valuable feature, allowing them to handle higher frequencies without increasing the operating volume. Considering the minor performance boost, we believe the custom cooler provides a greater value than the factory overclocking. The 6870 IceQ X Turbo or 6850 IceQ X are a couple bucks more than reference cards and should let you meet or exceed the same speeds as the top models.

AMD's Radeon HD 6850 is a proven mid-range performer, and HIS has built on that foundation to produce a card that's better in just about every way. Expected to fetch a small premium at retail, the HD 6850 IceQ X Turbo is not only quicker than reference, but comfortably quieter and considerably cooler. 1080p gaming performance is excellent at the sub-£160 price point, and the card's impressive overclocking capability leaves plenty of room for enthusiasts to push it farther. To top it all off, HIS presents all these winning ingredients in a cool-blue design that stands out from the competition and looks genuinely unique. This is the best Radeon HD 6850 we've ever tested.

As we had expected, the MSI R6850 Cyclone II Power Edition OC with its higher clock speeds recorded higher frame rates than the HIS 6850 IceQ X Turbo. When it came to overclocking, the HIS 6850 IceQ X Turbo managed to edge out the MSI card by a smidge. It managed a maximum overclocking state of 1020MHz at the core and 4800MHz DDR at the memory, achieving 7834 3DMarks, 171 3DMarks or just 2% more than the MSI card, which achieved 7663 3DMarks with 1000MHz at the core and 4800MHz DDR at the memory. Again, the difference between the two cards are not much.

An easily overclocked card that stays cool even at the height of battle is a killer tool to have in your arsenal. I also love the fact that this card has the aqua blue cowling as it makes it look very different from all of the black that seems to permeate GPU coolers these days.

If you haven't picked up a HD 6850 yet and want to spend under $200, then you should be looking at a HD 6850 with some aftermarket cooling. If that's you, then the IceQ X offering from HIS should be a card that you're keeping an eye on.