HIS Radeon R9 280, 285, 280X, 290X IceQ X2

Published: Oct 18th 2014, 09:57 GMT

HIS Radeon R9 280 IceQ X² OC Specifications

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERARadeon R9 280, which is a direct rebrand of Radeon HD 7950 “Boost Edition”, was officially introduced March this year.

The R9 280 is a bridge between R9 and R7 series. Just a few months later, R9 280 was replaced with R9 285.

Radeon R9 280 equipped with Tahiti graphics processor is the slowest Radeon card in this review. The R9 280 features Tahiti PRO GPU, offers 1792 Stream Cores, 112 TMUs and 32 ROPs. The sample from HIS is clocked at 847/953 MHz, which is exactly 20 MHz higher than reference model.

All Tahiti-based graphics cards are equipped with at least 3GB GDDR5 frame buffer. R9 280 is no exception. In comparison to Tonga, Tahiti has wider bus and therefore higher bandwidth. This should theoretically provide a better experience at higher resolution.

We are looking very closely at Radeon R9 280 and GeForce GTX 760 during this review. The R9 285 is a successor to R9 280, while GTX 760 is its direct competitor.

HIS Radeon R9 Series
HIS R9 280
IceQ X² OC
HIS R9 285
IceQ X² OC
HIS R9 280X iPower
IceQ X² Turbo
HIS R9 290X iPower
IceQ X² Turbo
Picture H280QMC3G2M_04_1600H285QMB2GD_04_1600H280XQMT3G2M_Gold_4_1600H290XQMT4GD_05_1600
GPU CodenameTahiti PROTonga PROTahiti XTHawaii XT
Unified Cores1792179220482816
TMUs112112128176
ROPs32323264
Base Clock847 MHz938 MHz1000 MHz1040 MHz
Boost Clock953 MHz1050 MHz
Memory Clock1250 MHz1375 MHz1500 MHz1350 MHz
Memory3GB GDDR52GB GDDR53GB GDDR54GB GDDR5
Memory Bus384-bit256-bit384-bit512-bit
Bandwidth240 GB/s176 GB/s288 GB/s346 GB/s
Power Connectors6pin + 6pin6pin + 6pin8pin + 6pin8pin + 8pin
TDP200W190W250W290W

HIS IceQ X² cooling solution

In this review there are three cards (R9 280, R9 280X and R9 290X) that use exactly the same cooling system IceQ X2 ‘Gold Edition’. This description will cover Radeon R9 280(X).

Radeon R9 200 series from HIS were introduced with new color scheme of IceQX2 cooler. The decision to use gold cooler shroud was met with mixed feelings. These cards would probably look better if the PCB was black, instead we have gold and blue mixture, which may not be to everyone’s liking. After looking at official photos you might think that this card is beige, but it’s not. The cooler is actually metallic gold.

The latest installment of IceQ X2 features two 89mm dual axial fans. The cooler is made of large heat sink interpolated with five heat pipes (three 6mm and two 8mm). Each of these heat pipes is connected to a copper base which resides on the GPU

The IceQ X2 cooler is also equipped with a support baseplate (called Metal Rib), that is responsible for memory cooling.

According to HIS, this unique cooler design produces only 28 dB when doing daily tasks, such as watching movies or working.

Physical specifications:

  • Width: 141 mm
  • Length: 297 mm
  • Height: 2-slot
  • Weight: 956 g
  • Cooling: IceQ X2 (dual-fan)
  • Display outputs: DVI-I, HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort

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HIS Radeon R9 280(X) IceQ X² OC PCB

HIS Radeon R9 280 IceQ X2 series are equipped with fully-custom board. It has 9 PWM phases (6+1+1+1) which is one more than reference design. The PCB has quality components including solid capacitors and ferrite inductors. HIS R9 280 series are armed with CHil CHL8228G digital PWM controller, helping to keep voltages stable during overclocking and every day use.

Last but not least, R9 280 PCB has two PCI-E power connectors: 8+6-pin.

HIS Radeon R9 280 IceQ X² OC package

In the package you will find the manual, DVI-VGA adapter, drivers and a sticker.

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Review Contents
Page 1Introduction
Page 2Overview HIS Radeon R9 285 IceQ X² OC
Page 3Overview HIS Radeon R9 280 IceQ X² OC
Page 4Overview HIS Radeon R9 280X iPower IceQ X² Turbo
Page 5Overview HIS Radeon R9 290X iPower IceQ X² Turbo
Page 6Overview EVGA GeForce GTX 760 Superclocked ACX
Page 7Overview Palit GeForce GTX 770 JetStream
Page 8Overview Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti OC
Page 9Testing platform and methodology
Page 10Games Batman: Arkham Origins ● BioShock Infinite ● Total War: Rome 2 ● Alien:Isolation
Page 11Games Company of Heroes 2 ● GRID Autosport ● Hitman Absolution ● Watch Dogs
Page 12Games Metro: Last Light ● Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor ● Tomb Raider
Page 13Games Battlefield 4 ● THIEF ● Sniper Elite III
Page 14Test 3DMark Fire Strike ● Catzilla ● CompuBench
Page 15Test ComputeMark ● TessMark ● Luxxmark
Page 16Test Power consumption ● Temperature
Page 17Test Overclocking
Page 18Conclusion