HIS Unveils the New 6970 IceQ Mix Flexible-Eyefinity Graphics Card

Recently HIS have released their much awaited IceQ turbo and IceQ standard models of the 6970. HIS always seem to make a good product better and this is exactly what they have done with the AMD Radeon 6970 graphics card. HIS just launched HIS 6970 IceQ Mix, providing an easier way for gamers to run both AMD & NVIDIA GPU and enable Eyefinity via HDMI output

Included in the box of this graphics card is also a Dirt 3 game coupon and 4 cables, Standard Display Port, HDMI to DVI, Standard HDMI cable, and a DVI to VGA cable.

In the past, you need to crossfire your card with the same AMD Series model. But HIS 6970 IceQ Mix grants you power to enjoy the benefits of running both AMD and NVIDA GPU in the same system.

Furthermore, most graphics cards require connecting the DisplayPort output or using the active DisplayPort adapter in order to perform Eyefinity. It is not only costly but also inconvenient.

With this HIS 6970 IceQ Mix, you can easily set up Eyefinity with ANY of three outputs or All five outputs for multi-display gaming.

HIS HD 6970 IceQ Mix Key Features and Advantages:

• Mix Eyefinity – AMD’s Eyefinity is enabled via HDMI without using expensive Display Port monitors and Active Adapters. Eyefinity is also enabled via HDMI to DVI adaptor.
• Mix GPU – Allow running both an AMD and NVIDIA GPU in the same system to enjoy the benefits of both graphics features and performance.
• IceQ Technology - Cool air is drawn from both sides of the fan to thereby enhance the cooling efficiency, directly exhausts hot air out of PC case.
• -23°C Cooler - HIS 6970 IceQ Series is over 23°C cooler than the Reference Cooler.
• Quieter – HIS 6970 IceQ Series is quieter than the Reference Cooler, significantly reducing noise level.

Related Articles;

AMD Radeon 6800 and 6900 Series graphics cards get price drops
ASUS Prepares to Unleash its Radeon 6970 DirectCU Graphics Card

Budget AMD AM3 Motherboards

Many people these days are looking for computers that are in a certain price range. If you are looking to build a PC in the budget range from around £200-£300 ($300-$500) then these motherboards will work very well for you. They are from good quality manufactures such as ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI and most feature Solid capacitors for better voltage regulation to the CPU.

MSI GF615M-P33

I am starting with the MSI as it was the cheapest AM3 motherboard that I could find from the more reputable and respected motherboard manufactures. It has a 4.5 star rating on the eBuyer website which is where I personally source my computer components from. It features an AMD socket AM3 and supports CPU's that are upto 125w. This means that this little Micro ATX budget motherboard can support many of the AMD 6 core CPU's upto the 1065T. This is very very good support for a motherboard that costs just over £34 ($54) It doesn't support any amazing features such as UEFI BIOS or onboard HD video but it will work for many users that only need a simple office computer. Technically with the PCI-E slot and the support for an AMD Hex Core cpu you may even be able to make a budget gaming computer out of it. I say well done MSI for providing such a great motherboard at such a competitive price.

ASUS M4N68T-M LE

ASUS have really managed a lot with such a small budget with this board. Getting one at such a good price is a bonus really. I found this board at the price of £35 ($56) The ASUS M4N68T-M LE has some pretty basic features if you compare it to high cost motherboards but it has all you need really if you are thinking of just building an office PC or even possibly a low cost gaming machine. It features 4 SATA ports which is enough for most people. It has a PCI-E slot so you can put any modern graphics card into it.
The main problem that I see with this board is the fact that it only has 2 DDR3 RAM slots. I suppose this can be expected on a board like this though. The audio is 8 channel HD but when you run in 8 channel you will loose the other two 3.5mm jacks as they turn into audio outputs for the different channels. The board supports CPU's upto the massive power house of the Phenom II x6 1100T. This means that is can power AMD's best AM3 offering. Overall ASUS have managed to make an amazingly cheap motherboard which can power the best CPU AMD offers on it's AM3 platform and also have basic things such as onboard video and 4 SATA ports. Great board.

Gigabyte GA-M68MT-S2

I am not sure what it is about Gigabyte but they always seem to have very neat looking boards. The look of good build quality and quality components. I think it may be the color scheme that makes it look neat and tidy but then again I am not sure. Anyway, This board is a great board. It costs just under £37 ($59) and it is build by one of the leading motherboard manufactures, Gigabyte. Recently some people have been saying that Gigabyte are better quality boards than ASUS but I personally think they are about level now.
This board has basically the same features as the ASUS board that we looked at above. It has 2 RAM slots which is usually sufficient now that you can easily get hold of 4GB memory modules. It has 4 SATA ports and features onboard VGA graphics. It also has the same 8-Channel HD audio that the ASUS has. This board however can only support up to the Phenom II x6 1090T not the full blown 1100T that the ASUS supports. The build of this board is the main feature really. It has solid capacitors in the CPU VRM's and also has Dual BIOS so that if one fails the other one can take over and repair the failed one.


MSI 760GM-E51

Having looked at a fair few full budget motherboards I decided to move up a few steps and show you a board that feature HDMI onboard. This tidy offering from MSI really looks pretty good. It costs a little over £44 ($70) It features 4 RAM slots and has 5 SATA ports (one of which is mounted as an E-SATA port on the back) The board looks like it has been built using good quality parts, The CPU VRM has fully solid capacitors and it also features solid coils which offer better voltage stability. This board also features the ability to unlock the hidden cores in AMD CPU's and also a flick switch overclock setting which increases the FSB automatically. It has built in 8-Channel audio and also has built in HDMI which makes this board great for using as a cinema system computer. Overall a great board by MSI for such a good price.

Thanks for reading everyone, I hope this has made your decision of budget AMD motherboards easier and better. Jack-O-Bytes

Asus prepares to unleash its Radeon 6970 DirectCU graphics monstrosity

ASUS displayed a huge new graphics card based on the AMD Radeon HD 6970 GPU. The EAH6970 DirectCu is perhaps the largest among the company's graphics cards that use a "direct-copper" GPU cooler in which heat pipes make direct contact with the GPU die. Such is the size of the cooler, that the card requires three expansion slots in your system. To make optimal use of the expansion brackets, ASUS wired out all TMDS links from the GPU, yielding a display connectivity consisting of two DVI and four full-sized DisplayPort 1.2 connectors.

The GPU cooler makes use of a large aluminum fin array which uses at least three 8 mm thick copper heat pipes. The aluminum fins are cooled by the airflow of two 120 mm fans. The card uses 2 GB of high-speed GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface, it packs 1536 VLIW4 stream processors. The card also seems to be using a 9-phase VRM that allows software voltage control. Power is drawn in from two 8-pin PCI-E power connectors.

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