IceQ different from other HIS cards of same name?

[AsteriskCGY]

HIS H695FN2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity : $259.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161368

and

http://www.amazon.com/HIS-Radeon-256bit-Mini-DisplayPort-H695QNT2G2M/dp/B004WZ0HQ6/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header

From what I can tell they're the same card, one just has some other brand of cooling.

Also is it better than my crossfire 4850's I have now?

Considering this card to piecemeal a new comp together over time based on the budget intel build on the new build forums.

 

[Supernova1138]

A single 6950 is about equivalent to two 4850s. You'd get roughly the same performance, but you would get DirectX11 support and the single 6950 would probably use less power and generate a lot less heat than your Crossfire setup.

The main difference between the linked cards are the coolers. The first one has the reference cooler which is on the noisier side and not as good at dissipating heat. The second card you linked has a custom cooler designed by HIS that should perform better than the reference cooler, and hopefully be quieter.

If you do want to get a 6950, go for the cheaper 1GB version unless you intend to game across multiple monitors of play at a resolution higher than 1920x1200. The 2GB version only sees a performance improvement at extremely high resolutions. The 2GB version also has the chance to flash into the 6970, but most 6950s manufactured now have the extra shaders laser cut to prevent people from unlocking their cards into a 6970, the chances of a successful unlock are getting quite low.

 

[AsteriskCGY]

Thanks. I was going off the Budget intel specs and this was pretty much the card they chose for all three builds. And the fact that the first one is apparantly discontinued from Newegg, and the other one has a deal with Deus Ex HE, which is what prompted me to see about getting it. Figure I shouldn't run into any major compatability problems with my mobo. M4A78T.

I would get this 2 gig version if it helps with dual monitor support, cause I do run two monitors. The other idea is if I plan on upgrading my CPU and want to push better graphics to grab another for crossfire, the 1 gig version should suffice fine for that transition.

Thanks for the suggestion, gonna take a look at it.

 

[AsteriskCGY]

And the 1gb 6950 is only lower by 30. Not too big in my book

 

[Supernova1138]

The extra gigabyte of RAM probably won't help too much unless you are actually playing a game on both monitors, it won't do much good if one monitor is just displaying the desktop or something like that. If you want to Crossfire down the road it is probably best to match the amount of RAM on each card, if you Crossfire a 1GB 6950 with a 2GB 6950, the 2GB 6950 will only use half of its RAM to match with the 1GB card, and the additional gigabyte on the 2GB card will be wasted. Not that there is much out right now that actually uses more than 1GB but it is something to consider

 

[AsteriskCGY]

True, desktop would be dependent on system ram, not graphics ram.

Oh well, purchase made. Time to open up my system and dust it out.

 

[AsteriskCGY]

Best answer selected by AsteriskCGY.