HIS Radeon HD 6870 IceQ 1GB Detailed Features

In this section we like to tear down the video card and see what makes it tick.

Removing the cooler is accomplished by removing four sprung screws from the rear of the card and gently prying it away from the GPU and memory IC's. A pair of 8mm and a pair of 6mm heatpipes take the heat from the GPU and into the aluminum fin array where it is met with cool air from the 'Black Hole Impeller' radial fan. The shroud makes sure that the cool air is evenly distributed and not wasted, apart from a few small gaps most of this air should be vented out the back of the card rather than inside your case. This design of the IceQ cooler should prove to be very effective for CrossFireX setups although it is just speculation as I only have the one card.

The back of the PCB is utilised mainly for resistors and the soldering quality is excellent for such tiny components. Man loses the war to the machine when it comes to detailed work like this. These days you don't generally see RAM on the reverse side of a 1GB video card design thanks to the smaller manufacturing process that allows more density in a smaller package. We also notice that the HIS Radeon HD6870 IceQ 1GB has a reinforcement bar attached, this stops the PCB flexing out of shape with the weight of the cooler pulling down on it 24/7.

With the cooler assembly and other heatsinks fully removed we can get a better look at the board, The overall layout of all the components is a little different with the 6000 series. The standard layout has moved the power phase/VRM section to the left hand side of the GPU, into an area that is normally left somewhat unoccupied. All in all the PCB looks good with no real waste of space and the soldering quality is of a very high standard.

The HIS Radeon HD6870 IceQ video card uses 1GB of Elpida W1032BBBG-50-F GDDR5 Memory rated 1250MHz (5GHz effective) at 1.5V.

For voltage control HIS have utilized a CHiL CHL82414-01 Dual output 4+1 phase PWM Controller. Below is a snippet from the product description.

The CHL8212/13/14 are dual-loop digital multi-phase buck controllers and the CHL8203 is a single-loop digital multiphase buck controller designed for GPU voltage regulation. Dynamic voltage control is provided by registers which are programmed through I2C and then selected using a 3-bit parallel bus for fast access.

The CHL8203/12/13/14 include CHiL Efficiency Shaping Technology to deliver exceptional efficiency at minimum cost across the entire load range. CHiL Dynamic Phase Control adds/drops active phases based upon load current and can be configured to enter 1-phase operation and diode emulation mode automatically or by command.

SOURCE: chilsemi.com

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