SUMMARY: With Christmas just around the corner and your favorite computer-type person wanting that little something special, we have taken a look at a pair of video cards from HIS. With rock bottom prices and some innovative features, it is time to see if the myth of "getting what you pay for" needs to be thrown out the window. Come see for yourself!
On the enthusiast side, we have the honor of handling the HIS cooling behemoth; the 9800 Pro IceQ. Packing a full-slot cooling solution, housing both a fan and heatsink, we have no doubts the underlying VPU is virtually arctic.
Retailing with one of the most extensive and beautiful boxing jobs the Canadian TweakTown Labs has seen, the Excalibur 9800 Pro IceQ is intimidating even before the unraveling.
On the price-per-MHz side, we’re introduced to the HIS overclocked and ‘turbo-charged’ Excalibur 9600XT. With an unheard of 150MHz jump from a 500MHz engine clock to 650MHz, we were immediately stirring upon receiving this product. As its cooling beast big brother, the Excalibur 9600XT wraps a glossy and logo-plagued box. Unfortunately, this model doesn’t include the sporty flip cover.
As both boxes promise, the graphic cards are accompanied by a notable surplus of accessories. Uniquely of which is a highly impressive bundle of software CDs. Included in both boxes are the following items:
- 10pg Installation guide - 4 Software CDs - HIS Excalibur 9800 Pro IceQ/ HIS Excalibur 9600XT - S-Video cable/Composite cable & S-Video to composite adapter - VGA to DVI adapter - Half-Life 2 game ticket - [Molex power connector]
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