HIS Radeon HD 5750 iCooler IV Video Card

HIS has now taken the time to jazz up the latest mid-range model from ATI. We see what they've done with this HD 5750 today.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: HIS Digital
12 minutes & 1 second read time

Introduction




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The HD 5750 has been a great card from the word go. Its mid-range status but high-end performance is nothing to shy away from and when compared to cards in the HD 5800 series, the HD 5750 has shown us many times that it's highly capable of handling 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200 at times.

With HIS being an ATI only partner, it's important that the company attacks the new models without haste and today we're looking at the HD 5750 which has been given the iCooler treatment.

Finding ourselves wondering what exactly the iCooler looks like and what it's going to do for us, we'll quickly take the time to see what's going on in the bundle department before having a closer look at the card and the cooler it carries. We'll then check out the performance of the model and while we have a fairly good idea of the FPS numbers it's going to give us, more importantly we'll see how the model goes in the cooling department.

The Package




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HIS Radeon HD 5750 iCooler IV Video Card 04


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There's nothing too out of the ordinary when it comes to the whole HD 5750 iCooler IV bundle. We can see a picture of what the card should look like on the front of the box and the main piece of kit worth noticing is the Dirt II voucher that HIS have chosen to include.

Video Card




With the package out the way it's time to see what's going on with the card and you can clearly see that HIS have opted for quite a large fan here that covers the majority of the card. There's really only a small shroud around the whole setup thanks to the fan taking up most of the room.

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We can see the HIS logo clearly in the middle of the cooler and behind that we can see an 11-blade fan that should hopefully do a good job of keeping our card nice and cool. Looking even closer, though, we can see behind the fan the massive heatsink that also manages to take up a large portion of the card.

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HIS Radeon HD 5750 iCooler IV Video Card 09


Doing the quick once over around the card, we don't see anything new when it comes to the overall layout. We've got a single 6-Pin PCI-E connector located at the back of the card and our Crossfire connectors closer to the front. While the first picture on this page make it looks like the cooler goes over the top of the card, we can say it doesn't so making use of those CrossFire connectors is not going to be an issue if you choose to use them.

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This is the first time we've seen a company mix it up in the I/O department when it comes to connectivity. While we normally see the HDMI and DisplayPort connector, we also tend to have two Dual-Link DVI connectors. Instead HIS have opted to drop one and make it only a single bracket card. In saying that, though, the card isn't a single slot one so we think it's a bit weird that the company chose to drop a connector yet still have the card be a dual slot one. Maybe it helps cut costs.


Specifications

While HIS have chosen to upgrade the cooler, they have left the clocks alone which means the core comes in at 750MHz and the 1GB of GDDR5 memory carries with it a clock of 4600MHz QDR.

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It doesn't come as much of a surprise that the company has left the clocks at the default ones since the model hasn't been out for long. We wouldn't be surprised if over the coming weeks we see them release the model in a "Turbo" variant once they have found a good, solid and stable overclock. For now, though, it's all about the cooling.

Test System Setup and 3DMark Vantage


Test System Setup

Processor(s): Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.8GHz (190MHz x 20)
Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P (Supplied by Noctua)
Motherboard(s): GIGABYTE EX58-UD5 (Supplied by GIGABYTE)
Memory: 3 X 2GB Kingston Hyper X PC3-16000 2000MHz DDR CL9 (Supplied by Kingston)
Hard Disk(s): Western Digital 640GB SATA 2.0 HDD (Supplied by Western Digital)
Operating System: Windows 7
Drivers: ATI Catalyst 9.10 Beta, Catalyst 9.11


We'll today be having a look at how the HD 5750 iCooler IV from HIS goes against the Sapphire HD 5750 reference design. While both cards use different drivers and this is mentioned in our graphs, the main focus of what we'll be looking at is going to be the cooling side of things.

But before we get to the cooling results, we'll quickly look at the numbers the card can put out first up.

Let's get started!


3DMark Vantage

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.1
Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com
Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmarkvantage/
Buy It Here




3DMark Vantage is the new industry standard PC gaming performance benchmark from Futuremark, newly designed for Windows Vista and DirectX10. It includes two new graphics tests, two new CPU tests, several new feature tests, and support for the latest hardware.

3DMark Vantage is based on a completely new rendering engine, developed specifically to take full advantage of DirectX10, the new graphics API from Microsoft.

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The new driver set offered the HD 5750 a nice little boost under 3DMark Vantage and we can see that the model manages to do a pretty good job here with a score of over 8500 marks in the performance preset.

Unigine Heaven Benchmark (DX10 & DX11)


Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Version and / or Patch Used: 1
Developer Homepage: http://www.unigine.com
Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/products/unigine



New benchmark grants the power to unleash the DirectX 11 potential in the gift wrapping of impressively towering graphics capabilities. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is ensured within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

Note: If a card doesn't support DirectX 11 the benchmark will be left out. If it does it will be included along with the DirectX 10 results.

Direct X 10

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Direct X 11

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The new drivers didn't do much for the HD 5750 here, but we can see that the numbers aren't too bad. While not huge, Unigine is an extremely intensive benchmark that is designed to make use of the latest technology on offer.

Benchmarks - CINEBENCH R10


CINEBENCH R10

Version and / or Patch Used: Release 10
Developer Homepage: http://www.maxon.net/
Product Homepage: http://www.maxon.net




CINEBENCH is a real-world test suite that assesses your computer's performace capabilities. MAXON CINEBENCH is based on MAXON's award-winning animation software, CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia and many more.

MAXON CINEBENCH runs several tests on your computer to measure the performance of the main processor and the graphics card under real world circumstances. The benchmark application makes use of up to 16 CPUs or CPU cores and is available for Windows (32-bit and 64-Bit) and Macintosh (PPC and Intel-based).

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We can see that there isn't much between the two cards here and as usual the 10k - 11k score lines up with most other ATI cards we use.

Benchmarks - Resident Evil 5


Resident Evil 5

Version and / or Patch Used: Demo Benchmark
Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com
Product Homepage: http://www.residentevil.com




Resident Evil 5 is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the seventh installment in the Resident Evil survival horror series, and was released on September 18. Resident Evil 5 revolves around Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar as they investigate a terrorist threat in Kijuju, a fictional town in Africa.

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Checking out RE5, we can see some good numbers at both resolutions. We want to see an average of around 60 FPS to get a good gaming experience. We can see that the HIS HD 5750 iCooler IV doesn't have any real trouble here. In saying that, though, the overall game experience would be nicer at 1680 x 1050 thanks to that extra 10 FPS average.

Benchmarks - Far Cry 2


Far Cry 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.03
Timedemo or Level Used: Ranch Long
Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com
Product Homepage: http://www.farcry2.com
Buy It Here




The Dunia Engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2 by the award-winning Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers the most realistic destructible environments, amazing special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storm effects, real-time night-and-day cycle, dynamic music system, non-scripted enemy A.I. and so much more.

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HIS Radeon HD 5750 iCooler IV Video Card 27


At 1680 x 1050 we can see that the HD 5750 doesn't run into any problems breaking that 30 FPS minimum we want to see. At 1920 x 1200, though, the card does fall back a little, but a bit of a detail drop would get the numbers back up if you want to play at this resolution.

Benchmarks - World in Conflict


World in Conflict

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.0.10
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.massive.se
Product Homepage: http://www.worldinconflict.com





World in Conflict is a real-time strategy video game by Massive Entertainment and to be published by Sierra Entertainment for Windows (DX9 and DX10).

The game is set in 1989 where economic troubles cripple the Soviet Union and threaten to dissolve it. However, the title pursues a "what if" scenario where, in this case, the Soviet Union does not collapse and instead pursues a course of war to remain in power. It is an intensive new game that is sure to put plenty of stress on even the latest graphics cards. We use the built-in benchmarking for our testing.

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WIC is quite intensive at these settings and you can see that the HD 5750 does struggle to break that 30 FPS minimum. A detail drop, however, will get us the extra FPS we want at the lower resolution. It's going to be a fair bit harder to see the extra 6 FPS in the minimum department at 1920 x 1200.

Benchmarks - Batman Arkham Asylum


Batman Arkham Asylum

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.rocksteadyltd.com
Product Homepage: http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com





Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum - Gotham's psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City's most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum.

Using a wide range of Batman's gadgets and abilities, players will become the invisible predator and attempt to foil The Joker's demented scheme.
Batman: Arkham Asylum features an original story penned exclusively for the game by famous Batman author and five-time Emmy award winner Paul Dini, whose credits include Lost season one and Batman: The Animated Series.

Note: With support for PhysX NVIDIA based cards will be tested with the technology on and off, while ATI cards will be tested with the technology off due to it not being supported on their cards.

Without PhysX

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HIS Radeon HD 5750 iCooler IV Video Card 31


As great as Batman: AA looks, the game doesn't really require all that much of a graphics card to run. While we want to see a 30 FPS minimum, we can clearly see that the HIS HD 5750 iCooler IV is able to offer us significantly better than that.

Benchmarks - Darkest of Days


Darkest of Days

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.4
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.phantomefx.com
Product Homepage: http://www.darkestofdays.com





Darkest of Days takes the player through time into historic battles in an effort to save key individuals from certain death. The battles range from Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 to fighting in Pompeii as ash and fire rain down from an erupting Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Other locations include the battles of Antietam and Tannenberg, and a German World War II P.O.W. camp. There are different missions in every time period and the game takes about 4 hours to complete.

The game features over twenty weapons, both from the original time period as well as those brought back from the future. In addition, there are artillery weapons from different time periods to assist in battle.

Note: With the PhysX set to Medium or High, Darkest of Days takes advantage of the NVIDIA PhysX abilities. For that reason we will test ATI cards at the Low preset, while NVIDIA based cards will be tested at Low and High.

PhysX set to Low

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Like RE5, we want to see an average of around 60 FPS since we have no minimum to show. While we don't have any troubles at 1680 x 1050, the card does struggle a bit at 1920 x 1200. You could drop the detail back or just choose to play at the lower resolution; either will offer you a good experience.

Benchmarks - BattleForge


BattleForge

Version and / or Patch Used: Auto Patched at Load
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.ea.com
Product Homepage: http://www.battleforge.com





The Gods have disappeared and the old sun has died, letting a vile twilight engulf the world of Nyn. In exchange for all treasures the mortals possessed, the evil giants agreed to forge a new sun and hurl it into the sky.

But the deal was betrayed, the treasure stolen and now the mortals flee the wrath of the giants. Under the light of a new sun the mortals stumble into a world changed and twisted by an age of twilight. The long journey home has become a conquest of survival.

Note: Supporting DirectX 11, we have separated the graphs for NVIDIA and ATI cards. While the numbers between the two brands can be compared, you have to make note that ATI based HD 5000 series cards are running DirectX 11.

DirectX 11 (ATI HD 5000 Series Only)

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BattleForge is an extremely intensive game and like we just mentioned in Darkest of Days, we want to see an average of around 60 FPS when we don't have a minimum. You can clearly see that the model struggles under this intensive DX11 game.

Temperature and Sound Tests


Temperature Tests



With the TES 1326 Infrared Thermometer literally in hand we found ourselves getting real-world temperatures from the products we test at load (3D clock speeds).

There are two places we pull temperature from - the back of the card directly behind the core and if the card is dual slot and has an exhaust point we also pull a temperate from there, as seen in the picture.

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Compared to the stock cooler, you can see a slight drop in the temperature when using the iCooler IV.


Sound Tests



Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that we get a bit more serious and place the device two CM away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode) and in load (3D mode).

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While not huge, we manage to also see a small drop when it comes to noise levels which is exactly what we want to see from an upgraded cooler.

Power Consumption Tests






Using our new PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01 or "Power Thingy" as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated graphics cards installed. Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum - only a 7,200RPM SATA-II single hard drive is used without CD ROM or many cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.

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Power draw between both cards are very similar which comes as no surprise to us.

Final Thoughts




Having a look at the performance numbers, there isn't anything we haven't seen before when looking at other HD 5750s that carry with it the stock clocks. Looking closer at the numbers that relate to the cooling, we can see that there's not a huge difference compared to the stock one, but the card does run slightly quieter and slightly cooler which is what you want.

Since there isn't much of a difference between the stock cooler and this one, what you would hope is that HIS don't charge much more for this model. The good news is that at $138.99 over at Newegg the card lines up exactly where it needs to, making this a really excellent valued product.

This is another really nice HD 5750 that's worth looking at if you're in the market for the model. Performance numbers are good and compared to the stock card the cooling numbers are better in both the heat and noise department.

12 months ago you weren't going to get a card that could perform this well for this price. The HD 5750 has been a great model from ATI and while we've seen a few companies attack the cooling side of things now, it's really time to see what companies can do with the clock speeds. Hopefully we see HIS do something with its Turbo line-up soon and start giving these mid-range models even more power.

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Shawn takes care of all of our video card reviews. From 2009, Shawn is also taking care of our memory reviews, and from May 2011, Shawn also takes care of our CPU, chipset and motherboard reviews. As of December 2011, Shawn is based out of Taipei, Taiwan.

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