As it stands, the HIS X1800GTO is a superb mid-ranged option, and a steal at £140. It is equally fast as the 7600GT, winning most of the more intensive shader-heavy titles by a few fps. As usual HIS has pulled out all of the stops and delivered a solution with a superb bundle, and the now legendary IceQ cooler once again is beyond comparison with the noisy standard alternative.
When you consider that this card can be unlocked to an X1800XL in around 2 minutes, the card becomes a downright bargain. Braver users prepared to do this should insist on this HIS IceQ 3 Turbo model however, as others may not have the correct GB_PIPE_SELECT value. Once the pipelines have been unlocked you basically have a high end 16 pipeline card that will rip through even the hardest titles with those settings at their highest. Without doubt this is simply the best mid-ranged video card you can buy right now.
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Pros
- Great bundle of games, software and cables
- IceQ 3 cooler is a triumph of quietness and performance
- Extremely quick in the latest games
- Excellent warranty - Can be unlocked to the 16 pipe X1800GTO with ease Cons
- Memory overclock could be better.
