We check out a good looking Radeon HD 7750 video card from HIS. But is looks all that it has going for it?

Introduction and Package

VIEW GALLERY - 26 IMAGES

Getting excited about the Radeon HD 7700 series from AMD has always been near impossible for me. While we've seen a couple of gems stand out, the series for the most part has never done a great deal for us due to the initial stigma that was left at launch with the feeling the price was just too high for the performance on offer.

Since launch, though, we've seen some new variations of the model and over that time we've seen the price drop down to a much more attractive level. Today we're going to be checking out the baby version of the HD 7700 series; the HD 7750.

This particular one we're looking at today comes from HIS and carries with it the IceQ X and Turbo label which are two of our favorite ones when it comes to HIS branded cards. Can throwing the IceQ X and Turbo label onto the HD 7750 get us a bit more excited about it, though? Well, slightly.

The first thing we need to do is check out what's going on with the package. Once we've done that we'll take a closer look at the video card itself and see what exactly the IceQ X cooler looks like before moving onto the specification side to see what clocks that Turbo tag brings to the table.

Once we've done that we'll quickly look at our testbed, cover the cards that will be including in our graphs today before we finally get into the performance side of things which will be interesting as this is the lowest end card we've tested on our new benchmark line up which is quite intensive. First, though, we've got to check out what's going on with the package.

Package

Having a look at the box you can see the overall layout is pretty similar to other IceQ packages. The main difference is that the box is overall just smaller due to it being a mid-range video card.

Moving inside the package it's pretty similar to the higher end HIS offerings with two CDs; one including the driver and the other including the iTurbo software. Along with that we've got a manual, case sticker and DVI to VGA connector.

The Card and Specifications

The Card

Looking at the video card the overall cooler design isn't much of a surprise as we've seen the IceQ X cooler before on other HIS cards. There is a large single fan in the middle with a massive heatsink sitting behind it and a couple of heatpipes coming out the back. What really looks good is the silver honeycomb like plate that sits against the black.

Taking a look around you can see towards the back there is a single 6-pin PCIe power connector. Looking at the front and moving across the top you can see we've got a single CrossFire connector present in the event you want to add a second card to the mix.

Looking at the I/O side of things it's got a strong setup which includes two Mini-DisplayPort connectors. Along with that we've also got a full size HDMI port and a Dual-Link DVI connector to round off the connectivity side of things. On the other half of the I/O panel we've got a vent that will help the hot air get out the back of the case.

Specifications

Out of the box a reference HD 7750 brings with it a default clock speed of 800MHz while the 1GB of GDDR5 comes in at 1125MHz or 4500MHz QDR. Coming in under the Turbo label, though, of course means we're dealing with an overclocked card.

Looking above you can see that HIS has chosen to bump the core clock up 100MHz to bring it in at 900MHz. Like we see so often, though, from most companies, the memory hasn't been touched and looking above you can see that comes in at the same 4500MHz QDR clock speed as a reference card.

Benchmarks - Test System Setup

We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASUS and Corsair.

The video cards that are included in our graphs today start with the HIS HD 7750 1GB IceQ X Turbo of course. Along with that we've got the HIS HD 7850 IceQ and the AMD HD 7970 GHz Edition.

On the NVIDIA side of things we've got the MSI GTX 660 HAWK.

Let's get started!

The FPS Numbers Explained

When we benchmark our video cards and look at the graphs, we aim to get to a certain level of FPS which we consider playable. While many may argue that the human eye can't see over 24 FPS or 30 FPS, any true gamer will tell you that as we climb higher in Frames Per Seconds (FPS), the overall gameplay feels smoother. There are three numbers we're looking out for when it comes to our benchmarks.

30 FPS - It's the minimum number we aim for when it comes to games. If you're not dropping below 30 FPS during games, you're going to have a nice and smooth gaming experience. The ideal situation is that even in a heavy fire fight, the minimum stays above 30 FPS making sure that you can continue to aim easily or turn the corner with no dramas.

60 FPS - It's the average we look for when we don't have a minimum coming at us. If we're getting an average of 60 FPS, we should have a minimum of 30 FPS or better and as mentioned above, it means we've got some smooth game play happening.

120 FPS - The new number that we've been hunting down over recent months. If you're the owner of a 120 Hz monitor, to get the most out of it you want to get around the 120 FPS mark. Moving from 60 FPS / 60 Hz to 120 FPS / 120 Hz brings with it a certain fluidity that can't really be explained, but instead has to be experienced. Of course, if you're buying a 120 Hz monitor to take advantage of 3D, an average of 120 FPS in our benchmark means that in 3D you will have an average of 60 FPS, which again means you should expect some smooth gameplay.

Benchmarks - 3DMark 11

3DMark 11

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmark11/

Buy It Here

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world's most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC's gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

Starting off with 3DMark 11 it comes as no surprise that our numbers are sitting extremely low. Being the lowest end card we've tested on the new benchmark line up we haven't got the best gauge at the moment. We'll get a better idea on performance when we fire up our game benchmarks.

Benchmarks - Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Version and / or Patch Used: 3

Developer Homepage: http://www.unigine.com

Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/press-releases/091022-heaven_benchmark//

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.

Just like 3DMark 11 we don't get a great idea of where we sit at the moment due to the fact we don't have much in the lower end mid-range segment.

Benchmarks - Phantasy Star Online 2

Phantasy Star Online 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.sega.com/?t=EnglishUSA

Product Homepage: http://www.pso2.com/us/html/index.html

Play Phantasy Star Online 2 and experience revolutionary combat in an action-driven, free-to-play multiplayer online RPG from SEGA. Take a journey into an immersive sci-fi fantasy narrative and explore mysterious worlds to unravel their secrets. Join fellow adventurers and fight against the legions of darkness to banish them from the galaxy.

Score explanation: Less than 2000: Please adjust your game settings because the processing load is quite heavy.

2000 through 5000: The game runs fine at the setting, if you have room, you can adjust some settings.

5001+: The game works wonderfully at this setting.

Phantasy Star Online 2 is only tested at 2560 x 1600 so it comes as no surprise that our overall score here isn't where it needs to be.

Benchmarks - Lost Planet 2

Lost Planet 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark - Test A Scene 1

Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.lostplanet2game.com/

Lost Planet 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the sequel to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition which is also made by Capcom, taking place ten years after the events of the first game, on the same fictional planet. The story takes place back on E.D.N. III 10 years after the events of the first game. The snow has melted to reveal jungles and more tropical areas that have taken the place of more frozen regions. The plot begins with Mercenaries fighting against Jungle Pirates. After destroying a mine, the Mercenaries continue on to evacuate the area, in which a Category-G Akrid appears and attacks them. After being rescued, they find out their evacuation point (Where the Category-G appeared) was a set-up and no pick up team awaited them. The last words imply possible DLC additions to the game, "There's nothing to be gained by wiping out snow pirates... unless you had some kind of grudge."

Checking out Lost Planet 2 you can see that we're just not getting playable numbers here at 1920 x 1200 or 1680 x 1050.

Benchmarks - Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Dark Tower

Developer Homepage: http://www.eidos.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.justcause.com/

Just Cause 2 employs the Avalanche Engine 2.0, an updated version of the engine used in Just Cause. The game is set on the other side of the world from the original Just Cause, on the fictional island of Panau in Southeast Asia. Panau has varied terrain, from desert to alpine to rainforest. Rico Rodriguez returns as the protagonist, aiming to overthrow the evil dictator Pandak "Baby" Panay and confront his former mentor, Tom Sheldon.

Looking at Just Cause 2 you can see we've got a decent 52 FPS at 1680 x 1050. It's lower then we want, but due to the fact we test at full detail, you really do have a lot of room to move. Move down to medium and you're going to get playable numbers at 1680 x 1050.

Benchmarks - F1 2012

F1 2012

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com

In F1 2012 players will feel the unparalleled thrill of becoming a FORMULA ONE driver with a host of new features, wide-ranging technical and gameplay advancements and extensive competitive and co-operative multiplayer components. F1 2012 will feature all of the official teams, drivers and circuits from the 2012 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, including the debut of the 2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX at Austin, Texas and the return of Germany's famous Hockenheim circuit to the calendar.

F1 2012 numbers are a little low, but at 1680 x 1050 we should be able to move our detail down to around the medium area and get closer to that 60 FPS mark at the lower resolution that we want for a solid gaming experience.

Benchmarks - Metro 2033

Metro 2033

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.4a-games.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.thqnordic.com/

Metro 2033 is an action-oriented video game with a combination of survival horror and first-person shooter elements. The game is based on the novel Metro 2033 by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. It was developed by 4A Games in Ukraine and released in March 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360.[3] In March 2006, 4A Games announced a partnership with Glukhovsky to collaborate on the game.[4] The game was announced at the 2009 Games Convention in Leipzig;[5] a first trailer came along with the announcement.[6] A sequel was announced, currently titled Metro: Last Light.

Metro 2033 performance is just too low here. You're really going to have to move south when it comes to the in game detail settings.

Benchmarks - Dirt Showdown

Dirt Showdown

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/dirtshowdown/360/

DiRT Showdown is the new arcade racing game from the team that brought you the award-winning DiRT series, uncaged in 2012. Pick up and play controls combine with electrifying events, frenzied crowds and stunning graphics to deliver high octane, dive in and drive thrills from event one.

Sitting under 40 FPS at 1680 x 1050 you're really going to have to move the detail right down if you want to get playable numbers.

Benchmarks - Nexuiz

Nexuiz

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.alientrap.org/

Product Homepage: http://www.nexuiz.com/

Nexuiz is an Arena First Person shooter coming soon to consoles. Nexuiz is fast paced with extremely competitive game play. IllFonic brings Alientrap Software's Nexuiz to next-gen gaming consoles around the world while staying true to the game play refined over the years through development. IllFonic introduces a new Victorian influenced art style that is simultaneously futuristic and sophisticated. Nexuiz for consoles is powered by CryENGINE 3.

Nexuiz just isn't an option. The intensity of this game is just so high that it's not an option on most single GPU setups at any resolution.

Benchmarks - Sniper Elite V2

Sniper Elite V2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.rebellion.co.uk/

Product Homepage: http://sniperelitev2.com/us/age.html

Sniper Elite V2 features detailed sniping simulation with advanced ballistics, taking into account gravity, wind, velocity, bullet penetration, aim stability and more. Guaranteed to provide players with the most realistic simulation of military sharpshooting yet available.

Sniper Elite V2 sees just over 30 FPS at 1680 x 1050 which is going to make getting to that 60 FPS number extremely difficult.

Benchmarks - Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://eu.square-enix.com/en

Product Homepage: http://www.sleepingdogs.net/

The core gameplay of Sleeping Dogs consists of giving the player an open world environment in which to move around freely. Sleeping Dogs is played as an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective action-adventure game with role-playing elements. The player controls Wei Shen, a Chinese-American police officer, as he goes undercover to infiltrate the Sun On Yee Triad organization. On foot, the player character has the ability to walk, run, jump, climb over obstacles and swim, as well as use weapons and martial arts in combat. Players also drive a variety of vehicles including cars, boats, and motorcycles.

While quite intensive Sleeping Dog numbers aren't too bad at all here. With the high texture pack installed and the highest in-game settings running, we've got a lot of room to move, so getting that extra 9 FPS to reach that 60 FPS number wouldn't be too difficult.

Benchmarks - Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.01

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.

Looking at Far Cry 2 numbers you can see we've got good numbers at 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200. Moving to 2560 x 1600 you can see even on something older like Far Cry 2, we can't get the numbers we need.

Temperature Test

The temperature of the core is pulled from MSI Afterburner with the max reading used after a completed run off 3DMark Vantage and the Performance preset.

Looking at the temperature numbers you can see this video card comes in at the lowest we've seen.

Considering the lower end nature of the card and the fact that the IceQ coolers have always performed extremely well, it comes as no surprise that we're seeing these kinds of great numbers.

Sound Test

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).

Noise levels are really good and while we're sitting a little bit off the bottom, there's only a difference of 1.2dB separating the bottom card and this HIS video card.

Power Consumption Test

Using our 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 SSD hard drive is used with a single CD ROM and minimal 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.

Power draw also as you'd expect is quite low with this video card again sitting towards the bottom of the pack.

Final Thoughts

Coming in at $129.99 the HIS HD 7750 1GB IceQ X Turbo is one of the more expensive HD 7750's on the market with the cheapest options coming in at just under $90. Considering price difference at this level, you may have some trouble justifying the extra $40 which equates to an increase of over 40%.

Looking at the performance of the card it's really not all that bad. We've got some decent numbers at 1680 x 1050 in a number of games and while the highest in-game settings aren't an option, we've really got a fair bit of room to move, if you are prepared to drop image quality.

Moving away from the performance numbers under games and looking at how the cooler performs you can see some fantastic numbers. From the temperature side of things you can see we've got the lowest number out of all the video cards we've tested. When it comes to the noise numbers you can see they're also extremely low with just over one decibel separating the bottom most card and this HIS offering.

As good as the card is in some areas, it's just too expensive compared other options in the HD 7750 market with options from HIS starting at $104.99. The cooler is great and the out of the box overclock is also nice. Most would have trouble justifying an extra $30 - $40 for the cooler and overclock.

This HIS HD 7750 1GB IceQ X Turbo is a good video card. At the price it hits at, though, it's not a great option for a lot of people unless the low temperature is something that you really need.