R9 280X - Asus DirectCUII (TOP or not) or HIS iPower IceQ X2 Turbo?

Lukebad · Jan 15, 2014

So, I was looking to buy one of those new R9 280X...
And I was partial to the Asus, for it is very silent and cool. Those are my main purchase-defining aspects. Not overclocks or higher fps, but the card must be silent and cool on load and idle!

Anyway. I was almost buying the Asus, and it's out of stock. So I looked somewhere else, and I found lots and lots of reviews saying the card died, was DOA, had artifacts on high temperatures, and ended up dying or having to be replaced. That on Newegg, Amazon, and Overclockers.co.uk.
That was on the TOP version (dc2t). The normal version (dc2) seems to have less of these occurences, but I think they're still present. It's a moo point, since the normal version isn't available anywhere.

Then I found the HIS, which seems to be quite on par with the Asus in terms of silence and temperatures.
I couldn't find people complaining about it, not in large scale at least.

What do you guys think?
They're both quite equivalent. The HIS is a bit cooler, but it seems it is a bit noisier. FPS-wise, they're virtually the same.

Thanks a bunch!

rolli59 · Jan 15, 2014

Well the Asus is more popular and therefore will have more bad reviews since failures happen regardless of quality!

huilun02 · Jan 15, 2014

Because Asus is much more popular and widely known. But no reason to say HIS is a crap brand.

Personally I'd prefer an Asus card, but if I can't get one then I either wait or get something else.

Have you considered the GTX 770?

Lukebad · Jan 15, 2014

Well, yes.
I was considering it, but it is on par with the 280X/7970, right?

I chose AMD for no special reason, I'm biased towards it, and I like their technologies, but I'm open for discussion.
The 3GB and 384-bit bus is also spec-candy for me.

huilun02 · Jan 15, 2014

I see. Any Sapphire/Powercolor/MSI R9 280X available? Those are good brands as well, more popular than HIS.

If no, then get the HIS card.

rolli59 · Jan 15, 2014

Currently in the US at least the 280X is overpriced because of demand from miners. That basically makes the 770 more appealing being more or less the same performance regardless of ram being 2GB and memory bus only 256bit.

fastestlouigie1 · Jan 15, 2014

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/asus-amd-radeon-r9-280x-directcuii-top-3gb-gddr5-1070mhz-graphics-card-a22lx
You don't say where you are but Maplins in the Uk have the Asus Top in stock. I got mine from here and I was a bit worried that their website shows the Top with the V.2 cooler (the original cooler is more advanced/better). I received the v.1 design though and I've been well happy with it. It's gone up twenty notes in price to £279.99 since I bought it, however. I'd consider going for a 770 if I wasn't 1440p gaming and wanted the extra ram "headroom".

Lukebad · Jan 15, 2014

Huilun:
All these brands are currently available, but all reviews say they're noisier and hotter...

rolli59:
Well, their price is on par here, so no problem there. Even if they have a teeny difference, I don't mind. I want to choose by the card itself, little price fluctuations apart.

fastestlouigie1:
I'm currently in Ireland, and by the end of the month I'll be in London.
Well, I didn't know about that thing with the coolers... One more thing to be afraid of.

--

The problem is that I'll be going back to Brazil with it, and only test it there.
So... No way to replace/RMA it.

rolli59 · Jan 15, 2014

There is always a small percentage that will have failures so getting at and not testing is always a gamble regardless of maker.

Lukebad · Jan 15, 2014

Yeah, I know that... But it just looked to me that a big percentage of the Asus cards were getting faulty.
Every site I looked had a big chunk of the customer reviews saying the card had died or something like that.
I couldn't find things similar with the HIS, searching on Google.

fastestlouigie1 · Jan 15, 2014

The Asus cards have a 3 year warranty, whereas the HIS has a 2 year one. However, as others have mentioned, there is only a small chance that you will get a duffer, the Asus is a popular card so you will get more people on forums/review sites complaining. I also wonder what percentage of these have insufficient psu's or try to o/c the card further (and too far) but don't mention this in their posts? I seriously considered getting the HIS card when it was £245 at Overclockers.co.uk but went for the Asus for the extra warranty and as a (slightly) quieter solution over the HIS.

Lukebad · Jan 15, 2014

Well, the Asus has more potential to have a RMA / Tech center in Brazil... HIS is sure to have none.
I'll check into that.

Well, thanks everyone. I'll ponder everything you said.
I'll try to find a DC2 Asus, if I don't, I'll consider the HIS.

Thanks!

Gee Bee · Jan 16, 2014

Lukebad :

So, I was looking to buy one of those new R9 280X...
And I was partial to the Asus, for it is very silent and cool. Those are my main purchase-defining aspects. Not overclocks or higher fps, but the card must be silent and cool on load and idle!

Anyway. I was almost buying the Asus, and it's out of stock. So I looked somewhere else, and I found lots and lots of reviews saying the card died, was DOA, had artifacts on high temperatures, and ended up dying or having to be replaced. That on Newegg, Amazon, and Overclockers.co.uk.
That was on the TOP version (dc2t). The normal version (dc2) seems to have less of these occurences, but I think they're still present. It's a moo point, since the normal version isn't available anywhere.

Then I found the HIS, which seems to be quite on par with the Asus in terms of silence and temperatures.
I couldn't find people complaining about it, not in large scale at least.

What do you guys think?
They're both quite equivalent. The HIS is a bit cooler, but it seems it is a bit noisier. FPS-wise, they're virtually the same.

Thanks a bunch!

Gee Bee · Jan 16, 2014

i have 2 His ice q 2 in crossfire and they run very cool in a stryker case. The top card is about 10c hotter but that is expected. Rarely goes over 65c. Scales well in all games i've played with the exception of Arma 3. They were approximately $100 dollars less per card than others which was the attraction for me. They require more power than other cards for oc, that is why they are 2 x 8 pin, (as additional vrm) rather than stock 6+8 pin. I'm happy with them thus far.

Lukebad · Jan 16, 2014

Gee Bee :

I have a Corsair TX 750, I should be good for one HIS right?

huilun02 · Jan 16, 2014

Your TX 750 can run two R9 280x's.

Doesn't matter what brand.

Gee Bee · Jan 17, 2014

Lukebad :

Gee Bee :

I have a Corsair TX 750, I should be good for one HIS right?

Gee Bee · Jan 17, 2014

Easily for one. i have 4x8pin on separate rails (600w),you only need two(300w). [strike]750w is minimum for two[/strike]. I use a 1500w Strider cause of everything else i have running, plus big OC on CPU.

I just looked at the box. 750w recommended with 2x8pin 150w 8gb Ram or better for single card. 1000w 16gb Ram or better for two

R9 280X - Asus DirectCUII (TOP or not) or HIS iPower IceQ X2 Turbo?

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