The holiday season is fast approaching and there is still no official word on the next generation 28nm GPU's other than TSMC starting volume production. What does that mean? Well, it looks like we will be waiting until next year before any more new video cards from either camp are released. This stop gap between generations gives AIB partners a chance to tweak and perfect their designs and introduce some different models to keep the market active. Today Benchmark Reviews will be looking at the HIS Radeon HD6870 IceQ 1GB, a modern video card with a classic HIS design. As aftermarket designs go, this looks like a real beast of a card but there is no factory overclock on this model. The cooler is a mixture of the HIS IceQ X fin array and a shroud that looks similar to a reference card shroud with a twist. HIS have dubbed the radial fan a 'Black Hole Impeller' because it is able to draw in air from both sides as it is raised slightly from the PCB. The main question is what difference will this make to operating temperatures and overclocking potential; and that is exactly what we intend to find out...