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Noise reduction gone mad?

We must be the envy of many an enthusiast today, as we've got AMD ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics cards coming out of our ears.

We've already reviewed a reference card, and we've put a pair of Sapphire cards to the test in a CrossFireX configuration. But why stop at that? We've also got our hands on a card from Hong Kong-based manufacturer HIS Digital, and we'll be using it to test the Radeon HD 5970's multi-monitor credentials - stay tuned for that as we'll be gaming at resolutions of up to 7,680x1,600.

In the meantime, here's a brief look at the HIS Radeon HD 5970.

Alright, so the card itself isn't all that different - it's essentially AMD's reference design with a smidgen of HIS branding. It's stock-clocked, too.

What is unique to HIS, however, is the bundle. The company has announced that "for a limited time only", its Radeon HD 5970 will be bundled with a free iClear PCIe x1 noise-reduction card.

If you're thinking the added extra will make your GPU quieter, you're sadly mistaken. The HIS iClear card claims to - and we quote - "give you a better gaming experience by reducing the distortion and noise generated from graphic card".

Installed into any standard PCIe slot, it claims to "provide up to a 10 per cent increased performance on Signal-to-Noise Ratio". The idea, in theory, is to provide a clearer picture, but we're if honest, we've never known electrical noise to have an adverse effect on a high-end GPU's picture quality. Sounds an awful lot like a gimmick, but the iClear card has been around for the best part of a year, and it still carries a U.S. price-tag of around $80, so we'll have to reserve judgement for now.

Not tickling your fancy? Head on over to page two to see what else is in the HIS bundle - including a "gamer's tool kit" that's "perfect for handymen, craftsmen, carpenters, plumbers, electricians and engineers".

The HIS Radeon HD 5970 2GB card is available exclusively from Novatech.co.uk and is currently priced at £573.86. Maybe the bundled iClear card isn't entirely free after all?

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