Sapphire 1024MB Radeon HD3850 Graphics Card Review
The Sapphire 1024MB Radeon HD3850 graphics card is shown in the promotional image above, and while it may feature one of the more mainstream GPUs in the Radeon HD3XXX series, it definitely has an aggressive appearance. The blue PCB and non-standard single slot cooling solution make it look a good deal like the high performance Sapphire Toxic 512MB Radeon HD3870 reviewed here recently, and I am hopeful than more than just the good looks are shared.
Features and Specifications:
The bullet points found below provide some of the key technical data on the Sapphire 1024MB Radeon HD3850 graphics card. For a complete list of the current features and specifications please visit the official product page on the Sapphire website.
» Core Clock: 702MHz
» Memory Clock: 828MHz (1656MHz effective)
» Memory Size: 1024MB
» Memory Type: 256-bit GDDR3
» Interface: PCI Express 2.0 x16 bus
» Other Features:
» DirectX 10.1 support
» CrossFire X support
» ATI PowerPlay
» Hardware processed 1080p video playback of Blu-ray and HD DVDs
» HDMI with 5.1 surround sound audio
Other than an overdose of GDDR3 memory, the first thing to catch my eye was that the core clock has a modest factory overclock. While a reference HD3850 might have a GPU running at 668MHz, Sapphire has ramped things up on this card by 34MHz, or about 5%. This extra speed combined with 2x to 4x the memory of a typical HD3850 should provide some interesting results. While most systems might not be able to take advantage of all 1024MB (physically or practically), such a capacity should eliminate graphics memory as the limiting factor when it comes to performance.
Sapphire Radeon HD3870X2 Atomic Water Cooled Review
June 10, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Sapphire has always shown to be one of the leading brands when it comes to ATI flavored video cards. A few months back, AMD introduced the release of the ATI Radeon HD3870X2 graphics processor. Since that time we have seen several of the board partners offering up their own style. Leave it to Sapphire to drop the hammer and show us something new, the Sapphire Radeon HD3870 X2 Atomic Water Cooled edition. The Atomic HD3870 X2 is the second card to be released under the Atomic name. Shall we see what the Atomic HD3870 X2 can do?
Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 Ultimate Edition Review
June 2, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
While new AMD cards are around the corner, AMD-only partners continue to release new HD 3870 models. One particular AMD partner is Sapphire who has always been pretty much on the ball when it comes to stand-out models.
The particular model we’re looking at today is the HD 3870 Ultimate. I’m not a big fan of companies swinging the world Ultimate around, so today we will find out if the HD 3870 from Sapphire deserves that title.
While the new 4k series of cards are just around the corner, come the middle of June we will only see the HD 4850. While that’s a bit disappointing, it’s certainly better than nothing. Two things are going to happen with the release of this card; HD 3870 users will be getting rid of their cards second hand, meaning you can pick up a bit of a bargain, or it will disappoint and it might be time to pick up a second HD 3870 or a pair at the same time.
Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 X2 Review
June 2, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
After weeks of game-fueled bliss and a handful of competitive releases, I wondered if ATI’s flagship still makes waves. While an HD 3870 X2 is an impressive stretch of hardware, is it really worth its salt? Although, dual-GPU salt’s a little cheaper these days… by about fifty bucks. It’s a $400 card now, which is a hair more than crazy but still shy of preposterous.
So why not just get two 3870s and rub a little CrossFire into your box? There are two reasons, really. For most people, that’s just not an option. Dual-PCI-Express can easily tag a Benjamin onto the price of a motherboard, and, in Micro-ATX land, it’s a mythical beast that visits overclockers in their dreams. And there’s another thing: regular 3870s get the lower-binned GPUs–the faster-clocking chips go into the X2s.
But, lastly, the 3870 promises something else: tri- and quad-CrossFireX. But that begs the initial question: now that the release is behind us, how much awesome stuck to the HD 3870 X2, and how much washed away?
Sapphire HD3870 512MB TOXIC Edition Review
May 20, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
HardwareCanucks take a look at the Sapphire HD3870 TOXIC Edition. Take a read to see if it can complete with the venerable nVidia 8800GT.
Well ladies and gents, welcome to another Hardware Canucks graphics card review and today we have something for you which may appeal to a great many consumers: a card which offers a truly complete multimedia experience while having the capabilities to play all the latest games on the market. While by now you are surely familiar with ATI’s vaunted HD3870 cards, a little primer is needed since a lot has changed in the GPU industry since its release all those months ago. Its primary competitor –the Nvidia 8800GT- has seen its price plunge in recent weeks to the point where it is now retailing for the same price as most HD3870 cards on the market. As we have seen in review after review, the HD3870 512MB cards just don’t have the stones to compete mono-a-mono with Nvidia’s best selling G92-equipped card when it comes to gaming. Thus, ATI’s board partners have had to come up with unique ways of marketing their cards so consumers will look beyond what is presented at face value and decide to purchase this card based on features rather than pure performance potential.
Sapphire, being one of the (if not THE) largest of ATI’s board partners has been in the market now for countless years and their name is well recognized here in North America. So, if there is one ATI AIB out there who is in the position to push an innovative take on the standard HD3870 design to a market which is hungry for something different, it is Sapphire. They have taken on this challenge like a duck to water and in the past have produced some extremely unique designs which have mostly been released under the “Toxic” name. The card we are reviewing here today represents the next logical step in the Toxic series as it makes its jump to the HD3870 series with the Sapphire HD3870 512MB Toxic. This card was first conceived as the special-edition HD3870 Atomic which came in a metal carrying case that would make any CSI wannabe proud. This one of a kind card has now evolved into something a bit more mundane with the Toxic version but at least this version is widely available.
This card’s main claim to fame is its uniquely-designed single slot cooling solution that Sapphire dubs the Vapor-X. While we will discuss this in detail a bit later, in a nutshell this pint-sixed cooler does a better job at cooling the Toxic’s overclocked RV670 core than the relatively huge dual-slot reference cooler. Have we got your attention yet? Well, if your ears haven’t perked up yet then consider this: this is one of most fully-featured cards on the market with full HDMI compatibility HD decoding among a myriad of other features. It is these features which ATI and Sapphire want consumers to focus on in order to show that their cards are able to compete quite well with Nvidia offerings.
However, when it all boils down to it, it is the consumers who decide whether a product will be a raging success or an abysmal failure. To this end a good shopper will always keep their eyes open for the graphics card that offers them not only the best value for their money but also piece of mind for whatever the future might hold. Unfortunately in this respect, ATI’s board partners have not stayed ahead of the curve since many of them are sorely lagging behind their Nvidia counterparts when it comes to warranty length. So, while the Sapphire HD3870 Toxic comes with a 2-year warranty (which is longer than most people will keep their graphics cards) we still find it is a bit on the short side when compared to the green-totting competition.
Priced at around $210, this card is poised to compete directly with the 8800GT in terms of the price you pay for performance but how will it stack up to the competition? Will its factory overclock boost performance enough to make the Toxic a viable option against the 8800GT? Let’s find out.
