Sapphire HD 5870 Vapor-X Detailed Further

[wolf]

I'd have liked to see a non reference PCB, even though there isn't much to fault on ATi's

the thing that annoys me is the coil buzz, my experience of non-reference = no buzz/screech.

 

[kylzer]

Both 5850 and 5770 i have

been no buzzing or cap sounds so far.

 

[tkpenalty]

Any improvements in terms of cooling will probably only be due to the vapor-x cooler having a more open air shroud and a better air intake source (centred 92mm, versus horrendous squirrel cage fan), but I bet that the heatsink itself would be almost identical, doesnt the reference cooler use a vapor chamber for the main heatspreader?

Probably costs sapphire less to produce a vapor-x versus the reference cards.

 

[my_name_is_earl]

Some one quickly, kick me . I just bought an Asus and this news came up.

 

[tkpenalty]

Some one quickly, kick me . I just bought an Asus and this news came up.

-kicks steals and runs-

 

[mtosev]

still only 1GB of RAM. when are the 2GB versions coming

 

[grunt_408]

I thought that the Vapor-X cards were really problematic...

The 4890's had big trouble. 100 percent fan and no display. an intermittent problem that are getting replaced as people send them back.

 

[Tatty_Two]

these looks like the silly toxic coolers with Vapor X written on them.

The 4870s Vapor X coolers were MUCH better than the toxic ones, its gonna be interesting to see if they improved these coolers or if they use the same smashed closed heatpipes as the earlier ones.

If anyone finds a pict of the insides it would be really nice to see.

I agree, but with the advent of the 4890 it's the other way round, the Atomic and Toxic versions have an upgraded VaporX cooler with additional heatpipes (actually not sure if the VaporX had ANY heatpipes), the VaporX model is the poor cousin both in performance and cooling terms.

 

[wolf]

Come to think of it 870mhz core overclock is downright pitiful, I'm willing to wager just about any 5870 will do 900mhz out of the box, especially with better cooling, Mine and I'm sure a few others do 950mhz on stock voltage, which is at least a measurable boost, I think you'd be lucky to see 3% more performance with this card.

nice cooler, disappointing clocks.

 

[mikek75]

The problem I found with my non reference Sapphire 4870 with this centrally mounted fan is that when using the lower pcie slot (in crossfire) my pci soundcard covers the fan with only about 2mm clearance, severly restricting the air intake. Not the case with reference designs with the fan at the end. This issue resulted in my lower card idling 10c hotter than without the soundcard.

 

[MKmods]

I agree, but with the advent of the 4890 it's the other way round, the Atomic and Toxic versions have an upgraded VaporX cooler with additional heatpipes (actually not sure if the VaporX had ANY heatpipes), the VaporX model is the poor cousin both in performance and cooling terms.

From what I saw the 4890 Toxic cooler was the same as the 4870 one. (If you see a pict thats different please let me know other than the tubes were nickel plated instead of copper)

The 5870 cooler looks a bit different, same fan but the heat tubes are quite a bit lower profile.

The Vapor X had a small heat tube inside the unit. The main heatsink of the Vapor X was steel with a copper plate for GPU contact (the Toxic cooler was similar)

 

[mab1376]

I want one!!!!

 

[Tatty_Two]

Come to think of it 870mhz core overclock is downright pitiful, I'm willing to wager just about any 5870 will do 900mhz out of the box, especially with better cooling, Mine and I'm sure a few others do 950mhz on stock voltage, which is at least a measurable boost, I think you'd be lucky to see 3% more performance with this card.

nice cooler, disappointing clocks.

Yeah, basically it's the improved cooling you are paying for, problem being that this release makes it likely that Sapphire will probably also release a Toxic and perhaps eventually even an Atomic version and therefore they have to set their reference clocks according to the 3 overclocked models, lets suppose the very best binned chips manage 1000mhz, the Atomic with a safety margin would come in at around 980mhz, the Toxic at say 930 mhz leaving this little baby, I suppose the problem is, if you have an overclock margin of 150mhz then trying to fit 3 OC models in there makes it tight.

 

[Tatty_Two]

From what I saw the 4890 Toxic cooler was the same as the 4870 one. (If you see a pict thats different please let me know other than the tubes were nickel plated instead of copper)

The 5870 cooler looks a bit different, same fan but the heat tubes are quite a bit lower profile.

The Vapor X had a small heat tube inside the unit. The main heatsink of the Vapor X was steel with a copper plate for GPU contact (the Toxic cooler was similar)

Not sure about the looks, but there are reviews out there of the 4890 Toxic and Atomic versions which clearly state they have an "improved" and more efficient version of the VaporX models cooling system which was what i was getting at.

 

[eidairaman1]

This is a nice looking part, Cant wait until XFX pulls out all the stops in their boards, I mean with the Late Model 4890s they were looking very nice.


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