SAPHIRE VAPOUR X SERIES

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
A

arjunp2085

Junior Member
Feb 4, 2008
6
0
0
S

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,002
126
I have a Sapphire Radeon 4870 Toxc edition. My card looks different than the ones in those links, but my Toxic edition uses the same vapor chamber cooling tech. It looks like they updated the heatsink compared to the version I have, my Toxic edition uses the vapor chamber and then has some heat pipes on top of the vapor chamber.

This is what the card I have looks like.

I'm not sure why Sapphir has two different 'toxic' vapor chamber cooled cards, maybe the ones you are looking at are newer and revised or soemthing.

At any rate, I cannot say enough about this card. Here is my card with the GPU at 95% activity running at 820MHz on the core and 4600MHz on the memory. As you can see my temp is at 53C with the fan set to aut (only 29% duty). I think that is an outstanding temp for an 820/4600MHz 4870 at very close to full load.

Here is a screen shot with the GPU at the same speeds and again at 95% duty with GPUZ up so you can see the temps and readings of all the various sensors.

CCC maxes out at 820MHz, but this card easily handles everything I throw at it for my smallish 22" monitor's 1680x1050 resolution. Maybe if/when I finall see some slow down or upgrae to a larger monitor I'll push the fan speed a bit and install RivaTuner to see how far I can get this GPU to. With a voltage tweak and a bit more fan speed who knows, maybe I can make my own 4890. ;)
 
S

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,002
126
Originally posted by: thilan29
Holy crap your 4870 loads at 53C??!!!

Does this card have the same cooler?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/P...x?Item=N82E16814102801
Click to expand...

No. Not the same cooler.

That is not a 'vapror chamber' cooler. Sapphire has reference cards, then they have that card which is their own cooler design (I assume it is a step above reference, but don't know for sure) then they have their 'Toxic' edition of cards that use their vapor chamber tech. From what I can tell vapor chamber is basically the same technology that is used in a heat pipe, but think on a much bigger scale... like the size of the cooler that covers the GPU. Then on top of that they have copper heat pipes (the non-toxic edition use aluminum heat pipes) to help keep the vapor chamber cooling down. My only gripe about this card is that it only exhausts some of the warm air out side the case, some of the heat seems to recirculate.

But yea, the highest I remember ever seeing is 53-54C under load with the fan set to auto which is 29% I believe at the temp range I see. When you consider I'm also in an acrylic case with just 2 80mm case fans for air flow I think that speaks even more highly for how good the cooler on the Toxic edition cards are.

If you read through the NewEgg reviews you'll see a lot of people are reporting very good temps and overclocks as well. The problem, though, with NewEgg reviews is you never know how much to trust what you read... but generally you can tell if someone seems to know what they're talking about or if they are just blowing smoke out their ass.

But, I'm not sure if the card the OP linked is the same thing as what I have or not. They both appear to be toxic edition cards with vapor chamber cooling, maybe Sapphire updated them to what they look like in the OP links? Maybe they are an 'r2' version? Maybe they're something different, I'm really not 100% sure but I am curious.


*edit - I should also mention that it's fairly cool in this room in winter. I believe the temps are anywhere between 68F-71F in winter (when I got the card and tested). So, with summer coming up it may be a bit warmer in this room where my computer is and my load temps could change. But, I'll force the fan speed up and make the AC put in a little overtime. :)
 
T

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
12,040
2,255
126
Damn with that kind of performance there's no need for watercooling. Maybe I'll get a 2nd for XFire but just leave it aircooled. I just wish Sapphire had a better warranty and RMA service.
 
Qbah

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
Here's a review of the 2GB model. It's running at 845/1090 easily with really good temps and noise. I guess the 1GB is similar. As for the performance - check the link :)
 
S

SSChevy2001

Senior member
Jul 9, 2008
774
0
0
Originally posted by: thilan29
Holy crap your 4870 loads at 53C??!!!

Does this card have the same cooler?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/P...x?Item=N82E16814102801
Click to expand...
Temp looks great, but honesstly I don't understand how they get away with such a small vrm heatsink?

The vrm HS is tiny compared to the big slab of steel the stock reference cards have, or compared to the 2GB Vapor-X vrm HS.
http://www.ocmodshop.com/ocmodshop.aspx?a=1387&p=3556

@SlowSpyder
Is there anyway you can do me a favor and test the vrm temps on ATITool Artifact scanner, of course with your OC? Thanks.
 
S

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,002
126
Originally posted by: SSChevy2001
Originally posted by: thilan29
Holy crap your 4870 loads at 53C??!!!

Does this card have the same cooler?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/P...x?Item=N82E16814102801
Click to expand...
Temp looks great, but honesstly I don't understand how they get away with such a small vrm heatsink?

The vrm HS is tiny compared to the big slab of steel the stock reference cards have, or compared to the 2GB Vapor-X vrm HS.
http://www.ocmodshop.com/ocmodshop.aspx?a=1387&p=3556

@SlowSpyder
Is there anyway you can do me a favor and test the vrm temps on ATITool Artifact scanner, of course with your OC? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Sure, I'll test and report back. I've never used ATI Tool Artifact scanner... anything I should do/know? I assume you'll just want GPUZ up with the sensor monitors and the ATTTool running at the same time, then some screen shots?
 
S

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,002
126
Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
Originally posted by: SSChevy2001
Originally posted by: thilan29
Holy crap your 4870 loads at 53C??!!!

Does this card have the same cooler?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/P...x?Item=N82E16814102801
Click to expand...
Temp looks great, but honesstly I don't understand how they get away with such a small vrm heatsink?

The vrm HS is tiny compared to the big slab of steel the stock reference cards have, or compared to the 2GB Vapor-X vrm HS.
http://www.ocmodshop.com/ocmodshop.aspx?a=1387&p=3556

@SlowSpyder
Is there anyway you can do me a favor and test the vrm temps on ATITool Artifact scanner, of course with your OC? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Sure, I'll test and report back. I've never used ATI Tool Artifact scanner... anything I should do/know? I assume you'll just want GPUZ up with the sensor monitors and the ATTTool running at the same time, then some screen shots?
Click to expand...


Ok, I downloaded the ATI Tool. Got lots of yellow dots when scanning for artifacts. :( I dropped my GPU speed all the way down to 750MHz (this card is factory overclocked to 780MHz) and still got lots of artifacts. So, I dropped down the memory speed by 50MHz, then pushed the core back to 820MHz and tried again. I still got the occasional yellow dot, but it looks like the memory is the culprit. I've NEVER had a game crash or noticed any odd artifacts while gaming, so I had assumed that things were fine at 820/4600. I'll push the memory down further and run the ATI Tool some more with GPUZ running and displaying sensors. Let me know what you'd like to see... do you want me to run it for 5 minutes then take a screen shot? Let me know how you'd like me to test and I'll be happy to get you the numbers you want.
 
S

SSChevy2001

Senior member
Jul 9, 2008
774
0
0
Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
Ok, I downloaded the ATI Tool. Got lots of yellow dots when scanning for artifacts. :( I dropped my GPU speed all the way down to 750MHz (this card is factory overclocked to 780MHz) and still got lots of artifacts. So, I dropped down the memory speed by 50MHz, then pushed the core back to 820MHz and tried again. I still got the occasional yellow dot, but it looks like the memory is the culprit. I've NEVER had a game crash or noticed any odd artifacts while gaming, so I had assumed that things were fine at 820/4600. I'll push the memory down further and run the ATI Tool some more with GPUZ running and displaying sensors. Let me know what you'd like to see... do you want me to run it for 5 minutes then take a screen shot? Let me know how you'd like me to test and I'll be happy to get you the numbers you want.
Click to expand...
Yeah it's a very pick program as far as artifacting goes, but it will heat up the VRM safely unlike Furmarks. What I'm curious about is the VDDC Temps which are your VRM temps. So far everyone cooler other than the stock reference cooler seems to be inefficient in cooling those chips. Thanks.
 
error8

error8

Diamond Member
Nov 28, 2007
3,204
0
76
Originally posted by: SlowSpyder



Ok, I downloaded the ATI Tool. Got lots of yellow dots when scanning for artifacts. :( I dropped my GPU speed all the way down to 750MHz (this card is factory overclocked to 780MHz) and still got lots of artifacts. So, I dropped down the memory speed by 50MHz, then pushed the core back to 820MHz and tried again. I still got the occasional yellow dot, but it looks like the memory is the culprit. I've NEVER had a game crash or noticed any odd artifacts while gaming, so I had assumed that things were fine at 820/4600.
Click to expand...

I knew something was fishy about that 4.6 ghz.:laugh:

I actually was in the same boat as you. Played with my gddr5 clocks and reached a "safe" 975 mhz some time ago, stable for some 30 min in ATi tool. So I played and played some games until they've started to crash on me, gray screens and all that horror. I've then reduced and reduced the memory clock until I came back from where I've started. Now nothing is stable above 900mhz.

Don't assume that your card is stable if it doesn't pass ATi tool for at least an hour. Even if you don't see artifacts in games, they might be present and with time, they can degrade your ram. I would say you really need to recalibrate your videocard's overclock.
 
S

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,002
126
Originally posted by: error8
Originally posted by: SlowSpyder



Ok, I downloaded the ATI Tool. Got lots of yellow dots when scanning for artifacts. :( I dropped my GPU speed all the way down to 750MHz (this card is factory overclocked to 780MHz) and still got lots of artifacts. So, I dropped down the memory speed by 50MHz, then pushed the core back to 820MHz and tried again. I still got the occasional yellow dot, but it looks like the memory is the culprit. I've NEVER had a game crash or noticed any odd artifacts while gaming, so I had assumed that things were fine at 820/4600.
Click to expand...

I knew something was fishy about that 4.6 ghz.:laugh:

I actually was in the same boat as you. Played with my gddr5 clocks and reached a "safe" 975 mhz some time ago, stable for some 30 min in ATi tool. So I played and played some games until they've started to crash on me, gray screens and all that horror. I've then reduced and reduced the memory clock until I came back from where I've started. Now nothing is stable above 900mhz.

Don't assume that your card is stable if it doesn't pass ATi tool for at least an hour. Even if you don't see artifacts in games, they might be present and with time, they can degrade your ram. I would say you really need to recalibrate your videocard's overclock.
Click to expand...

I'll drop it back down to 4GHz (that's what it is rated at for the factory overclock on this card) and run the ATI Tool to see what the temps show up as.
 
S

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,002
126
Originally posted by: SSChevy2001
Originally posted by: thilan29
Holy crap your 4870 loads at 53C??!!!

Does this card have the same cooler?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/P...x?Item=N82E16814102801
Click to expand...
Temp looks great, but honesstly I don't understand how they get away with such a small vrm heatsink?

The vrm HS is tiny compared to the big slab of steel the stock reference cards have, or compared to the 2GB Vapor-X vrm HS.
http://www.ocmodshop.com/ocmodshop.aspx?a=1387&p=3556

@SlowSpyder
Is there anyway you can do me a favor and test the vrm temps on ATITool Artifact scanner, of course with your OC? Thanks.
Click to expand...


http://www.stevesgrandehead.co...04870/ATIToolTemps.jpg

I dropped the memory speed to 1025MHz (4.1GHz effective). I know it can go faster then that, but I didn't feel like pushing it every ~5MHz to finally see where I got artifacts after 15 minutes of testing or so after each speed bump, so I just went with a conservative 4100MHz speed. I ran the test for just a little while (17+ minutes) as I started it then left the room and did a few things around the house and came back when I was finished to see where things were at. If you really want me to I'll be happy to run it longer later, but for now I figured this would give you a very good idea and I really want to play some AoC right now so I ended the test. :)

Can you tell me what sensor it is that you are looking at just so I know? I'm assuming it's the VDDC Slave 1 and/or 2. Those temps show as 77C and 81C which I think it 'ok'. It's probably not too bad considering the tests were with a decent overclock on the core and still an effective 500MHz on the memory bump over reference.

Anyway, let me know if that's good, bad, or somewhere in between as I really don't know. :) Also, if you need it only takes me 2 minutes to pull the card and I can get a picture of the angle you'd need to see from the rear of the card to see how the power stuff is cooled.

Hope this help you out!
 
S

SSChevy2001

Senior member
Jul 9, 2008
774
0
0
@SlowSpyder

Thanks, the VDDC temps look good for such a smaller HS. I'm suprised how the toxic cooler can get away with such a small VRM cooler.

I don't have any new screenshots with ATITools, because I'm waiting a replacement TIM pad for my 4870. Here's some old ones SS though with ATi Tray Tools I have hanging around.

VDDC current @ 58.9A
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/2678/overclock.jpg

VDDC current @ 52.2A
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6393/4870oc.jpg

Overall I'm impressed with the toxic card, just wish they had it out sooner. I might have to look for one to CF with later.
 
S

saiga6360

Member
Mar 27, 2007
61
0
0
Is the noise and heat levels really much better than the stock Sapphire? I have the 4870 1 GB and while I love the performance, I really am annoyed by the noise.

I see that Newegg has a limited non-refundable return policy on these. That's rather limiting. I wonder why?
 
S

saiga6360

Member
Mar 27, 2007
61
0
0
I just got one of these babies to replace the SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL. First thing I notice is it is more streamlined, damn thing even has a blue light so I guess it has a coolness factor if you're into that sort of thing. Performance-wise it is the same but the really beauty is with the fan noise or I should say the lack thereof. After running Furmark stability test to get it to get it maxed out, I finally hear a bit of a whine but definitely much tolerable than the jet engine noise of the other Sapphire card. This is definitely a great improvement although I think it is still not as quiet as my old HD3870 but I can most certainly live with this. Temps peak out about 10 degrees cooler too, this open at the moment but it is looking to be a good purchase after two tries at a HD4870 on my smallish rig. I will put it through some stress playing some The Last Remnant maxed out (Unreal Engine game) but so far I am liking what I see and hear as this card is so far meeting my expectations.
 
A

arjunp2085

Junior Member
Feb 4, 2008
6
0
0
I guess the Screen shots Scream Of Windows 7... Is vapour X worth the Money...

New Egg -- sapphire 1 Gb $189
vapour x ~ $215

Any ideas??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom