Sapphire Toxic 4890 or something else?

[SlowSpyder]

I've been patiently waiting for a Toxic 4890, Newegg originally had an ETA on them as 7/20, but that date has come and gone and I haven't seen any for sale.

I am kind of spoiled by the cooler on the Toxic 4870 I have, so I really was hoping to go with the Toxic 4890. If I can't find any of those then there aren't many other options other than the Vapor-X coolers and a handful of other non-reference coolers that don't really excite me. Does anyone have any experience with the Vapor-X cards? How do you like them? Newegg reviews are fairly mixed, some say it runs cool, others say it is quite hot.

I liked the Toxic as by default it has a small bump in the voltage and has a 960MHz core from the factory.

So my other option is a reference cards. XFX has a 900MHz version, but the cooler looks to be the reference model. I'm not worried about noise (in winter I have a space heater going, in summer a window AC unit in the computer room) but am a bit concerened that it'll limit overclocking with a voltage bump. But I don't know that I really *need* more than a 900MHz core.

Anyway, if anyone knows of someplace that has them for sale I'd appreciate a link. If not, just share your experiences on the reference cooler as that is still an option for me.

Unless a GTX275 could be had at a spectacular deal I'm looking to stick with AMD this round. Thanks.

 

[yh125d]

For reference, my HIS autotuned to 990 core 1125 memory on stock voltage and cooler, so you may be overestimating the need for the vapor cooler to get a good OC

 

[BlueWeasel]

The reference cooler is loud at anything over 40% IMHO. You could easily hit 900+ on any of the regular 4890's.

Once the Zalman VRM heatsink becomes available, I plan on transferring my Accelero S1 cooler and fans to my HIS 4890. That should lower temps and be much quieter as well. You could probably get a regular 4890 (whichever one is on sale this week), an Accelero heatsink, and VRM heatsink for less than you'd pay for the Vapor-X.

[Edit] Just for reference and to support yh125d's point, my HIS runs stable at 950/1100 with stock voltage (1.31v) and stock cooling at 40%.

 

[TC91]

I find anything higher than 31% on the 4870/4890 reference coolers unbearable. Get one of the better sapphire coolers or aftermarket for sure.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: TC91
I find anything higher than 31% on the 4870/4890 reference coolers unbearable. Get one of the better sapphire coolers or aftermarket for sure.

I assume the reference cooler is similar to the reference cooler I had on my 2900. I didn't mind up to about 40%. I care about the noise, but it's not a major point for me. I just turn up the Z5500's. I just want to make sure it'll run 'cool enough' and I can overclock.

I planned on holding out until next gen, but it looks like they may be delayd and I have the upgrade bug. My 512MB card was plenty on my 22" monitor in my opinion, but once I jumped to this 26" the lack of memory started to show.

Thanks for the opinions so far.

 

[yh125d]

I was fine with the stock cooler up to about 50% when I was just listening to it in a quiet room. When I'm playing games I either run music really loud or have the game sound going so I could easily take 75% and not notice it. If it becomes bothersome you could get a scythe musashi like I did. With both fans going I cant hear it at lowest or highest setting over my other fans with my ear ~1.5' from the side


I was going to wait for 5xxx to upgrade my 9800gt too, but with the low prices of 4890 now I couldn't make myself wait. When the next gen does come out, lots of people who bought 4890s for $200 will be getting rid of them for new gen, so it will be real easy to snag a second for ~140 or less

 

[Eureka]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder

Originally posted by: TC91
I find anything higher than 31% on the 4870/4890 reference coolers unbearable. Get one of the better sapphire coolers or aftermarket for sure.

I assume the reference cooler is similar to the reference cooler I had on my 2900. I didn't mind up to about 40%. I care about the noise, but it's not a major point for me. I just turn up the Z5500's. I just want to make sure it'll run 'cool enough' and I can overclock.

I planned on holding out until next gen, but it looks like they may be delayd and I have the upgrade bug. My 512MB card was plenty on my 22" monitor in my opinion, but once I jumped to this 26" the lack of memory started to show.

Thanks for the opinions so far.

The reference cooler will definitely not let you down. At 50% my 4890 stays at ok temperatures at 1.425v. At 100% it'll keep it at 50-60 underload (and scare away every critter in your house).

 

[Grinja]

I believe the stock cooler is sufficient for cooling the card ... noise on the other hand is a different ball game.

 

[shaolinwayz]

:thumbsup:
I own the Toxic 4890s and let me tell you...Amazing. I can clock the gpu stable to 1050mhz and even when I turn the fan up to 60%, the noise is minimal. I use a CM Sniper Storm case also, which is almost completely open air. The toxic models are not much more than the other high end OC'd 4890's either. I have tested all the 4890s and this one is so far the best one. I build systems for a living and have found this one to be the most impressive. I am not saying the other models are not good, the 4890 is an awesome card for the price, especially in CrossFireX. I have hard the same issue, I have been waiting for them to get these in stock so I can CrossFire mine too.

AMD Phenom II X4 (4ghz) with CM V8
ASUS M4A79T Deluxe
4GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600mhz
Sapphire ATI 4890 Toxic 1050/1125
CM Storm Sniper
1TB Seagate Barracuda 32mb
KINGWIN Mach 1 1000W

 

[netxzero64]

wow that's amazing for you bro... pumped up the 4890 up to 1050 ong the gpu.... maybe I'll get me 1 of those... =D

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: netxzero64
wow that's amazing for you bro... pumped up the 4890 up to 1050 ong the gpu.... maybe I'll get me 1 of those... =D

Yea, very impressive. My guess is that at 1050MHz that's about as fast as any single GPU. Probably a great card for 1920x1200 which is what I need.

 

[yh125d]

A 4890 at 1050/1125 is definitely faster than any single GPU. Though is you were to get a good overclocking GTX285 you may need to go to 1075/1150 to match

 

[netxzero64]

correct but the GTX 285 is way overkill for now because win 7 is going to be out... so for me the best choice is the 4890... you could go max out in the 4890 and be able to maximize its power unlike the GTX 285 its way too powerful to be able to see its full potential as of today...

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: netxzero64
correct but the GTX 285 is way overkill for now because win 7 is going to be out... so for me the best choice is the 4890... you could go max out in the 4890 and be able to maximize its power unlike the GTX 285 its way too powerful to be able to see its full potential as of today...

No what I was saying is that an OC'd 4890 is better than a GTX285

 

[netxzero64]

oh sorry bro... =D

how I wish I could by one for me...