Sapphire Vapor-X and Toxic

[fffblackmage]

vapor-x 4870

toxic 4870

and it seems like some non-reference 4890s are finally coming out:
vapor-x 4890

toxic 4890

I'm not too interested in the factory overclocks, since I'm pretty sure I can figure how to overclock them myself. However, I am interested in what the difference between the Vapor-x and Toxic versions. It seems like the cooler is the main difference, but which is the better cooler? And which is quieter?

 

[PurdueRy]

Vapor-x = quiet
Toxic = OC'ed

 

[Sylvanas]

Isn't the Toxic the one with a 1ghz GPU core? If you are going to pay the premium for an OC'd card might aswell go all the way and get a 1ghz version.

 

[Jacen]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas
Isn't the Toxic the one with a 1ghz GPU core? If you are going to pay the premium for an OC'd card might aswell go all the way and get a 1ghz version.

That Toxic card is not the 1GHz version. The 1GHz is labeled Atomic and it can be found, on rare occasion, here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102839

The fastest single GPU around ^^

 

[fffblackmage]

From what I've seen looking at reviews, the vapor-x version seems to be a custom design by sapphire. The Vapor-x version use a traditional power phase design. The Toxic version seems to highly resemble the reference design though. However, I'm not sure what that means.

Also, I'm not interested in factory OC, because I know how to overclock them myself. What I'm primarily interested in is cooling performance (quiet and efficient).

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: Jacen

Originally posted by: Sylvanas
Isn't the Toxic the one with a 1ghz GPU core? If you are going to pay the premium for an OC'd card might aswell go all the way and get a 1ghz version.

That Toxic card is not the 1GHz version. The 1GHz is labeled Atomic and it can be found, on rare occasion, here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102839

The fastest single GPU around ^^

Very fast, not the fastest single GPU, unless you mean MHZ.

 

[Jacen]

Originally posted by: OCguy

Originally posted by: Jacen

Originally posted by: Sylvanas
Isn't the Toxic the one with a 1ghz GPU core? If you are going to pay the premium for an OC'd card might aswell go all the way and get a 1ghz version.

That Toxic card is not the 1GHz version. The 1GHz is labeled Atomic and it can be found, on rare occasion, here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102839

The fastest single GPU around ^^

Very fast, not the fastest single GPU, unless you mean MHZ.

Considering it out performs the GTX 285, what exactly are you suggesting is faster?

 

[Qbah]

Originally posted by: Jacen
Considering it out performs the GTX 285, what exactly are you suggesting is faster?

It's the fastest ATi single GPU card. And it outperforms a stock GTX285 usually (not by a lot though). However, there are cards like the BFG GTX285 OCX and eVGA GTX285 FTW Edition, that are factory overclocked. And those clocks are quite a bit higher than the stock ones. Those are the fastest single GPU cards available.

 

[evolucion8]

I agree, but the difference in price doesn't justify the small difference in performance which can only be seen in benchmarks and not with the naked eye. http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3575&p=7

 

[Qbah]

Originally posted by: evolucion8
I agree, but the difference in price doesn't justify the small difference in performance which can only be seen in benchmarks and not with the naked eye. http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3575&p=7

That's all fine and great, but there was nothing about price here. The OC'ed GTX285 is the fastest single GPU on the market. Close second is the HD4890 at 1GHz. Close second doesn't make it the fastest one. So statements "The fastest single GPU around ^^" are not true and that's the reason OCguy made his post.

Not to mention the 1GHz model (only the Atomic Edition is currently "available", others are ~880-950MHz) of HD4890 goes for 299$ and is out of stock. You can get a moderately OC'ed GTX285 for just a bit more, which should also be faster - and is in stock - there's an eVGA and a MSI available right now for 330$.

So there - the HD4890 1GHz is not the fastest single GPU on the market and it's not that much cheaper than the fastest one - GTX285 OC.

EDIT: And so that this is not completely off topic:
1. The Vapor-X is a mildly OCed (870MHz on the core) HD4890 with a custom cooler that is supposedly more efficient and quieter than stock.
2. The Toxic model is a heavily OCed (960MHz on the core) HD4890 with yet another custom cooler - this one is very efficient but somewhat louder. Should be quieter than stock though.

 

[evolucion8]

Originally posted by: Qbah
That's all fine and great, but there was nothing about price here. The OC'ed GTX285 is the fastest single GPU on the market. Close second is the HD4890 at 1GHz. Close second doesn't make it the fastest one. So statements "The fastest single GPU around ^^" are not true and that's the reason OCguy made his post.

Not to mention the 1GHz model (only the Atomic Edition is currently "available", others are ~880-950MHz) of HD4890 goes for 299$ and is out of stock. You can get a moderately OC'ed GTX285 for just a bit more, which should also be faster - and is in stock - there's an eVGA and a MSI available right now for 330$.

So there - the HD4890 1GHz is not the fastest single GPU on the market and it's not that much cheaper than the fastest one - GTX285 OC.

EDIT: And so that this is not completely off topic:
1. The Vapor-X is a mildly OCed (870MHz on the core) HD4890 with a custom cooler that is supposedly more efficient and quieter than stock.
2. The Toxic model is a heavily OCed (960MHz on the core) HD4890 with yet another custom cooler - this one is very efficient but somewhat louder. Should be quieter than stock though.

The HD 4890 can be overclocked quite easily to 1GHz and takes the performance crown of the GTX 285 at stock of course, if you overclock the GTX 285 that's another story.