Sapphire HD5870 VaporX edition

T

ToastyBread

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
368
I e-mailed Sapphire (AlthonMicro) asking for whether a release date had been set, and they responded back with:

"The release date has not been set yet, but shouldn’t be too long before this card gets to the market, Check back with us a later."

My guess is it'll officially be announced around the time the bit-tech contest ends (October 15/16th).

Maybe Brent has some info on it? :D
 
"althon micro" = /thread

lol :D

But the VaporX cards are pretty sweet...;)
 
Very cool, the 4890 Vapors were some hot looking/performing cards. Unfortunately, I hear mixed reviews about Sapphire's support - which makes me wish I could get this kind of card with XFX's support.
 
ToastyBread said:
Hey, when I got the email back, the support address was from "@althonmicro.com". The signature listed Sapphire though. :p
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Oh I know. I don't mind them. I've gotten replacements from them...they certainly aren't great, but most of [H] hates 'em. Claim they don't buy Sapphire cards...but yet they sell a ton of 'em. To who I wonder ;)
 
Generally speaking "vanilla" cards comes out first then about 6 - 8 weeks later different versions (like Vapor-X, Toxic, Atomic) will come out.
 
I am not the biggest fan of Sapphire, their support is a bit shoddy, but the Vapor-X and Toxic cards are worth any hassle. A 2GB Vapor-X HD5870 would probably make me do this.
 
Dammit, I want this card out yesterday! I'm right in the middle of a new build, and waiting on the 5870 Vapor-X is the only thing holding me back right now. Well, that and some sort of minor event I hear is happening on the 22nd.....
 
Spankbot-5000 said:
Dammit, I want this card out yesterday! I'm right in the middle of a new build, and waiting on the 5870 Vapor-X is the only thing holding me back right now. Well, that and some sort of minor event I hear is happening on the 22nd.....
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I'm doing a new system build too, and all it's waiting on is the GPU. I'm doing a mATX system, and I'm not quite sure I can safely get the PCIe power cables plugged into the top of the stock 5870 (there would literally be maybe an inch of space between the top of the 5870 and the bottom of the 5 1/4 bay).

So needless to say, I'd essentially accepted the fact that the 5850 would be the safest option, since the cables can be plugged into the back of the card.

However, the Vapor-X 5870 has its power connectors at the end of the card also, so that changes everything... if Sapphire would actually provide a release date. :/
 
I'm dreading too that they finally issue a press release and it goes something like "AMD and Sapphire announce the new Vapor-X Edition of the Radeon 5870! Coming Q1 2010."

And a great wailing and gnashing of teeth was heard.
 
Schmiggy_JK23 said:
I am not the biggest fan of Sapphire, their support is a bit shoddy, but the Vapor-X and Toxic cards are worth any hassle. A 2GB Vapor-X HD5870 would probably make me do this.
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lol, that song is totally going in my car soon. Play it every time i'm at a light next to a hot chic, haha.
 
While they provide no juicy details, Sapphire sent out a press release today talking about the Vapor-X coolers on some of their cards. At the end of the article, they do confirm that Vapor-X will be coming to the ATI 5000 series "soon". So now we've had a photo, and along with that we can include a press-release confirmation. Lets hope the 5870 Vapor-X is right around the corner!

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/media/?psn=0004&articleID=2354
 
I don't see how anyone can improve on the stock cooler's design, as it runs cool as it is, very quiet at idle, and exhausts air out of the case. I'd rather pay for a watercooling setup than pay a premium for a video card that's just overclocked. A lot of users here are getting great OCs with their cards. With a custom bios you could simply set the card to run at your highest stable OC. But I guess getting the toxic version makes things easier.
 
PS3 said:
I don't see how anyone can improve on the stock cooler's design, as it runs cool as it is, very quiet at idle, and exhausts air out of the case. I'd rather pay for a watercooling setup than pay a premium for a video card that's just overclocked. A lot of users here are getting great OCs with their cards. With a custom bios you could simply set the card to run at your highest stable OC. But I guess getting the toxic version makes things easier.
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From what I have read all of the HD5870s use a heat sink that is very similar to the VaporX cooling technology.

What the VaporX edition could might also include would be tweaked hardwares components such as high quality solid capacitors, diamond chokes, quieter fan design, and possibly more ram or faster ram.
 
SonDa5 said:
What the VaporX edition could might also include would be tweaked hardwares components such as high quality solid capacitors, diamond chokes, quieter fan design, and possibly more ram or faster ram.
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You have anything to base these claims on or is this just guesswork on your part? If the VaporX used all these things, surly it would be advertised.
 
SonDa5 said:
From what I have read all of the HD5870s use a heat sink that is very similar to the VaporX cooling technology.

What the VaporX edition could might also include would be tweaked hardwares components such as high quality solid capacitors, diamond chokes, quieter fan design, and possibly more ram or faster ram.
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I received my Sapphire 5870 yesterday...the one glaring thing they could fix is the leaf blower fan noise when setting the fan to anything above the default 50% setting...damn that thing is loud...never heard a GPU card fan so loud before

otherwise cooling, temps etc are fine
 
polonyc2 said:
I received my Sapphire 5870 yesterday...the one glaring thing they could fix is the leaf blower fan noise when setting the fan to anything above the default 50% setting...damn that thing is loud...never heard a GPU card fan so loud before

otherwise cooling, temps etc are fine
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I don't make the stuff up.

Sapphire made a Vapor X HD4890 that had 2BG of GDRR5.


More about Sapphire Vapor X cards:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/technology.aspx?psn=000801&lid=1
 
RamonGTP said:
we're talking about 5870's
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The page I referenced to describes the Vapor X technology that is used in the Sapphire Vapor X line of cards. No hard specifications to give you but if Sapphire releases a Vapor X HD5870 I think it will be similar to the design of the Vapor X line up.
 
Perhaps, perhaps not. But if someone is about to drop $400 on a video card, it's probably wise to give accurate advise and not what you think it might or might not have. Again, those features are pretty "big deals" to have, and if the card does indeed have them, it should be easy enough to find out. If it's difficult to find out, it probably doesn't have those features.
 
PS3 said:
I don't see how anyone can improve on the stock cooler's design, as it runs cool as it is, very quiet at idle, and exhausts air out of the case. I'd rather pay for a watercooling setup than pay a premium for a video card that's just overclocked. A lot of users here are getting great OCs with their cards. With a custom bios you could simply set the card to run at your highest stable OC. But I guess getting the toxic version makes things easier.
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I think the main draw of the Vapor cards is how quiet they are. Honestly, who cares if the card is quiet at idle, that as basic feature I would expect any competently designed card to have. Under load most of ATI's top tier cards have noisy fans, and the Vapor cards can certainly alleviate those problems.

For lots of us OC'ing is secondary to having a system you can stand to be in the same room with.
 
I can't wait for this card, I've got a 11" hole in my HTPC case waiting to be filled by this beauty.
 
Gotta love the bottom graph on that page: 1.1x performance!!!
They make 10% look like 120% by not making the bars go to zero.
 
Wow.. 1.1x faster. The only reason I could see anyone wanting that card is for the cooler. The reference clocks are nothing. The reference cards does 900/1300 easily and still remains fairly quiet. Guess if there isn't a major price difference the cooler might be worth it.
 
It's inching ever closer into my dripping talons. Soon it will be mine, and yes, I will feed it innocent graphics to process.
 
I think I like the fully enclosed look of the reference cooler better. Look cleaner IMO.
 
They didn't have a lot I just googled Vapor-X and Newegg came up, so I ordered and in 10 minutes I went back and they where out of stock, should have it by wed or thursday!
 
Thats a good price for this card...props to Newegg.

Too bad it doesn't have a back plate, I guess that would have made it little more pricey.
 
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