skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I know I am probably sounding like a broken record already but by now it should go without saying that ATI is making one hell of a run at nearly every single price point in the GPU market. In the past weeks we have seen the release of their high-end HD 5870, the surprisingly affordable HD 5850 and the mid-range market leaders: the HD 5750 and HD 5770. Luckily, the lower end cards of the DX11 generation haven’t been met with the abysmal availability of the HD 5800-series but that could be the result of much lower popularity as well. To anyone watching the graphics card market right now, it really does seem like NVIDIA is indeed pulling back from the high end segment in preparation for the debut of their upcoming Fermi architecture. However, the HD 5750 was released into a market is swimming in options for the budget conscious buyers among you which means it is competing against both older ATI cards and current NVIDIA products as well. In this kind of situation, every dollar of saving counts so when Sapphire approached me with their HD 5750 1GB Vapor-X, I was understandably a bit confused as to why they decided to give the coolest-running, most efficient 5000-series card a heatsink makeover. As I already mentioned, the HD 5750 1GB was launched into a highly competitive market segment and believe it or not, Sapphire isn’t asking for too much of a premium for their Vapor-X version. However, we noticed some interesting goings on as of late with the price of this card in relation to its reference-based brethren. It seems like many sites south of the border are currently selling it for about the same price as a bone stock HD 5750 which makes it a surprisingly good value. Here in Canada though, we are looking at a price premium of around $20 which does tend to indicate that equal pricing at US retailers is only temporary. Granted, the addition of a custom heatsink and the fact that Sapphire’s Vapor-X also sports some minor overclocks should go a ways to alleviating any buyer’s remorse here in Canada but it is still like to see our pricing structure mirroring that of the US. Even though the HD 5800-series has been experiencing some serious availability issues as of late, HD 5700-series cards have been in stock since day one. Whether this is due to a lack of popularity or simply more cards being available is anyone’s guess but what we do know is that the HD 5750 Vapor-X is widely available here in North America and in other areas of the world as well. All in all, the Sapphire HD 5750 Vapor-X could be exactly what the doctor ordered for those of you looking for an efficient, quiet and well-priced card. Let’s hope it lives up to our expectations.
To view the complete review click here
ATI is on a roll. There is no doubting it or denying the fact that the boys in red have managed to hammer a successive number of nails into NVIDIA’s DX11 aspirations by being first to market with not one but a whole series of brand new, segment-leading DX11 cards. The HD 5800-series was first on the scene and proved that these new cards could compete with the best of the best from the previous generation and then some. However, in many people’s opinions, there was one thing missing: ATI firmly marking their turf by laying claim to the fastest graphics card in the world. That’s where the HD 5970 2GB comes into the picture. At its most basic, the new HD 5970 is a dual GPU card that makes use of an on-board PLX bridge chip to handle the communication between the two cores. Each GPU core is able to address a whopping 1GB of GDDR5 memory which will hopefully make the bandwidth issues of the HD5800-series of cards a thing of the past. From a pure performance standpoint, this card’s potential is simply out of this world. We all remember the HD 4870 X2 and the older yet no less significant HD 3870 X2 dual GPU cards so some of you may be wondering where the “X2” moniker went. Well, ATI has decided to do away with old naming conventions for one reason or another and believe it or not, we welcome this change. It cements the HD 5900-series as the current high performance cards in ATI’s lineup while keeping a clear distinction between all of their product ranges. In this review we will be looking something unique: a pre-overclocked ATI card being released right alongside the reference-clocked version. That’s right, at launch there will be two different HD 5970 cards being released by the likes of Sapphire, XFX and other ATI board partners: one with standard speeds and another with some increased performance potential. Along with this somewhat shocking revelation, there are several other things that make the HD 5970 a cut above but we will go into those a bit later in this review. Our introduction wouldn’t be complete without some speculation about the HD 5970’s pricing and availability and on both fronts, it isn’t pretty. We should be looking at an initial “launch” price of about $600USD or $675CAD which will make it the most expensive card on the market by a long shot. However, this price is likely to skyrocket in the days following launch since we hear it will be be next to impossible to find. The retailers we have spoken to are all expecting less than 10 cards in total at launch which makes this a paper launch that we are sure will be passed off as a hard launch. With NVIDIA’s Fermi cards firmly behind the iron curtain somewhere in Santa Clara, ATI has a clear path to complete market domination with their HD 5970. Let’s hope they make the most out of it.
To view the complete review click here
If you have been living under a rock or have been taking a hiking trip through the Himalayas for the last few weeks, you would be forgiven if the ATI HD 5000-series release didn’t register on your radar. Otherwise, you better know about these cards because they are currently kicking ass and taking names across nearly every price point in the GPU marketplace. Unfortunately, much like that ultra-hot girl you remember from high school who was popular for all the right reasons, the HD 5870 and to a greater extent the HD 5850 seems to be all but unattainable for many people. This isn’t due to sky high prices but rather the fact that the cards have been very hard to find due to a combination of popularity and insufficient supply to meet demand. Even though availability of the HD 5870 hasn’t been what anyone was hoping it would be, ATI’s board partners are still forging ahead with plans to release custom cooled and overclocked versions in a mad dash to differentiate themselves from the competition. While many manufactures we have spoken to in the past few weeks have stated their custom cards will be available closer to the end of November, Sapphire is bucking that trend. Today marks the release of their overclocked, custom cooled and eagerly-anticipated HD 5870 1GB Vapor-X. We all remember those telltale leaked images of this card from when the HD 5870 was initially launched and to be honest with you, not much has changed since then. Its main claim to fame is Sapphire’s Vapor-X heatsink technology that supposedly allows it to cool off the core better than the already-large reference cooler while having a smaller acoustical footprint. This is actually a pretty bold goal considering (according to us) the stock HD 5870’s cooling setup is anything but loud and it actually does a fairly good job of shunting the heat away from the efficient 40nm core. Sapphire can talk all they want about the merits of their flagship card but hard part of this equation is getting the cards into people’s hands and at a fair price to boot. From what we hear, the HD 5870 Vapor-X should be listed at a few retailers on launch day but actual availability may take a few weeks to sort itself out. You can also expect to pay a premium of around $10 for this card when compared to reference HD 5870 units which would put it into the $400USD / $450CAD bracket. Even though $450 may be a hefty amount to pay for a GPU these days, Sapphire is hoping that this card’s advanced cooling, slight overclocks and stunning good looks are enough to draw people’s attention.
To view the complete review click here
