ATI X800 XL Shootout --- TheThirdMedia Hardware

Sapphire RADEON X800 XL Ultimate

Sapphire has teamed up with Zalman, reputed for their 'quiet computing solutions' for the Ultimate edition of their RADEON X800 XL. With noise output increasingly growing in importance as a decisive factor in choice of computer hardware, graphics cards makers have to deliver that elusive ideal of low noise and heat output. Hence, we see the strategic alliances between those who specialize in cooling solutions and graphics card vendors. Earlier on, we saw the outstanding performance of the Arctic Cooling designed cooler on the HIS X800 XL IceQ II Turbo. Now, we have another well-known company, Zalman and their VF700 series of graphics card coolers on the Sapphire RADEON X800 XL Ultimate.

Presenting the Ultimate Edition of Sapphire's RADEON X800 XL.

A nice view of the all blue Sapphire RADEON X800 XL Ultimate.

From outward appearances, the Zalman cooler looks exactly the same as the retail VF700. It is the same design, though Sapphire is using a modified, pure aluminum version of it. Zalman has promised that the VF700 is almost silent during operation while still managing to keep temperatures low. How the VF700 achieves this remarkable balance is down to its design. Its open cooler design allows the heat to dissipate from the radiating aluminum fins, assisted only by a slow revving 75mm fan that more than satisfies the low noise requirement. The Samsung 2.0ns rated memory chips are also attached with a set of striking aluminum heatsinks that does a satisfactory job. One potential shortcoming of this cooler is that it takes up quite a substantial amount of space. From our observations, the cooler found on the Sapphire RADEON X800 XL Ultimate is almost as tall as that found on the HIS X800 XL IceQ II Turbo, which is marketed as a double slot card. Our tests showed that the Sapphire RADEON X800 XL Ultimate was our prince of cool, with the lowest temperatures recorded in the shootout. We also found the card tolerant of extreme overclocking, reaching frequencies of 450/1200MHz in our tests.

Sapphire uses a Zalman VF700 cooler for their card.

RAM sinks are attached to all the memory chips for better cooling.

Sapphire compliments its card with a solid bundle of software and accessories, including two games and the standard DVD application. The variety of cables in the bundle easily meet all our needs. We also expect many to try the Redline overclocking utility given the good overclocking potential we found. In short, Sapphire did not trim its costs by neglecting their bundle and the end result is a very competitive offering that few would have complains about. Do note that Sapphire plans to implement a new programme called Sapphire Select (which we covered in some detail in this article previously) for its future game bundles, whereby users are only given the demos of a wide selection of locked games in a dvd and they are given a choice of which (one) game they can unlock to a full version. This benefits end-users as they are allowed to try all the games before deciding on their preferred one. Although this programme has not started for this card at the moment, we have word that newer versions should get this treatment.

List of items in the package:

DVI-to-VGA adaptor

9-pin mini-DIN to Composite converter

9-pin mini-DIN to HDTV (component cable dongle)

S-Video extension cable

Composite extension cable

Sapphire User Manual

CyberLink PowerDVD 5.0

Driver CD

Redline Overclocking Software

Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

A last look at the Sapphire RADEON X800 XL Ultimate.

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