Sapphire Toxic HD 4890 Vapor-X review [Guru3D.com]

Marketing anyone?

 

Exactly, on my Gainward GTX275 my auto my fan is on 35% and I can hear a very SLIGHT fan whine. I manually turn it down to 30% and keep it there and it's silent. Best thing is I also game with it still on 30% and have no problems at all. Great stuff.

 

Well, its not just heat pipes. According to Sapphire Tech:

Its a touch more complicated than a standard heat pipe, as illustrated here:

source

 

exactly the same concept as a heat pipe, even XBitLabs and AnAndTech says they are heat pipes. Unless you consider enclosing a heat pipe in a chamber as something "unique".

 

I'm not saying its a different concept as a heatpipe, its built on the same basic principles as a heatpipe. What makes it unique is that it is so much thinner and flatter than a heatpipe. Its essentially one giant heatpipe condensed into an extremely thin form and mounted on top of the GPU.

 

Nice job on the review Hilbert. Helped me decide on what card to order Being a Geforce fanboy from day one, this will be my first dive into an ATI card that I can recall. Always used either Geforce, or back in the day 3DFX.

Just got my card today, and have another set to order possibly for Crossfire when they get back in stock. I'll post some scores and such this week/weekend as to the gains I get over my old 8800GTS 640 I am replacing. Time to play and kill the curiosity bug! :thumbup:

 

So you must be having too much fun enjoying your system because I haven't seen where you've posted your before/after results with that new card of yours.

 

Well, the last week and a half have been a hellish adventure. At the moment, no card.

I ordered the card from SuperBiiz.com, $238. Got it last Monday 7/13, and boy was I a tad pissed. I get it, happy as can be, open the box it was shipped in, only to find an open box, and a used card. Mind you according to my order it was retail new. So, I immediately take pics, contact SuperBiiz, and I have spent the last 2 weeks fighting to get my money back. They finally had UPS pickup the card, got the card back in their hands, and have not gotten my refund yet. I can't even explain how pissed I was and still am. I had to send them a dozen pics to show it was used. You could clearly see that it had been disassembled, as all the black screws which hold the heatsink/cooling on, we scuffed up as what happens if you use a screwdriver that is too small. Plus, the card had a quarter size sticky spot on the back of the card near the DVI connection, looked like something sticky was spilled on it.

Anyway, I spent a week trying to get it through their heads it was clearly used, and the order was for a new retail card, the invoice clearly says retail new. So, now here I sit, waiting for my refund. They claim it will take another 7 days to credit it back to my MC, but I told them bills**t, I am already going on 3 weeks wasting my time with them. I just can't believe they tried to pawn off a used fricken card on me. I don't even know if it worked. I never installed it and didn't want to, so they couldn't accuse me of doing something to it. Lucky for me, I had 2 witnesses here when the UPS guy came and when I opened the shipping package.

Anyway, not a happy camper. And now I can't find the card anywhere else for sale. NewEgg was supposed to have it 7/20, but that is now changed, and I get the feeling they are going to deactivate it. It's a very hard card to get. So, I may end up getting the new Asus card instead, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121311 seems to be another nice card with big overclocking potential. Since I am going with a single card for now, I am leaning a bit towards just getting a GRX285 maybe. Gotta do some more research on the new Asus card before I decide for sure. So, I most likely will be ordering this card this weekend/early next week.

As a side note, avoid SuperBiiz like the plague. I know ones bad experience doesn't mean it's a terrible company, but for them to try to pawn off a used card on me, throws up huge warning signs now for me.

So, will post results as soon as I get the new card, hopefully in about 10 days from now.

 

Wow. That's disturbing. I'm not familiar with them and now I don't care to be. Sorry to hear about that man. Good luck with getting the refund and a new card ASAP.

 

Well, good news is I finally got my money back today, bad new is, I can't find the Toxic anywhere at the moment. So, guess I gotta do some more research. That new MSI Cyclone SOC looks pretty tempting, and it would be a perfect match considering the GD70 MB we use. Might have to check it out and compare it to the new Asus Voltage Tweak cards.

Should have a new card and be getting some results posted within the next 2 weeks if not sooner. Hopefully

 

Well, I decided to say heck with waiting for the Toxic to get back in stock, and ordered a GTX285. But damn, I swear I have ****ty luck with that Toxic card. lol.
I ordered the GTX285, and it arrived on Thursday. The Toxic card has been out of stock at NewEgg for ever. Well, just my damn luck, the SAME DAY I get my GTX285, I was registering the new card, and had to go to my email to activate the Evga account. Well, what do I see when I get to my email, but a fricken notification from NewEgg, telling me the Toxic cards are now back in stock. lmao. I swear, I was just destined to not own that card. lol. Oh well, for gaming and such, and for doing some overclocking, I am sure I will be more than happy with the GTX card. I wanted to get a couple of the Toxic's for Crossfire for this MSI board, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Was still tempted to just order the dang things when I seen they were back in stock. lol. But I better not.
Anyway, will pop some scores later with the new card. Most peeps who bought the reference Evga GTX285 have been able to clock it to FTW speeds and a bit above, so I am curious ot see how she works. Gonna give it a couple days break-in before I push it. Just applied a fresh application of OCZ Freeze on the GPU, so things should be cool to go.
Anyway, flap at ya later bud. Will get some overclock scores in a few days.

OCZ