Blizzard Cooling

Top of the Sapphire Blizzard card

Back of the card

Blizzard liquid cooling unit

Back of the Blizzard cooler

Life for Sapphire’s Blizzard Radeon X1900 XTX board starts out the same as any other X1900 XTX card that Sapphire manufactures. Sapphire uses the exact same board-level components on their Blizzard card as they do on their more traditional Radeon X1900 XTX cards. The Blizzard board uses the exact same PCB and reference ATI board design, memory modules, power circuitry, etc. All Sapphire does is swap the standard Radeon X1900 XTX cooling solution out with their Blizzard cooler.

The cooler employed by Sapphire is definitely unique in comparison to other X1900 XTX cards on the market. Unlike other X1900 XTX cards, which rely on the more copper traditional heatsink/fan unit from ATI, Sapphire has enlisted the help of Thermaltake to produce a liquid-cooled unit that’s self-contained; everything you need to install the card is included in the box, there are no parts or tools you’ll need to get it all up and running, and the cooler is completely assembled for you out-of-the-box. All you have to do is plug in the Blizzard card and its cooling, and you’re good to go.

As you’ve no doubt seen from the pictures, the Sapphire Radeon X1900 XTX card and its Blizzard cooling unit are two separate units. Sitting atop the X1900 XTX’s R580 graphics core is a copper waterblock which is attached via two fairly flexible hoses to Sapphire’s Blizzard cooling unit. Inside the Blizzard cooler lies an all-copper radiator, water reservoir, 12V pump, and finally, a fan for supplying fresh air to the whole setup. So how does it all work?

Air exhausts here

You can adjust fan speeds on the card here

The GPU is supplied with fresh, cool distilled water from one of the Blizzards two hoses. This cool water is directly responsible for cooling the GPU. This heated water is then passed back to the external Blizzard cooling enclosure (via the second rubber hose) where it’s cooled and then passed back to the GPU. This cycle is constantly running in motion, working to keep the graphics core cool. The 12V pump at the back of the Blizzard unit is responsible for keeping the water in motion, while the radiator works to keep the water cool. Heat from the water is transferred to the air via a radiator at the front of the Blizzard unit. The radiator is a large, all-copper unit, and is composed of numerous thin fins to increase its surface area. Finally, to help keep the radiator cool, a fan is used to pass fresh cool air from within your PC’s case over the radiator and its fins before the air exhausts outside your system’s case at the end of the card. The fan’s RPMs can be adjusted via a switch on Blizzard cooling unit, two different modes are provided a “High” setting, and a “Low” setting.

RAMsinks on the memory

Another shot of the waterblock

The overall design of the Blizzard cooler is very similar to Thermaltake’s own Tide Water units that they sell to the public, right down to the adjustable fan and 12V pump, only Sapphire’s Blizzard card is a slimmer design that also relies on a slightly different fan. Thermaltake’s TideWater unit is good for 10,000 hours before its reservoir needs to be refilled, we wouldn’t be surprised if the same is true for the Sapphire Blizzard Radeon X1900 XTX, although Sapphire’s website is mum on specifics. Fortunately the back of the Blizzard cooler has a water line, so you can keep track of once the reservoir needs to be refilled. A Molex connector is located on the back of the card in order to supply power to the Blizzard unit’s pump and fan.