Introduction

Sapphire TOXIC X800 PRO VIVO rests with a stock X800 PRO

The X800 PRO TOXIC and GeForce 6800 Ultra

How do you replace an ULTIMATE?

One of the main gripes enthusiasts always mention whenever a new graphics core is released is the lack of innovation among ATI and NVIDIA’s board partners. Quite simply, most card manufacturers choose to take the easy road out, sticking with the reference board design instead of coming up with a unique card of their own. As a result, the first batch of graphics cards are all basically the same and are even produced off the same production line; the only real differences are literally the price and the software bundle.

Fortunately, there are a few card manufacturers that will go to the drawing board and add their own spin to the original reference design. These second generation cards often ship with better cooling or in some cases they’ll ship with faster memory modules. Both of these changes allow the card to operate at higher clock speeds than stock. Some manufacturers have also focused on adding additional features such as video input capability.

Other than the cooler and blue PCB, these are both essentially reference designs

What do you think of the orange and blue combination?

Sapphire has targeted their efforts on the enthusiast segment that not only wants a high performing graphics card, but one that operates silently or near silently. This started with the Sapphire RADEON 9700 PRO ULTIMATE Edition. Sapphire paired their RADEON 9700 PRO card with a Zalman ZM80A heatpipe cooler. By relying solely on the card’s heatpipe to keep the graphics card cool, the board emits no noise, making it perfect for use in quiet PCs. The card’s RADEON 9700 PRO VPU also made it perfectly suited for gaming.

While we loved the performance of the 9700 PRO ULTIMATE, the combination of the 9700 PRO and Zalman ZP80 heatpipe meant that the board generated a lot of heat. This made it a less than ideal situation in cramped cases, or cases with little airflow.

The fan nearly makes the TOXIC as long as a 6800 Ultra

Another size comparison shot

Sapphire eventually resolved this problem with the RADEON 9800 XT ULTIMATE Edition. By bundling a large, yet quiet Zalman ZM-OP1 fan, the heatpipe could do its work while the fan fed a steady supply of cool air to the board and its components. This addition dramatically reduced board temperatures, making the card feasible for use in the most demanding environments.

Including the backplate, the TOXIC is actually taller than the 6800 Ultra

Arctic Cooling fan takes up the entire length of the board

Unfortunately, Zalman’s latest heatpipes haven’t been qualified for use with ATI’s newer RADEON X800 VPU. As a result, Sapphire had to turn to another outside source if they wanted to bring quiet cooling to this generation of cards. Their solution was found in Arctic Cooling’s fourth generation VGA Silencer, which can be used on any RADEON X800/RADEON 9800 card. In their new TOXIC line, Sapphire molds the VGA Silencer with their RADEON X800 cards, and to really spice up the package, Sapphire adds other goodies such as APE overclocking, hardware monitoring support, and VIVO.