KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
While the appearance is dramatically different – The Sapphire HD5850 Toxic Edition is just like any other HD5850 on the market with 72 texture units and 1440 stream processors.
The card is surrounded by a custom made heat pipe design cooler with a large eleven blade structured fan which is positioned directly above the GPU core.
The fan shroud is very attractive and Sapphire informed us that this was designed specifically for this card … a two ball bearing configuration.
Turning the card over we can see the four silver screws around the GPU and two black screws on the left of the card are used to hold on the passive cooler for the voltage regulators. As with most of the high end Toxic Edition cards Sapphire have used Black Diamond chokes throughout which lowers overall temperatures while increasing choke efficiency by around 30%.
The card demands a feed from 2x6pin PCI power connectors which is the same as a reference design and AMD recommend a 500w or greater PSU for a system containing the HD5850. Running in Crossfire increases this recommendation by 600w. If you are unsure exactly what we are talking about then read the KitGuru Power Supply guide which will break down all the attributes you should be considering before a purchase.
On the rear there are two dual link DVI outputs with an HDMI and Displayport connector. You can run Eyefinity with this card if you have the correct monitor and cable configuration. There is also a grill on this area so that the hot air is expelled outside the chassis.
The Sapphire HD5850 Toxic card is slightly bigger than a reference HD5850 being around 10.1 inches long rather than 9.5 inches. If you are using a small chassis with confined space this is worth taking into consideration.
Bloody Nora batman, thats one scary overclock ! I snagged those apps, thanks for the heads up
I love Sapphires modded cards, those coolers rock my world. Wouldnt it be cool if AMD actually released these from now on with all their new mid/high end ranges?
Absolutely no chance they would be on reference cards, they cost too much. I like the thinking though. Hey with the Intel story that was on here a few days ago and the new reference coolers they are looking at, maybe the whole industry is shifting views on this?
Hats off to Sapphire again,was going to buy this but I held off for a bit even though I read a few good reviews about it. This is a wicked board. £230!! just ordered one
£230 is a wicked price. the ordinary card is £240 in a local store here.
Good price, would like to see CF figures for these. £460 for two of them, would be a good head to head against a GTX480 🙂
I think the 480 GTX would get its ass handed to it, then some, but would be interesting for sho.
I think the 5770 is better value though, ive seen some for £120 online, two of them would beat one of these.
Anyone seen a good price for one of these in Canada?
£349.99 on newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102881&cm_re=hd5850_toxic-_-14-102-881-_-Product
Canada? anyone know? best online place to buy?
Great review, thanks KG
Loved the review, thanks Gurus
Sapphire are great, wish more makers would use vapor x style cooling.
XFX are doing one which I think is sourced from the same company. check out this review. http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/xfx-hd5870-black-edition-review/
Read this review last night and didnt have time to comment. Its a great product as many reviews have already testifed to. Was interesting personally to see the drain figures at the wall.
not much stock available where I live. unfortunately as a bud of mine wants it.