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The Sapphire HD6850 Vapor X arrives in a blue and black box with a list of specifications on the front. There is also a Dirt 3 sticker on the front of the box, highlighting the inclusion of a free game.
The Sapphire bundle is extensive: a full copy of Dirt 3 is included, software disc, a CrossFire Cable, DVI to VGA Adapter, Mini-DP to DP Cable, two 6 PIN to 4 PIN Power Cables and a HDMI 1.4a high speed 1.8 meter cable.
The card is built around a custom blue PCB design. The black Vapor X cooler takes center stage with a classy white sticker offset to the left. Sapphire have adopted a Chil CHL8228G controller, which is a 6+2 multiphase design with multiple input rail control support. Sapphire are using quality Elpida memory for this particular card.
The card is CrossfireX capable, and takes power from 2 x 6 pin power connectors.
The Vapor X cooler is based around a copper base and two rack of aluminum fins on either side. There are several thick heatpipes to transfer heat from the core.
The connectivity is as follows:
- 1 x Dual-Link DVI
- 1 x HDMI 1.4a
- 2 x Mini-DisplayPort
- 1 x Single-Link DVI-D
- DisplayPort 1.2
The card can support up to four monitors in Eyefinity (SLS) mode.
An overview of the hardware, showing the increased core clock and memory speeds. The card is built on 40nm architecture with 32 ROPS and 960 unifed shaders. The 1GB of GDDR5 memory is connected via a 256 bit memory interface.
So in theory it should be around £130? seems good. shame I missed that 5850 xtreme however, that was even better value.
The Vapor X cooler is great. I recently took my off to clean it as it is about a year old. I advise everyone to clean their systems out. the amount of dust that builds up in a graphics card over a year is scary !. can also stop performance too and block fans
Their fans are also good, you should have pointed that out more in the review.
Nice card, good for the price, but I want to aim higher next time, like a 6950.
After looking at the power consumption figures I’m wondering why this card has two 6pin PCIe plugs, surely they aren’t both necessary.
Sapphire normally do this with their cards to help with overclocking performance.