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I am still a big believer in Nvidia's GTX680, as the hardware delivers incredible performance at a reasonable price point, catering to the high end audience. The Sparkle Calibre X680 Captain is undoubtedly a major improvement on the Nvidia reference design in all areas.
The unusual cooler implementation will immediately attract the eye, as upon first glance it could be assumed that the card is passively cooled. The triple fans are however housed (hidden) underneath the heatsink, forcing cool air inwards through the aluminum fins and over the PCB components.
The design deserves commendation as Sparkle haven't cut corners, offering dedicated GDDR5 and VRM heatsinks to improve cooling proficiency. The performance of the cooler is excellent – rated alongside the best of the modified GTX680 cards available today. In most environments, the Sparkle Calibre X680 Captain will peak around the mid-high 60c mark when gaming.
The adoption of a tri-fan cooling system means that Sparkle are able to spin the fans slower while maintaining a high level of airflow. This is a very strong selling point for the Calibre X680 Captain, because if you want a very quiet running high performance system and aren't interested in liquid cooling then this should be right at the top of a shortlist. Moving the fans underneath the cooler also brings an added safety benefit.
The Sparkle Calibre X680 Captain is supplied in a high state of overclock and our sample didn't exhibit much additional headroom, with another 50mhz available on the core before artifacting would occur. Obviously, every sample will deliver slightly different results, but the ‘out of the box' clock speeds seem well tuned by Sparkle for long term stability.
You can pick up this card in the UK for £419.99 inc vat. They ship with a 3 year warranty.
Pros:
- excellent performance.
- fantastic cooling performance.
- very quiet.
- good price point.
- 3 year warranty.
Cons:
- A lot of competition in this price sector.
- ‘Captain'? Really?
Kitguru says: Sparkle have a winner on their hands, especially when factoring in the low noise levels and overall performance.
Wasn’t expecting this. I dont see anyone in UK stocking these however?
unusual design for a high end card. never really heard of the company to be honest. far east brand?
I always wondered why this design wasn’t used more often (fans under cooler). it should in theory lower noise as the main fan noise is behind a rack of fins and air will be sucked in. good idea.
Are Sparkle linked to Gainward? the cooler looks very like the phantom cooler they had out a while ago. (was a good cooler, not a bad thing).
very impressive card, would you guys say its better than the KFA2 3 fan cards though?
Thats a good question. If you like the KFA2 white PCB and want the slightly higher clocks then they are good options. They are slightly louder and more expensive however.
One of my good friends once told me that Sparkle and Gainward are a sister company. I believe him now.
Thank you all for reading the review, can I clarify that Sparkle are an independent company and in no way related to Gainward.
The use of similar coolers in pure coincidence
Sparkle are an independent company and in no way related to Gainward.