Sapphire VAPOR-X HD7970 GHz Edition 3GB Pro Reviews

The SAPPHIRE HD 7970 is posted at Newegg for $449.99 after a $20 mail in rebate, which places it among other Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition video cards. This is only $11 cheaper than the GALAXY GTX 680, which can be had for $460.99 after rebates. Compared to the reference Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, the SAPPHIRE HD 7970 provides the same in game playing experience and does so while using less power and staying nearly 20 degrees Celsius cooler. Unfortunately, this video card does not have a factory overclock. The EZ OC button does not take the 3GB model to 1100MHz like the 6GB model does. This is a shame, because it means that the SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB version doesn't offer anything unique in terms of clock speed compared to other, cheaper, reference clocked video cards. In fact, you can get a video card overclocked to 1100MHz for exactly the same price as the SAPPHIRE 3GB Vapor-X model. Here is a GIGABYTE 7970 GHz edition video card at 1100MHz for exactly the same price.

The Sapphire HD 7970 Vapor-X is an example of what can be done with the Tahiti XT GPU when an add-in board partner fully customizes a video card!

All told, this is a blinder of a card. It's not hugely relevant to most of us, but for just a little extra cash than AMD's fantastic reference GHz Edition, it pushes the HD 7970 architecture hard enough to impress enthusiasts. Fingers crossed for a price drop in the near future.

The central feature that sets this card apart from the crowd is the use of Sapphire's Vapor-X cooling solution that time and again impresses generation after generation. This large vapor chamber equipped heat sink is capable of keeping the HD 7970 3GB Vapor-X well under the 70 °C mark both stock and overclocked. The dust repelling, sealed 90mm aerofoil blade fans push enough airflow to keep the thermals from rising too high while minimizing noise. The dust repelling design of the fans will ensure a long lifespan on them to eliminate the slow death caused by dust intrusion. Left to manage the fan speeds on its own the card delivers silent cooling. When ramped up to 100% the fans are audible outside the chassis. This is not a problem unique to Sapphire as boosting the fan speeds runs them at the upper limits of their range increasing noise. In comparison to a blower style fan used on a reference cooling solution the Vapor-X design is miles ahead in both noise and cooling performance.