Sapphire cards.... Any good.

[deejayburnout]

Peeps

Been offered a sapphire R9 280x vapor x for £100 and wondering what sapphire cards are like.

How are they? Never had any experience of them. Is the build quality good? What is the warrenty like? How is the vapor x cooler?

Only ever had an Asus card.

Any advice appreciated.

[jag272]

While I haven't used them personally as I run Nvidia, I know for certain they have a great warranty from reading about it. As cards they seem to be well regarded too so should be a safe buy.

[stevie lee]

had a couple. 4870. 7770, sisters got a 6870 but the fans set to high for 'reasons'.

some of my thoughts on them are in the reviews I did ages ago for forum competitions. (see signature for links)

as I've only ever had to deal with warranty/faulty stuff maybe 3 times since 1998 - twice ASUS once Gigabyte. I've no idea how the returns/warranty actually works.

never even asked HEXUS competition peeps how the warranty works in regards to competition wins. :shrug:


as for is sapphire any good as a brand with cooling and stuff like that, yeah they are. kept my 4870 at less than 40c when other brands were in the 80s.
the 7770 was whisper quiet and cooled very well.

sisters 6870 card is set to constant 70% fan speed because she doesn't like the sound pitch when it spins slower, tinnitus reasons. but it does work at lower speeds quite well in cooling.

they're well built and can survive a few trips up and down the motorway slightly bouncing up an down in the back of a Honda civic. also once from around 4ft when it fell off a desk onto carpet.

all cards are still going well, 4870 was bought march 2009 ran everything up to crysis3.

they do get dusty because of the twin fan design, dust builds up under the blades and in the fins, so a blow from the end is needed every few months, a quick brush off with a paintbrush helps to shift the more caked on bits.

hope some of this helps

[deejayburnout]

Thanks Stevie. i remember your reviews.

[Noxvayl]

I've had a few Sapphire cards, all worked really well with no issues. When considering AMD cards they are one of the manufacturers I prefer, them and Gigabyte + Asus.

As for Vapor-X, they were the first to develop the vapor chamber technology which is now standard in reference cooler designs. Their coolers are normally very good, low temps and noise.

[deejayburnout]

Thanks for the input guys. Looks like a good purchase then.

[gupsterg]

Had my HD 5850 Toxic for 4-5 yrs , no issues, even though factory OC'd still has headroom for more .

Also own a R9 290 Tri-X and very with it! good cooler / OC's well.

Also owned 9800 Pro & 1900 XT by Sapphire.

Warranty does cover user OC on them as long as no physical damage or changes from what I read but do look at this thread's first post.

[Zhaoman]

I always thought Sapphire were the flagship brand for AMD/ATi cards. I have a 4800 and a 5770 that's both been working for years and switched several times between computers. They run quiet with reference coolers and seem sturdy enough in terms of quality. I can't really say anything else about them and that has to be a good thing!

[gupsterg]

Been offered a sapphire R9 280x vapor x for £100

IMO good price, especially if your buying from someone you know. When looking at sold listings for r9 280x vapor, out of 63, 2 are faulty < £110 and cheapest working sold @ £110 only 2.

I always thought Sapphire were the flagship brand for AMD/ATi cards.

+1, that's how it's come across to me as well .

[jonathan_phang]

Owner of 2 sapphire vapour x 7970s in crossfire and they have been very reliable for me. They have overclocked well, run relatively cool and basically served me well. I suppose the real value of a card comes when you need to try out their customer service but in my case never needed to. Hope you enjoy the card

[virtuo]

I've had plenty of Sapphire cards (mainly because they are usually cheaper than other brands apart from PowerColor, who I've never been impressed with). Had one faulty card but their RMA was pain-free ish, eventually got a replacement. Running a 270X at the minute and it's been absolutely fine. Don't think I'd have any worries picking Sapphire again.

[AMDMatt]

Peeps

Been offered a sapphire R9 280x vapor x for £100 and wondering what sapphire cards are like.

How are they? Never had any experience of them. Is the build quality good? What is the warrenty like? How is the vapor x cooler?

Only ever had an Asus card.

Any advice appreciated.

Sapphire cards are great, very well built and a great partner of ours.

The Vapor-X cooler is top notch as well, one of the best going.

[deejayburnout]

Just been sent more info on the card and its just over a year old. Immaculate condition. Getting sold as owner must bought a GTX 980. Must by this card. Will buy this card......

[KeyboardDemon]

I was under the impression that Sapphire are to AMD what EVGA are to nVidia, in that they are AMD's largest exclusive trade partner. My last few AMD GPUs have been XFX but if I were to buy an AMD card now I would look at Sapphire first.

[CustardInc]

I know for certain they have a great warranty from reading about it.

Sapphire don't really have a warranty, it's all done through the reseller. The warranty's only as good as the reseller, so pick where you buy the card.

On their coolers: MSI''s Twin Frozr is better on the 290 series, from experience that is all I can tell you really. The Tri-X is a bit louder and longer and fatter, but it's not as tall. The MSI has two larger fans, so it's quieter and lower pitched. MSI's 3 year warranty bends the 'via retailer' method over its knee and spanks it. That is, if you're buying from a certain retailer whose name rhymes with scam, and is partnered with a tech site whose name rhymes with nexus...

[deejayburnout]

So...

I got my card today and nearly dropped it as it was so heavy. Build quality is awesome and when I took out my old Asus Direct Cu2 7850, it felt and looked like a toy. So much lighter and less bulky.

I then played GTA5 and I was able to bump the setting up a lot higher and was getting 15 to 20fps more than before.

Build is awesome, performance is awesome.