Sapphire AMD RX 480 Nitro on show

[HEXUS]

Looks like a new cooler.

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[[jF]]

Wow, that's one cheap looking cooler!!

[Corky34]

If leaked benchmarks are to be believed the 4GB version is close (slightly faster) than a GTX 980 in 3DMark Fire Strike.

[CampGareth]

Wonder how many people will buy one. My GF's PC is running on an old 7970 so could do with an upgrade but at this stage it makes more sense to upgrade my pc to a 1070 and hand down the 970 to her.

[cheesemp]

Hmm - Tempting. I think I'll likely go with a 8gb model and I want to get 480 fairly quickly. Does anyone know who is traditionally best at AMD custom coolers?

edit: Or more importantly who should I avoid... I haven't bought a new card since my long since retired 4850! Been using hand me downs.

[ricksavoie]

Hmm - Tempting. I think I'll likely go with a 8gb model and I want to get 480 fairly quickly. Does anyone know who is traditionally best at AMD custom coolers?

edit: Or more importantly who should I avoid... I haven't bought a new card since my 4850!

My last 4 have been ASUS, MSI, Zotac and EVGA and they've all worked out good. I haven't heard anything about one particular company producing duds frequently, so I suggest choosing the one with the highest standard stock (reg or OC) speeds at the best price.

[darcotech]

Wonder how many people will buy one. My GF's PC is running on an old 7970 so could do with an upgrade but at this stage it makes more sense to upgrade my pc to a 1070 and hand down the 970 to her.

If you have already strong card for 1080p (and 970 is very strong one), than by all means, buying yourself 1070 and giving away your 970 is better.

On the other hand, 1070 is overkill for 1080p, RX 480 is faster than 970 (almost 980 speed), so it is upgrade in both cases. Plus you will have 200£ left for something else...

I will wait september, once the market calmes down and prices get more real.

[chinf]

Am tempted; I think the cooler design looks good, but it's largely irrelevant to me as whichever card I'll get next I'll be swapping the stock cooler for a water cooling setup.

[Primey0]

Looks cheap and ugly

[[jF]]

If leaked benchmarks are to be believed the 4GB version is close (slightly faster) than a GTX 980 in 3DMark Fire Strike.

I *love* playing Firestrike

[CaptainAmerica]

Cooler has a bit of a retro vibe goin'

[pastymuncher]

The pictures of the Sapphire appear to be two different cards to me. Look at the Sapphire logo on the side. The top one showing the front of the card has a diagonal blue line on it while the bottom right one showing the rear has no blue line and appears to be the rear of a blower type cooler. The picture showing the rear of the card also has no silver trim either. I do hope this turns out to be a good, affordable card.

[scaryjim]

The pictures of the Sapphire appear to be two different cards to me. Look at the Sapphire logo on the side. The top one showing the front of the card has a diagonal blue line on it while the bottom right one showing the rear has no blue line and appears to be the rear of a blower type cooler. The picture showing the rear of the card also has no silver trim either. ...

Heh, good spot The bottom picture is pretty clearly a photoshop (or, let's say, an "artisits impression") of the reference card with some Sapphire branding slapped over it. Not even vaguely the same cooler.

Apparently MSI have come forward and flat stated that the leaked MSI card is fake: http://www.tweaktown.com/news/52549/...ler/index.html - wonder if Sapphire will do the same, and if it means anything if they don't...?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Heh, good spot The bottom picture is pretty clearly a photoshop (or, let's say, an "artisits impression") of the reference card with some Sapphire branding slapped over it. Not even vaguely the same cooler.

Apparently MSI have come forward and flat stated that the leaked MSI card is fake: http://www.tweaktown.com/news/52549/...ler/index.html - wonder if Sapphire will do the same, and if it means anything if they don't...?

If you followed the saga with that the guy said he plonked an R9 290X Lightning cooler on it so the person who gave them the card would not get in trouble(it is said in the article you linked to). Anyway we will soon find out!!

Edit!!

A few of the posters in the OcUK Polaris thread tried to see if the PCB matched any HD7900 or R9 290/390 ones and could not find a match.

[flearider]

Hmm - Tempting. I think I'll likely go with a 8gb model and I want to get 480 fairly quickly. Does anyone know who is traditionally best at AMD custom coolers?

edit: Or more importantly who should I avoid... I haven't bought a new card since my long since retired 4850! Been using hand me downs.

always found sapphire to be good even returned one once and got an upgrade ..
but my 290 the first change in a long time is msi cause it was a bargin at the time ..

[scaryjim]

If you followed the saga with that the guy said he plonked an R9 290X Lightning cooler on it so the person who gave them the card would not get in trouble ...

I read that, but frankly I find a lot of other things about that card suspicious. Like the provision for a 300W power draw on a 150W card. If it'd had just an 8 pin I could see that being for power target headroom, but 6+8 makes no sense on a card that we KNOW is targeting power efficiency at VR entry level performance. Or more to the point is MSI felt they needed to put 6+8 on it it's not looking good for AMD...

The idea that swapping out the cooler somehow means you haven't broken NDA or can avoid being noticed is nonsense, too. MSI know who's had cards; if it is a real one I'm pretty sure they'll be able to track down and deal with whoever leaked it.

There's just too many things wrong with the story for me to put any store in it...