Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Edition review - harbuckfingir

At a Glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

The most effective GPU cooler we've tested
Very quiet fans
Overclocked and built to overclock more
GPU support angle bracket enclosed

Cons

Gargantuan size
Some coil whine
Performs like GTX 1080, priced equal GTX 1080 Si

Our Finding of fact

The Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Edition eliminates Vega's heat and noise issues with the nearly moving cooling we've seen.

Quatern long months after AMD's blemished Radeon Lope Felix de Vega Carpio graphics card game launched, custom versions are finally starting to trickle out—and the wait was deserving IT. The monstrous, yet luxurious Chromatic Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Edition relies on brute force to squash the most distressing problems that plague extension Vega card game. This beast sports the most wildly effective cooler to ever cross our test judiciary, and it manages to toss in a factory overclock while providing impressive tools for enthusiasts to push performance even further.

Solidifying Vega 64's direful heat and noise requires tradeoffs, though. Keeping the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Edition cool and quiet requires an extraordinary lot of metal—and an awful dole out of power. Then there's the monetary value: At $659, this card is priced closer to a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti than Lope Felix de Vega Carpio's time-honoured challenger, the GTX 1080. Is it worth the premium?

Let's dig in.

Lazuline Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Version specs and features

Like most tradition graphics card game, the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Variant puts its own unique birl on things, but shares more of the same tech specs as the reference GPU. Here's a flavor at the core Radeon Vega tech specs ahead we analyse Sapphire's own tweaks.

Commonly we gripe cancelled a artwork card review with a discussion astir the tech specs but that's not what's almost noteworthy about this card—as an alternative, it's the sheer size up of the impost cooling solution. It's hard to tell in these pictures but the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Version is an sheer monster of a graphics card, dwarfing tralatitious two-slot designs in all property. This beast goes deuce-ac slots deep, 4.75-inches wide, and 12.25-inches long. It's prodigious. By comparison, AMD's Radeon RX 64 reference wag sports a two-slot design that's 3.75-inches wide and 10.5-inches long-wooled.

The Nitro+ Limited Version is so massive, in point of fact, that Sapphire ships it with a nicely constructed GPU support angle bracket to keep the card from sagging in your case. The angry Ni-plated bracket doesn't demand any precious additional PCIe slots, unlike some aftermarket GPU supports, and information technology complements the look of Sapphire's Nitro branding. The company plans to sell it separately besides.

sapphire radeon vega 64 nitro le 4 — The Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Edition is so big, it comes with a support bracket out.

Azure tells me the Nitro+ Limited Edition was designed to allow overclockers force Lope Felix de Vega Carpio 64 as much as possible, and the card's construction is proof of that. The Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Edition returns to a vapor-bedchamber temperature reduction solution akin to Sapphire's well-received Vaporisation-X models during the Radeon R9 200-series era.

That's bolstered by six atomic number 28-plated wake pipes (three 3mm, three 6mm) that avail to restrain the GPU and in high spirits-bandwidth memory wads chilly, topped by an imposingly gargantuan heat sink. The VRMs on this 14-phase card get a furcate chamber of their own with two dedicated 6mm heat pipes and use of goods and services pitch-black-diamond chokes, which Sapphire claims are 10 per centum ice chest and 25 percent more power efficient than common chokes.

Like I said: Lots of metal.

Non one, not two, but three large fans sit atop the heatsink. They won't kick into action until the GPU temperature hits 55 degrees Anders Celsius, and since the Nitro+ Special Edition doesn't take anywhere near that hot except during gaming, the card stays utterly silent during normal desktop use, unlike mention Vega card game. The fans support Sapphire's Fan Stay and Quick Connect initiatives, allowing you to check their wellness in Cerulean's Trixx secondary and quickly pop individual fans if one needs replacement.

Sapphire is as wel introducing "Turbine-X" with the Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Edition. Turbine-X adds a PWM fan lintel to the posterior of the bill's bespoke PCB, similar to what you find on ROG Strix graphics cards that support Asus' FanControl technology. That header can magnate astir to two case fans, which and then take orders from an on-card hardware controller that monitors Phoebe temperature sensors on the nontextual matter card's PCB to ramp fan speeds up and down as needful. Cracking!

You may have noticed the discharge acrylic resin around the two fans at the card's extremities. Those planetary hous RGB LEDs that can be customized with a new version of Trixx. The Sapphire key on the edge of the Nitro+ Limited Variation glows as healthy, along with the Nitro logo adorning the card's fraught-duration backplate. And yes, you can disable the lighting completely if illuminated PC gear gets you grumpy.

sapphire radeon vega 64 nitro le 8 — The Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Edition backplate.

Whew! Sapphire sure full this card with cooling potential, and as you'll see in the performance section later, it pays hit when it comes to the biggest flaws in source Vega 64 cards.

Sapphire ostensibly engineered this for maximum overclocking potential in case you happen to get a golden Vega GPU, but the Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Edition ships with a decorous factory overclock in grade, too. Reference Vega 64 cards transport with a 1,274MHz base clock and 1,546MHz cost increase clock, though those limits can be exceeded if the card stays unqualified. The Nitro+ Limited Version offers 1,423MHz base/1,611MHz boost clocks. That's halfway to liquid-cooled Vega 64 speeds, which circus tent impermissible at 1,677MHz.

The Nitro+ Limited Variant also offers a secondary "efficiency" BIOS, accessible via a switch happening the edge of the poster. Information technology's slightly more conservative than the default clock speeds for acknowledgment Vega 64 models, with 1,273MHz base/1,529MHz further speeds. Course, you can use the Wattman tool in Radeon Software to budge the card between Vega-specific Power Save, Balanced, and Turbo power profiles, likewise.

Speaking of power, you're going to need an partisan-course of study powerfulness supply to run the Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Incomprehensive Edition. Sapphire recommends three 8-pin power connectors and a stripped of an 850-watt PSU. That's not as excessive as the 1,000W requirement for fusible-cooled Vega 64, simply for comparison, Nvidia suggests a 500W PSU for its similarly powerful GeForce GTX 1080, which only requires ii power pins. Sapphire's overbuilding this card a bit though—the fractional power connector's mostly there to corroborate high-end overclocking. The identity card's power connective circuit includes a fusee protector to keep your hardware investment funds safe in the outcome of a power surge.

Sapphire also changed up the port configuration on the Nitro+ Limited Variant to make it more VR-friendly. While the source models pack a single HDMI port and a trio of DisplayPorts, Lazuline's card has two HDMI ports and ii DisplayPort connections instead.

Okay, now you know everything there is to know astir the Sky-blue Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Modified Edition—except for how it performs in action. Moving on!

Incoming pageboy: Our test system of rules configuration, game benchmarks begin

Our examination system

We tested the Chromatic Nitro+ Radeon RX Vega 64 Modified Edition connected PCWorld's dedicated graphics card benchmark system. Our test bed is loaded with high-ending components to avoid bottlenecks in former parts of the system and render unfettered graphics performance.

Intel's Core i7-5960X with a Corsair Hydro Serial publication H100i winking-loop water cooler ($110 on Amazon).
An Asus X99 Deluxe motherboard.
Corsair's Payback LPX DDR4 memory ($205 on Amazon).
EVGA Supernova 1000 G3 power supply ($200 on Virago).
A 500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD ($140 connected Amazon).
Barbary pirate Crystal Serial 570X case, deemed Full Swot's favorite event of 2016 ($180 on Amazon).
Windows 10 Pro ($180 on Virago).

We're comparing the heavily customized Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Noncomprehensive Edition against AMD's Vega 64 reference duo, the $499 air-cooled RX Vega 64 and $599 liquid-cooled RX Vega 64. (That's advisable pricing; in the real life, Vega cards are virtually impossible to find and, when available, their prices are wildly inflated.) All were benchmarked using the Balanced power profile along the stock BIOS, running AMD's new Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition. To show how the Radeon cards compare against their GeForce counterparts, we've also included results from the $500 GTX 1080 Founders Edition and the PNY GTX 1080 Ti XLR8, which cost $735 before going unavailable across the cyberspace. Chromatic's card is almost the same price, ethical? We prefer to use up reference cards in our reviews, simply our GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition died.

Each game is tested using its in-halt benchmark at the mentioned graphics presets, with VSync, frame grade caps, and whol GPU vendor-taxon technologies—like AMD TressFX, Nvidia GameWorks options, and FreeSync/G-Synchronize—disabled. Given the capabilities of these particular cards, we're testing at 1440p and 4K resolutions alone. They'd all scream at 1080p.

Game benchmarks

The Division

The Division ($50 on Amazon) just received a massive overhaul with its 1.8 update, adding medium-large new sections to the map as well as new PvP and PvE modes. It's a gorgeous tierce-person shooter/RPG that mixes elements ofFateandGears of Warfare, using Ubisoft's Snowdrop engine. We trial the plot in DirectX 11 mode.

Here, we see whatever trends that'll detainment confessedly over most of these benchmarks. AMD has kept plugging away at its drivers since Vega's launch, and now even the reference model holds a very slight lead over the GeForce GTX 1080, whereas before it was very slightly behind, away a simple 1fps in August.

All three Radeon RX Vega cards perform inside a hair of each other at 4K resolution. Things pioneer a little more at 1440p, where the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Variant comes in a few frames quicker than the standard Lope de Vega 64, and a few frames slower than the liquid-cooled Vega 64. That makes sense, As the Nitro+ Limited Edition's upper limit clock speeds falls squarely between the speeds of the two reference cards.

None of AMD's Vega card game, including the $659 Chromatic Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Edition, comes close to challenging Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1080 Ti.

Succeeding page: Ghost Recon: Wildlands

Ghost Recon: Wildlands

Side by side up: Ghost Recon: Wildlands ($60 on Amazon), a stunningly beautiful and notoriously punishing game based on Ubisoft's Incus locomotive engine. The Ultra graphics settings at 4K absolutely kneecaps graphics cards, so we examine at Very Up, which "is targeted to high-end hardware." It's a game that includes some Nvidia GameWorks features, but again, we test with those disabled.

Vega's seen some slight put range improvements in this game since launch, too. The Nitro+ Limited Edition waterfall between the Vega 64 air-cooled and liquid-cooled models one of these days again.

Deus Ex-husband: Mankind Divided

Here's another graphically punishing crippled, but this one favors AMD ironware. Deus X: Mankind Divided ($60 on Amazon) replaces Hitman in our test suite since its Dawn engine is based upon the Glacier Engine at Hitman's affectionateness. We dropped all the way down to the High graphics preset for this one, and tested in DirectX 12 alone As that mode performs better on both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards.

Incoming page: Rise of the Grave Raider

Rise up of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Grave Raider($60 on Steam) tends to perform better on GeForce cards, conversely. It's some other drop-dead beautiful game.

The Vega trio hangs tight with the GeForce GTX 1080 at 4K resolution, simply falls outlying behind when the resolution's dialed back to 1440p.

Next page: Far Cry Primal

Cold Cry Fundamental

Far Cry Primal($55 along Amazon) is yet other Ubisoft game, but it's battery-powered by the latest version of the long-running and well-well-thought-of Dunia engine. It performs well on both AMD and Nvidia hardware. We benchmark the game with the nonobligatory Ultra HD texture pack enabled for high-end cards look-alike these.

Next foliate: Ashes of the Singularity

Ashes of the Uniqueness

Ashes of the Singularity ($40 on Steam), functional on Oxide's custom Azotic engine, was an early standard-holder for DirectX 12, and every these years later o it'sstill the premier gritty for sighted what next-gen graphics technologies have to offer. We test the game exploitation the High nontextual matter setting, as the wildly strenuous Insane and Extreme presets aren't ruminative of real-international usage scenarios.

The Cerulean Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Small Edition waterfall between its siblings yet again. The GTX 1080 destroys AMD's Vega trio in DirectX 11, but Vega goes squared-toe-to-toe with Nvidia's carte in DirectX 12. If you're on Windows 10, that means neither face holds a major advantage; simply if you're on Windows 7, which doesn't support DirectX 12, GeForce is a amend buy for Ashes fans.

Next page: King, heat, and noise

Mogul, heat, and noise

Power

We test power under load by plugging the entire system into a Watts Heavenward measure, running the intensiveDivision benchmark at 4K firmness, and noting the peak power draw. Idle power is measured after seated on the Windows desktop for three minutes with no more redundant programs or processes running.

It's no secret that Vega draws wildly Sir Thomas More office than Nvidia's GeForce cards. And it's none storm that Chromatic's overclocked, LED-ladened, ternary-fan Nitro+ Limited Edition sucks down flatbottomed much juice than the reference cards. But the compromise was worth IT, as you'll understand in the next section.

Heat and noise

We test passion during the same intensiveSection benchmark at a strenuous 4K resolution, by running SpeedFan in the background and noting the maximum GPU temperature once the range is over. These tests are conducted after first performing many benchmark runs so the card game are warmed up.

Look at that temperature. Sapphire's large chilling scheme manages to run chillier than the liquid-cooled Lope de Vega 64! That's downright wild (even though AMD should've slapped a bigger 240mm radiator on its bill). Separate from our formal test, I played Portion 2 for two hours straight on the Nitro+ Limited Variant at 4K resolution with every graphics choice cranked arsenic high as workable, and still the temperature fluctuated betwixt 58 and 59 degrees Celcius. We've ne'er seen an cool card run so cold in this test. All that metal pays off.

IT's hard-hitting on the noise presence, too. The Chromatic Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Edition's fans aren't silent, but they're cursedly quiet, especially if you have IT in a closed showcase, and doubly so if you take in it in a closed case underneath your desk. (The reason we test nontextual matter cards in traditional cases instead than out-of-door test benches is to mystify a smel for real-world use cases.)

Unfortunately, our review sample exhibited a high-inclined coil whine while gaming. The lack of rooter noise might have successful information technology more obvious. It's not so obnoxious that you'd notice it while gaming with music or in-game audio blaring, but you fanny definitely pick up it during menu screens. Interestingly, our liquid-cooled Vega 64 also exhibits coil whine.

Next page: Bottom line

Should you bribe the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Version?

Obnoxious heat and noise levels are the glaring problems with reference Vega 64 graphics card game. AMD's reference mould trades blows with Nvidia's $500 GeForce GTX 1080 in pure performance, but that doesn't matter. Just being in the comparable room as them sucks. Vega's enthusiastically power draw is another drawback, but incomparable that some people frankly don't care about once their PCs are plugged in.

With the Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Moderate Edition, Sapphire rolls up its sleeves, leans into Vega's massive energy draw, and puts the pedal to the metal to tame those core Vega concerns direct sheer animal force. It achieves its goals terrifically. This hulking faun is the graphics card equivalent of a Hummer. We've ne'er seen a high-end GPU hit temperatures this Low, and that includes AMD's liquid-cooled computer hardware. It's whisper repose. It's incredibly attractive. It's loaded with extra features. Hell, IT even comes with a living bracket to facilitate your GPU stay put uncurled and stylish in your case.

But like a Heater, all that luxury comes at a steep price. Vega 64 punches in the GTX 1080's weight down class, simply at $659, the Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Edition lurks closer in price to the $700 to $800 GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, and Nvidia's titan blows it away in sheer performance. Extremely reviewed, extremely customised GTX 1080 artwork cards suchlike the Asus ROG Strix GTX 1080 can be found for $570 on Newegg, and Nvidia's GPU is proven to overclock suchlike a title-holder. Retired of the box, the Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Limited Variation gives you a mild overclock with totally the cooling and power management tools you need to churl clocks through the roof manually, simply that extra performance ISN't guaranteed. AMD's Vega architecture isn't famed for having profuse overclocking headroom, either. Level svelte speed boosts to Lope Felix de Vega Carpio resultant role in large power withdraw leaps.

The Nitro+ Limited Edition's terms will likely climb in short after the poster launches, too. Decent now, you can't noticany within reason priced Vega card game available—Newegg's e-shelves hold a single Vega 64 reference wit for a whopping $680 equally I drop a line this. And Sapphire isn't joking some with the Minor Edition mark. It's not going to eliminate the Nitro+ LE serial when the first run sells out, but new inventory will only if glucinium made when there's a free interruption in the companion's product schedule.

Complete that considered, nearly people would be better bump off buying a GeForce GTX 1080 or GTX 1080 Ti, depending on your necessarily and budget.

Still, at that place will be some people for whom the Nitro+ LE, stinky price and all, is the right option. AMD doesn't charge expose makers to apply its game-smoothing FreeSync technology, so FreeSync monitors lack the hefty upcharge associated with Nvidia G-Sync screens. If you've invested in a high-end 1440p or 4K FreeSync gaming monitor—displays like the 144Hz, 1440p Nixeus EDG 27 ($400 along Amazon) or Samsung's wild 49-inch FreeSync 2 monitor, the CHG90 ($1,175 on Amazon)—then you need a beastly Radeon card to power it. Playing happening a 4K FreeSync Monitor with Sapphire's notice proved mighty delicious indeed.

If you're willing and able to spend the money to reach high-last Radeon ecosystem nirvana, then the astonishingly cool, impressively quiet Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 64 Pocket-sized Edition will contribute you the best Vega 64 experience possible. It's much better than the liquid-cooled Vega 64.

Note: When you purchase something afterwards clicking links in our articles, we may earn a weeny commissioning. Study our affiliate link policy for to a greater extent details.