Now that Advanced Micro Devices launched yet another DirectX 11-capable graphics card, the ATI Radeon HD 5570, hardware manufacturers are naturally following suite with their own devices. MSI has already launched its version and Sapphire is once again ready to match that offering with not one but two Radeon HD 5570 adapters. Low profile cards for the mainstream market, the two Sapphire HD 5570 graphics cards have specs similar to the reference card but different connectivity capabilities.

The graphics processing unit of each of the new DirectX 11-capable adapters runs at a clock frequency of 650, whereas the 1GB GDDR3 memory has a frequency of 1800MHz and a 128-bit interface. All models feature 400 stream processors, ATI Stream technology and native CrossFire support that, for the 5500 series, can be achieved through the driver alone, with no additional interconnect required.

DirectX 11 provides advanced video features such as DirectCompute 11 instructions and tessellation, but this is not the only asset of the cards. Besides, also supporting DirectX10.1, DirectX 10 and DirectX 9.0 games and applications, the two adapters also boast video acceleration through the ATI Stream technology as well as the on board hardware UVD (Unified Video Decoder). These two considerably reduce CPU load and smoothly decode Blu-ray and HD DVD content for MPEG files, as well as VC-1 and H.264 codecs. Not only that but all the Sapphire 5000 series cards boast enhancements to the UVD, by means of which they can decode two 1080p HD video streams simultaneously and are able to display HD video in high quality with Windows Aero mode enabled.

The two models offered by Sapphire are distinguished from each other through their video output options. One has D-Sub, HDMI and DVI, while the other has D-Sub, DVI and DisplayPort connectors. Even so, however, both cards support Eyefinity. The SAPPHIRE 100293DP Radeon HD 5570 with DisplayPort is already being listed with a tag of $82.99.