14 DAY TRIAL // Sapphire Technology, a leading graphics card maker, has recently announced the introduction of its new Vapor-X Series of graphics cards, offering new versions of the Radeon HD 4870 and HD 4850. The new cards are built on the same PCB as the company's current models, but sport the new Vapor-X cooling solution, said to enable a quieter, more efficient cooling over AMD's mainstream performance graphics processing units. The new Vapor-X Series comes with a new, distinct design, which combines both great looks and high performance.
According to the company the new Sapphire HD 4870 Vapor-X Edition offers a choice of either a whopping 2GB or 1GB of GDDR5 memory, with the clock frequencies set to work at 750MHz and 900MHz for the GPU and memory. The mainstream performance Sapphire HD 4850 Vapor-X Edition comes with a total of 512MB of GDDR3 memory, clocked at 993MHz, while the GPU core speed has been set to a cool 625MHz.
Both cards are built using solid capacitors and the Sapphire 'Diamond Black' heatsink, enabling a higher level of efficiency and a more reliable operation. According to Sapphire, the Diamond Black choke with integral heatsink is 10 percent cooler and 25 percent more power efficient than regular chokes.
The Vapor-X cooling solution is based on a Vapor Chamber Technology that has the same principles as heatpipe technology. The solution works with a liquid coolant that is vaporized at a hot surface, with the resulting vapor then being condensed at a cold surface, and the liquid then returned to the hot surface. This process takes place inside an evacuated chamber that is controlled by a wick system.
Price-wise the new Vapor-X Radeon HD 4850 can be found for approximately 150 Euros, while the 1GB and 2GB versions of the Radeon HD 4870 cards go for about 220 Euros and 250 Euros, respectively.
