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Sapphire HD 2900 XT 1GB review

3K views 58 replies 26 participants last post by  Vagrant Storm 
#1 ·
Don't know if this is posted i haven't seen it. Here is the link http://www.****************/reviews....e_hd_2900_xt/1
overclock3d .net is the site

Quote:


The Sapphire HD 2900 XT is a nice card and the 2900 XT is, in my eyes, a good solid release from ATI/AMD. In our game tests the results were mixed with the ATI offering often beating the nVidia 8800's out of the door as regards FPS, especially in Oblivion. The HD2900 XT also showed it's colours in the Futuremark suite, scoring some nice numbers there.

However, one does wonder if it was enough to release a card that merely competed with nVidia's mid-high range cards. It's certainly left the market wide open, giving customers more choice, but has it given them motivation to buy an ATI branded product? I'm not so sure.

Looking at bundle and pricing, the card stands out here. With a great bundle for what you are paying it's sure to grab a few people's attention. The fantastic software on offer will tempt those looking for the complete bundle and at around £240ish (see recommended retailers below), you are getting decent value for money.

 
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#2 ·
For once theres something nice to say about the 2900XT. Everyone seems to think is sucks...I want one.
 
#5 ·
None of the posted links work for me. ***?
I will be getting one of these soon, so I wonder how it performs.....I may wait for the 65nm versions....hoping less power leakage.
http://www.****************/reviews....e_hd_2900_xt/8
I dunno...it censored my URL too. Just google the first paragraph and it's the first hit at ****************
I guess OCN admins don't like that site
That was an issue at guru3d forums, where their immature dork proprietor censored every single reference to Tweaktown forums. What are we in Nazi Germany!

Quote:


The one major difference you will notice in the HD 2900 XT is that there is a heatsink wrapped around the rear of the card. Undoubtedly this is to cool the memory, power management chips and take heat away from the PCB. This is actually very effective and the 2900XT is certainly a lot less hot than it's 8800GTS/GTX rival.


Quote:


Pro's

+ Good solid performance
+ Cool running card
+ Great looking
+ Excellent bundle
+ Decent overclocking

Well I'll be darned!
 
#10 ·
Quote:


Having said that, the cooler on the 2900XT is well designed with everything cooler that needs to be. There is a pretty chunky piece of copper contacting with the core and ATI seems to have used a decent amount of good quality thermal paste on the core itself. Reaching 45°C idle and 57°C loaded up with ATI Tool and RTHDRIBL (ambient 23°C), the cooler does it's job and those heatpipes are effective at removing the heat.

Wow I have heard from 2900xt owners that the card doesn't run as hot as some people say (I guess NVidia lovers...) but I officially wash my hands of that nonsense. THere is nothing wrong with those temps!
 
#12 ·
Yea I wasn't able to find a review of the Sapphire 1Gb a few days ago, so I enjoyed it. Thanks!
 
#13 ·
#19 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by Wheezy Baby
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I do not know why but oc3d has been censored from ocn for a while. It has happened before but I do not know the reason.

That was me.

It was deleted by the admins and I was told not to mention the site again.
Expect this thread to disappear
 
#23 ·
That's a review of the 512MB version right? There's nothing on the review that indicates that it is the 1GB version.
 
#24 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by binormalkilla
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Wow I have heard from 2900xt owners that the card doesn't run as hot as some people say (I guess NVidia lovers...) but I officially wash my hands of that nonsense. THere is nothing wrong with those temps!

The Nvidia owners are just being logical. The 2900XT sucks up _ amount of power, so you would naturally have to dissipate _ amount of heat. Plus it's 90nm so it has to be inefficient


Truth is this thing doesn't seem to be running noticeably hotter than any other high end PC component. I can't comment on how hot it's running compared to my 7900GT because I've only ever had it hooked up with a Tidewater, whereas I still have my 2900XT running stock. When I can afford to crossfire this thing, I will set up a real loop - not trusting the tidewater with this one.
 
#25 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by Jarhead
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The Nvidia owners are just being logical. The 2900XT sucks up _ amount of power, so you would naturally have to dissipate _ amount of heat. Plus it's 90nm so it has to be inefficient


Truth is this thing doesn't seem to be running noticeably hotter than any other high end PC component. I can't comment on how hot it's running compared to my 7900GT because I've only ever had it hooked up with a Tidewater, whereas I still have my 2900XT running stock. When I can afford to crossfire this thing, I will set up a real loop - not trusting the tidewater with this one.

There was a review where the x2900xt used less power then the 8800 series (can't remember if it was at idle or load).
 
#26 ·
Supposedly these 2900XTs were supposed to run in the 250ish range, but they may throttle back better than an 8800. At the moment though all that I really care about is that my rig chews up and spits out CoH and Oblivion.
 
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