The VaporX Sapphire HD 7770 GHz OC Edition brings Quiet Overclocking to HD 7000 series

In mid-February of this year, AMD released the HD 7770 on 28nm featuring their new GCN architecture complete with Eyefinity Technology 2.0 and DX11.1. It’s based on AMD’s GPU named “Cape Verde” and its stock core clock is 1GHz.  We evaluated the Sapphire HD 7770 GHz Overclocked edition a month later and we awarded it an ABT Editor’s Choice with the caveat that it appeared to be priced a little optimistically at $169.95 because it competed with AMD’s own strongly discounted and discontinued – and faster – HD 6800 series.

Overall, the Sapphire HD 7770 GHz OverClocked Edition performed very well as it is factory overclocked to 1150/1250MHz and warrantied by Sapphire, and we found out that it could be overclocked even further.  We did suggest that market pricing would soon take effect.  And now you can find this same OverClocked edtion at Newegg for $149 featuring a free game download, and it is still priced only about ten to twenty dollars more than a standard HD 7770 making it a good value.

We are going to focus on the performance of this HD 7770 Vapor-X OC edition agaist the Sapphire GHz OverClocked edition of the HD 7770. We have already compared it to stock HD 7770 performance and it was significantly faster.

To fully round out this performance evaluation, we shall also attempt to overclock the Vapor-X edition further to see if additional gains are possible or if they will even continue to be linear from overclocking to beyond Sapphire’s factory overclock as the GHz SuperOverclock edition did.  It will be interesting to see the performance differences from overclocking the memory versus overclocking the core as these two cards are clocked differently from each other.

Is the Sapphire HD 7770 GHz Overclock Edition and the Vapor-X edition worth about the same price?

–Performance vs. Pricing

The feature set of Sapphire’s HD 7770 Vapor-X Edition is very impressive as listed on Sapphire’s chart at the bottom of this page. However, we also need to compare its $149 pricing versus performance and we shall use our last evaluation of the Sapphire GHz Overclock edition as the standard.

In the last couple of months, higher performing cards such as AMD’s HD 6870 have reached their end of life and have been discounted to clear the retail channels. They are now much harder to find than when we published our HD 7770 evaluation two months ago.  We will attempt to give you a snapshot of today’s market and where the Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X edition sits in regards to performance and value especially regarding the GHz OverClocked edition.

We put our Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X editon through its paces last week with the very latest Catalyst 12.4 drivers. This driver mostly brought some very minor performance increases over the last WHQL Catalyst driver set.  In the past two months, we have also upgraded our Intel CPU platform from Core i7-920/X58 at 4.2GHz to Core i7-3770K/Z77 at stock clocks of 3.5GHz (3.9GHz with Turbo Boost), so the two CPU platforms are approximately equal.

We now bench with 18 modern games and with 3 synthetic benchmarks, and we generally use 1920×1200 and 1680×1050 resolutions with an emphasis on DX11 games – 2 DX9, 5 DX10, and 11 DX11 games. Since we are comparing two entry- to mid-level enthusiast GPU video cards, it makes sense to test them at their highest playable resolutions and with the most demanding playable settings that they can handle. We will attempt to find playable settings bearing in mind that the cards that we are testing are aimed approximately at 1920×1080 resolution and are priced around $150.

Specifications and System Requirements

From Sapphire’s website:

As you can see, the system requirements are modest.  What is not mentioned is that a 550W PSU might be a good idea to power two HD 7770s in CrossFire.

 

Features:

Here are the Sapphire HD 7770 GHz Vapor-X Edition’s features as found on Sapphire’s web site:

	Dual-Link DVIEquipped with the most popular Dual Link DVI (Digital Visual Interface), this card is able to display ultra high resolutions of up to 2560 x 1600 at 60Hz.

	HDMI (with 3D)Support for Deep Color, 7.1 High Bitrate Audio, and 3D Stereoscopic, ensuring the highest quality Blu-ray and video experience possible from your PC.

	DisplayPortEnjoy the benefits of the latest generation display interface, DisplayPort. With the ultra high HD resolution, the graphics card ensures that you are able to support the latest generation of LCD monitors.

	DisplayPort 1.2Doubling the effective bandwidth of previous DisplayPort implementations, DisplayPort 1.2 now includes support for Multi-Stream, allowing you to drive up to four separate monitors from a single DisplayPort 1.2 connector (requires DP1.2 monitors or Multi-Stream compatible hub), Stereoscopic 3D monitor support  and adds support for high quality, lossless, 7.1 channel audio formats.

	Advanced GDDR5 Memory TechnologyGDDR5 memory provides twice the bandwidth per pin of GDDR3 memory, delivering more speed and higher bandwidth.

	Vapor-X Technology SAPPHIRE’s innovative Vapor-X cooling technology allows products to run not only cooler but also much quieter.  A Vapor-X product means a virtually silent gaming experience and more headroom to explore performance tweaking

Black Diamond Choke & Full Solid Cap DesignChoke is an important component of the graphics card. By working with the component engineer, Sapphire’s patent pending choke is 10% cooler and offers 25% more power efficiency than a normal choke. The graphics card will be more reliable and save energy.Improved reliability and better overclocking are possible by using only high-polymer, aluminum capacitors which posses far superior characteristics than regular aluminum capacitor for a longer product life. When operational temperatures drop by 20°C, the product life span is extended by a factor of ten, when the operational temperature increases by 20°C, the product life span only decreases by 10%.

	AMD HD3D TechnologyEnjoy the most immersive experience possible with full support for High Definition Stereoscopic 3D, a technique that presents 2D images (movies, games, photos) in a format that creates the illusion of three-dimensional depth when using compatible 3D displays / glasses / software.

28 nm GCN (Graphic Core Next) ArchitectureThe new and 28nm GCN Architecture with more efficient process technology puts more transistors in less space, enabling a dramatic increase in Processing Power. Crank the settings, devastate your enemies and bear witness to absurdly high frame rates with AMD Radeon HD7000 series graphics card-DirectX 11 has never looked this good. Maximum setting and crazy performance shouldn’t be a compromise. The AMD Radeon HD7900 Series with the new 28 nm GCN Architecture assures that it’s not.

	PCI Express 3.0PCI-Express 3.0 delivers double the bandwidth per lane of PCIe Gen 2 for faster GPU (GPU communication-up to 16GB/sec in each direction), maximizing the performance from your GPU when paired with the latest platforms.

AMD Eyefinity 2.0The next generation of AMD Eyefinity technology is here, featuring all-new support for stereo 3D, universal bezel compensation and brand new display configurations. Face it: the best just got better: The enhancements for AMD Radeon HD7000 series include: Stereo 3D-multi-display stereoscopic 3D support via DisplayPort 16K X 16K maximum display group resolution-output up to 268 megapixels per GPU.*To support 3 displays, one of the monitors has to support DisplayPort **When running Microsoft Windows XP, Eyefinity technlogy supports a maximum of 2 displays.

	Enhanced Multi-GPU CapabilitiesTriple or quadruple gaming power with AMD CrossFireX Multi-GPU technology. Increase your gaming performance up to 2x with AMD CrossFire technology, 2.75x for TriFire configurations, or with QuadFire configurations. With AMD ZeroCore Power Technology, the graphics card in slave modes will be switched off in idle to maximize the power saving.

	Discrete Digital Multi-Point AudioThe AMD Redeon HD 7900 Series is the first GPU that can simultaneously output multiple and discrete audio streams via HDMI and DisplayPort Output.

	GHz EditionThe gigahertz barrier has been broken. Armed with a stunning 1GHz GPU based on the revolutionary GCN Architecture, the AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 GHz Edition (Selected model) is quite simply engineered to annihilate.

	Shader Model 5.0Supports the latest Shader Model 5.0 feature set including VTF (Vertex Texture Fetch) which is a key feature used extensively in many of the games that ship today. Without support for this feature the game will fall back to a lesser shader path resulting in the loss of cool, lifelike effects made possible by Shader Model 5.0

	OpenGL 4.2OpenGL 4.2 improves the GPU efficiency by improving the shader process operation and capturing GPU tessellated geometry. The process of modifying an arbitrary subset of compress texture is also simplified. The memory management in handling shaders is more efficient as well.

	Best Microsoft DirectX11 SupportThe tessellation performance on AMD Radeon HD7000 is up to 2X faster than the previous generation, and DirectCompute performance is also faster to accelerate advanced post-processing, filtering, and anti-aliasing techniques. Direct X11 games has never looked this good.

	AMD Catalyst Control Center™The AMD Catalyst Control Center™ software application gives you complete control over the performance and visual quality of your SAPPHIRE AMD Radeon™ based graphics card allowing for the best experience on your PC.

	Dolby® TrueHD and DTSHD Master Audio™ SupportSupport for copy protected, high bandwidth, 7.1 channel surround sound over HDMI. Get a fully immersive, high definition audio experience with the latest Blu-ray movies. (Requires a DVI to HDMI dongle on some models, an HD capable monitor and a Blu-ray drive)

	Display FlexibilityOffers an incredible choice of the latest display connectivity options natively on the board, including dual-link DVI-I, DisplayPort and HDMIalong with adapters to ensure compatibility with your legacy analogue VGA monitor.

	Microsoft Office 2010Take advantage of improved picture and media editing capabilities in Office 2010 as well as edit and share your content in real time.See more, and get more done. Enhanced productivity with accelerated GPU processing for Office applications.

	Windows® 7 supportWHQL (Windows Hardware Quality Labs) Certified drivers and logos are available for all SAPPHIRE HD2000, HD3000, HD4000 and HD5000 series cards ensuring compatibility and reliability with Microsoft Windows 7.

	AMD PowerPlay with ZeroCore Power TechnologyAMD PowerPlay is a power management technology in response to the GPU loading, AMD PowerPlay automatically manages the power consumption. AMD RADEON HD7000 Series with AMD ZeroCore Power Technology, the power consumption can be as low as less than 3 Watt when idle, making the best use of power.

	Accelerated Internet Applications RenderingThe new AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series accelerates the rendering performance with the latest web browsers (IE10, Firefox 6) and programming interfaces (Direct2D, HTML5, WebGL, Flash 11 / Molehill).

AMD HD Media AcceleratorAMD HD Media Accelerator has been designed to help optimize and dramatically improve video playback on your computer by taking advantage of hardware video acceleration from your AMD Radeon GPU. With full 3D stereoscopic decode you can enjoy it all in 3D. AMD HD Media Accelerator speeds up the decode of one 1080p and one 1080i HD video streams simultaneously by hardware, and the new hardware encodes/transcoder processes your media content faster than ever!

	Cutting-edge Quad HD display support (4K Support)The display resolution on AMD Radeon HD7000 series is quadrupled to the resolution of 4KX2K( 4096X2160 ) from the outputs of DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI.

Here is what stands out that may differentiate this product from the other HD 7770s and even Sapphire’s own GHz OverClock edition.

SAPPHIRE’s innovative Vapor-X cooling technology allows products to run not only cooler but also much quieter.  A Vapor-X product means a virtually silent gaming experience and more headroom to explore performance tweaking !

We see awesome features and we are eager to get to benching the Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X Edition. First, let’s unbox it.

 

–~~~~~~~~~~~~–

Unboxing the Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X edition

The Vapor-X Sapphire HD 7770 OC edition comes in a box with a fully-armed G.I. Jane type of picture that emphasises that Sapphire means business with this Vapor-X card. 1GB GGR5, high-speed HDMI and a substantial overclock stand out to catch the consumer’s eye at retail.

Clearly the box emphasizes the cool and cooling aspects of Vapor-X by having their mascott dressed for Arctic conditions.  However, the box art design frankly pales in comparison with the Sapphire HD 7770 GHz OverClock edition; we have our first “win” for the OverClock edition:

The other side of the Vapor-X box is dedicated to another view of Sapphire’s mascott and to the card’s features. The potential buyer at retail can see what is included with the HD 7770 – assorted cables , the driver CD and the quickstart manual.  It advises, “Stay Cool and chilled with the SAPPHIRE HD 7770 Vapor-X”

The end panels are pretty plain although the specifications are on one panel.  Opening the box, we see that everything is well-packed and the Vapor-X HD 7770 card itself comes in an anti-static foam-protected envelope.

Here is everything out of the box.

We see a single molex to 6-pin PCIe connector which suggests that this card is very light on power usage. Included is a HDMI cable, a DVI to VGA adapter, a HDMI to mini adaptor and a CrossFire bridge for pairing up the performance of two HD 7770s.

Sapphire has created a well-designed, good-looking card with twin cooling fans.  This is a significant difference from the the GHz OverClock edition which sports a large single fan in the center. There is a single DVI connector, DisplayPort connector and two mini HDMI connectors common to both cards

.

Sapphire has added extra cooling to the card in the form of heatpipes to keep the overclock stable. There is a single 6-pin PCIe connection.

Turning the card over …

This card is easy to fit into any mid-tower and even into smaller cases as the card is physically short at about eight and one-quarter inches long.  The card is packed well and looks great!

Let’s take a look at our test system before we benchmark the Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X edition against the Sapphire HD 7770 GHz OverClock edition.

Our test system

Test Configuration

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i7-3770K (reference 3.50 GHz); Turbo is on to 3.9GHz.
• Gigabyte Z77MX-DH3 (Intel Z77 chipset, latest BIOS, PCIe 3.0 specification; CrossFire/SLI 8x+8x).
• 4 GB OCZ DDR3 PC 1800 Kingston RAM (2×2 GB, dual-channel at 1200MHz; supplied by Kingston)
• Sapphire HD 7770 GHz Vapor-X Edition (1 GB, 1100/1300MHz; also overclocked), supplied by Sapphire
• Sapphire HD 7770 GHz OC Edition (1 GB, 1150/1250MHz), supplied by Sapphire
• Onboard Realtek Audio
• 240GB Kingston HyperX SSD, supplied by Kingston
• Thermaltake ToughPower 775 W power supply unit supplied by Thermaltake
• Cooler Master Elete 439 Case, supplied by Cooler Master
• Noctua NH-DH14 CPU Cooler, supplied by Noctua
• Philips DVD SATA writer
• HP LP3065 2560×1600 thirty inch LCD

Test Configuration – Software

• AMD Catalyst 12-4 used for all cards.
• Windows 7 64-bit; very latest updates
• DirectX July/November 2010
• All games are patched to their latest versions.
• vsync is forced off in the control panel.
• Varying AA enabled as noted on the charts; all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied if possible; 16xAF forced in control panel for Crysis.
• All results show average frame rates.
• Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.
• Windows 7 64, all DX9 titles were run under DX9 render paths, DX10 titles were run under DX10 render paths and DX11 titles under DX11 render paths.

The Benchmarks

As with all of our other games, in-game settings are maxed except where noted and levels of AA are noted on the performance summary charts. Resolutions used are 1920×1200 and 1680×1050.

• Vantage
• 3DMark 11
•  Heaven 3.0
• Serious Sam, 3 BFE
• Left 4 Dead 2
• Crysis
• World in Conflict
• Far Cry 2
• Just Cause 2
• Alien vs. Predator
• Battleforge
• STALKER, Call of Pripyat
• F1 2010
• Metro 2033
• Lost Planet 2
• H.A.W.X. 2
• Civilization 5
• Crysis 2
• DiRT 3
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Batman: Arkham City

Let’s head to our benchmarks.

Performance Charts, Overclocking, and Noise

Overclocking and temperatures

Both the Sapphire HD 7770 GHz OverClock and Vapor-X Editions always ran cool and quiet due to their custom cooling and superb tuning at the factory. Even at the maximum overclock, the fan still did not ramp up loudly and one would not be irritated by even 70% if they used a manual profile.

The card sips power due to using just one 6-pin PCIe slot and takes advantage of the smaller 28nm process. In both cases, we were able to achieve a small core overclock, and no fan adjustment allowed it to go higher as each card was still running cool, so we kept the stock fan profiles for them in our testing.

Overclocking

Overclocking was easily accomplished using Sapphire’s own TriXX software

This is actually the first time that we used TriXX and it compares favorably with other vendor’s perhaps more well-known software.  It allows some voltage tweaking and we set ours to the maximum when we overclocked.  We did not adjust the fan profile as the card stayed cool under maximum load; we would have liked more voltage.  Surprisingly, Sapphire makes no mention of TriXX on their CD or the Vapor-X box although you can find it on their web site.

We got a very nice overclock on our Vapor-X memory to 1375MHz which was far more than we attempted with our OC Edition. Unfortunately, our sample of the Vapor-X HD 7770 could not quite make the 1200MHz that our OC edition managed (1200/1250MHz) so we settled on 1175/1375MHz as our highest stable overclock in all conditions still using the ultra-silent stock fan profile.

If the end user wants a bit more overclocking headroom or perhaps to stabilize an overclock, they have the option to increase the fan speeds and still have very quiet gaming.  About 60% is where it first starts to become noticeable on either card.  Other than that, the dual-fan solution of the Vapor-X is effectively silent during gaming.  It is very slightly quieter than the OverClock edition which is already a quiet running card.

Vapor-X technology and Noise

Vapor-X Technology is covered thoroughly on Sapphire’s web site.  Vapor Chamber Technology is based on the same principles as heatpipe technology. A liquid coolant – water in the Vapor-X 7770’s case – is vaporised at a hot surface, the resulting vapor is condensed at a cold surface, and then the cooled liquid is returned to the hot surface as controlled by a wick system.

Sapphire’s Vapor-X flattens the entire system into a slim chamber which is designed to contact the GPU.  Since the chamber is evacuated to a very low pressure, the water vaporisation process occurs at a much lower temperature than its normal boiling point. The card can be used in any orientation due to the flexible design of the wick system.

Here is how it works from Sapphire’s own diagram and explanation as found on their site:

 

1. Heat source heats Vaporization Wicks.
2. Working fluid, pure water, is easily vaporized due to the extreme low pressure (<104 Tor or less)
3. Water vapor moves easily through the vacuum until
4. It meets the Condensing Wick – adjacent to the cooled surface – and turns back to a liquid state.
5. The liquid is then absorbed by the Transportation Wick by capilary action and moved back towards the Vaporization Wick.
6. The recycled liquid is then reheated and re-vaporized by the Vaporization Wick and the process repeats.

The heat source is the overclocked and hot Cape Verde graphics chip and Sapphire’s Vapor-X module is mounted in contact with it as its entire surface transfers the heat into the cooling fins at the same rate, making it more efficient than most copper heatskinks.  Two dual-fans then work to transfer cooling air through the fins and to keep the surface of the Vapor-X module cool.

The result is a cool running Vapor-X HD 7770 even when overclocked.  And because it is cool-running, the fan’s rpm can remain lower and thus your card is very quiet even under load as we have noted.

 

Performance Charts

Before we look specifically at the performance of the new Sapphire Vapor-X HD 7770, let’s review the position the Sapphire’s GHz OverClocked edition  (1150MHz/1250MHz) occupies versus a reference HD 7770 (1000/1125MHz), and also overclocked to 1200/1250MHz.  In that evaluation, we also compared the OverClocked Edition against the GTX 550 Ti, the GTX 560 and the GTX 560 Ti, as well as AMD’s own discounted HD 6870 and the HD 6770 that the HD 7770 is replacing.

The Vapor-X Edition will also generally fit in where the 1150/1250MHz HD 7770 fits in (2nd column) to give you an idea of general performance versus the competion.  The ranking will not change with the Vapor-X edition although there may be a slight variation in the numbers as we shall see when we compare directly to the GHz OverClock edition.

As we can see from our charts, most of our games show the HD 7770 losing to last generation’s now discontnued HD 6870 and to the GTX 560. The HD 7770 only comes fairly close to them performance-wise in a few games and we can surmize that the HD 7770 would be closer to the HD 6850’s performance. Mostly the HD 7770 comes in ahead of HD 6770, and trades blows with the GTX 550 Ti, the Radeon winning more than it loses. The GTX 560 Ti certainly outclasses them but then it is much more expensive.

Now let’s look very specifically at the performance of the HD 7770 Vapor-X edition versus the performance of the OverClocked edition.

Vapor-X vs. OC edition

The first column represents the Vapor-X HD 7770 GHz OC edition out of the box experience with the latest Catalyst 12.4 drivers. The second column represents the out of the box experience with the HD 7770 GHz OverClock edition under identical conditons.  The third column represents our Vapor-X HD 7770 user-overclocked as far as we could go with the maximum voltage under Sapphire’s TriXX but with the stock fan profile; from the Sapphire reference clocks of 1100/1300MHz to 1175/1375MHz, and way up over AMD’s HD 7770 reference clocks of 1000/1125MHz.

In most cases, the stock Vapor-X HD 7770 is edged out by the GHz OverClock editon until it is overclocked and then in all cases, it is faster.  Of course. the OverClock editon still has some headroom, so the performance edge will mostly swing back to it.  In most cases, there is little performance difference and the main concern for most gamers will be the Vapor-X’ features and its extra quietness compared to the GHz OverClock editon.

Overclocking and temperatures

The Vapor-X Sapphire HD 7770 GHz OC Edition always ran cool and quiet due to its custom cooling and superb tuning at the factory. Even at the maximum overclock, the fans still did not ramp up loudly and one would not be irritated by even 70% if they used a manual profile.  The Vapor-X edition maintained temperatures in the mid to upper 60sC where the OverClocked edition would edge into the low 70sC.  Unfortunately, this made no difference to the overclock because the voltage is rather locked down by TriXX.

The card sips power due to using just one 6-pin PCIe slot and takes advantage of the smaller 28nm process. We were able to achieve only+50MHz more on the Vapor-X’ core and no fan adjustment allowed it to go higher as it was still running cool, so we kept the stock fan profile.

 

 

Conclusion

This has been quite an enjoyable exploration for us in evaluating the Sapphire Vapor-X OC edition versus the GHz OverClock edition. We always like more overclocked performance especially for DX11 gaming and we see that these sub-$150 cards also offer great features for a similar price to the HD 5770s at their own launch and we have already seen pricing adjustments and game bundles as incentives.

If the end user prefers a slightly quieter card with two fans, the Vapor-X card becomes their first choice.  We did not find a lot of headroom difference between either of these cards as they are already well-overclocked from Sapphire.  And when these factory-overclocked and warrantied cards are compared to reference cards selling for ten to twenty dollars less, the far more sophisticated cooling system is easily worth the difference.

The HD 7770 has become a better value recently when you consider AMD’s own current midrange HD 6870 and 6850 are much harder to find and less disconted than when we performed our original evaluation.   And as replacement for the HD 5770/HD6770, it affords a decent level of performance especially in the case of the overclocked Sapphire.   In fact, the Sapphire HD 7770 GHz OC edition also dropped $20 in price to $149 and now includes a bundled game at NewEgg.  At the time of writing, the Vapor-X edition has not yet showed up at either Amazon nor at Newegg and it’s suggested price is also $149.

Overclocking is the HD 7770’s saving grace regarding performance and this appears to be true with the entire 7000 series. Best of all, the Sapphire Vapor-X edition offers a guaranteed optimum overclock for only about $10-$20 more than the stock HD 7770s.  The HD 7770 is a decent gaming choice with the Sapphire GHz OverClock and Vapor-X OC editions leading the way at the $150 price point.

Of course looking a bit further into the future, we will have to see what Nvidia will bring to the table with their own 28nm new architecture Kepler GPUs.  At this point, the HD 7800 and HD 7700 series are unchallenged at 28nm.

We see that AMD’s partners and especially Sapphire, are working on features and unique capabilities to put cool and quiet overclocked HD 7770s on the market to give us great choice. We see quiet cards that can also play DX11.1 games at 1080P and the HD 7770 would also be a very good choice for a HTPC. So let’s look at the Pros and Cons of Sapphire’s Vapor-X HD 7770 GHz OC edition:

Pros

• The Sapphire Vapor-X HD 7770 GHz OC edition is a versatile card that can be used for moderate DX11 1080p gaming or even as a HTPC card – “all-in-one” – it is that quiet!
• The dual-fan Vapor-X HD 7770 offers a cooler and quieter running overclocked video card even over the already quiet single-fan GHz OverClock edition
• Sapphire’s Vapor-X HD 7700 GHz OC edition offers a great value over stock HD 7770s as it features guaranteed and warrantied overclocking at its performance sweet spot.

Cons

• There is almost no further headroom for overclocking and the performance of the Vapor-X editon is not higher than the OverClock editon.

The Verdict:

• If you are buying a $150 video card right now and must have a quiet-running highly overclocked card, the Sapphire Vapor-X HD 7770 GHz OC Edition is the card for you. It makes sense to get a flawlessly overclocked factory-warrantied card that will maximize every last bit of performance out of your HD 7770.

We do not know what the future will bring, but the Sapphire Vapor-X HD 7770 GHz OC edition brings top performance to the Radeon HD 7770 family right now. This editor believes that AMD, and especially Sapphire, bring very full-featured DX11.1 videocards to the market that will find good acceptance among customers and their fans alike. As a top performer in the HD 7770 series, the Sapphire Vapor-X HD 7770 GHz OC edition deserves our ABT Editor’s Innovation Award for bringing vapor chamber technology and quietness to overclocked HD 7000 series first.

If you currently game on an older generation video card, you will do yourself a big favor by upgrading. The move to a factory overclocked Sapphire HD 7770 will give you better visuals on the DX11.1 pathway and you are no doubt thinking of CrossFire-X if you want to get even higher performance.  We will test out HD 7770 CrossFire in an upcoming evaluation.  Power draw is excellent and the card is quiet.  And if you don’t want to bother with overclocking yourself – often requiring an aftermarket cooler to maximize it – the Vapor-X OC edition is an excellent choice as Sapphire has done all of the work for you with a fully warrantied card.

The competition is hot as the prices on even the new video cards have softened and Nvidia offers their own set of features including PhysX, CUDA and 3D Vision with their competing GTX 550 Ti and GTX 560. Their own new mid-range and entry-level 28nm line up is also due to launch relatively soon. Stay tuned, there is a lot coming from us at ABT including the wrap up on Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference, a Noctua NH-DH14 CPU cooler evaluation in our quest for 5GHz with Ivy Bridge, and more mobile tech evaluations.

Mark Poppin

ABT Senior Editor

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«1. Introduction2. Unboxing3. Test configuration4. Performance Charts, Overclocking and Temps5. Conclusion6. View All»