Sapphire HD 7750 Low Profile edition – for mini-HTPC and light DX11 gaming
Performance Charts, Overclocking, and Noise
Overclocking and temperatures
The Sapphire HD 7750 Low Profile Edition always ran cool and quiet. Even at its maximum overclock, the fan still did not ramp up loudly using the automatic profile. Highest temperatures we noted were 60C under maximum load at stock and 65C when overclocked and under maximum load.
The card sips power due to using just the PCIe slot and takes advantage of the smaller 28nm process. In all cases, we were able to achieve a very good core overclock from 800MHz to 950Mhz, and the memory was able to overclock from 1125MHz to 1300MHz. We actually were able to achieve 1350MHz stably, but performance increased no further after 1300MHz and we used the lower overclock.
Overclocking
Overclocking was easily accomplished using Sapphire’s own TriXX software
TriXX compares favorably with other vendor’s perhaps more well-known software. It allows some voltage tweaking with the HD 7770s that we received from Sapphire but not with the HD 7750 Low Profile editon.
We set our Board Power slider to the maximum +20% including when we overclocked. However, we did not adjust the fan profile as the card stayed cool under maximum load. We would have liked more voltage but it isn’t practical to offer it without also supplying an external PCIe power connector. Surprisingly, Sapphire makes no mention of TriXX on their CD nor on the box although you can find it on their web site.
We got a very nice overclock on our HD 7750’s memory to 1300MHz and although it remained artifact free beyond 1350MHz, performance did not increase past 1300MHz. We settled on 950/1300MHz as our highest stable overclock in all conditions still using the ultra-silent stock fan profile. Sapphire’s TriXX allows overclocks well past AMD’s CCC limits of 925/1250MHz.
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 50% is where it first starts to become noticeable. Other than that, the small single-fan solution of the Low Profile edition is effectively silent during gaming. It is quieter than either Sapphire HD 7770s which are already very quiet running cards.
The Sapphire HD 7750 Low Profile edition is very well suited for HTPC and for mini-cases. How well does it perform in modern games both at stock and at overclocked speeds? The performance charts are next.
Performance Charts
The first column represents the Sapphire Low Profile HD 7750 at out of the box reference HD 7750 speeds (800/1125MHz) and in the third column it is overclocked to 950/1300MHz. The second column represents a stock-clocked GTX 550 Ti which is Nvidia’s closest competitor in terms of both performance and price. The fourth column is a stock-clocked HD 7770 and in the last column it is Sapphire’s VaporX HD 7770 GHz OC edition at 1100/1300MHz. By these comparisons, we can compare the HD 7750’s performance scaling with clockspeed as well as to its Nvidia GTX 550 Ti competitor.
Generally, the GTX 550 Ti is a bit faster than the HD 7750 although overclocking goes a long way to making up many deficits and in some cases, overclocking turns the tables completely. We also see that the stock HD 7770 outclasses the stock HD 7750 although in many cases, overclocking the HD 7750 brings it much closer to stock HD 7770 performance. And we can see that scaling with clockspeed is very good for both the HD 7750 and HD 7770.
The Sapphire HD 7750 Low Profile edition is not a gaming powerhouse but it does provide decent framerates in many DX11 games as well as serving a dual and unique purpose as being a mini low profile video card that is specifically designed to work in mini-PCs and HTPCs.
