Connect 3D and Sapphire Blizzard Radeon X1900 XTX
by Josh Venning on April 10, 2006 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Final Words
We've talked a lot about ATI's X1900 series lately, and it just happens to be the kind of graphics card that people like hearing about. The X1900 XTX is one of the most powerful cards available at the time of this writing, and it's going to be impressive no matter how it comes from the manufacturer. For those interested in a reliable, good quality X1900 XTX Connect3D's version will certainly do the job, but the Blizzard X1900 XTX arguably does it a little better and with a bit more panache.
Whether or not water cooled cards like this will be more than a novelty is yet to be seen, but this one manages to work well, install easily, and look good doing it. It does have its drawbacks though. We already mentioned that it is a bit of a power hog, which is a red flag for many PC users. Also, while we didn't find any specific problems with heat, the water reservoir and radiator of the Blizzard are likely less effective than other solutions due to their location and size. A larger reservoir with a radiator external to the case can do a better job, first because more water means the ability to store more heat, and second because eventually the air flowing over the radiator would be warmer inside the case than out. We also found that care had to be taken when installing the card, as the hoses were somewhat fragile and space may be an issue as it tends to fill up the inside of the case (though not a lot more than any other X1900 XTX).
There area few other concerns with water cooling as well. First, water and electronics are not good bedfellows, so anyone that moves their computer around a lot will want to exercise extra caution. We also wouldn't mind seeing a water cooling solution that did something for the GPU RAM as well as the GPU core. That second point leads us into our final comment: while the detached radiator connected to the GPU via two hoses does offer a bit more flexibility in terms of where you locate the radiator, it might be better overall to simply go with an attached water radiator and a traditional two-slot design. That way you eliminate the possibility of damaging or crimping the hoses, there's less chance for developing a leak, and you can easily cover the RAM as well as the GPU core.
The Blizzard isn't perfect, but few products are. While we weren't able to overclock it higher than some of the other X1900 XTXs in the past, we still got a fairly high overclock, and the factory overclock alone is a plus to this package. Other positive things are the fact that it does run much more quietly than other X1900 XTXs, it comes completely assembled so you won't have to worry about voiding any warranties in your quest for water cooling, and it's quite easy to install. It didn't show any breakthroughs in terms of heat dissipated and temperatures, but there weren't any heat problems either so by all accounts the water cooling system seems to do its job.
Price wise, we understand that the Blizzard X1900 XTX will be selling for $570 with a $30 mail in rebate when it's released, which should be about the third or fourth week in April. The Connect3D X1900 XTX is selling for about $495 at the time of this writing. Currently, the X1900 XTX is available for about $50 or $60 less than the NVIDIA 7900 GTX which is good news for ATI considering performance between the two is so similar. If you're interested in the games offered by Sapphire, you also have to consider that you're getting an extra $60-$80 in value there, but that only really applies if you would otherwise purchase two of the offered games separately.
We realize the X1900 XTX has been in the spotlight lately, but we felt that these cards and particularly the Blizzard X1900 XTX warranted a look. We know that these aren't the most affordable cards on the market right now, and it can be frustrating hearing about the kind of gaming power available without it being financially within reach. However, the stakes are higher with these high-end cards for both ATI and NVIDIA since they help to drive perceptions and create market share, so we want to keep a close eye on what's happening with them. For those that want more economical offerings, we will be looking at some more moderately-priced cards range in the near future.
We've talked a lot about ATI's X1900 series lately, and it just happens to be the kind of graphics card that people like hearing about. The X1900 XTX is one of the most powerful cards available at the time of this writing, and it's going to be impressive no matter how it comes from the manufacturer. For those interested in a reliable, good quality X1900 XTX Connect3D's version will certainly do the job, but the Blizzard X1900 XTX arguably does it a little better and with a bit more panache.
Whether or not water cooled cards like this will be more than a novelty is yet to be seen, but this one manages to work well, install easily, and look good doing it. It does have its drawbacks though. We already mentioned that it is a bit of a power hog, which is a red flag for many PC users. Also, while we didn't find any specific problems with heat, the water reservoir and radiator of the Blizzard are likely less effective than other solutions due to their location and size. A larger reservoir with a radiator external to the case can do a better job, first because more water means the ability to store more heat, and second because eventually the air flowing over the radiator would be warmer inside the case than out. We also found that care had to be taken when installing the card, as the hoses were somewhat fragile and space may be an issue as it tends to fill up the inside of the case (though not a lot more than any other X1900 XTX).
There area few other concerns with water cooling as well. First, water and electronics are not good bedfellows, so anyone that moves their computer around a lot will want to exercise extra caution. We also wouldn't mind seeing a water cooling solution that did something for the GPU RAM as well as the GPU core. That second point leads us into our final comment: while the detached radiator connected to the GPU via two hoses does offer a bit more flexibility in terms of where you locate the radiator, it might be better overall to simply go with an attached water radiator and a traditional two-slot design. That way you eliminate the possibility of damaging or crimping the hoses, there's less chance for developing a leak, and you can easily cover the RAM as well as the GPU core.
The Blizzard isn't perfect, but few products are. While we weren't able to overclock it higher than some of the other X1900 XTXs in the past, we still got a fairly high overclock, and the factory overclock alone is a plus to this package. Other positive things are the fact that it does run much more quietly than other X1900 XTXs, it comes completely assembled so you won't have to worry about voiding any warranties in your quest for water cooling, and it's quite easy to install. It didn't show any breakthroughs in terms of heat dissipated and temperatures, but there weren't any heat problems either so by all accounts the water cooling system seems to do its job.
Price wise, we understand that the Blizzard X1900 XTX will be selling for $570 with a $30 mail in rebate when it's released, which should be about the third or fourth week in April. The Connect3D X1900 XTX is selling for about $495 at the time of this writing. Currently, the X1900 XTX is available for about $50 or $60 less than the NVIDIA 7900 GTX which is good news for ATI considering performance between the two is so similar. If you're interested in the games offered by Sapphire, you also have to consider that you're getting an extra $60-$80 in value there, but that only really applies if you would otherwise purchase two of the offered games separately.
We realize the X1900 XTX has been in the spotlight lately, but we felt that these cards and particularly the Blizzard X1900 XTX warranted a look. We know that these aren't the most affordable cards on the market right now, and it can be frustrating hearing about the kind of gaming power available without it being financially within reach. However, the stakes are higher with these high-end cards for both ATI and NVIDIA since they help to drive perceptions and create market share, so we want to keep a close eye on what's happening with them. For those that want more economical offerings, we will be looking at some more moderately-priced cards range in the near future.
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Gioron - Thursday, April 13, 2006 - link
As soon as I saw the cooling system I had flashbacks to http://www.dansdata.com/aguatec.htm">this review and http://www.dansdata.com/thermagic.htm">this almost as bad review. There is almost no situation where the water cooling card is a good idea. There is no magic mystical power of water to cool things down, its just an easy way to transfer heat from one place to annother. In the case of most sane water cooling rigs, this means transfering the heat from the small CPU contact patch to the large efficient/quiet radiator elsewhere. You lose efficiency by adding water to the loop, but you more than make up for it with a huge unwieldy radiator that would never fit on the CPU under normal circumstances.However, in this situation (and in the first linked review) you're moving the heat from the processor contact to a radiator thats exactly the same size and efficiency as one you could attach directly to the processor, which means you lose efficiency moving the heat and then have no way to make up for it. As noted in the article, it does take a bit for the water to warm up which slows the temperature increase, but the final temperature MUST be higher than the temperature of the same heat sink just bolted directly onto the core. Anyone who even glanced at a thermodynamics textbook can tell you that. You may be able to get the water cooling system close to the efficiency of a normal heat sink, but you'll never exceed it and the marketing speel is complete and utter BS.
There is, however, one possible use for this card. Some shuttle boxes have the GPU slot right next to the side of the case, preventing the installation of cards with dual slot coolers. You can use this card to move the heatsink on the other side of the card and get cooling almost as good as a dual slot cooler, but the real solution to this problem is just for the case to be constructed such that dual card coolers will actually fit. (And since I haven't looked at shuttle cases much since I bought mine, they may actually have figured this out by now, leaving this card to be completely pointless.)
tekkstore - Monday, April 17, 2006 - link
https://www.tekkstore.com">tekkstore.comtekkstore - Monday, April 17, 2006 - link
https://www.tekkstore.com">tekkstore.comyacoub - Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - link
Fixed it for you. The numbers listed indicate they are both very loud and neither would be appropriate for a quiet system or HTPC.
jmke - Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - link
Hello, are these "A" weighed?jmke - Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - link
forgot to ask; at what distance? was the card inside a case?haelduksf - Monday, April 10, 2006 - link
"Bigger reservoir = more heat capacity" is a common myth, but a myth none the less. Adding more water to a loop doesn't result in any meaningful increase in heat capacity, and a larger res usually puts more strain on your pump to boot.NegativeEntropy - Monday, April 10, 2006 - link
I think what you menat was more water does not equal lower temps. By definition more coolant does indeed increase the total heat capacity of the system assuming the same fluid.JarredWalton - Monday, April 10, 2006 - link
Exactly, which is what was intended in this article.If you have a gallon of water vs. a quart of water, both at 25 C, the gallon can absorb 4X as much heat before turning to vapor (not that you'd ever get it that hot with a computer system....) Taken to the extreme, you could have a system sucking water from the ocean and spewing back slightly warmer water into the ocean, and it would never really change the ocean's temperature. The only extra strain on a pump would be if the pump has to pull/push water through more pipes.z3R0C00L - Monday, April 10, 2006 - link
Actually adding more water can make a difference provided you have a larger heat dissipator (radiator).But I do agree adding more water does not mean better temps.. you need a larger dissipator to remove the heat from that extra water. At least using the logic I have an x1900XT clocked at 750/1700 using water and no voltage tweaks or increases.