Sapphire Radeon X800GTO2 Limited Edition
The Sapphire Radeon X800GTO2 LE Up Close
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With the X800GTO2, Sapphire opted to stick with the stock ATI reference design, using a custom sticker on the cooler to mark it as their own. As we stated earlier, this X800GTO2 comes with the R480 at its core rather than the R430 commonly found in the X800 series. The core is clocked at 400MHz, while the 256MB of GDDR3 memory is set at 490MHz (980MHz DDR). The card comes with 16-Pixel Pipelines enabled right out of the box, putting the X800GTO2 in the same class as an X800XL at stock speeds. One difference is Sapphire uses the same PCB as an X850 class card, which come with supplemental power, whereas the X800XL 256MB versions do not require an additional power source.
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Video output offers dual-DVI ports, ideal for flat panel displays, with the VIVO port located in the center backed by a Rage Theater chip. The cooler on the X800GTO2 is a standard reference design with a plate on the rear that contacts the memory modules. Thermal compound is applied to all contact areas for maximum heat transfer while a tension bar is used to ensure solid contact to the VPU. Overall, the reference cooler was relatively quiet, even when overclocked. For the most part, the Sapphire Radeon X800GTO2 LE is rather unassuming in appearance, but as you'll see, looks can be deceiving.
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Before delving into the benchmarking segment, we pulled together some gaming screenshots to demonstrate image quality with the Sapphire Radeon X800GTO2 Limited Edition. Here we compared the images to those take with a GeForce 6800 GT which is the closest competitor to the ATI based GTO2.
Sapphire Radeon X800GTO2 LE
;) No AA/Antialiasing |
;) 4X AA/8X Antialiasing |
;) 6X AA/16X Antialiasing |
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT
;) No AA/Antialiasing |
;) 4X AA/8X Antialiasing |
;) 8XS AA/16X Antialiasing |
When comparing the No AA tests and the 4X AA / 8X tests, the different in images quality between the two cards was virtually imperceptible. Only after intense study could we see some minor nuances, but still it was a toss up between the two. When we set each card to their maximum quality settings, the 6800's image was softer, whereas the X800GTO2 had slightly more texture to it. On the flip-side, some of the lines were slightly jagged with the X800GTO2 while the 6800 GT did a better job of smoothing the edges. In the end, however, if we weren't studying any given set of images with intense scrutiny, you'd be hard pressed to tell the two apart.
