Layout

Sapphire uses a board based on the ATI reference design but the Vapor-X cooler is anything but.  The Vapor-X design includes three copper heatpipes to efficiently move heat from a copper GPU heatsink and a second heatsink for the memory.  This solution is a vast improvement over the reference design, so much so the Vapor -X is been rumored to be replacing the current OEM setup in the future.  Rumor? Only time will tell. 

As you can see here, the core of the Vapor-X system is an 80 mm fan placed directly over the GPU and between the two heatsinks.  This fan helps move air over the fins and out the exhaust vents in the rear of your case.  The card is slightly larger in the center but still fits nicely in a two slot setup.

The HD 4870 uses two 6 pin power connectors located near the top of the card for ease of access.  In some of the smaller cases, like our recent GMC Corona, this can make fitting the card length including the two plugs a challenge.  For future designs I would love to see the power run off the top edge. 

The heatsink attaches to the card solidly using four main GPU mounts and an additional six heatsink mounts including the two plastic push through mounts near the back.  Just in front of the plastic mounts there are three green status LED lights that can easily be seen in a typical installation.

From the top you can get a better idea of the width of this heatsink and the heat pipe layout.  The black shroud helps manage the air flow and looks pretty sweet too.

And lastly we have the back of the card.  The dual slot design is a personal choice for me due to the ability of the cooling system to vent hot air out the back instead of into the case directly.  Typical to most recent ATi cards, we have two DVI ports and the TV-out port. HDMI is handled through the included adapter.

Intro & Specs Features Packaging Layout Testing (Synthetic) Testing (Real-World) Cooling & Overclocking