Sapphire R9 280x Vapor-X good idea?

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Was wondering if it's a good choice for a GPU, and anyone know if they have RMA locations in Canada?

[TheRuke]

Yes good decision, idk about Canada...

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Yes good decision, idk about Canada...

 

Okay, I hope they do, I'm trying to find info on their site.

[RainbowTylernol]

You should know if you plan on buying this card: Even though it's "technically" a 2 slot card, the cooler is big enough that you won't be able to put anything in the third slot down. So it's basically a 3 slot card.

Something to keep in mind. 

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

You should know if you plan on buying this card: Even though it's "technically" a 2 slot card, the cooler is big enough that you won't be able to put anything in the third slot down. So it's basically a 3 slot card.

Something to keep in mind. 

 

 

Yeah it says 2.5 slot size on the website. But what's the difference between Vapor-X and the normal one?

[TechFan@ic]

Yeah it says 2.5 slot size on the website. But what's the difference between Vapor-X and the normal one?

The Vapor-X includes a back-plate and a substantially better cooler.

The Asus DCII is a better option than the Vapor-X in all categories except aesthetics, it's a true dual slot card, it's quieter, the cooler is more effective and the card overclocks better.

I personally have the Dual-X 7970, which has a very similar cooler to the 280X Vapor-X, not the 280X Dual-X, while the cooler is fantastic, the card is too large, covering my second PCIe 16x slot & the card isn't the best overclocker.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

The Vapor-X includes a back-plate and a substantially better cooler.

The Asus DCII is a better option than the Vapor-X in all categories except aesthetics, it's a true dual slot card, it's quieter, the cooler is more effective and the card overclocks better.

I personally have the Dual-X 7970, which has a very similar cooler to the 280X Vapor-X, not the 280X Dual-X, while the cooler is fantastic, the card is too large, covering my second PCIe 16x slot & the card isn't the best overclocker.

 

So Sapphire cards are not good?

[TechFan@ic]

So Sapphire cards are not good?

No, no they are great, in fact Sapphire & HIS cards are among the best for the red team, however Asus's new DirectCU cooler is just a really fantastic cooler that no company has been able to match so far.

[SlaughterSmurf]

I would go for an MSI or an Asus, but Sapphire is good too.

[Bluuz]

So Sapphire cards are not good?

It's a good card, the cooler is just too chunky. 

[TechFan@ic]

I would go for an MSI or an Asus, but Sapphire is good too.

The MSI Gaming 280X doesn't provide adequate cooling to the VRMs and so the card would throttle down constantly, MSI 'fixed" this issue with a BIOS update that resulted in the fans of the card operating at an exceedingly high RPM which made the card obnoxiously loud.

 

It's a good card, the cooler is just too chunky. 

Pretty much.

[linus7]

The MSI Gaming 280X doesn't provide adequate cooling to the VRMs and so the card would throttle down constantly, MSI 'fixed" this issue with a BIOS update that resulted in the fans of the card operating at an exceedingly high RPM which made the card obnoxiously loud.

 

Pretty much.

what do you think about  DirectCU 2 vs toxic ? which one is better?

[Tr3vor]

The Vapor-X is a good cooler, I like its aesthetics.

 

One thing with it though, the default fan curves are FAR too agressive. When I first got the thing it sounded about ready to take off. I just used Sapphire's Trixx to make a custom fan curve and under load the fan speed is about 15% less, and guess what, the temps are the same. Its also night and day difference as far as how loud it is when you put a custom fan curve on it.

 

Custom fan curves are a must on the Vapor-X

[TechFan@ic]

what do you think about  DirectCU 2 vs toxic ? which one is better?

The DCII is significantly quieter but the Toxic overclocks better because Sapphire samples the best chips for its toxic cards, similarly to what Asus does with the Matrix.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-third-party-round-up,3655-6.html

I personally think that the Toxic is not worth the extra $40 you pay over the DCII, if you have $350 to spend on graphics pony up $50 more and get an R9 290.

[linus7]

The DCII is significantly quieter but the Toxic overclocks better because Sapphire samples the best chips for its toxic cards, similarly to what Asus does with the Matrix.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-third-party-round-up,3655-6.html

I personally think that the Toxic is not worth the extra $40 you pay over the DCII, if you have $350 to spend on graphics pony up $50 more and get an R9 290.

thanks but is the r9 290 worth it right now? 

[TechFan@ic]

thanks but is the r9 290 worth it right now? 

No, wait for custom cooled cards to come out by the end of the month.

[Ookami]

Im the owner of Vapor-X series (in OC Boost version) from Sapphire on older sister namely 7950 and cooling solution is just crazy (in very good way). Before that i had (we i still have, but dead) GTX560 in Direct CUII cooling and to be honest it was bad - in BF3 it was like a jumbojet. In case of AMD cards choose either Sapphire or HIS.

 

If you plan on drowning (watercool) it in later future check before you buy for full waterblocks for it. Unfortunetly mine has a custom PCB and i wont be able to watercool it.