At a look
Skilled’s Ranking
Execs
- Distinctive 4K and 1440p efficiency
- 24GB reminiscence
- Nitro+ customized cooler is frigid, silent, and beautiful
- Twin-BIOS change, fan, and ARGB headers
Cons
- Large four-slot design
- Very excessive energy draw
- Lags GeForce RTX 40-series GPUs in ray tracing
- Steep $200 premium places Nitro+ close to RTX 4080 pricing
Our Verdict
The Sapphire Nitro+ seems attractive, runs frigid, can’t be heard, and it’s the quickest XTX we’ve examined (albeit by a hair), full with useful additional options for overclockers. In the event you’re available in the market for a four-figure graphics card that chews by way of excessive refresh-rate 4K and 1440p gaming with out compromise, and your PC can deal with its huge measurement and energy draw, the Nitro+ could be very extremely really useful.
Worth When Reviewed
$1,199.99
Finest Costs Right now: Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X
$1199.99
$1,475.00
Huge, badass graphics playing cards don’t get a lot larger or extra badass than the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X—the primary Sapphire GPU to sport the premium Vapor-X model in almost a decade.
Whereas AMD’s reference version of the XTX sticks to an affordable 2.5-slot design, Sapphire threw restraint out the window with the extremely custom-made Nitro+. This monster swells to a piece quad-slot peak, then provides an additional 8-pin energy connector to gasoline even loftier efficiency. It’s the quickest 7900 XTX we’ve examined and it runs cool and quiet whereas wanting very good. This is among the most spectacular customized graphics playing cards I’ve ever laid arms on.
In case your PC can match this beast, and your pockets can settle for its $1,200 price ticket—a $200 premium over the reference mannequin—then you definately’ll love all the things concerning the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X. Let’s dig in.
Additional studying: The best graphics cards for PC gaming
Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X: Specs, worth, and options
There isn’t an excessive amount of to say concerning the Nitro+’s technical aspects, because it’s working on the identical spectacular Radeon RX 7900 XTX chip because the reference mannequin, paired with an ample 24GB of quick GDDR6 reminiscence. Sapphire tweaked and tuned it for much more energy, nevertheless.
Brad Chacos/IDG
The Nitro+ 7900 Vapor-X screams together with a blistering 2,510MHz Sport Clock, a considerable uplift over the reference 2,300MHz speeds. That matches the equally premium XFX Speedster Merc 7900 XTX, however the Sapphire card’s extra environment friendly cooler lets it squeak out clear victories throughout our gaming check suite, even when solely to the tune of some additional (and virtually unnoticeable) frames per second. The baseline 7900 XTX is already the second-most highly effective GPU on the planet, trailing solely the $1,600 GeForce RTX 4090 in uncooked may, and the Nitro+ cranks it to 11.
Doing so requires extra literal energy, nevertheless. The Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X calls for a trio of 8-pin energy connectors, up from the reference model’s pair, and it’s rated to attract 420 watts of energy. The reference XTX attracts 355W. In the actual world, meaning the Nitro+ 7900 XTX consumes extra energy than even the RTX 4090 throughout gaming periods.
Brad Chacos/IDG
The cardboard features a three-way BIOS change that modifications the cardboard’s habits, nevertheless. The default place helps you to hop between the Nitro+’s twin BIOS choices utilizing Sapphire’s Trixx utility, reasonably than having to manually flip the BIOS change on the cardboard. In the event you don’t wish to set up that software program, nevertheless, the second place sticks to the default high-performance BIOS, whereas the third place is a lower-power mode that drops to reference speeds in alternate for shaving 50W off the ability draw. The default BIOS runs so cool and quiet that there’s no motive to advocate the low-power choice until energy draw is a serious concern—and whether it is, you shouldn’t be shopping for a 7900 XTX to start with.
The Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X’s actual draw is its customized design. There’s a lot {hardware} in right here, Sapphire tossed a GPU help bracket into the field to maintain your graphics card from probably sagging in its motherboard slot over time!
Sapphire
Let’s begin with aesthetics: The Nitro+ 7900 XTX seems completely lovely, sporting a deliciously clear all-metal design, punctuated by raised, full-length RGB bars on either side of the heatsink. The bars one way or the other shine with surprising vibrancy, with rounded edges that add to its visible cohesion. The default sweeping rainbow sample fills your case with shimmering mild since Sapphire slapped the bars on either side. It’s attractive, albeit in a completely totally different approach than the also-gorgeous XFX Speedster Merc 7900 XTX, which went in an RGB-less path as an alternative.
The Nitro+ 7900 XTX’s true secret sauce lies beneath the hood although. Sapphire completely stuffed this behemoth filled with cooling expertise. Sapphire’s webpage for the Nitro+ goes into far deeper element, however at a excessive stage, the die-cast aluminum body holds a trio of axial followers with twin ball-bearing designs. They help Sapphire’s rad Fast Join function, which helps you to rapidly and simply disconnect particular person followers in the event that they want restore. Higher but, they cease spinning fully when the GPU isn’t beneath excessive load. Meaning the Nitro+ 7900 XTX is totally silent while you aren’t gaming or performing different GPU-stressing work.
Chonky and clear.
Brad Chacos/IDG
One other key perk: Sapphire slapped a second HDMI 2.1 port on the Nitro+, doubling up on the reference design. VR customers, take notice! It’s joined by a pair of DisplayPort 2.1 connections, although Sapphire eschewed the reference mannequin’s USB-C port to incorporate the additional HDMI. It additionally consists of useful ARGB and fan headers if you wish to hook it extra deeply into the remainder of your system.
After all, the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X helps all of AMD’s superior Radeon software program options, like FSR, Radeon Anti-Lag, Good Entry Reminiscence, and extra. However sufficient chit-chat. Let’s get to the benchmarks!
Our check system
We check graphics playing cards on an AMD Ryzen 5900X PC used completely for benchmarking GPUs. We now check with PCIe Resizable BAR (also referred to as Good Entry Reminiscence on Ryzen methods) lively, as most trendy gaming PCs launched within the final 4 years help the performance-boosting function, both natively or by way of a motherboard firmware replace. Nvidia additionally recommends turning on the non-obligatory “{Hardware}-accelerated GPU scheduling” choice in Home windows to let the RTX 40-series stretch its legs to the fullest, so we’ve made that tweak as nicely. A lot of the {hardware} was supplied by the producers, however we bought the storage ourselves.
We’re evaluating the $1,200 Sapphire Nitro+ in opposition to the $1,000 reference Radeon RX 7900 XTX in addition to XFX’s equally premium $1,100 Speedster Merc customized card, as what we’re actually in search of right here is the Nitro+’s efficiency as a customized XTX mannequin. We’ve additionally included different GPUs which might be value contemplating while you’re in search of glorious 4K and 1440p gaming.
We check a wide range of video games spanning varied engines, genres, vendor sponsorships (Nvidia, AMD, and Intel), and graphics APIs (DirectX 9, 11, DX12, and Vulkan), to attempt to characterize a full vary of efficiency potential. Every sport is examined utilizing its in-game benchmark, then sanity checked by Nvidia’s FrameView tool, on the highest doable graphics presets until in any other case famous, with VSync, body charge caps, real-time ray tracing or DLSS results, and FreeSync/G-Sync disabled, together with every other vendor-specific applied sciences like FidelityFX instruments or Nvidia Reflex. We’ve additionally enabled temporal anti-aliasing (TAA) to push these playing cards to their limits. We run every benchmark at the least 3 times and listing the typical outcome for every check.
Fairly than rolling out our full testing suite for this assessment, we caught to an easier lineup that’s consultant of a wide range of APIs (DX9, DX11, DX12, Vulkan), to point out the Nitro+’s efficiency throughout varied eventualities. Make sure to take a look at our preliminary Radeon RX 7900 XTX assessment for a broader, deeper have a look at the GPU’s common efficiency. (Briefly, it beats the $1,200 RTX 4080 in conventional video games for a a lot cheaper price, and matches the RTX 30-series’ ray-tracing efficiency, however lags far behind the RTX 40-series in ray tracing. It additionally lacks a DLSS 3 Body gen competitor.)
Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X: Gaming efficiency benchmarks
Brad Chacos/IDG
Brad Chacos/IDG
Brad Chacos/IDG
Brad Chacos/IDG
Brad Chacos/IDG
Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X: Energy and thermals
We check energy draw by looping the F1 22 benchmark at 4K for about 20 minutes after we’ve benchmarked all the things else (to heat up the GPU) and noting the very best studying on our Watts Up Professional meter, which measures the ability consumption of our total check system. The preliminary a part of the race, the place all competing vehicles are onscreen concurrently, tends to be probably the most demanding portion.
This isn’t a worst-case check; it is a GPU-bound sport working at a GPU-bound decision to gauge efficiency when the graphics card is sweating onerous. In the event you’re taking part in a sport that additionally hammers the CPU, you would see greater total system energy attracts. Take into account your self warned.
Brad Chacos/IDG
The Sapphire Nitro+ pushes AMD’s already-power hungry Radeon 7900 XTX to new heights, however doing so requires even greater peak energy draw than the monstrous RTX 4090. That’s a little bit of a bummer, however you in all probability aren’t shopping for a fire-breathing 7900 XTX for its effectivity.
We check thermals by leaving GPU-Z open through the F1 22 energy draw check, noting the very best most temperature on the finish.
Brad Chacos/IDG
The Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX’s superior Vapor-X cooler does stellar work right here. Technically, it runs barely hotter than the XFX Speedster Merc, however each ship completely frigid outcomes that overclockers will admire, and the Nitro+’s gentler fan curve really sounds even quieter than the already borderline-silent Merc. These are each excellent customized designs that far outshine the undersized 7900 XTX reference mannequin, although you pay for it in worth, energy consumption, and sheer measurement.
Must you purchase the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X?
In the event you largely keep on with conventional video games and desire a barn-burner of a graphics card for lots of of {dollars} lower than the RTX 4080, AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a superb alternative, as our authentic assessment detailed in depth. And if you wish to splurge for a high-end, impeccably designed customized model of the XTX, Sapphire’s Nitro+ is nicely value contemplating. It’s blisteringly quick, cool, quiet, and completely implausible.
It received’t be for everybody. The Nitro+ is completely huge and attracts extra energy than even the RTX 4090—however massive, badass, customized playing cards are what you count on from flagships like this. If that worries you, think about the reference XTX’s smaller 2.5-slot, 2x 8-pin design as an alternative. The value may also offer you pause. Sapphire’s $200 premium feels justifiable for a customized design this magnificent, nevertheless it additionally bumps it proper up in opposition to the GeForce RTX 4080’s (terribly high) starting price. The Nitro+ is quicker, and also you received’t get a RTX 4080 just like the Nitro+’s spectacular high quality with out spending nearer to $1,400 or $1,500, however in the event you place a better premium on ray-tracing efficiency and DLSS 3 Body Gen over card design and total high quality of life, you may—may—go for a “low cost” 4080 over the splendidly baller Nitro+. (I wouldn’t.)
Brad Chacos/IDG
Staying in AMD-land, in the event you’re choosing a high-end 7900 XTX, the aesthetics and avenue pricing are the largest differentiators between the $1,200 Nitro+ and the $1,100 XFX Speedster Merc 7900 XTX. They’re each face-meltingly quick, enticing, and splendidly quiet and funky. I personally want the Nitro+’s futuristic industrial look and shimmering dual-side RGB bars, however the Merc is a looker of a very totally different selection. Go the place your eyes (and pockets) information you.
Backside line? The Sapphire Nitro+ seems attractive, runs frigid and damned-near lifeless silent, and it’s the quickest XTX we’ve examined (albeit by a hair). In the event you’re available in the market for a four-figure graphics card that’s really definitely worth the cash (cough not like the RTX 4080 cough), we extremely really useful this selection. It’s the perfect Radeon presents.