AMD has itself a powerful competitor on its palms with the Radeon RX 7800 XT. Actually at its present base value of $499 / £480 / AU$879, it makes the RTX 4070 look fairly expensive. For evaluation I’ve the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7800 XT. I can safely say it is quicker, cooler, and quieter than the reference mannequin, but it surely’s additionally dearer. Is the worth of a top-tier RX 7800 XT just like the Nitro+ price its $70 premium?
I’ve lengthy been a fan of Sapphire’s Nitro+ playing cards. Some time again I reviewed the Nitro+ RX 7900 XTX which includes a comparable cooler, albeit with out the vapor chamber. Having mentioned that, the 7900 XTX Nitro+ is a 420W card, whereas the 7800 XT Nitro+ is rated for 288W. Cooling won’t ever be an issue for the RX 7800 XT Nitro+.
At $559 / £539 / AU$969 the Nitro+ is among the many costliest RX 7800 XT playing cards, much more than the Asus RX 7800 XT TUF Gaming OC. At that form of value it is laborious to name it a mid vary card, and it erodes all the value benefit the bottom mannequin RX 7800 XT has over the RTX 4070.
Premium playing cards carry, umm, a premium value, however in the event you do not thoughts paying a bit additional, you may be rewarded with a giant, daring and exquisite design that may look proper at dwelling in a cultured RGB construct.
The Nitro+ includes a very chunky, however beautiful trying triple slot cooler. The shroud is a matte gray shade that is fairly minimalist. It comes with devoted VRM cooling, a metal PCB body, a full cowl backplate and a full-length gentle bar alongside the aspect of the cardboard that each one actually add a premium contact. Total it appears and looks like an excellently engineered card.
The video outputs include twin DP 2.1 and twin HDMI 2.1 ports. You get twin BIOS, with a 3rd place for a consumer outlined setting, which is managed through Sapphire’s Trixx software program. Moreover, the cardboard contains an ARGB output for synchronizing the cardboard’s lighting with the remainder of the system. There is a 4-pin fan header too which can be utilized to run an adjoining fan in accordance with GPU temperatures.
The Sapphire RX 7800 XT Nitro+ is constructed across the totally enabled Navi 32 chiplet GPU. It comes with a single 5nm Graphics Compute Die (GCD) and 4 surrounding 6nm Reminiscence Cache Dies (MCDs). It comes with 16GB of 19.5 Gbps GDDR6 reminiscence and a 256-bit bus. That is the form of configuration I count on from mid-high-end GPU in 2023. It is higher to have reminiscence that is overspec than underspec. Who is aware of how a lot VRAM a sport like Grand Theft Auto 6 will use when it launches…
The RX 7800 XT Nitro+ additionally packs in 60 Compute Items, 60 Ray Accelerators, and 96 ROPs. That is all equivalent to the reference RX 780 XT, however the place the Sapphire Nitro+ differs is its clock speeds. The bottom RX 7800 XT includes a sport clock of two,124MHz and a lift clock of two,430MHz. The Nitro+ bumps these as much as 2,254MHz and a pair of,565MHz respectively.
The whole board energy of the cardboard is a comparatively frugal 288W. That is 25W greater then the reference card, which is not too unhealthy, however its nonetheless far above the 200W of the RTX 4070, which additionally contains thirsty GDDR6X reminiscence. Nvidia actually wins handily relating to energy effectivity.
It is higher to have reminiscence that is overspec than underspec. Who is aware of how a lot VRAM a sport like Grand Theft Auto 6 will use when it launches…
So whereas the Sapphire Nitro+ RX 7800 XT is superior to the reference card, that value is a priority. Although it is nowhere close to the worth of the RX 7900 XT, it does deliver the RTX 4070 proper into rivalry. Both is an efficient choice. It will come all the way down to you, your pockets, and the video games you play and whether or not you worth DLSS and ray tracing efficiency.
Earlier than I get to the efficiency of the cardboard, a couple of phrases on the cooler. It is one of many quietest playing cards I’ve ever come throughout. The noise of my AIO cooler pump was simply louder than the Nitro’s triple fan resolution.
It did not include any clock pace compromises both, with a median of over 200MHz greater than a base RX 7800 XT. The ability consumption measurement additionally got here in at a good 275W, which is under the 288W the Nitro+ is formally rated at.
Artificial and system efficiency
1080p gaming efficiency
1440p gaming efficiency
4K gaming efficiency
PCG check rig
CPU: Intel Core i9 12900KMotherboard: Asus ROG Z690 Maximus HeroCooler: Corsair H100i RGBRAM: 32GB G.Ability Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-5600Storage: 1TB WD Black SN850, 4TB Sabrent Rocket 4QPSU: Seasonic Prime TX 1600WOS: Home windows 11 22H2Chassis: DimasTech Mini V2Monitor: Dough Spectrum ES07D03
Actually I anticipated the Sapphire RX 7800 XT Nitro+ to achieve a bit extra of a efficiency benefit over the reference RX 7800 XT, however the finish consequence was only some frames right here and there.
I ponder if there’s something inside the structure that holds the RX 7800 XT again just a little. The chipset vs monolithic design may very well be a contributor, however then in the event you take a look at a number of the specs of the RX 7800 XT and evaluate them to the RX 6800 XT, the RX 6800 XT has extra ROPs, the next shader rely, and extra Infinity Cache.
Anyway, coulda, shoulda, woulda. The Sapphire is quicker than the bottom card, it is also forward of the RTX 4070 in raster operations, however while you add ray tracing to the combination, the RTX 4070 comes roaring again and pulls forward within the extra demanding situations.
The RX 7800 XT is a strong competitor from AMD. It competes effectively with the RTX 4070, although AMD actually must get FSR 3 out of the gate to counter the benefit (and narrative) provided by DLSS. Its ray tracing is a technology behind, but it surely’s loads higher than it was with the RX 6000-series.
For a restricted time, AMD is bundling Starfield with RX 7800 XT playing cards. There’s possibly a powerful purpose proper there to decide on an RX 7800 XT over the RTX 4070. That goes much more so proper now with the higher polished expertise of taking part in Starfield on AMD GPUs.
Getting again to the Sapphire Nitro+, at $569 it is $70 dearer than the essential RX 7800 XTs. $70 will get you a greater card, however $70 just isn’t precisely chump change. Sapphire and different premium tier board makers have the posh of a giant gap in GPU costs, with the RX 7900 XT and RTX 4070 Ti costing much more. However that does push it proper into RTX 4070 territory.
In the event you do wish to leap into the market now, notably if the Starfield bundle appeals to you, you might be getting one of the best RX 7800 XT of all.
When evaluating the Sapphire to different RX 7800 XT’s, it laborious for me to say which manner you need to go. Its cooler, quieter, and just a little quicker. It will have the next resale worth down the road and it appears wonderful. However $70 is cash that would go in the direction of a quicker CPU or extra reminiscence. Both choice has its professionals and cons.
I might personally maintain off for a couple of weeks in the event you can. Leaping on a brand new card on the time of launch means you are going to pay extra. Let’s examine how the worth of the Sapphire RX 7800 XT settles in the direction of the tip of 2023.
In the event you do wish to leap into the market now, notably if the Starfield bundle appeals to you, you might be getting one of the best RX 7800 XT of all. The likes of the Asus Strix and MSI Suprim are usually not out there now—or maybe ever, making the Sapphire one in all only a few high tier RX 7800 XT’s to select from. If in case you have the money, you may be rewarded with a high quality graphics card with all of the trimmings.