What's on the horizon for psv cool gfx and SapphireTech?

DonP · Post by **DonP** » Sat Jun 14, 2003 8:23 am

I've been following graphics cards recently and quiet solutions (ZM80A-HP).. I saw the "Ultimate edition" of the Sapphire Tech 9700 Pro, with the pre-installed passive cooler.. but I'm thinking more is to come now that the 9800 has been released and the 9600 on a 0.13 micron process. (or something).
So.. my question.. anyone know about any (near) future passively cooled (out of the box) graphics cards?

Or just any informed speculation?
For example, anyone know what Sapphire Tech are planning? The "product spotlight" says "IT'S COMING -The 'ULTIMATE' Silent Partner Is Coming!!!", but they don;t say what.. I looked for articles about E3 and the SBS exhibition but couldn;t find any mention of Sapphire.

Thanks,

DonP.

Fabool · Post by **Fabool** » Sat Jun 14, 2003 8:58 am

Both are coming from Sapphire

They're not linked yet, but if you go to the two URLs below, you can see their product pages already. The media page also has their boxes in larger resolution.

http://www.sapphiretech.com/vga/9600proult.asp

http://www.sapphiretech.com/vga/9800proult.asp

No idea when they will be available. I saw a picture of the 9600pro ultimate on the net months ago, it can be seen here for example:
http://www.techview.nl/news/779

I'm betting that Zalman will release new standalone GPU heatsinks about same time as the new ultimate editions become available. I remember reading something about how Zalman was working very closely with Sapphire on these.
Also I think they had three of the new heatsinks on display at some show a while ago.

Jan Kivar · Post by **Jan Kivar** » Sat Jun 14, 2003 11:26 am

Isn't 9800 (Pro) just an overclocked 9700 Pro?

Jan

Post by **Rusty075** » Sat Jun 14, 2003 1:53 pm

New core is a bit of an exaggeration. It's a slightly tweaked version of the R300 core. The new "features" of the 9800 are all in the drivers.

I run a 9500 non-pro. With a cracked bios it itstalls and runs as a 9800. If you adjust the benchmarks to account for the lower clock speeds it benchmarks exactly the same as a 9800. For actual in-game play it functions exactly the same.