With the 5750, 5770 and 5870 all offered as factory overclocked Vapor-X models, the HD 5850 was likely feeling a bit left out, so Sapphire has given it, its own update.

The Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 Toxic is built on a classy blue PCB, featuring an aftermarket cooling solution that does away with the typical ATI Red. It also gives a welcome boost to card speeds with 765MHz core (vs. 725MHz ref.) and 1125MHZ/4500MHz effective (vs. 1000MHZ/4000 eff. ref.) memory.  Aside from that, the card is the same with 1440 stream processors and 1GB of GDDR5 memory with 256 bit interface.

The card uses the same Vapor-X contained liquid cooling solution as Sapphire’s other models, but they strangely decided to drop the Vapor-X moniker for the model.

Otherwise there isn’t much more to report. It is a wicked looking deviation from the norm that is sure to provide some exceptional performance from an already top notch bang/buck card, making it all that much more appealing.

The card has been listed for pre order on  Overclockers UK before the official launch with a price of £229.78 excluding VAT, translating into an estimate street price of  $359USD. Provided Sapphire sticks to this pricing model for North America, the Toxic HD 5850 would be the best value factory overclocked model available.

Launch date is set for February 15th, 2010.

The information we now have points to the Sapphire HD 5870 Vapor-X being loosely based around the reference PCB but it will sport a slightly modified layout while maintaining the usual 11” length. It seems like the core clock gets a minor bump of 20Mhz while the memory moves up from 4.8Gbps to 5Gbps or from 1200Mhz to 1250Mhz. This should result in a claimed 1.1x increase in performance over a stock-clocked HD 5870.

The star of the show however is the massive, full length Vapor-X cooler which adorns this card. It is still a dual slot heatsink but it packs a silent fan which looks to be much more efficient than the one on a reference-based HD 5870 1GB. According to Sapphire’s numbers, their setup will result in an 8.4dBA decrease in noise while the card is under load along with a good 13°C drop in temperatures. Those are some serious claims but judging from our past experiences with Vapor-X technology, it is well within the realm of possibility.

This being the first custom cooled HD 5870 on the market; people are understandably excited for its impending release. Our review will be up in the coming days.

If you wanted to read more about Vapor-X technology, Click here

In the pursuit of the perfect combination of a reasonably priced video card that delivers exceptional performance, Sapphire is releasing their popular Vapor-X version of the ATI HD 5750.

The HD 5750 is targeted to mainstream and price conscious consumers who wish to adopt the new ATI chip for its technological advancements – such as the revolutionary Eyefinity display option – as well as do some modest gaming.

The HD 5750 Vapor-X includes a uniquely designed cooler utilizing Sapphire’s “Vapor Chamber Technology” and improved heatsink design for superior airflow and much cooler operating temperatures. The exact specs have been detailed, and unlike our earlier assumptions of stock speeds, the card is clocked (albeit trivial ) slightly higher, including 1GB of GDDR5 memory and a core speed of 700MHz 710MHz with memory at 1150MHz (4600MHz) 1160MHz (Effective 4640 MHz).

With its small size and 16W idle low power consumption, the card is perfect for media centres. It includes dual DVI, as well as HDMI and Display port on the rear.

The Vapor-X is scheduled to be released November 3rd and will likely demand a small premium over Sapphire’s regular model.

Update (10/27/09): We received clarification on the exact speeds of the new video card. Sapphire will be clocking both core and memory 10MHz higher than stock at 710MHz and 4640MHz (effective).

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