Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 380 ITX Compact 4GB AMD graphics card review - collinsmarly1959
At a Glance
Expert's Rating
Pros
- Good 1080p play performance
- Whisper-tame
- Small mITX size
Our Verdict
The Azure Nitro R9 380 ITX Compact delivers great 1080p gaming performance in a tiny mini-ITX form factor with surprisingly little compromise.
When it comes to graphics cards, bigger has traditionally meant better: Bigger operation demands bigger graphics chips, which means bigger heat outturn, which way larger customized cooling solutions, all of which results in physically larger—sometimes downright hulking—graphics cards.
Only the times, they are a-changin'. Small form factor PCs have captured the public's imagination, spurred on by the rise of Steam Machines and AMD's radical, 4K-capable Radeon Nano. More and more, readers are tweeting at me, asking for mini-ITX graphics cards recommendations. But hitherto, the only recent mITX graphics card game we had reviewed were the Nano and Asus GTX 970 DirectCU Miniskirt, both of which are pricey enthusiast card game that—ironically—command justified higher premiums for their more than diminutive form factors.
Itty-bitty gaming PCs don't have to break the savings bank, though, and they no longer feature to merchandise performance for their shrunk-down size. Case in dot: the Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 380 ITX Compact, a mITX interlingual rendition of the best $200 artwork card you can steal. Sapphire recently upped the memory on the card from 2GB to 4GB—the perfect excuse to inspection an inexpensive mITX graphics card that still delivers big-time graphics carrying into action.
Meet the Lazuline Nitro Radeon R9 380 ITX Compact
This calling card's fundamentally a miniaturized version of the Radeon R9 380, which is itself a attuned-up rendering of the older R9 285. It supports AMD's far-flung software ecosystem too, performin nice with DirectX 12, LiquidVR, Eyefinity multi-monitor setups, essential topnotch resolution, oh-so-wonderful FreeSync displays, the new Radeon Software Crimson tools, and more.
But Sapphire's added respective tweaks to help this wag jump out for more than just its small 6.7 x 4.57 x 1.46-inch size.
The Nitro R9 380 ITX Tight features a thick heat sink augmented with four thick pig pipes, all residing underneath a lonely dual-ball-bearing fan. Information technology dissipates fire u well enough to run remarkably quiet even under heavy loads. The card was built using extendable-life capacitors and illegal diamond chokes typically reserved for Sapphire's higher-terminate graphics cards, such as the Nitro Radeon R9 390; Azure says the capacitors lengthen the card's lifespan, while a black diamond die out "runs 10 pct cooler and with 25 percent Sir Thomas More power efficiency than a normal choke."
Brad Chacos The Sapphire Nitro R9 380 ITX Compress's four snaking estrus pipes
That's important in such a tightly packed artwork card, especially since the Sapphire Nitro R9 380 ITX Impacted comes factory overclocked. The GPU core clock hits 1GHz, compared to the 970MHz of the stock Radeon R9 380, while the 4GB of onboard RAM runs at 1,450MHz—a 75MHz boost o'er default on.
That extra oomph means the Nitro R9 380 ITX Compact needs a little many juice than breed models, too. Spell acknowledgment designs suck down 190W, Sapphire's add-in demands 225W, which it gets via an eight-pin connecter placed happening the rear of the circuit board alternatively of the English. Dependant on how your mITX causa is configured, that could be a blessing, operating room it could be a curse.
Brad Chacos The Sky-blue Nitro R9 380 ITX Compact's eight-pin power supply is connected the bum of the identity card.
There are a few more aesthetic points worth mentioning. The Nitro R9 380 ITX Compact ships with both legacy BIOS and modern UEFI firmware for maximum system compatibility. You can switch between the two exploitation a toggle on the top abut of the card. (It's pictured above, in the double of the heat pipes.) The card likewise features an unconventional set of ports: DVI-D, HDMI, and dual mini-DisplayPort connections rather than rich-cookie-sized ports. Fortunately, Sapphire thought onward and bundled a mDP-to-Stateless person adapter in the box, along with DVI-to-VGA and dual six-pin-to-single-eight-pin adapters.
Got it? Good. Rent's contract this pup for a drive.
Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 380 ITX Compact benchmarks
We reliable the Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 380 ITX Compact connected PCWorld's dedicated graphics card benchmark system. Key highlights of the build:
- Intel's Substance i7-5960X with a Barbary pirate Hydro Series H100i closed-loop water cooler, to eliminate any potential for CPU bottlenecks affecting graphical benchmarks
- An Asus X99 Deluxe motherboard
- Corsair's Vengeance LPX DDR4 memory, Obsidian 750D full hul sheath, and 1,200-watt AX1200i power supply
- A 480GB Intel 730 serial SSD
- Windows 8.1 Pro. (The testbed hasn't been upgraded to Windows 10 in time, though we'll be upgrading some the OS and games suite shortly.)
Next page: Operation benchmarks
Although Sapphire's menu appears similar to the Radeon Nano and the Asus GTX 970 DirectCU Mini physically, those deuce are in a totally different conference performance-wise, built for mellow frame rates at far higher resolutions—and they trade for much Sir Thomas More money than the Nitro 380 ITX, which targets affordable 1080p gaming at nasal art settings. So we won't be comparing Sapphire's pint-sized art menu against them.
As an alternative, we'll compare it to its closest rivalry—the 1080p nontextual matter cards hanging around the $200 price point. Namely, VisionTek's untasted-sized stock Radeon R9 380 (which retails for $220 rather than the R9 380's $200 MSRP, but comes with a limited lifetime warrantee); Sapphire's own increase $250 Nitro R9 380X; and EVGA's $190 GeForce GTX 960 Super Superclocked, which sports a beefy manufactory overclock. The VisionTek and EVGA cards are 2GB models. Sapphire's Nitro R9 380 ITX Compact ISN't available at online retailers thus far, but representatives tell me the card leave carry a $200 to $205 MSRP.
For a more holistic look at how the $200 graphics card tier compares to other price points, be sure to look into PCWorld's massive roundup of graphics cards for every budget, which includes both purchasing recommendations and bench mark results abounding for GPUs ranging from $150 to $1000.
Every mettlesome was tried and true using its in-courageous benchmark and the default option graphics settings, unless renowned otherwise, with V-Synchronise and any vendor-specific features (including FreeSync/G-Sync/Nvidia MFAA) disabled. We tested 1080p resolution solitary, since that's what these budget-friendly cards are designed to handle. You won't chance any DirectX 12 benchmarks included, because there aren't any available DX12 games. The DX12 benchmarks we've seen until now have been synthetic tests or from early builds of games, and thus non an accurate example of true-world performance just yet. Present's hoping DX12 games hit the streets soon!
Grand Theft Auto V's memory requirements at high settings and resolutions can hammer crown-oddment cards, but it scales well and performs equivalent a chomp at 1080p. Because the game doesn't have overarching preset graphics settings like "Intermediate" or "Ultra," we tested it with FXAA enabled and all alternative set to Normal.
GTAV 's love for Nvidia cards shines here—it's actually the only game where the GeForce GTX 960 beats unsuccessful the Radeon card game—but there's another matter to notice. The Nitro 380 ITX Compact whitethorn represent smaller than a traditional graphics card, but thanks to its unneeded memory and boosted clocks speeds, it actually outpunches the full-sized VisionTek Radeon R9 380, which uses a reference design. Non too shabby!
The little card ekes tense 60 frames per second in Dragon Age Inquisition at High settings, as well. Frame rates plummet to the lower 40s if you crank all the bells and whistles to 11, but High settings deliver more enough eye candy for most users. Indeed, this is what you want to target in games if you're looking to maximise frame rates piece still maintaining a fine level of graphic fidelity.
Close page: Additional games performance benchmarks
All that said, we essa Immoderate faithfulness in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor by manually cranking every option to its highest background, arsenic the default option Radical preset doesn't actually max everything out. We put on't use the optional HD Radical Texture Pack while testing 1080p cards, though. All the cards handle this game like champions—you could use the Extremist settings and still hit damn near 60fps with the Nitro 380 ITX Compact.
Exotic Closing off's gameplay is terrific, just its carrying out is anything but. All bill of fare we've time-tested—flatbottomed the $100 GTX 750 Ti, which isn't enrolled here—hits 60fps at 1080p/Ultra, while the Sapphire Nitro 380 ITX Compact flirts with 100fps.
Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition's anti-aliasing options cripple all just the most powerful graphics cards along Extreme settings, but in one case again, turning things down to High lets Sapphire's circuit board sail past the hallowed 60fps roadblock.
Next page: Additive performance tests and powerfulness drag
Like Sleeping Dogs: Definitivie Edition, Metro: Last Light Revived is a spiffied-up version of a superb title. We disabled PhysX and SSAO for this test. SSAO sends frame rates plummeting by 50 percent, and doesn't ply nearly enough visual do good for that kind of performance penalty.
We also examination all cards using 3DMark Discharge Tap, a synthetic substance benchmark, but one that's cured reputable and frequently-used within the industry.
AMD's Graphics Core Next-based cards have got long consumed more power than Nvidia's GeForce counterparts, and that trend continues with the R300 series card game, which are in essence faster-clocked versions of older R200-serial Radeons. Sapphire's Nitro 380 ITX actually draws to a lesser extent tycoo under burden than the reference VisionTek R9 380 despite ostensibly difficult more along wallpaper.
Power is metric by plugging the total system into a Watts Ahead meter, then spouting a stress psychometric test with Furmark—which both AMD and Nvidia nickname a "power virus"—for 15 transactions. It's in essence a last-case scenario.
Unalterable paginate: GPU temperatures and the bottom line
Partly thanks to that multiplied energy trace, no doubt, the Radeon cards run hotter than the GTX 960. The Nitro 380 ITX Concordat spits out more hot up than the VisionTek card while running Furmark, but that's to comprise expected since IT's smaller, clocked faster, and has just a single fan.
Nonetheless, Sapphire's custom cooler does a remarkable job at running in near silence even under full load. I've handled different Sky-blue graphics cards in the past six months and the timbre of their cooling systems has blown Maine by every time. Noise levels are main if you plan to use this mITX calling card in a home theater PC, because you don't neediness the sound of blasting fans to drown outShark Tank car witticisms.
Bottom line
What's not to like around the Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 380 ITX Summary?
Brad Chacos The Radeon R9 380 is already the best $200 artwork carte you can buy nowadays, capable of playing the vast majority of games forbidden there with buttery-slippy cast rates on High graphics settings. Sapphire's mini-PC-centred variant is smaller, quicker, and quieter than the extension version, yet information technology costs only nigh $10 more—and that's with 4GB rather than 2GB of aboard retention.
Slap the Nitro 380 ITX Compact into a small form ingredien PC and it'll deliver big-time gaming performance without breaking the bank, period.
This card's highly recommended if you're shoemaking together a mITX Microcomputer for 1080p gambling. It'd be a howling addition to any home theater PC or portable LAN company machine. But if you're edifice a traditional fishing tackle, you'll credibly rule full-sorted Radeon R9 380 models with beefier overclocks and more ornate cooling systems for less money.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may gain a small charge. Say our affiliate tie policy for more details.
Brad Chacos spends his days digging through desktop PCs and tweeting too much.
Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/419656/sapphire-nitro-r9-380-itx-compact-review-tiny-graphics-card-big-time-power.html
Posted by: collinsmarly1959.blogspot.com
0 Response to "Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 380 ITX Compact 4GB AMD graphics card review - collinsmarly1959"
Post a Comment