INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Even though highly anticipated games like GTA 6 and Mass Effect 5 are still far away (especially for PC users in the case of the former) there are always some that clearly warrant the purchase of a new graphics card (Cyberpunk 2077 and Star Citizen for me). Yes, due to inflated prices 2022 and even 2023 weren't the two best years for people looking to get a brand new graphics card (or even a used one) but prices are currently down to almost normal levels (for now at least) so again, it's not a bad time to get one. AMD recently announced the two new members of their Radeon RX family, the Radeon RX 7700 XT and the Radeon RX 7800 XT and with me today i have what is probably the best implementation of the latter, the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB.

   SAPPHIRE Technology continues to be a world leading manufacturer and global supplier of innovative graphics and mainboard products, delivering its AMD Radeon based products to the PC markets addressing gaming, eSports and performance graphics enthusiasts as well as delivering an array of professional graphics products and embedded system solutions. Recently SAPPHIRE has penetrated new markets with a series of GPU Compute server systems targeting the blockchain and commercial cryptocurrency mining businesses.

   Unlike its larger brother the Radeon RX 7900 XT (Navi 31) the Radeon RX 7800 XT (Navi 32) comes wearing 60 RDNA 3 compute units, 3840 stream processors, 96 raster units (or render output units), 60 ray accelerators (or ray tracing cores), 240 TMUs (texture mapping units), 3 shader engines, 64MB of infinity cache and 16GB GDDR6 VRAM (19.5Gbps). In terms of supported technologies again we find AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 2.3 for maximum performance and visuals (Fluid Motion Frames technology), radiance display engine for incredible color accuracy at up to 8K 165Hz (12-bit HDR with full coverage of the REC2020 color space), raytracing for lifelike graphics, HYPR-RX game profiles, image sharpening, noise suppression which helps reduce ambient noise, anti-lag for faster input commands, smart access memory (performance boost when paired with an AMD Ryzen CPU), FreeSync for no image stuttering and tearing and AMD link which allows you to stream your Windows desktop and games to mobile devices, TVs and other Windows PCs. Needless to say the Nitro Plus model by SAPPHIRE sports numerous improvements over the stock model and so aside the obvious increase in game (2254MHz vs 2124MHz reference), boost (2565MHz vs 2430MHz reference) and memory (2438MHz vs 2025MHz reference) they've also used a high density 14-layer 2oz copper & TG PCB, cold rolled steel frame, digital power design, metal backplate, dedicated VRM cooling, dual-BIOS, composite heatpipes, 2 8-pin power connectors (288W power limit), ARGB LED bar, fuse protection and three two-ball bearing quick-connect fans with angular blades (needless to say a GPU holder/supporter is included in the bundle). So, how does the new Radeon RX 7800 XT compare to its larger (and smaller) brothers, let’s find out.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAPPHIRE has placed their logo and the main product features at the front of the box.

 

 

The key features of the Radeon RX 7800 XT are printed on the left side.

 

 

SAPPHIRE lists all the pros the cards of their PANTHEON have at the rear of the box (this word obviously comes from the Greek Pantheon).

 

 

As expected, the card is wrapped inside a plastic bag and placed inside a formed piece of foam.

 

 

Along with the card inside the box you'll find an ARGB cable with installation instructions, support bracket with screws and instructions and the quick installation guide.

 

 

THE NITRO+ AMD RADEON RX 7800 XT 16GB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB by SAPPHIRE is a 3 slot card that measures 320mm in length, 134.85mm in width and 61.57mm in height (quick video of the card installed in my test rig is available on both YouTube and TikTok).

 

 

To showcase just how large the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB is i placed it next to the MSI Gaming Slim GeForce RTX 4070 12GB (review soon).

 

 

SAPPHIRE has placed three two-ball bearing quick-connect fans just over the dual-heatsink cooler (as with past Nitro+ models the center fan moves clockwise whereas the left and right fans move counter-clockwise).

 

 

As you can see from the two large heatsinks are connected by a total of 5 nickel plated copper heatpipes.

 

 

On top of the card, we find an ARGB LED bar, ARGB headers and two 8-pin PCIe power connectors.

 

 

Moving at the front we find the dual-BIOS switch which is set at performance by default.

 

 

Most of the rear is taken by a metal plate (the company name is the 2^nd ARGB zone).

 

 

In terms of available connectors SAPPHIRE has equipped their card with two HDMI v2.1 and two DP v2.1 outputs.

 

 

TRIXX V9.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just like most manufacturers SAPPHIRE also have their very own monitoring/control software called TRIXX.

The first tab lists information about the card itself, including some monitoring graphs.

 

 

Second tab is a very thorough hardware monitoring tool which pretty much covers every single bit of the card you’re using.

 

 

From the 3rd tab you can further boost the performance of your card if needed at the cost of some image quality.

 

 

The fan check tab is something i consider very useful especially for such an expensive graphics card.

 

 

Last tab allows you to adjust the dual-zone ARGB lighting (7 modes plus off).

 

 

TEST BED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Since I changed my graphics card test rig i decided to tweak things a bit and so the entire testing methodology has changed. So, for the foreseeable future for tests, I’ll be using the EV3285 monitor by EIZO (later on i may also add tri-monitor results since i do have 2 cockpits here in the lab) for 2160p UHD (3840x2160p), 1440p (2560x1440p) and 1080p Full HD (1920x1080p) tests. Needless to say, since most of you voted for it, I’ll also be using the Intel Core I9-13900K (5.8GHz P/4.7GHz E/4.9GHz RING), EVGA Z790 DARK test rig which I’ve completed with the Kingston FURY RENEGADE 32GB DDR5 7200MHz CL38 dual-channel kit.

   Most games have also been changed so instead of manually testing every single one (and always allowing a small percentage of error) i chose all the latest ones to feature a built-in benchmark. In certain cases, built-in benchmarks may perform better than in-game but my purpose is comparison and not what one can expect in terms of in-game performance. So, this list includes Chernobylite, Cyberpunk 2077, F1 2022, Far Cry 6, Forza Horizon 5, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Horizon Zero Dawn CE, Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Returnal. Also, since some of you have asked for Synthetic benchmarks in the past, I’ll also be using Speed Way and Port Royal from 3D Mark.

   As with the past options like power saving, sharpness and overlays are all disabled in the cards we’re testing (to achieve the purest and maximum performance) and all tests are repeated a total of 3 times in a fresh Windows 10 Pro installation with all updates installed until the day of our review (same as all the games used). Room temperature is as usual controlled and steady at 23 degrees Celsius for all tests and to record the temperatures of the cards we used AIDA64 and GPU-Z. Recording noise levels is done with an ExTech HD600 dBA meter from a distance of just 15cm away while power consumption is measured again using GPU-Z.

 

 

TEST RESULTS – SPEED WAY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3DMark Speed Way’s engine is assembled to demonstrate what the latest DirectX API (12 Ultimate) brings to ray traced gaming, using DirectX Raytracing tier 1.1 for real-time global illumination and real-time raytraced reflections, coupled with new performance optimizations like Mesh Shaders.

 

TEST RESULTS – PORT ROYAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3DMark Port Royal is the world’s first real-time ray tracing benchmark for gamers. It shows you how well your PC handles ray tracing effects in real-time.

 

TEST RESULTS – CHERNOBYLITE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chernobylite is a 1st person RPG set in the hyper-realistic, 3D-scanned wasteland of Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone. It's based on Unreal Engine 4 and will be used at Ultra graphics (RT Ultra/Off).

 

TEST RESULTS – CYBERPUNK 2077

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cyberpunk 2077 is the latest game by CD Project and is based on their REDEngine 4. Graphics are set at Ultra/Psycho (RT Psycho/Off).

 

TEST RESULTS – F1 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

F1 2022 is built on Codemasters' in-house engine, EGO, which has been upgraded to include DX12 and Ray-Tracing. Graphics are set to Ultra High (RT is enabled in all tests).

 

TEST RESULTS – FAR CRY 6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Far Cry 6 is based on the Dunia engine. Graphics are set to Ultra with DXR enabled.

 

TEST RESULTS – FORZA HORIZON 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forza Horizon 5 uses ForzaTech, a proprietary engine built by Turn 10. Graphics are set to Extreme (RT is always enabled at high).

 

TEST RESULTS - GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guardians Of The Galaxy is based on the Dawn Engine by EIDOS. Graphics are set to maximum (RT Ultra/Off).

 

TEST RESULTS - HORIZON ZERO DAWN CE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horizon Zero Dawn CE (Complete Edition) is based on Guerrilla Games' Decima engine. Graphics are set to Ultimate Quality.

 

TEST RESULTS - METRO EXODUS ENHANCED EDITION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition is based on the 4A Engine and contains huge graphical upgrades compared to the normal version, including Ray Traced Emissive Lighting. Graphics are set at Extreme quality.

 

TEST RESULTS – RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Red Dead Redemption 2 Rockstar has used their RAGE engine (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine). Graphics preset level slider is set to favour quality.

 

TEST RESULTS – RETURNAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Returnal is also based on Unreal Engine 4. Graphics are set to EPIC (RT EPIC/Off).

 

TEST RESULTS - OVERCLOCKING

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overclocking the RX 7800 XT did take a bit of time (power limit/voltage trial and error) and the results do look strange (not like the card would ever go to 4 or 5GHz) but the above numbers worked well with the Nitro+ model.

 

TEST RESULTS - POWER CONSUMPTION / TEMPERATURES / NOISE LEVELS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The NITRO+ Radeon RX 7800 XT by SAPPHIRE had large shoes to fill and well, it mostly does. In most of my tests it offers almost double the performance of the Radeon RX 7600 and in a few it even comes close to the stock Radeon RX 7900 XT model. Yes, it may not offer the same power consumption/performance ratio as the RX 7900 XT (or the RX 7900 XTX for that matter) but it’s clearly more efficient compared to its smaller RX 7600 brother. Ray tracing performance is actually very good too, not quite as good as NVIDIA cards (to be expected) but clearly improves with every new driver. Thanks to the NITRO+ cooler the card also does very well in terms of temperatures and noise levels (do keep in mind that the max numbers were the ones recorded during my tests and not the maximum possible – during the fan test noise levels were much higher) so for the like 100th time Kudos to SAPPHIRE for making one of the best coolers around. Still not all was perfect and so for all of you who might have noticed there were no raytracing results with Chernobylite and the reason is quite simple, the game just wouldn't allow me to use it in my tests (it just said unavailable setting). Yes, i didn't encounter this issue with the Radeon RX 7900 XT, Radeon RX 7900 XTX or the Radeon RX 7600 while i was testing them so this is probably something related with the current drivers (which means either the team behind Chernobylite or AMD will fix this).

   The NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB graphics card by SAPPHIRE currently retails for USD559.95 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 655.14Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which is totally balanced for this particular card. So, is the NITRO+ Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB the card to get for Christmas? Well, largely depends on what resolution you’re playing at but up to 1440p or even 1600p this card has your back. You could also play at 4K if you sacrifice some graphics details but to many of you this would be too much. At the end of the day the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB graphics card delivers great performance for its price segment and for that it certainly deserves the Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality (Materials / Backplate)
- Great Performance
- Good Overclocking Headroom
- Noise Levels & Temperatures
- 2 ARGB LED Zones
- Supported Technologies
- TRIXX Software

CONS

- Overall RT Performance
- Power Consumption (For Some)
- Size (For Some)