Published: Friday 30th October, 2009 | Author: Parm Mann
Products: ATI Radeon HD 5970
Companies: AMD (All AMD content)
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discuss in the forums 
email to a friendWe already know that AMD is planning a dual-GPU variant of its top-end ATI Radeon HD 5870, and we saw the card pose for the cameras back in September.
Fast forward a month, and the card is back in the limelight - with a few extra details. According to reports, AMD is planning on dropping its "X2" nomenclature and will instead refer to its extreme dual-5870-GPU card as the ATI Radeon HD 5970. One would assume, then, that a card equipped with a pair of 5850 GPUs would surface as the ATI Radeon HD 5950.
There's no official confirmation on that branding just yet, but the folks over at alienbabeltech.com have managed to score a closer look at the card itself, revealing just how big this monstrosity really is.
Looks like just an elongated Radeon HD 5000-series card, until you flip it over to reveal the dual-GPU goodness.
That promise of performance supremacy isn't without its drawbacks, however. The card is said to measure a whopping 342.9mm in length (13.5in), and it uses both an 8-pin and a 6-pin power connector.
Housed in an Antec 1200 chassis, it leaves little room to work with, and we're also told that the card's cooling solution comprises of a fan that tops out at a massive 4,700rpm.
The good news is that AMD has been in touch to state that the pictured card is merely an engineering sample, suggesting that we should see some refinements before it hits retail. Speaking of which, there's still no mention of pricing or availability, but we'd recommend you start saving now - this one isn't likely to be cheap.
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I'll stick to the plan of a 4850 Vapor-X for quiet running followed by a 2nd when the prices drop further.Quote
if it wasn't 13.5" long, a 9" 4850 can barely fit in my antec 300 let alone this.Quote
Fat, tall, and loud.
AMD could do with getting someone like Arctic cooling on board to produce a smart cooler for this as they don't seem to get past this pants cooler design that just doesn't cut the mustard any more.Quote
http://scan.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=vapor-x
(Apparently the 5870 ones will be coming out soonish)
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=17669
Vapor-X is a Vapor Chamber Technology based on the same principles as heatpipe technology. A liquid coolant is vaporised at a hot surface, the resulting vapor is condensed at a cold surface then the liquid is returned to the hot surface. The recirculation process takes place inside an evacuated chamber and is controlled by a complex wick system. In SAPPHIRE Vapor-X systems, the whole chamber is very slim and is mounted in contact with the surface of the graphics chip.
The current TOXIC series of high performance overclocked products incorporate a hybrid cooling system combining Vapor-X at the core to remove heat efficiently from the graphics processor together with heatpipes and finned heatsinks. These are cooled by a fan to carry away the heat from the vapor chamber, memories and other components and give more headroom for higher levels of performance.
SAPPHIRE Vapor-X and hybrid cooling systems are very efficient, so they can use low air flow rates – and therefore low speed, low noise fans. Low noise is generally sought after in modern PC systems, so SAPPHIRE is now introducing a new family of graphics products using Vapor-X technology. Based on its high end graphics processors the new family is aimed at the discerning user who wants the low noise and high reliability, but does not want to pay the premium for the specialist faster memory and other premium components that deliver the overclocking capability of the TOXIC series.
I still wouldn't risk it tho after experiencing how loud and annoying a 4870x2 (admittedly not vapor-x just standard) was every time it revved up, going with watercooling for mineQuote
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