Bundle and Presentation
Sapphire's supplied box for the sample isn't quite final. Outer packaging will be a bit more robust to protect what's inside, and you'll be able to see the card clearly without the smoked outer packaging creating a blurred view.
It'd stand out on any store shelf (however unlikely you are to see it on one!) and it's quite clear what's inside for the curious.
Bundle wise you get the usual. Cables (including power adaptor, S-Video and two DVI-to-VGA convertors) are all present and correct and there's an installation guide, PSU requirements sheet (not bad for a document of that ilk, surprisingly!) and the software CDs you'd expect. The sample didn't come with a copy of Sapphire's Trixx utility for overclocking, and our attempts to use the latest 1.0.0.13 version resulted in the following error.
Erm.
Sapphire assure us that a version of Trixx that supports the TOXIC Radeon X1900 XTX will be shipped in the box.
Not quite the added extras and games fest you'd expect from such a high-end graphics board product, but at least it lets you get the card going and used without any fuss. Standard CATALYST releases work on the board without issue.
Performance next, thermal and otherwise.
