INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    It's been quite a long road for both NVIDIA and their GeForce RTX 5xxx series and AMD and their Radeon RX 9xxx series but we're finally days away before the first reviews make it online (if all goes well, from what I hear some issues have risen so it could be a bumpy launch for the latter) and so what better way to prepare for that than to test not one but two of the latest AMD cards launched by Sapphire? Well as the review title states today with me, I have both the Nitro+ AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT and the Pure AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT models by Sapphire which I've been testing for almost 2 full months now.

    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 market addressing gaming and performance graphics hardware enthusiasts, as well as delivering an array of embedded technology solutions and commercial graphics products.

    The Radeon RX 7700 XT is based on the Navi 32 GPU by AMD and thus uses the same RDNA3 graphics architecture as the Radeon RX 7600/7800/7900 models. The Navi 32 is manufactured using EUV lithography (5nm process) and aside a brand new AI accelerator it also packs 54 RDNA 3 compute units, 3456 stream processors, 96 raster units (or render output units), 54 ray accelerators (or ray tracing cores), 216 texture mapping units, 3 shader engines, 48MB of Infinity Cache and a total of 108 AI accelerators. VRAM amount for the Radeon RX 7700 XT series is set at 12GB of 18Gbps GDDR6 (either by SK Hynix or Samsung) based on a 192-bit bus interface. Needless to say, both the Nitro+ and Pure models by Sapphire feature better cooling (tri-fan, dual heatsink models - 3 slots required for the former and 2.5 slots for the latter), metal backplates, dedicated VRM cooling (Nitro+), ARGB lighting (Nitro+), fuse protection, dual-BIOS (Nitro+), higher clocks and higher total power draw limits. To be precise the Nitro+ AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT sports a game clock of 2276MHz and a boost clock of 2599MHz whereas the Pure AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT comes ready with a game clock set at 2226MHz and a boost clock set at 2584MHz (as opposed to the stock 2171/2544MHz clocks). Moving to total power draw the higher clocked Nitro+ is configured for up to 252W whereas the Pure is configured for up to 240W. Finally in terms of connectivity both the Nitro+ and Pure AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT cards by Sapphire feature two DisplayPort v2.1 outputs and two HDMI v2.1a outputs.

 

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both cards are shipped in boxes that have drawings and the product classification at the front.

 

 

The product features along with a few words about the Pantheon line of cards by Sapphire (in the case of the Nitro+) are placed at the rear.

 

 

As expected, the cards are wrapped inside plastic and placed in a thick piece of foam.

 

 

Bundle-wise both cards are very similar so in their boxes you'll find an support bracket, 3 screws, RGB motherboard cable (Nitro+), support bracket installation instructions and the quick installation guide.

 

 

 

THE NITRO+ & PURE AMD RADEON RX 7700 XT 12GB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Nitro+ AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT 12GB measures 320mm in length and 61.57mm in thickness (3-slot card). On the other hand, the Pure AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT 12GB model (used a black foam pad to better showcase it via pictures) measures 320mm in length and 52.57mm in thickness (2.5-slot card).

 

 

Basically, these two cards are very similar with thickness being their only difference in size.

 

 

Both cards feature 3 two-ball bearing fans with angular velocity fan blades which are fan quick connect for the Nitro+ model.

 

 

Sapphire has used dual-heatsinks and composite heatpipes for both models.

 

 

At the top of the Nitro+ model we find an ARGB LED bar whereas at the top of the Pure we find a RED LED illuminated company logo.

 

 

These cards require two 8-pin PCIe power connectors (next to the power connectors the Nitro+ model also has an RGB connector).

 

 

Turning the cards around we find a system fan connector and a dual-BIOS switch on the Nitro+ and an LED switch on the Pure.

 

 

Almost the entire rear of both cards is covered with a metal backplate (the Nitro+ also has some ARGB LEDs on the left side).

 

 

At the front both cards have two DP v2.1 and two HDMI v2.1a outputs (short clip of both cards is available in YouTube and TikTok).

 

TRIXX V9.75

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The TriXX is Sapphire's graphics card control software.

Information on the card is what you'll see on the very first tab (showcasing just the Nitro+ since it has more software features).

 

 

Second tab is a rather detailed system monitor.

 

 

You can get a boost in performance for a slight decrease in image quality by using the features in the third tab.

 

 

From the fan health check tab, you can do a fan self-test to check for possible fan issues.

 

 

Last tab can be used to switch between the 8 available ARGB effects and also adjust the brightness levels and color change speed.

 

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, overlays and even zero fan mode 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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pushing stable boost clocks to 3085MHz for the Nitro+ and 3049MHz for the Pure was very easy (memory was set to 2500MHz for both cards).

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - POWER CONSUMPTION / TEMPERATURES / NOISE LEVELS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Since some of you may be wondering the reason, I did 2 reviews in 1 this time over was because both cards arrived in the office around the same time and also because we’re left with just days before reviews of all the new models by NVIDIA and AMD come out. With that out of the way both AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT cards by Sapphire do what they were designed to do, offer very good 1440p performance, even with raytracing enabled in some games. Power consumption is a bit higher than expected (not much lower compared to the RX 7800 XT) and as for noise levels and temperatures both cards do well. What really stands out is looks and even though the Nitro+ model is what I’d personally choose (well, it’s also faster in most games and overclocks better) the all-white Pure model will certainly fit nicely in white builds (the red LED fits well). The TriXX software is also something that I actually like, yes it may not offer OC capabilities (you can do that via the drivers themselves) but it’s very easy to navigate/use. Finally, I feel that I need to mention that AMD has of late also added certain new features in their drivers (AI for example) and since I’ve been keeping track of their software (actually ever since the early ATI days) it’s always good to see new stuff being added.

    Currently the Nitro+ AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT 12GB and Pure AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT 12GB cards by Sapphire retail for USD496.81/479.99 inside the USA and for 460.32/515Euros inside the EU (the Pure model seems to be in somewhat limited availability). Now I do expect prices to get slightly sliced once the new cards make their way to stores so to be completely honest, I’d wait for a few days If I wanted to buy one of them. Pricing aside both the Nitro + and Pure AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT 12GB by Sapphire deliver where they should (I do believe they should go for less however, always compared to the Radeon RX 7800 XT) they deserve the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (Materials / Backplate)
- Very Good Performance
- Good Overclocking Headroom
- Noise Levels & Temperatures
- 2 ARGB LED Zones (Nitro+)
- Dual BIOS (Nitro+)
- All White (Pure)
- Supported Technologies
- TRIXX Software

CONS

- Overall RT Performance
- Power Consumption (For Some)