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Sapphire, HIS and Asustek create own PCBs for overclocked Radeons
Recently there have been a few “overclocked out of the box” video cards offered, including the newer revisions of the Radeon X1800 XT. Some ATI providers (ASUSTeK, HIS and Sapphire) have been shipping cards set at 700MHz GPU, 75MHz beyond stock, and higher memory frequency as well, to further boost performance. The older versions of the board, however, which are most common and most readily available, aren't able to handle this overclock because they are not designed to support the extra needed voltage. Ultimately, people trying to flash older revision boards with a BIOS set to overclock may result in a card that dies prematurely. In response, these manufacturers are revamping their PCBs to bring better voltage regulation. There isn't a price difference between new or older PCBs, but overclocking is sure to have much more success with the newer.
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User Comments (10)
Post a comment| mtyson8 on December 30, 2005 11:15 AM | I think since overclocking is here to stay, and Grphcs card mnfctrs should impose better voltages on all cards coming out, even if some gamers plan to not overclock, and even if they are not overclocked out of the box. This would also help out on Tech support, in case people have problem as a result of overclocking.
Also, in a way, i dont think overclocking boost that much performance on a given card anyways. Hardcore gamers tend to get a new card once a year anyways, so a new card does the trick for the newest game. Also, to contradict again, I guess these guys who get new cards often overclock, so damaging a card after a year makes no difference if they have money to buy a new one, as the old one would just sit in a drawer if the dont plan to sell it, working or not.
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| PUTALE on December 30, 2005 1:25 PM | MMH, i wonder with their newly designed board, would it be more beneficial to buy these cheaper cards or the up and coming x1900.
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| Strakian on December 30, 2005 2:13 PM | Hey this is great! As long as it keeps wth the consistency of good products that Sapphire has released in the past, this could be a win win for all 
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| Crofty74 on December 30, 2005 5:35 PM | Their is obviously a good market for such products then, personnally I had to take back a couple of golden sample card a while ago for not making the clock speeds it claimed on the box and have been kind of avoiding cards that claim to do much beyond the norm since and found most to overclock great, this would improve my confidence in that no end.
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| otmakus on December 31, 2005 12:15 AM | These cards are only for the hardcore gamers, who can afford to buy a new card anytime in case theirs "die prematurely". For the rest of us, who can only afford X1600 or 6600 or even lower cards, OC ing will be the last resort, when the card can't match the newest games, and when we're ready to spend money for a new card in case the OC ing goes wrong.
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| Craftos on December 31, 2005 2:31 AM | I guess that's because of competition. And it's a very good sign. ATI and NVIDIA had too loose more it's (quite tight before) card specifications to push sales better.
No wonder it's starts from ATI because it's new R520 line performs worse than NVIDIA's cards at similar price level.
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| robikewl on December 31, 2005 8:35 AM | Good news but where is Powercolor. I love their cards, hope the follow suit
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| mentaljedi on December 31, 2005 9:35 AM | They really need to sort this out with the whole voltage thing. Seems like they are starting to....
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| geforcemaniac on December 31, 2005 3:27 PM | I find that gecube's uni wise technology is really efficient and quiet. I feel it's the best on the market at the moment but that will obviously change when these new pcbs are out!
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| luismigilbert on January 2, 2006 9:44 AM | about 3 months ago i got a BFG OC card...it's imppressive..and it has lifetime warranty..if i had the opportunity to get a new graphics card, i'll look for BFG cards..
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