Introduction
At Gamescom 2023, AMD announced the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT and Radeon RX 7700 XT video cards, based on the RDNA 3 architecture, to fulfill the Radeon RX 7000 lineup. The Radeon RX 7800 XT has an MSRP of $499, and the Radeon RX 7700 XT has an MSRP of $449. We published the specs announcement on August 25th, read that for the full press presentation and information about these new video cards, and also check out our full Radeon RX 7800 XT made-by-AMD reference video card review.
In today’s review, we will be looking at the brand new SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB GAMING OC video card, which SAPPHIRE has set with an MSRP of $549. The SAPPHIRE NITRO+ model it is offering of the Radeon RX 7800 XT is SAPPHIRE’s highest, most enthusiast-oriented factory overclocked custom model of its Radeon RX 7800 XT lineup. The complete product name is SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT GAMING OC 16GB GDDR6 DUAL HDMI/DUAL DP and SKU# 11330-01-20G.
We have a lot to talk about with the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 7800 XT GAMING OC because it has a very high factory overclock that does make a difference in performance. It also has a completely custom design that beefs up the Radeon RX 7800 XT in some big ways, with a lot of enthusiast features and impressive cooling. Before we dive into it, here’s a brief reminder of the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT default reference specs. Please read our AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT review for reference and comparisons to the made-by-AMD video card.
The Radeon RX 7800 XT has 60 Compute Units, 3840 Shader Units, 60 RT Accelerators (2nd Gen), 120 AI Accelerators, and 96 ROPs. It uses 64MB of 2nd Gen AMD Infinity Cache. It has a Game Clock of 2124MHz and a Boost Clock of 2430MHz. It has 16GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus at 19.5Gbps which gives it 624GB/s of memory bandwidth, and it uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface with a TDP of 263W.
SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 7800 XT 16GB GAMING OC Specs
In SAPPHIRE’s new Radeon RX 7800 XT lineup, SAPPHIRE offers four distinct SKUs or models based on the Radeon RX 7800 XT. Starting from the right, you will find the SAPPHIRE AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT GAMING 16GB, which is your standard fair AMD cooler design with reference clock speeds. Moving up the ladder, the SAPPHIRE PULSE RX 7800 XT GAMING 16GB has custom cooling using SAPPHIRE’s Dual-X cooling but still has reference clock speeds. Next up the ladder is the SAPPHIRE PURE RX 7800 XT 16GB Gaming OC, which is a new brand from SAPPHIRE. This card has SAPPHIRE Tri-X cooling and has a factory-boosted clock speed.
At the top of the ladder is the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB GAMING OC video card we are reviewing today in this review. This video card is the highest-end enthusiast-oriented video card of the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 7800 XT lineup, it comes with all the bells and whistles. It sports SAPPHIRE’s Tri-X cooling, is a thicker 3-slot design, and comes with a Dual BIOS, ARGB Light Bar, NITRO Glow ARGB, Fan Quick Connect, Fan Health Check, and Assistive System Fan Control. In addition, it has a very high boost clock at 2565MHz! The default AMD spec is 2430MHz, so this card is boosted quite high out-of-the-box. It has a higher board power of 288W. Don’t forget, with the video card you also get Starfield bundled, which is a huge bonus.
The SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 7800 XT Gaming OC uses a digital power design with a 14-phase power design with high-performance conductive polymer aluminum capacitors. This is all put together on a 14-layer high TG PCG with 2oz copper and power fuse protection. The SAPPHIRE Tri-X cooling is a triple axial fan design using angular velocity hybrid fan blades that have quick connect capability. The heatsink is a V-shape Wave Fin Design with 5x composite heatpipes. The heatsink makes contact with the GPU, memory, and VRMs. There is a superalloy support frame around the video card for stability.
There are some unique features on the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 7800 XT Gaming OC such as a Dual BIOS switch, that can be switched in software with the TriXX software utility. There is also an Assistive System Fan Control by way of an External ARGB Sync connection, with Fan input and ARGB cable which is included. The fans support Quick Connect, so you can replace them or clean them easily, and there is a Fan Health Check built into the TriXX software.
SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 7800 XT 16GB GAMING OC Pictures
The SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT graphics card comes in a nice box, and it lists the VRAM capacity on the front, with system requirements on the back.
The overall design is a triple axial fan design, with a heatsink shroud that wraps around across the back end and has a full backplate. It uses a die-casted aluminum-magnesium alloy frame. There is an air pass-through on the end, as the heatsink extends past the PCB length. The back of the GPU is left exposed, and the backplate is vented so it won’t trap heat. Atop the top edge of the video card is the ARGB light strip and the power connectors are recessed with an opening to easily get to.
The video card is a big one, it measures 12.5″ inches in length, which is two inches longer than the made-by-AMD video card. It is also 5.3″ inches in width and 2.4″ inches in height. It is considered a 3-slot video card, so make sure you have ample room.
In terms of display support, the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 7800 XT Gaming OC supports 4x maximum display monitors and has 2x DP / 2x HDMI.
In the above pictures, you can see that the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 7800 XT Gaming OC has an ARGB connection, and there is an included cable. There is also Fan input and a DUAL Bios Switch atop the video card. The SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 7800 XT Gaming OC uses two standard 8-pin PCIe Power Connectors, and they are recessed into the shroud design. We found this made it easy to get to the connectors plugging and unplugging connectors, without having to pinch our fingers. It made access easy.
In the box contents, you will find an L-shape graphics card supporter, to add extra stability. You will also find a 5V ARGB cable included with a 3-pin header for RGB LED Motherboard Synchronization.
Once it is all put together, the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 7800 XT Gaming OC demonstrates a brilliant ARGB light strip atop the entire length of the video card. It’s quite striking and adds that bit of flare to the video card.