Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 Nitro+ -A Precious Stone in the Radeon’s Collection

Introduction
Firstly, we are to note that there is no difference between Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 Nitro + and other Radeon RX Vega 64 video cards either in terms of architecture or clock speed. Thanks to the modern mechanisms of the Boot, video cards change clock speeds depending on several parameters. In the case of the reference design of the Radeon RX Vega 64, the clock frequencies rested on the temperature limits, so more efficient cooling should help.
 
But Sapphire went further and installed two versions of the BIOS on the graphics card, which can be selected with the help of a toggle switch.
 
Main Specifications
GPU (Codename) - Vega 10
Shader Units - 4096
Base & Boost Clocks - 1423 MHz / 1630 MHz
Memory Size & Type - 8GB HBM2
Memory Clock - 1.89 Gb/s
Memory Bandwidth - 484 GB/s
Fans - (2) 9.7cm Axial, (1) 8.7cm Axial
Ports - (2) DP 1.4, (2) HDMI 2.0
Power Connectors - (3) 8-pin
Dimensions (LxHxD) - 31 x 13 x 4.8 cm (+0.5 cm back plate)
Weight - 1596g
Warranty - 2 Years
 
Outer and Inner Look
Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 Nitro + looks very massive. A small PCB with a length of 280 mm is covered with a large cooler. The length of the cooler completely exhausts the specification ATX: it is 305 mm. We note the thickness of the cooler in 2.5 slots, although we met models with a thickness of 3 slots. Three axial fans have different diameters. Additional power is supplied to the video card by three 8-pin connectors, the configuration of video outputs is also not quite standard.
 
Design Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 Nitro + does not have aggressive colors. Indeed, in the off state, translucent inserts are not illuminated. Three axial fans are clearly visible, with a fan which has smaller diameter situated on the center. The size of the cooler can be well estimated on the connectors of the PCI Express.
 
The video card is completely covered behind with a metal plate. There you can see the name of the line "Nitro". On the right there is a corresponding logo with illumination. Sapphire left cutouts for high PCB components in the back plate.
 
There are two outdoor fans which have a diameter of 95 mm, an average of 85 mm. Sapphire has chosen the maximum possible fan size in the places where it is possible. Fans stop at low load when the GPU cools down below 50° C. When approaching this threshold "from above" the fans gradually reduce the speed of rotation. As for the reverse process, the fans start to spin when the GPU is heated above 58° C.
 
The power supply system Sapphire Nitro + on Vega 10 XT and Vega 10 XL chips counts 15 phases. The Radeon RX Vega 64 core is characterized by 4096 stream processors, 256 texture units and 64 rendering units.
 
Additional power Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 Nitro + seems redundant. The manufacturer has installed on the video card three 8-pin plugs, which together with 75 W of PCI Express slot allow you to feed up to 525 watts of power on the video card. There are doubts that such a power will be needed in practice. But the video card will work even if you connect only two power connectors of three. However, as the manufacturer indicates, the video card opens its potential only when all three connectors are involved.
 
Behind the video card there is a Nitro logo, which, like other elements, is highlighted during the operation.
 
At the edge of the video card there is a BIOS toggle switch, which allows you to switch between two versions of the BIOS with different performance profiles. Also one of the two connectors is visible for connecting the fan casing to Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 Nitro +. This approach allows the video card to control the fans of the enclosure. Under load, when the graphics card emits a lot of heat, it can increase the speed of the fans for better throwing heat out of the housing. Similar connectors you can see on some ASUS video cards.
 
Conclusion
In the case of Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 Nitro + two modes are supported. The difference in performance between the two BIOS versions ranges from 5% to 7%. Of course, in the case of Silent BIOS, we get a lower noise level, GPU temperature and power consumption. But here it's up to the buyer to decide whether the reduction in performance compensates for a 5-7% reduction in noise and a reduction in power consumption by 50 watts. In any case, the availability of such an option can be attributed to the benefits.