Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 Atomic

Author: Harry Butler
Published: 19th December 2008

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How to Dismantle an Atomic Graphics Card

Removing the block reveals a very well machined thermal contact surface that provides excellent contact between the block and every component on the card – a bargain bin waterblock this certainly isn’t, despite the move to aluminium from the copper usually found on GPU waterblocks. Sadly the stock ATI back plate, responsible for cooling half of the card’s 2GB of GDDR5 memory, hasn’t been replaced and remains the same.

A look at the top of the card reveals that unlike most GPU waterblocks which are built to accommodate either 3/8” or 1/2” barbs, the Atomic’s watercooling loop uses neither, instead opting for its own custom plastic fittings, which are surprisingly slim with an external diameter of just 6mm (1/4”). This is a little concerning as with such small fittings, flow rate into and out of the card is going to be somewhat limited, which could compromise on thermal performance.

The loop’s hosing is similarly slim, although is wrapped in a ribbed plastic sheath to make it more durable. In fact the whole loop is, unlike a lot of our watercooling experiments, extremely tough and well put together; even with us manhandling it for a few days it’s still resolutely holding together, and this is thanks to the closed nature of the loop. Unlike a normal watercooling loop, which requires assembly, a reservoir and a fill port the Atomic’s is entirely sealed - there’s no reservoir or fill port here, and the loop is designed to, like Fallout 3’s Vault 101, never be opened.

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 Atomic Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 Atomic Cont.

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As such, Sapphire have been able to seal the fittings and hoses together, and while they’re still positional thanks to rotatable fittings on the GPU waterblock, this means that cutting the hoses to better suit your case or setup isn’t going to be an option and neither is adding a second card or additional components into the loop. Thankfully Sapphire has thoughtfully included plenty of tubing though, so you won’t have to worry about it not reaching your hardware – we fitted the loop into a number of case and motherboard combinations and all easily accommodated the 4870 X2 Atomic.

Powering the cooling system is a rather unique CPU waterblock that incorporates the loop’s pump, removing the hassle of having to securely mount the pump into either the base of the case, or an available drive bay. Sapphire includes fittings for both Intel 775 and AMD AM2 motherboards, although disappointingly an Intel 1366 bracket isn’t included so those early adopters of Intel’s new Core i7 range of processors will have to wait until it’s made available as an optional extra.

The CPU block’s contact surface is very large, and is made from well machined copper, with a thin layer of powdery TIM pre-applied. The block also includes the loop’s low flow pump, concealed within a chromed plastic housing and powered by a standard three pin fan cable. It’s certainly a very neat and compact solution and is easy to fit too thanks to the included pushpin bracket for LGA775 or screw through back plate based AM2 bracket.

The final component of the sealed loop is a single black 120mm radiator; cooled by an Akasa made blue LED lit 120mm fan. Easily mounted onto any 120mm fan mount within a case, the radiator shares the same non-removable fittings as the rest of the loop.

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As well as the card and pre-built, pre-filled water cooling loop Sapphire also includes a very generous bundle including connectors for single molex to six pin PCI-E, dual molex to eight pin PCI-E, a DVI to HDMI adapter, a DVI to VGA adapter, a 10ft HDMI cable, HD component break out cable, an S-Video to composite adapter, a somewhat pointless CrossFire adapter and full versions of 3DMark Vantage, Cyberlink PowerDVD v7 and Cyberlink DVD Suite v5, as well as AMD/ATI’s Ruby Rom 1.1 which includes demo versions of Call of Juarez, Dungeon Runners and Stranglehold to test out your new graphics monster.

There’s also the aforementioned LGA775 and AM2 CPU block mounting brackets, mounting screws for the radiator a Sapphire branded 2GB USB 2.0 flash drive and even an individually numbered authentication sticker. Bar a full new game to play on your new hardware, this represents one of the most well featured hardware bundles we’ve ever seen with a card.

Warranty & Support

The Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 Atomic comes complete with a two-year warranty that includes cover for parts and labour. During the first year of the product’s life, your point of contact should be the retailer. However, if you’re having problems getting hold of the retailer (or the retailer goes out of business), you should contact Sapphire’s support team directly. During the second year of the warranty period, you should talk directly with Sapphire.

This warranty is nothing special, but to be fair to Sapphire it’s in line with what most other AMD partners offer and the warranty period is consistent in every corner of the world.