A Video Card for You:
The Sapphire 5830 Xtreme is targeted towards consumers where horsepower may not be at the top of the list but price is. With a $129 retail pricetag the Sapphire 5830 Xtreme is sure to put a smile on many buyers faces. By the same token these same consumers want a card that delivers more than the numbers on the side of the box, Sapphire knows this and the Xtreme series delivers with the included Sapphire TriXX Utility.
This software program assists you in overclocking the card to its maximum potential in a safe environment. With control over the Core and Memory speeds some are reporting as much as 20% headroom which is a lot of extra performance given the budget nature of the card.
Lets look at some quick specs on this card.
Specifications:
| Overview | |
| Output | 1 x Dual-Link DVI 1 x HDMI 1 x Mini-DisplayPort |
| GPU | 800 MHz Core Clock 40 nm Chip 1120 x Stream Processors |
| Memory | 1024 MB Size 256 -bit GDDR5 4000 MHz Effective |
| Software | Driver CD Sapphire TriXX Utility |
| Accessory | DVI to VGA Adapter 6 PIN to 4 PIN Power Cable x 2 |
For a card with a budget price tag it certainly seems to have gamers in mind. A lower 40nm chip design means lower temps and usually better overclocking, With Dual-Link DVI, HDMI, and Mini-Display Port outputs the Sapphire 5830 has you covered for connectivity. The card comes with a full 1GB of GDDR5 ensuring you enough memory for the more demanding applications.
What we don’t see in these specifications are features like:
- ATI Eyefinity Multi-Display
- CrossFireX Ready
- Microsoft DirectX 11
- PCI Express 2.1
- Shader Model 4.1
So how does this card differ from the regular 5830 and the 5850/5850 Xtreme?
Click On the Thumbnail for a Larger Image
This is a really large chart so let it load, but it does help to make clear the differences between each of the cards. Basically the 5830 actually has a higher core clock speed than the 5850 Xtreme, 800 MHz vs 725Mhz and the same memory frequency at 4000MHz. The primary difference between these cards is in the Shader Pipelines which in the case of the 5850 has 1440 while the 5830 has 1120. Oddly enough the 5830 Xtreme has a higher maximum power draw of 175W vs the 5850’s 170W and both the Xtreme models of the 5850 and 5830 support a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1200 vs the non-Xtreme versions higher limit of 2560 x 1600.
Sapphire has chosen to compare the 5850 to the Nvidia 285 while the 5830 is compared to the Nvidia 275. This is probably a fair assessment of its relative strength in gaming and 3D performance aside from feature sets.
