Sapphire is back with new custom graphics cards designed around the RX 6700XT graphics card that launches today. Sapphire's new 6700XT models come in the form of the NITRO+ and the lower-end Pulse.
The RX 6700XT Nitro+ is Sapphire's flagship card in its 6700XT lineup. It features a large triple-fan cooling system that looks identical to the RX 6800 Nitro+. But in fact, it's slightly smaller at 2.5 slots thick and a few millimeters shorter compared to its bigger RX 6800 counterpart.
For cooling, the card the 6700 XT Nitro+ uses Sapphires own "Wave Fin Design" and V-Shape Fin technology, which optimizes the fin array of the heatsink to minimize air turbulence from the intake fans as much as possible. Sapphire says this can result in a 5.5% improvement to cooling performance
Aesthetically, the 6700XT Nitro+ looks identical to Sapphires' other RDNA2 based Nitro+ graphics cards. The front shroud features a matte black finish with silver accents lining the top and bottom of the shroud. To the back is a large silver backplate, with several large cutouts to the rear and sides that allow the heatsink to breathe more effectively.
To the side, you get a fully RGB-lit Sapphire logo as well as an RGB illuminated light-bar. For power, the card comes with a single 8-pin and 6-pin. For display outputs, you get three DisplayPorts and a single HDMI. We don't know the exact revision of these video outputs, but presumably, they should be the same as the reference design.
There's also a dual UEFI BIOS setup on this card; one BIOS is optimized with a silent fan curve, the other with a more aggressive fan curve.
The RX 6700XT also comes with a factory overclock, the Game Clock has been increased from 2424MHz to 2548MHz, and the Boost Clock has been increased from 2581MHz to 2622MHz.
RX 6700 Pulse
The RX 6700XT Pulse is Sapphire's entry-level card that's optimized for a better price-to-performance ratio.
Instead of the triple fan design, Sapphire opted to go with a dual-fan solution (with larger fans) for the Pulse. The card is much smaller as well, at just 2.2 PCI-e slots thick and is just 260mm long (compared to the Nitro+ which measures 310mm long).
The Pulse features a more stealth-like aesthetic with a full matte black finish on the shroud, fans, and backplate. Plus there are several red accents dotting the card.
Poer consumption is the big advantage of this card over the Nitro+ — the card only has a total board power of 230W, compared to 260W for the Nitro+. And with the Pulse's low form factor, it should be a better choice for small form factor builds.
We don't yet know what pricing will be like for both cards. However, expect that info soon because the RX 6700XT launches today. Be sure to get onto your favorite retailer's website early today to get a chance to purchase a 6700XT. There's a good chance the 6700XT's stock will run dry just as fast as every other graphics card launch we've seen for the past 6 months.
