Sparkle Calibre X560
Another company that knows how much this editor loves short product names, Sparkle Computer’s Calibre X560 is the highest-frequency card in today’s lineup.
High frequencies require extra cooling, and Sparkle went full-force with its choice of Arctic Cooling’s Twin Turbo Pro twin-fan, four-heat pipe design.
Multi-fit coolers like this require an extra slot of space beneath the sink to cool on-card components, extending the Calibre X560 to a three-slot design. Forward-facing PCIe power connectors can be difficult to reach in some cases, while heat pipes that extend beyond the outer edge of the card extend its mounting width to 5.4”.
A 1000 MHz GPU clock is matched by Gigabyte’s two-slot card, but the GDDR5-4800 memory data rate will be unique in today’s performance charts.
Premium products typically include premium packaging, and Sparkle even enhances the kit’s value with a six-foot HDMI cable. A VGA and two PCIe power adapters are also provided, but we wouldn’t recommend using more than one power adapter with most power supplies.
While third-party utilities work to further overclock Sparkle cards, the company hasn’t provided us a recent version of its own utility.