Sapphire ITX Compact R9 380 Review

[Sensei Gamer]

I wish the power consumption could be lowered more

Wait for the 16nm 960/380 equivalents and TDP for the same performance level might drop by more than half. It would be nice to see single-slot mid-range GPUs make a comeback.

That would be awesome and competition would be tight again. AMD always lack in power efficiency and could not get past Nvidia in these aspects. Nvidia's maxwell architectures are very efficient. I love AMD so much, very much, but with a 450W power supply that I have, I have no choice but to go with the GTX 960 but I love it too

 

[RedJaron]

I love AMD so much, very much, but with a 450W power supply that I have, I have no choice but to go with the GTX 960 but I love it too

That really depends on the quality of your PSU. The test bed I use for Z97 mboard reviews has a 500W PSU that runs a 290X with no problem. 450W is more than enough for at least a 970 or 280X.

 

[Sensei Gamer]

I love AMD so much, very much, but with a 450W power supply that I have, I have no choice but to go with the GTX 960 but I love it too

That really depends on the quality of your PSU. The test bed I use for Z97 mboard reviews has a 500W PSU that runs a 290X with no problem. 450W is more than enough for at least a 970 or 280X.

My 450W PSU is crap , its brand is Dazumba. Looking inside the PSU, everything lacks in quality and feels cheap, Scared to try it out on AMD cards. They could get quite high in power consumption at load and my PSU gets really hot even with my GTX 960 Planning on getting a 500W or more EVGA silent power supplies when I got the money. Love silence in builds

 

[InvalidError]

My 450W PSU is crap , its brand is Dazumba.

A brand name that sounds like an expletive one might use when their PSU blows up. Yup, that inspires confidence.

 

[Sensei Gamer]

My 450W PSU is crap , its brand is Dazumba.

A brand name that sounds like an expletive one might use when their PSU blows up. Yup, that inspires confidence.

This PSU is only like $14 LOL!!!

 

[Pei-chen]

Just pay a bit more to get GTX 970 ITX. Gigabyte's version are selling for $270 or something.

 

[littleleo]

Only problem with the 380 is the price. here in NZ a GTX 980 will set you back $900 NZD and the 380 at the moment is $450 NZD. Bummer.

I'm not great with abbreviations where is NZ, New Zealand?

 

[g-unit1111]

It's great to see more component manufacturers catering to small form factor PCs. I'm building a mini ITX system based around the Silverstone Raven RVZ01 and while I will be using my old GTX 760, I will eventually want to get either this card or a half-length GTX 960 for it. This is definitely an exciting time for SFF!

 

[Sensei Gamer]

Now the AMD R9 Nano is the king of Mini ITX Graphic cards! R9 Nano is basically the same like a R9 Fury, Right? What about the heat? Do they use a different cooling system like a Vapor chamber? Vapor chamber + Traditional Heatsink and Heatpipes? Go AMD!!! Love seeing Mini ITX GPUs

 

[InvalidError]

What about the heat? Do they use a different cooling system like a Vapor chamber?

They simply used a lower thermal/power ceiling so the GPU doesn't fry itself. Running the chip just a little slower saves lots of power and allows a smaller heatsink.

 

[Sensei Gamer]

What about the heat? Do they use a different cooling system like a Vapor chamber?

They simply used a lower thermal/power ceiling so the GPU doesn't fry itself. Running the chip just a little slower saves lots of power and allows a smaller heatsink.

ahh ok thanks for the Info!

 

[Compuser10165]

They are going for the R9 Nano look with this one (except the color scheme, and some other details).

 

[cub_fanatic]

Is it just me or is AMD Confused about what a small form factor GPU is supposed to look like? Full height and two slots isn't exactly SFF. When I think SFF, In think half height and single slot. In some cases, I also think passively cooled and no G+2 pin PCI-e power. This is just a short card. Calling it "ITX Compact" is even pushing it a little. Calling it small form factor, though, is a joke and borderline false advertising. Same goes for the Nano. Just call them what they are- short versions of the R9 380. If they were able to cram a 380 on a half height PCB with even two slots, there would be a much larger market for it than this short card. There are probably millions of Dell and HP SFF OEM boxes who would love something like that. Right now, their only options are the 750 ti or R7 240/250 which are low end. There are zero half-height GPUs above them. It would have been a small miricle if this 380 was a true SFF card.

 

[Sensei Gamer]

I agree with what cub_fanatic say, SFF cards are not really SFF. They are only called that because of the short length but the height and the width of the card still stays the same like a full length GPU. In my opinion, SFF cards should just stay in the mid-low end for now, Cause people with high end gaming rigs would prefer having a graphics card with double or even triple fans or water cool the cards and it will be easier to make a SFF card for a mid to low end GPU because it has less power draw and produces less heat. SFF cases these days would easily support full length cards. SFF cards are also more expensive than the full length GPUs (Maybe some are cheaper) for example R9 Nano, It uses the same chip as the R9 Fury X but has lower power draw thus producing less heat. The cooler of the R9 Nano might be struggling if cooling the full power of the R9 Fury X. Lowering the power also means less performance. So you get less for more $ well the Nano and the Fury X is priced the same I think. It's great that companies are starting to explore SFF cards and I hope in the future there will be more of them and will not have any of these drawbacks that I have mentioned.

 

[RedJaron]

You guys might to define how you're using "SFF." Shuttle form factor is an actual defined form factor with specified dimensions. The colloquial "small form factor" doesn't really exist. It has no firm definition and no specified dimensions. Instead everyone has their own idea of what "small form factor" means and often assumes that's what it actually means and that others share their particular idea of "small form factor."

 

[George Phillips]

Watch out that crap PSU that could bring all your components/parts down with it if it's even slightly over stressed.

 

[Sensei Gamer]

Watch out that crap PSU that could bring all your components/parts down with it if it's even slightly over stressed.

I will Hasn't showed any signs of failing yet