Sapphire RX 6800 XT Nitro+ Graphics Card Review

How Much Does It Cost?

This card is going to be a little more than a stock Radeon RX 6800 XT (review), however, what that truly means in early 2021 is up for interpretation. We know the cards are out of stock, you might see one, and lucky you if you do. However, until stock returns, which it absolutely will, I’m not nailing down a number here, which I’m sure you can appreciate.

Overview

Sapphire has built a fantastic graphics card here, although once again we see it’s pretty hard to pull a lead over the AMD stock design, but Sapphire managed it. AMD came out swinging with this launch, and rather than their old blower OEM cards, it has a triple fan design and high clock speeds. At 1080p, the stock card actually performed a little better. However, when it comes to more demanding resolutions and games, the Sapphire card had the edge.

Build Quality

There’s a lot to praise about this card, and build quality is literally the strongest point. The backplate design may look stunning, but it also adds a lot of strength to the card and protects the PCB. It also helps dissipate a lot of heat from the back of the graphics card when passive cooling. Plus, with airflow holes cut into it, the fans can actually push airflow right through the card, shifting even more heat!

The fans, power delivery, even the fuses on the PCB have all been given an upgrade. Overall, it means the card can run harder and faster for longer and more safely.

Performance

While the stock AMD card is impressive, Sapphire has them beaten. Not only does this card best the AMD card and some of its rivals at higher resolutions, but it also managed to do it while running significantly cooler and quieter too. I’ve long said that Sapphire make the best AMD cards, and that’s pretty much always down to their heatsink and cooler designs. I’m happy to report that’s still true. You can thrash the card at 4K and still never worry about throttling issues, even after those marathon-sized, lock-down inspired gaming sessions.

Should I Buy One?

If you’re looking for a fast AMD 6800 XT, they’re all broadly similar. However, if you want that performance edge, the aftermarket cards will certainly give you a few extra FPS. However, what really sells me on the Sapphire RX 6800 XT Nitro+ Graphics Card isn’t that it is one of the faster 6800 XT cards (which it is), but that it’s one of the coolest and quietest GPUs we’ve tasted in ages!