Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 OC Video Card Unboxing & First Look Linus Tech Tips

This unboxing and first look at the Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 OC video card presents a detailed tour of a non-reference, overclocked graphics card from Sapphire. The host describes the package contents, including a driver disc, quick installation guide, registration card, Crossfire bridge, and a variety of adapters such as two six-pin PCIe power adapters, a mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter, HDMI to DVI adapter, and an HDMI cable. The video then focuses on the card itself, highlighting the dual 92mm fans, robust cooler with three heat pipes, and an open-air design that emphasizes unobstructed airflow, which fans out heat into the case rather than exhaust through a traditional blower. The host discusses VRM cooling with a heat spreader that covers most of the memory modules, the implications of heat exhaust for case cooling, and the tradeoffs between open cooler designs and reference coolers. He also notes that the card uses a Tahiti Pro GPU built on a 28nm process, with 3GB of memory and a factory overclock, and mentions the card’s support for up to four displays via DVI, HDMI, and two mini DisplayPorts. In addition to the physical review, there is a plan to compare this OC card against a range of other GPUs, both stock and overclocked, using the included overclocking utility to switch BIOS profiles and measure performance, noise, and temperature across different setups. Viewers get an early sense of the card’s potential for power efficiency and performance, as well as considerations for case choice and cooling when adopting this cooling approach.

Topics · technology · hardware · review · unboxing · graphics