Sapphire RX 6700 XT Nitro+ Review

As the first custom RX 6700 XT card to pass through our labs, today we have assessed Sapphire's RX 6700 XT Nitro+. Using a large triple-fan cooler with a metal backplate and dual-BIOS functionality, this is a premium RX 6700 XT model, and that is reflected in the £539 UK MSRP.

Starting first with overall performance, this was an interesting area to look at. By and large, we saw no real difference between the Nitro+ and AMD's reference card in terms of frame rates. In a couple of games, the Nitro+ was even fractionally slower, but ran up to 3% faster in other titles. This meant averaged across all 12 games we tested, the Nitro+ proved just 1% faster on average for 1440p gaming.

This is slightly unusual, as most factory overclocked cards will deliver consistent gains of 3-4% when compared to the reference model, which is exactly what we found with the RX 6800 XT Nitro+. We did also test the Gigabyte RX 6700 XT Gaming OC, and that behaved in exactly the same way, so it's not an issue with Sapphire's card, but it does mean gaming performance isn't a reason to buy this card over another.

Instead, the reason to opt for the Nitro+ over a different model will come down to the cooler, and here Sapphire really delivers the goods. Not only does the Nitro+ run 5-9C cooler than AMD's reference card, but it is significantly quieter too. The fans barely spin up to 1000rpm, at which point they are effectively inaudible. Inside a case, there is no way you would hear the Nitro+ over the noise of your system fans.

Noise-normalised thermals show the improvement over the reference design most clearly however. With both cards producing 40dBa of noise, the Nitro+ ran 21C cooler in terms of GPU edge temperature, also beating out the Gigabyte Gaming OC. Pound for pound, this has to be one of the best GPU coolers we have seen from this generation of graphics cards.

Overclocking was a slight disappointment however, as I couldn't push the core as far as I managed with the reference card. It still hit 2850MHz and was perfectly stable, but fell a frame or two short of the reference card in terms of overclocked gaming performance. As always, this will vary from card to card.

Overall, the Sapphire's RX 6700 XT Nitro+ is a very impressive graphics card, specifically when looking at just how much of an improvement the cooler is compared against AMD's reference card. The problem is, with the MSRP £119 over AMD's £420 baseline figure, it's a significant premium to pay, and puts it right in the mix with RTX 3070, which is clearly the faster GPU while offering better ray tracing performance, as well as DLSS.

Of course, the market being what it is right now means they simply won't be available at £539, at least not for the foreseeable future. I certainly would love to recommend this card, as it is technically very impressive, but based on the MSRP pricing, it is a lot to pay for a RX 6700 XT, when RTX 3070s should start at £469.

We found the Nitro+ listed at Overclockers UK HERE, but without any pricing information or indication of when stock may come in.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

Pros

• Terrific cooler.
• Effectively inaudible under load.
• Looks great (subjectively speaking).

Cons

• Not really any faster than the reference card.
• MSRP is significantly higher than AMD's baseline.

KitGuru says: The cooler is a huge improvement over AMD's reference RX 6700 XT, but if you could get an RTX 3070 for less money, that'd be the smarter buy.

Become a Patron!

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here