Sapphire RX 7900 XTX Nitro+ Review

Having put the card through its paces over the last few weeks, it's not hard for me to come to the conclusion that the Sapphire RX 7900 XTX Nitro+ is one of the finest AMD-based graphics cards I have tested over the last few years.

For me this all starts with the design, which really is a cut above most of the cards on the market. The shade of grey used really appeals to me, while the subtle curves and RGB light bar add a level of sophistication we don't always get from a gaming graphics card.

The Vapor-X cooler also performs very well. Granted, at this point we can’t say how much better or worse it is compared to any other AIB model as this is our first custom card review, but the Nitro+ managed to run 7C cooler than AMD's reference card, while also drawing about 80W more power, so that’s not bad at all.

Factoring in the solid dual-BIOS implementation, the reasonable overclocking headroom (once you bring undervolting into play), and just how quiet this card is considering it's pulling 440W, and it is very hard not to be impressed with what Sapphire has done here. It really is quite an expertly-engineered graphics card.

The one thing that is just giving me cause for concern right now is – you guessed it! – pricing. While currently out of stock here in the UK, the card launched at about £1300 at OCUK, making it £100 more expensive than some RTX 4080s currently on the market.

This was a worry for me when the 7900 XTX launched. It's all well and good for the reference card to come in at £999 – but custom cards still need to be cheaper than the RTX 4080 for the 7900 XTX to offer any meaningful value. As good as Sapphire’s design is, if you can get something with similar overall performance, but with DLSS support and superior ray tracing, for £100 less…. well, the 7900 XTX becomes very hard to justify.

To be clear, the Sapphire RX 7900 XTX Nitro+ is an absolutely fantastic custom design and if you do pick one up, I have no doubt you will be very pleased with it. The 7900 XTX just can’t demand a price premium over the RTX 4080, as to me it simply doesn't make sense all things considered.

It is currently out of stock, but the Nitro+ is listed on Overclockers UK HERE.

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Pros

• Beautiful design.
• Runs noticeably quieter than the reference card.
• GPU temperatures fell by 7C compared to the reference design when noise-normalised.
• Dual-BIOS.
• On-board PWM fan header.

Cons

• Some audible coil whine.
• Pricing is concerning – 7900 XTX doesn't make sense if it's more expensive than RTX 4080.

KitGuru says: We love what Sapphire has done with the Nitro+. If pricing remains around the £1300 mark however, it's going to be very hard to justify spending this much on an RX 7900 XTX when RTX 4080s can be had for £100 less.

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