The Package It’s been a while since we’ve seen graphics card samples from Sapphire then out of nowhere we managed to get three brand Sapphire new cards come to our door step in a span of only one week. The X1800XL was the one we were
really excited about receiving as the only X1K cards that had made our way to the door was the X1300 and X1600 a week after the release and now the X1800XT but just a little late.
The box is a very nice white with a picture of an alien on the front along with a Crossfire supported logo in the background. We have a list of the main features which include 256MB, Dual DVI, VIVO and the software package. We also have a check list like sticker on the front for Crossfire – this shows that we have a Crossfire compatible card but we still need a Crossfire motherboard and master card...
Turning the box over we don’t have the nice little window that we have seen on many other Sapphire products but just an extended rundown on the card, what its capable of and what is included in the box along with a picture of the actual card.
Opening up the box we find ourselves entangled in a web of cables and CDs. On the cable front we have our VIVO cable, 6 pin PCI E power connector, S-Video cable, RCA cable and a DVI to VGA connector.
Moving along to the other part of the package we have our usual manual, copy of PowerDVD, PowerDirector, Sapphire Select with two CD keys and the installation CD which has the drivers and a few extra bits and pieces.
Sapphire Select allows you to unlock (register) up to two full version games. This is a great idea as you can try the game before you decide to buy it.
While normally we wouldn’t use the drivers that are provided on the CD, we had no choice this time since the Catalyst 5.10 drivers that ATI just released don’t support the X1K series of cards.
Since the 5.10 drivers came out at such an early date this month, it’s possible that we will get an early release of the 5.11 drivers to accompany the X1K series of cards in November as they become readily available on the market.
