When the time comes to purchase a new GPU, there are many names that might come to mind. Like EVGA, XFX, Sapphire, BFG and so on. But one name not likely to be thought of in North America is Sparkle. You might be surprised to know though, that they've been around for quite a while. Calibre is a branch of Sparkle that specializes in GPU's for enthusiasts, so when compared to their regular line-up, Calibre's will always look better, be more powerful and include unique features. While Sparkle's version clocks the card at 450/800MHz for core and memory, the Calibre version clocks at 650/1440MHz, a difference like night and day but clearly in favor for the Calibre series. - Techgage

Sparkle Calibre 8500 GT (P850+) 512MB Card Review

As we have come to find out, Calibre's version of the card is the highest pre-overclocked card on the market. Stock GeForce 8500 GT's are clocked at 450MHz on the core, but Calibre's upped that by 200MHz to settle at 650MHz. That's quite the overclock, and the closest competitor we could find had theirs clocked at 600MHz. How much further can it possibly be pushed? You might just be surprised. The GeForce 8500 GT card is not for high-end gaming. Rather, it's suited for those who want a decent gaming experience without spending too much cash and don't want the bare minimum.

The packaging is like none other. It is pure black with a subtle pattern, curved at the edges and opens up at the top. What strikes us though, is that it is quite difficult to tell what's inside... You have to look very close to find the model information. It is found on the side, in very small font. The Calibre 8500 GT might not be the most powerful card on the market, but does Sparkle ever have a knack for making it look great. Anything cloaked in a pure black scheme is usually a winner with me. It is stylish, clean and has flames! Could it get much better than that, we doubt it very much?

When overclocking is concerned, we can say we were honestly impressed with this card. As pointed out in the introduction, a stock GeForce 8500 GT card has frequencies of 450MHz on the core and 800MHz on the memory. This Calibre card ups that to 650MHz and 1440MHz, respectively. That, in itself, is impressive. However, after a little bit of playing around, we found 735/1500MHz to be the max stable overclock that this card could handle. Compared to a stock GeForce 8500 GT, this card hit almost plus 300MHz on the core and plus 700MHz on the memory. That's pretty exciting for any graphics card.

After looking through a couple e-tailers, we found the price for the card to sit at approximately $93. At that point, it's about $13 higher than the rest of the competition. This card is the highest stock clocked GeForce 8500 GT on the market. And, it's overclocking ability is top rate. Lastly, the card itself looks fantastic. Sparkle knows who they are catering to with their Calibre series. If you are in the market for a budget GPU and are unwilling to spend more than $100, then any GeForce 8500GT will serve you well. It doesn't offer advanced performance, but most games ran nicely.