We have mentioned Sapphire's Atomic series of graphics card many times, and we've even tested a couple. Atomic has become very popular since Sapphire decided to put a single slot cooler on one of the Radeon HD 3870 cards. They called it the Radeon HD 3870 Atomic, and we've been charmed by its looks and quality. At the time, there was some talk that soon after the Radeon HD 3870 X2 cards hit the market Sapphire would follow up with the Atomic version. So, we expected a single slot card that would dump the reference dual slot cooler found on the Radeon HD 3870 X2, but imagine our surprise when we heard that Radeon HD 3870 X2 Atomic edition will feature water cooling. - FudZilla

Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 X2 Atomic Cooling Review

So we received the first Atomic HD 3870 X2 sample in the last days of February, and we made a quick preview. The opinions on this cooling solution varied, because the card ran at reference 825MHz and advantages of water blocks were a bit overshadowed by the noisy radiator fan. We couldn't complain much since it's an early specimen, but today we have a card that is more silent and runs at 864MHz. Two RV670 cores aren't easy to cool, but Atomic's cooler can handle it with no trouble at all. To make sure of that, there's a huge block that stretches nearly the entire length of the Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics card.

Although the card looks like single slot, it's more of a slot and a half, since it might get in the way of the card in the next slot. In most cases, the next slot is PCI or PCI Express that's probably free or has a smaller card that won't cause trouble during Sapphire Atomic HD 3870 X2 mounting. A view from above shows that this is no dual slot card, a careful observer might notice that the water block's width is greater than standard bracket width. Two pipes start at the water block and lead to the radiator and the pump. You can individually rotate each pipe by more than 180 degrees, or even anywhere within 360 degrees.

We tested an overclocked Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 X2 video card running at 864MHz. The card is water cooled and it runs 20°C cooler than reference card. We tried to overclock it successfully, and it brought a extra improvement in the games we checked. We managed to hit 905MHz core speed with memory at 2040MHz. And once again, Sapphire proved that they've got what it takes and delivered an interesting product. Atomic is already a well known and popular among enthusiasts, and the water cooled Radeon HD 3870 X2 Atomic is simply unique. You get a complete water cooling system and great performance.

Mounting the cooling box can prove to be somewhat of a problem in some of the smaller cases, but also depends on the other computer components, mostly the size of CPU coolers. Once you set it up, the Atomic card will surprise you. The core runs at least 20°C cooler than reference, and the video card comes pre-overclocked to 864MHz. The bad side of Atomic HD 3870 X2 is its noise, and it was louder than reference on plenty of occasions. Still, you can easily overclock it without worrying about overheating your GPU. With 1GB of memory and two RV670 cores, this card can take anything you throw at it.

The packaging is excellent, and you'll get it in the best graphics card case we've ever seen. The greatest downside to this card is probably the price, but if you want a card that's different, then Atomic HD 3870 X2 edition is more than a good choice. Sapphire's reference design card is one of the cheapest Radeon HD 3870 X2 cards we've found, and it will set you back around $399, compared to the Atomic version that's scarcely available at over $499.