Day One: Sapphire, Silverstone

Sapphire

Sapphire Radeon 4870 1GB Toxic Edition

Sapphire has a longstanding tradition of supporting ATI and, as such, has become one of their closest partners in board development. Producing anywhere from 35-40% of the market share of ATI-based boards, Sapphire is usually one of their first partners to get new designs for early adoption. At CES, Sapphire was showcasing their newest 4870 card, the 4870 1GB Toxic with Vapor-X cooling technology.

Dual slot card

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 Toxic
Clock Speed	780Mhz Eclk/1000Mhz Mclk
Memory	GDDR5 1GB 256-bit
Cooling	Dual Slot with Vapor-X Technology
Display Support	DLDVI-I/HDTV-Out/DLDVI-I HDMI VGA (via dongle)
CrossFire	Native Hardware Support
Power	PCIe Graphic External 2x 3-Pin
Available	Jan. 2009

The 4870 Toxic is a factory overclocked 1GB board utilizing a specialized cooler with 3 heatpipes that vents hot air to the rear of the case. The 4870 Toxic supports both DVI and HDMI, with the latter supporting 7.1 audio output. Sapphire also had an impressive system setup with their liquid cooled 4870X2 Atomic to show-off their excellent cooling and performance.

Silverstone

Silverstone had a pretty decent sized booth setup showing off all their cases, from the HTPC up to full tower gaming. Silverstone, like Lian Li, works quite a bit in aluminum giving their creations stylish exteriors that match up with home theater components. However, also like Lian-Li, Silverstone appears to be making a break from that tradition with the Raven full tower gaming PC.

Silverstone Raven

From the side

Silverstone Raven Full Tower Case
Material	Reinforced plastic outer; 0.8 SECC Body
Color	Matte Black
Form Factors	SSI EEB, SSI CEB, E-ATX, ATX, mATX
Drive Bays	5x5.25\\" 6x3.5\\"
Cooling	2x180mm intake 1x120mm exhaust
Front I/O Panel	USB2.0: 2 IEEE1394: 1 HD Audio Mic/HP
Available/Price	Jan 2009; $249

The Raven uses a steel and plastic construction that makes it look like the Batmobile’s little brother. The front door is pneumatically powered, so it slides back into place with a slight nudge. The motherboard orientation is the most interesting, as Silverstone has upended it so that the PCI cards stick out of the top, which is also where all the air vents. Silverstone’s thinking is that since hot air rises, it should theoretically be easier to push it up via the case fans as opposed to horizontally in traditional cases. The Raven is also available with and without a side window, depending on your personal preference.

DA-DA-DA-DA-DA BATMAN! I mean, RAVEN!

Silverstone

The door slides downward