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Testbed:
Motherboard:
EVGA 680i SLI (Provided by EVGA)
Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo 6800 Extreme edition (Provided by Intel)
Memory:
OCZ FlexXLC PC2 9200 5-5-5-18 (Provided by OCZ)
during testing CL5-5-5-15-CR2T 1066MHz at 2.2V
PSU:
OCZ Silencer 750 Quad Black (Provided by OCZ)
Hard disk:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 80GB SATA (Provided by Seagate)
CPU-Cooler:
Freezer 7 Pro (Provided by Artic Cooling)
Case Fans:
Artic Cooling - Artic Fan 12 PWM
Artic Cooling - Artic Fan 8 PWM
Futuremarks
Sparkle 9600 GT Calbire outperforms the reference card, as expected, but in this test it also beats the HD 3870.
Gaming
Sparkle beats the reference card by up to 11%, but it’s important to note that the fan on the reference card sometimes picked up speed and was a bit louder, whereas Sparkle’s card was silent the whole time.
If you haven’t played Crysis yet, you should know that Nvidia’s cards usually do a better job. Sparkle 9600 GT Calibre P960 almost outperformed the best Radeon card – HD 3870 X2. However, you should also know that Radeons just can’t handle antialiasing that well.
F.E.A.R. is, unlike Crysis, more Radeon-friendly and CrossFire runs like a charm. Still, Sparkle 9600 GT is a formidable foe and antialiasing sees HD 3870 lose again.
Conclusion
Sparkle always knew how to pull the ace out of their sleeve and attract customers. If you like your hardware, you’ll most definitely like Calibre 9600 GT because it packs a nice punch and is an excellent cooler.
The cooler has two moveable fans, they’re quiet, and the card is overclocked to 700MHz. The results show up to 12% performance increase compared to reference, but you can always overclock it further because Sparkle has a cooler that lets you do it.
Priced at €122, this is a great offer. Bear in mind that this is an overclocked card with a specially designed cooler that will definitely give you something to brag about.
Sparkle 9600 GT Calbire outperforms the reference card, as expected, but in this test it also beats the HD 3870.
Gaming
Sparkle beats the reference card by up to 11%, but it’s important to note that the fan on the reference card sometimes picked up speed and was a bit louder, whereas Sparkle’s card was silent the whole time.
If you haven’t played Crysis yet, you should know that Nvidia’s cards usually do a better job. Sparkle 9600 GT Calibre P960 almost outperformed the best Radeon card – HD 3870 X2. However, you should also know that Radeons just can’t handle antialiasing that well.
F.E.A.R. is, unlike Crysis, more Radeon-friendly and CrossFire runs like a charm. Still, Sparkle 9600 GT is a formidable foe and antialiasing sees HD 3870 lose again.
Conclusion
Sparkle always knew how to pull the ace out of their sleeve and attract customers. If you like your hardware, you’ll most definitely like Calibre 9600 GT because it packs a nice punch and is an excellent cooler.
The cooler has two moveable fans, they’re quiet, and the card is overclocked to 700MHz. The results show up to 12% performance increase compared to reference, but you can always overclock it further because Sparkle has a cooler that lets you do it.
Priced at €122, this is a great offer. Bear in mind that this is an overclocked card with a specially designed cooler that will definitely give you something to brag about.
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