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Sapphire Vapor-X

Sapphire might be best known for producing AMD graphics cards, but the company has plenty of experience in cooling GPUs and it's now using that know-how to produce its own CPU coolers, starting with the Vapor-X.

Scheduled to arrive in stores at the tail end of August 2012 with a price tag of around £60, this monstrous-looking unit is aimed squarely at the enthusiast seeking high-end performance at a premium price.

Our early review sample gives us an idea of Sapphire's final design, but at this point anything is subject to change. The bundle is yet-to-be-confirmed, and pricing hasn't quite been locked down, but the gubbins that Sapphire provides make installation easy enough. Continuing a tried-and-trusted formula, it uses a rear backplate and a mounting bracket to effectively sandwich the motherboard between the kit.

What we do know for certain is that the Vapor-X cooler measures 135mm x 110.4mm x 163.5mm in size, it weighs 915g and it touts many of the buzzwords typically associated with Sapphire graphics cards; including Dual-X cooling and a Vapor-X chamber.

The Dual-X cooling refers to the fans either side of the heatsink - they're both equipped with LEDs and are PWM controlled - and the Vapor-X chamber resides in the base of the cooler, where Sapphire injects liquid to enhance the efficiency of heat transfer between the contact plate and the four heatpipes. Sapphire's manufacturing process isn't quite as refined as it might have been, though, as the injection point remains clearly visible - it's the black blob sticking out on the right side of the contact plate.

It's difficult to comment on build quality - our engineering sample was quite clearly lacking some of that final-product polish; the heatsink contact plate was more murky than reflective, and fan cabling was messy - but the Vapor-X cooler certainly looks menacing. And while it appears monstrous, the Vapor-X actually isn't as big as some of the gargantuan coolers currently on the market; a height of 163.5mm isn't extravagant, and considering that there are two fans in play, the cooler does well not to foul any of our memory slots.

In terms of looks, we like to think we've grown out of LED-backlit fans, but Sapphire's implementation actually does catch the eye. The blue illumination contrasts well with the plastic black shell, and if you're into bright lights in your PC, both the blue lines and the backlit Vapor-X logo are a nice touch. We've yet to see the final retail product so we'll reserve judgement on presentation, but as far as installation and aesthetics are concerned, the Vapor-X scores a modest three on each count.

Installation	Aesthetics