Calibre X480 Overview
When you first unpack the X480 the first thing that you notice that it is quite a large card. The card is 10.5-inches long so keep that in mind when your are purchasing the card to make sure it will fit inside of your case.
The card does not have the reference design cooler as you can see. Sparkle has gone with the Accelero Xtreme from Arctic Cooling to provide superior cooling for this card. The Accelero Xtreme features 5 heatpipes, 107 fins and 3 silent low speed cooling fans. The radical optimized air flow design is targeting to cool effectively up to 250 Watt heat dissipation. The Arctic Cooling can dramatically cool the temperature of the GTX 480 GPU at least 10 ºC lower than the stock cooler. Together with the integrated memory and voltage regulator cooling, the Arctic Cooling not only enhances the over clocking potential but also extends the card’s service life. Three PWM cooling fan from Arctic Cooking Solution bring maximum air flow but operate extremely silence, thanks to the low noise impeller design and the patented fan holder which eliminates the humming noise. The unnoticeable operation of Accelero Xtreme brings you the unparallel non-disturbed gaming experience ever before. For more information on the Accelero Xtreme check out the review from our friends at Hi Tech Legion. The fan blades on the cooler are purple instead of the normal white on the stock Accelero Xtreme.
Looking at the other side of the card there is a Calibre logo that will actually show if you have a case window. Also on this side of the card is the power connections. There is an 8pin and a 6pin power connection.
As far as connections on the back of the card go you have 2 DVI connections and a miniHDMI connection. Keep in mind Sparkle does include the miniHDMI to HDMI cable. The back of the card is pretty much plain. You can see the cooler actually extends past the end of the card. You can also see the 5 heatpipes coming out of the end of the heatsink.
