Sparkle extends enthusiast card line

SPARKLE IS DOING something that no one else I saw at the show is, extending the enthusiast line of cards from top to bottom. We told you about its Calibre line of products last year, and this year, they added more to it.

As you can see, the look is still he same, clean black heatsinks, but the top stiffening bar is gone from all but one of the models, you can probably blame the SLI connector for that. On the surface, little has changed.

What they are doing is making the line go from the top end 7900 parts to the lowly 7300GTs. Calibre is meant for those who like to push the limits and overclock, something that can be done just as well with an affordable card. All of the caliber designs therefore come in the GDDR3 variant, even the aforementioned 7300GT. That one is offered in both 128 and 256MB versions, you can't get much more affordable than a 128MB 7300.

What Sparkle has ended up with is an enthusiast line that you don't need to be rich to afford. You can push the limits with non-bank breakers just as well, and possibly better than with a high end part already clocked to the edge. Not a bad idea, and the designs still look good. µ