Sparkle Calibre P850+ 8500GT 512MB
August 21, 2007

Having trouble deciding on which entry-level GPU to pick up? Sparkle's Calibre series might make your decision easier with it's P850+. In addition to DX10 support and a unique LED-readout, it offers an additional 200MHz on the core and 320MHz on the memory over reference 8500GTs.

When the time comes to purchase a new GPU, there are many names that might come to mind. eVGA, XFX, Sapphire, BFG and so on. But one name not likely to be thought of in North America is Sparkle. You might be surprised to know though, that they've been around for quite a while.

Established in 1982 in Taiwan, they are one of the world leaders in manufacturing NVIDIA-based graphic cards, and are most popular in Europe, where their cards can be found for purchase quite easily. Months ago, they decided to to dip their toes into the North American market, and should be slowly leaking their products into our favorite e-tailers in the coming months.

Calibre is a branch of Sparkle that specializes in GPUs for enthusiasts, so when compared to their regular line-up, Calibre's will always look better, be more powerful and include unique features. Comparing a Calibre 8500GT to a Sparkle 8500GT is like night and day. While Sparkle's version clocks the card at 450/400MHz (Core/Mem), the Calibre version clocks at 650/720MHz (Core/Mem).

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