As always the Sapphire retail box is a quality item that's also environmentally friendly, being 100% recyclable. The box art is striking and eye-catching but not garish. Inside the box we find the familiar Sapphire egg-box style container, to protect your precious as well as the accessories bundle and support media. The card is protected by an ESD safe padded bag, with a warning label to remind you to plug in the power connector.

The reference design looks very similar to the Cypress big brothers, thanks to the bat-nostrils and racing stripe. The card is a dual slot form factor using the same layout as the Cypress cards - stacked DVI outputs, HDMI and DisplayPort adjacent to the first DVI and an internal and external exhaust vent. The intake nostrils house the PCIe 2x3pin power connector, relocated from its side mount position on the larger boards. Physically it is a lot smaller than a HD5870, measuring X Y Z. It's more comparable in size to a dual slot HD4850, and smaller than a GTS250.

Included in this package is a coupon for Codemaster's DIRT 2 when released, a great value-add for all gamers. Also included is a 4-pin power to 2x3pin PCIe power adapter, should your PSU not have this now ubiquitous connector. The adapter is a good length and features only a single input - if you need to use it, make sure you don't have other high-draw devices on the same set of connectors from the PSU.