Sapphire has unveiled the Radeon RX 7700 XT Frostpunk 2 Edition in collaboration with 11 Bit Studios, featuring a customised backplate and some goodies. Seemingly based on the brand’s Pure series, this card should offer silent cooling while playing games in style.
This special edition comes with a painted backplate offering a rusted effect around the vents’ openings and GPU, alongside the game’s name correctly oriented for horizontal installation. Aside from the card itself, you get three keyboard keycaps for the F, P and 2 buttons alongside three pin badges. The card also comes bundled with a Deluxe Edition of Frostpunk 2, releasing July 25.
It may be just me, but I would have preferred customised front/fans to look unique when mounted vertically. Perhaps with oil dripping out of blonde fan rings, as the game is about the black gold this time.
That said, I do question the GPU choice. I wonder why Sapphire opted for RX 7700 XT instead of something more powerful since special editions generally come at a premium. On one hand, paying the extra for a limited edition could be problematic for those on a mid-range budget. On the other, it won’t be quite as lofty as RX 7800 XT and RX 7900 XTX models carrying a bespoke paint job, putting it within reach of many more people than it otherwise would have.
Keep in mind that the game isn’t fully optimised just yet. When I tried the early access/beta of Frostpunk 2, the game was quite demanding, as even my RX 7900 XT couldn’t sustain 144fps at 1440p with all graphics maxed out. In other words, you might need to tinker with the settings if 11 Bit Studios doesn’t give it an extra polish before the GPU releases.
As a huge fan of the first game, I would have liked a similar card when I bought the RX 7900 XT. A design where the fans are rusting, and pipes going all over the frame would have been perfect.
Spec-wise, nothing unusual, it’s a Radeon RX 7700 XT rocking 12GB of 18Gbps GDDR6 and 54CUs clocked up to 2,584MHz boost. The Sapphire Pure Radeon RX 7700 XT Frostpunk 2 Edition graphics card will be available from selected retailers in July 2024.
