Sapphire Pure Innovation PI-A9RX480

[raildogg]

Looks like this motherboard will be tops when it comes to 939 socket.

link
What do you all think?

I think the cost is justified by the features and performance.

"As it looks right now, Sapphire did a great job with it. The motherboard is very fast, even when not overclocked. There are a load of options available in the BIOS to tweak every little setting of the system. For new users these options can be set to 'auto' to let the board handle them automatically. The range of available options is exemplary, so is the manual which explains almost all of them."

 

[ClydeFrog51]

I like the white color

 

[althes]

But where is it

 

[Tommouse]

I want to get one of these for my next build. I like everything about the board. Layout, passivly cooled, features, bios, color, oh yea ... performance too.

Any idea when these will become available?

 

[raildogg]

a check on ATI's website reveals that this board will be out in september. I believe you can pre-order it on a uk website

i was planning on making a rig using one of the nforce 4 boards, epox or asus a8n-e, but it looks like i will wait and get this board instead

 

[JEDIYoda]

looks to me like saphire is well lets just say crapola!!!

Only one PCI-E x16 slot
Memory slots not staggered
Slim accessory package
Preproduction BIOS issues (which will be fixed)

IMHO no the cost is NOT justified!!
Not in anyway!!

 

[Diasper]

SLI gets you 2 x PCI-E slots although if you want to run the full speed PPU using the 4x PCi-E slot you'll need to convert to SLI mode meaning each slot runs at 8x PCI-E. Still 8x PCI-E should be plenty for this gen and then gen after the latest one regards bandwidth.

Still ATI's solution is a winner given:
- better performance of uupto 5% better than the top performing motherboard in any gaming test
- low noise - this is a biggy - no more annoying loud NF4 fans that tend to fail. THis is while overclocking like a champ and the best best NF4 has to offer - DFI
- high def sound so people can avoid creative and hopefully save money - although we may have to wait for DFI to use their Karajan Audio module to lower the CPU utilisation further to make it properly competative - like it helped lower the utilisation in the NF4

I reckon if you wait for more mature chipsets to come out eg SB600 meaning SATA2 and fixed USB, when there should also be more PCI-E lanes ATI should be a real winner of a board.

 

[rise]

i want this board but if that price is true it may be another ultra-d for me.

169? i know it will drop a bit but c'mon. well, the uk site may have got their figures crossed up as they had the crossfire version 30% less. i don't know where these guys got their $$. if its <140 i'll get it.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: rise4310
i want this board but if that price is true it may be another ultra-d for me.

169? i know it will drop a bit but c'mon. well, the uk site may have got their figures crossed up as they had the crossfire version 30% less. i don't know where these guys got their $$. if its <140 i'll get it.

The price is at least double the 169 figure which you stated!!

 

[Intelia]

Originally posted by: Diasper
SLI gets you 2 x PCI-E slots although if you want to run the full speed PPU using the 4x PCi-E slot you'll need to convert to SLI mode meaning each slot runs at 8x PCI-E. Still 8x PCI-E should be plenty for this gen and then gen after the latest one regards bandwidth.

Still ATI's solution is a winner given:
- better performance of uupto 5% better than the top performing motherboard in any gaming test
- low noise - this is a biggy - no more annoying loud NF4 fans that tend to fail. THis is while overclocking like a champ and the best best NF4 has to offer - DFI
- high def sound so people can avoid creative and hopefully save money - although we may have to wait for DFI to use their Karajan Audio module to lower the CPU utilisation further to make it properly competative - like it helped lower the utilisation in the NF4

I reckon if you wait for more mature chipsets to come out eg SB600 meaning SATA2 and fixed USB, when there should also be more PCI-E lanes ATI should be a real winner of a board.

Sata 2 is already there usb is a bit off some test have shown it works good though

 

[raildogg]

JEDI, please that is just plain ridiculous on your part. Every motherboard has a few negatives. When compared to other nforce 4 motherboards, this one blows them away. its even more tweakable than the dfi lanparty. remember, dfi will release a motherboard on this same chipset pretty soon

so it may even be more overclockable and tweakable than the Sapphire Pure.

it is a couple of percentage points faster than other nforce 4 boards at stock, if you consider the overclocking potential, it could blow them away even further. as this chipset grows and gets better, it could become the motherboard chipset of choice.

the Halibut and Grouper are very strong no matter how you look at them

lol @ pre-production BIOS

wow, even that site is saying it will be fixed upon release

also, why do you say the price will be double the $169? are you reading something else that we are not? or are you just avoiding all the greatness this board has to offer and just pointing out the minor stuff that all other boards have as well?

 

[rise]

raildogg, topboy i think his name is has been running one of the pre-release boards over at XS. the bios options are nuts.

judging from what he has said, the bios will be ready. he had received like 14 revisions in 4 weeks or something last i checked. sounds like they have oskar working there, lol.

edit--its bigtoe running it at xs

 

[Diasper]

Having read up some more the SLi version hasn't got the same overclocking options as the Grouper - rather the Grouper will be exceptionally price gouged it seems.

We will probably in fact see a Grouper Crossfire later down the road.

Grouper isn't for what with it lacking enough PCI-E slots and primarily the future universal 4x PCI-E

Maybe future revision of the ATI chipset will have what I want.

 

[Tanclearas]

The white and red scheme is incredibly ugly.

 

[Intelia]

Sapphire PURE Innovation PI-A9RX480
Processor AMD Athlon64 / FX Socket 939
FSB 800 MHz / 1000+ MHz
Chipset ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 (RX480 + SB450)
Memory 4x 184 Pin DDR, Dual Channel DDR266/333/400, up to 4 GB
BIOS AwardBios
Slots 1x PCI-E x16
2x PCI-E x1
2x PCI
HDD Connectivity 2x ATA-133
4x SATA, 2x SATA-II
Networking 10/100/1000 Mbps - Marvell 88E852 via PCI-Express
Ports 8x USB 2.0 (4 on Back Panel)
2x IEEE1394 (1 on Back Panel)
Audio 8 Channel Realtek ALC880 Audio, SPDIF
Form Factor ATX 305 x 244mm
Sata 2 is availuable as is plainly printed 2Xsata 2

 

[Intelia]

I am thinking the DFI board will use ULI S/B

 

[JEDIYoda]

Yes the board is incredibly ugly......and if ya compare the specs they really are NOT that great over all!!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

The testing methodology is flawed in this review. The Sapphire is the only AMD board running 2-2-2- timings, the others run 2.5-3-3, there is your 3-5% performance over the nF4 boards. Even the vid cards are different in some systems it seems.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: Tanclearas
The white and red scheme is incredibly ugly.

To each his own I guess. I like it, but the only issue with the white color is when dust starts falling on it...

 

[rise]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy

Originally posted by: Tanclearas
The white and red scheme is incredibly ugly.

To each his own I guess. I like it, but the only issue with the white color is when dust starts falling on it...

meh, my hp blue mushkies will look fabulous in there

heres the xs thread with big toe putting it through its paces.

 

[Budarow]

Originally posted by: Tanclearas
The white and red scheme is incredibly ugly.

In windowed case...it would look great. Especially with some blue and red lighting (e.g., UV reactive cables and fans).

 

[thujone]

i've told myself i'm not going to overhaul my system until next year...

but dear lord... this board has been makin me drool for the past few weeks.

 

[Budarow]

Originally posted by: thujone
i've told myself i'm not going to overhaul my system until next year...

but dear lord... this board has been makin me drool for the past few weeks.

I've been building a PC since last March (piece by piece) and holding off on the "main" components (mobo, CPU and video card) until I find a relatively high end video card (in PCI-E) for a decent price (i.e., <$200) AND a mobo (stable, good overclocker, and reasonable price) with colors that fit with my color scheme for my first PC with a case window.

This board seems like a perfect fit! I just hope this board is available SOON so I can complete this build. With all the "parts" I've already purchased...my office is beginning to look like a Newegg warehouse

 

[Resh]

When the hell are these going to appear????

Can't wait forever!

 

[Fox5]

Way overpriced, for that price it should offer Crossfire, and some PCI-E 4x slots, since I doubt anything will even use 1x.