Sapphire PURE CrossFire PC-AM2RD580 - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 23rd Sep 2006, 19:09

Quote:

Sapphire is normally known for its awesome ATI video cards, but it has expanded into making enthusiast-class motherboards. We have a look at the company's latest board, the PURE CrossFire PC-AM2RD580 and find out whether it's worth your money. Read on to find out how we got on with it.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...m2rd580/1.html

samkiller42 · 23rd Sep 2006, 19:25

It doesnt look to bad, but wonder if theres going to be a Core 2 duo board

Sam

TheSaladMan · 23rd Sep 2006, 19:32

I've always loved the look of Sapphire boards, but for a few FPS in games I doubt many people are going to be willing to sacrifice the possible CPU performance of a Conroe system for this.

If they bring this over to the Intel platform I'll consider getting it instead of the Asus board I'm looking at atm for my Vista machine.

kempez · 23rd Sep 2006, 21:24

The board looks very nice for an AM2 board although I think just having red and white colours on the board would have been better.

I do think that comparing Intel C2D 975X boards to AM2 boards is like eggs to...ummm bacon

or something like that

DXR_13KE · 23rd Sep 2006, 21:48

they are white and sexy!!!!

Reaper_Unreal · 23rd Sep 2006, 22:29

Very nice looking board, but it's just that there seems to be a lack of expansion room. It really is true that the board is "95% there", another 5%, and a good 10% price drop, and I'm all for it.

Bindibadgi · 23rd Sep 2006, 23:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by kempez

The board looks very nice for an AM2 board although I think just having red and white colours on the board would have been better.

I do think that comparing Intel C2D 975X boards to AM2 boards is like eggs to...ummm bacon

or something like that

Because the 975X boards represent what you can buy on C2D that has CrossFire. The X6800 and FX62 coupled with X1900s offer the fastest on both platforms at this current time (considering general non existence on the street and our labs of the x1950 master card).

Sam: seriously doubt there will be an Intel board unless it's based on ATIs RD600. Sapphire don't make boards featuring any other chipset and since AMD own ATI...

I appreciate people relating to and understanding what Tim and I have written. It took a while to get the right words to convey our feelings properly on it.

Tulatin · 24th Sep 2006, 02:58

Actually. MSI DOES have CF working on a 965 board, so C2D + CF is possible on more than just those 975X boards...

Tyinsar · 24th Sep 2006, 03:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Article

kudos to Sapphire for including a reasonably comprehensive manual detailing what exactly each BIOS setting does. There's an entire page dedicated to detailing LDT control and the memory timings are quite detailed in a semi-layman's fashion.

This is rare but great for people who are learning and attempting to get the most from their systems.

However, 2 PCI-e 16x & 1 PCI slot

especially when: "The single PCI slot is lost when using a dual slot cooler on the second video card in a CrossFire configuration".

Why not make it micro-atx then? - I'd expect that on m-atx but (for me) the whole reason to go with the bigger board is for more expansion.

Bindibadgi · 24th Sep 2006, 10:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tulatin

Actually. MSI DOES have CF working on a 965 board, so C2D + CF is possible on more than just those 975X boards...

Yea but we havent tested that yet :P

Tim S · 24th Sep 2006, 15:36

you can do CrossFire on the DQ6 and P5B too, afaik

sl1xx · 24th Sep 2006, 17:03

i dont like the look at the board at all and for the price i think it sucks eggs big time me no like.

TMM · 26th Sep 2006, 07:27

too bad the ONLY pci slot on the board is rendered useless by being directly under an X16 slot.

Tim S · 4th Dec 2006, 10:46

just an FYI on a slight addendum made to the review...

Sapphire sent us a production class board after we reported the problems with F10 save & exit and CMOS reset on our board, since the board we reviewed was apparently "an early sample" and thus wasn't production grade hardware.

The production grade board fixed the problems with F10 and CMOS reset and Sapphire has assured us that the problem was specific to the board we had tested originally. This update has taken longer than anticipated due to a number of unforeseen circumstances and several high-profile product launches in November. However, having spent some time with the board this weekend, I can say that the problems I highlighted are no longer an issue.

DougEdey · 4th Dec 2006, 11:05

I think it's appaling that you were asked to review a non production board. I thought Bit-tech normally take steps to ensure this doesn't happen?

Tim S · 4th Dec 2006, 11:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougEdey

I think it's appaling that you were asked to review a non production board. I thought Bit-tech normally take steps to ensure this doesn't happen?

We go as far as humanely possible to review production grade motherboards because things can change in final revisions before production - anything labelled 'first look' or 'preview' is pre-agreed as pre-production hardware and sent in a brown box. Unfortunately this one slipped through the loop and we've put the necessary processes in place to prevent it from happening again.

23rd Sep 2006, 19:25	#2
samkiller42 KEEP IT CLEAN! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Havant, Hampshire, England Posts: 3,193	It doesnt look to bad, but wonder if theres going to be a Core 2 duo board Sam __________________ The Rig: i7 920 D0, Gigabyte EX58-UD5, 12GB DDR3 1600mhz, BFG GTX295, Samsung 64gb SSD, WD 640gb Black, Samsung F2 Eco 1TB, Dell 3007WFP, Windows 7 RC. The Netbook: Samsung NC10 Black, Intel Atom, 2gb DDR2 The Mac: Awaiting Delivery

23rd Sep 2006, 19:32	#3
TheSaladMan Multimodder Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bournemouth, Uk Posts: 135	I've always loved the look of Sapphire boards, but for a few FPS in games I doubt many people are going to be willing to sacrifice the possible CPU performance of a Conroe system for this. If they bring this over to the Intel platform I'll consider getting it instead of the Asus board I'm looking at atm for my Vista machine. __________________ Hello there!

23rd Sep 2006, 21:24	#4
kempez modding again! Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: England Posts: 1,102	The board looks very nice for an AM2 board although I think just having red and white colours on the board would have been better. I do think that comparing Intel C2D 975X boards to AM2 boards is like eggs to...ummm bacon or something like that __________________ I don't like streets of rage - make fun of me! My Main PC: Intel Q6600 D0 @ 3.6GHz \| abit IP35 Pro \| 8gb OCZ ReaperX PC6400 @ 1000MHz \| MSI 8800GTX \| OS Drive: Hitachi Deskstar 250gb \| Tagan 1100w \| Silverstone TJ09S \| Noctua NH-U12P Project Aqua Vitae Project <<\| Black3d \|>>

23rd Sep 2006, 21:48	#5
DXR_13KE Madeira's banana is the best!!! Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Madeira ; Portugal Posts: 6,485	they are white and sexy!!!! __________________ RENEGADE X CONTEST! <---- CLICK if you want to win a free Command & Conquer 4 beta key!

23rd Sep 2006, 22:29	#6
Reaper_Unreal Supermodder Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 380	Very nice looking board, but it's just that there seems to be a lack of expansion room. It really is true that the board is "95% there", another 5%, and a good 10% price drop, and I'm all for it. __________________ If you made a Venn diagram, there would be two non-overlapping circles, one of which was labeled, “Times when I am truly happy” and the other of which was labeled, “Times when I am logged in as root, holding a cable, and have the case open.”

24th Sep 2006, 02:58	#8
Tulatin The Froggy Poster Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 2,942	Actually. MSI DOES have CF working on a 965 board, so C2D + CF is possible on more than just those 975X boards... __________________ Desky E8400 @ 4.0 1.42v; P5K-E WiFi; 4x1 Kingmax Mars 1066 @ 1129 CAS 5; 2x [TOO CHEAP TO SPONSOR] 4850 @ 675/1050; Enermax Liberty; WCing in a CM690

24th Sep 2006, 15:36	#11
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	you can do CrossFire on the DQ6 and P5B too, afaik __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

24th Sep 2006, 17:03	#12
sl1xx Multimodder Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: ????????? Posts: 127	i dont like the look at the board at all and for the price i think it sucks eggs big time me no like. __________________ http://miniprofile.xfire.com/bg/sf/type/2/j4ck3luk.png

26th Sep 2006, 07:27	#13
TMM Modder Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 3,228	too bad the ONLY pci slot on the board is rendered useless by being directly under an X16 slot. __________________ no, your face.

4th Dec 2006, 10:46	#14
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	just an FYI on a slight addendum made to the review... Sapphire sent us a production class board after we reported the problems with F10 save & exit and CMOS reset on our board, since the board we reviewed was apparently "an early sample" and thus wasn't production grade hardware. The production grade board fixed the problems with F10 and CMOS reset and Sapphire has assured us that the problem was specific to the board we had tested originally. This update has taken longer than anticipated due to a number of unforeseen circumstances and several high-profile product launches in November. However, having spent some time with the board this weekend, I can say that the problems I highlighted are no longer an issue. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

4th Dec 2006, 11:05	#15
DougEdey I pwn all your storage Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Southampton Posts: 13,933	I think it's appaling that you were asked to review a non production board. I thought Bit-tech normally take steps to ensure this doesn't happen? __________________ Burnout: Paradise Stats!XBL: DougEdey Bindi PSN ID: DougEdey Twitter