Sapphire Shows Radeon Xpress 200 Enthusiast Board @ CeBit

[Grayskull]

Here is a list of features and specs of this board. It's aimed squarely at the enthusiast and holds back no punches.

CPU Power Delivery:
-4 phase CPU power supply with the ability to deliver 170+ Amps
-provision for passive, water block or active air cooled mosfets (heatsink form factor is the same as the northbridge)
-voltage range to 2.7V but artificially clamped to 2.0V
-voltage increments as fine as 20 mV

Memory Power Delivery:
-upto 30 Amps delivery potential
-voltage range to 4.0V
-voltage increments as fine as 20 mV
-adjustable VTT (memory termination voltage) to +/- 10% of memory VDD

NB Power Delivery:
-NB core has it's own power rail with 4 discrete steps

HT Power Delivery:
- HT I/O has it's own power rail with 4 discrete steps

PCI-E 1.2V Power Delivery:
- PCI-E 1.2V I/O has it's own power rail with 4 discrete steps

PCI-E 1.8V Power Delivery:
- PCI-E 1.8V I/O has it's own power rail with 2 discrete steps

Board Features:

Onboard Devices:
-twin Silicon Image SI3132 SATA II w/ NCQ chips connected via PCI-E, each chip providing 2 SATA ports. (8 SATA ports total; 4 are SATAI and 4 are SATAII w/NCQ)
-Marvel Gigabit LAN connected via PCI-E
-one general purpose single lane PCI-E slot (provisioned for 1 more single lane general purpose slot if one SI3132 is not populated as a build option)
-Azalia audio support via SB450 using Realtek codec
-POST code LED display
-Firewire support with ViaVT6306
-VGA and DVI outputs via Radeon Xpress 200G (enabling upto 4 monitor outputs using an ATI add in card and ATI Surroundview)
-onboard power and reset switches
-onboard VID code LED display

Overclocking Options:
-HTT frequency upto 500 MHz
-All relevant memory timings and adjustments including support for new Rev E CPUs
-HT link ratios X1, X2, X3, X4,X5
-Independent PCI-E overclocking for the graphics bus

Thermal Monitoring:
-thermal monitoring of CPU power delivery circuitry, CPU, NB and ambient

That's all I can remember for now.

Here are some pictures of the motherboard and the custom Danger Den waterblocks that will be made available for sale specifically for this application.

[bachus_anonym]

WOW! seems that not only DFI wants to tickle OC community :thumbsup:

2v and 4v... where should I sign ? :lol:

any dates on retail sightings of that baby ?

[cadaveca]

Add me to the list...fits my next build quite nicely, i think. About $400US with the blocks?

[jjcom]

yeah, I think I've found my next motherboard. :D Just have to wait until this summer when I can work again. But lets see how things turn out first. Very nice board :up:

jjcom

[dippyskoodlez]

Welp.. found my next mobo. :D

I'd still love to see a clear PCB mobo....


Waterblocks too? Wow.. that ROCKS. :slobber:

OMG OMG OMG I WANT! :toast:


lol! :slobber: You'll be gettin a lot of drool's in this thread.

[Dissolved]

this is the best looking mobo ive ever seen!

Awesome work ATI!

[Ackbar]

Why are there two waterblocks (+1 on the CPU) on the board and just a heatsink on what appears to be the chipset?

Looks awesome btw! Does it have onboard video??? And what's the onboard audio it has?

Any ETA?

[Frost_Bite]

Any news or dates for when we will be able to buy it in the states? I've got money in hand, just tell me where to send a check or payment :D

[zoom314]

Here is a list of features and specs of this board. It's aimed squarely at the enthusiast and holds back no punches.

CPU Power Delivery:
-4 phase CPU power supply with the ability to deliver 170+ Amps
-provision for passive, water block or active air cooled mosfets (heatsink form factor is the same as the northbridge)
-voltage range to 2.7V but artificially clamped to 2.0V
-voltage increments as fine as 20 mV

Memory Power Delivery:
-upto 30 Amps delivery potential
-voltage range to 4.0V
-voltage increments as fine as 20 mV
-adjustable VTT (memory termination voltage) to +/- 10% of memory VDD

NB Power Delivery:
-NB core has it's own power rail with 4 discrete steps

HT Power Delivery:
- HT I/O has it's own power rail with 4 discrete steps

PCI-E 1.2V Power Delivery:
- PCI-E 1.2V I/O has it's own power rail with 4 discrete steps

PCI-E 1.8V Power Delivery:
- PCI-E 1.8V I/O has it's own power rail with 2 discrete steps

Board Features:

Onboard Devices:
-twin Silicon Image SI3132 SATA II w/ NCQ chips connected via PCI-E, each chip providing 2 SATA ports. (8 SATA ports total; 4 are SATAI and 4 are SATAII w/NCQ)
-Marvel Gigabit LAN connected via PCI-E
-one general purpose single lane PCI-E slot (provisioned for 1 more single lane general purpose slot if one SI3132 is not populated as a build option)
-Azalia audio support via SB450 using Realtek codec
-POST code LED display
-Firewire support with ViaVT6306
-VGA and DVI outputs via Radeon Xpress 200G (enabling upto 4 monitor outputs using an ATI add in card and ATI Surroundview)
-onboard power and reset switches
-onboard VID code LED display

Overclocking Options:
-HTT frequency upto 500 MHz
-All relevant memory timings and adjustments including support for new Rev E CPUs
-HT link ratios X1, X2, X3, X4,X5
-Independent PCI-E overclocking for the graphics bus

Thermal Monitoring:
-thermal monitoring of CPU power delivery circuitry, CPU, NB and ambient

That's all I can remember for now.

Here are some pictures of the motherboard and the custom Danger Den waterblocks that will be made available for sale specifically for this application.


Even though I like Its features, The White coloring with Red slots looks ugly to Me, I like the Red as I'm partial to red, But a red/black motherboard would have looked better to Me. So If Sapphire is going to try and sell the motherboard in that color combo then I'll just have to decline, As even purple and black looks better... :shakes: :shakes:

[cadaveca]

1 northbridge(above 16x pci-e) block, 1 mosfet block, 1 CPU block, southbridge passively cooled. The red and white are ATI's colours, and also the colours of the Canadian flag. Maybe trying to put Canada on the computing map much larger than it is is what was intended with the colour scheme.

[mdzcpa]

Wow, that's a gorgeous mobo :slobber:

Hmmm...maybe time to part out some Ultras and come home to ATI:)

[bachus_anonym]

Why are there two waterblocks (+1 on the CPU) on the board and just a heatsink on what appears to be the chipset?

Looks awesome btw! Does it have onboard video??? And what's the onboard audio it has?

Any ETA?
that waterblock to the right from CPU is covering actual NB...

[dippyskoodlez]

Do I see two bios slots?

http://img144.exs.cx/img144/9787/biosslots9ma.jpg

Edit: whoa.. theres a THIRD.. what.. ARE those? :stick:

[sandman]

Where can I get one? and what's it gonna retail at?

[Sentential]

Holy crap... I hope they make an LGA board like that

[Ackbar]

that waterblock to the right from CPU is covering actual NB...

So the right one is the NB and the bottom one (next to the back panel) is for... onboard graphics? The chip with the heatsink is what?

[bachus_anonym]

Do I see two bios slots?
how about 3 sockets ??? there's one more near the edge, on the right :)

makes me wonder what are those needed for ...

[dippyskoodlez]

So the right one is the NB and the bottom one (next to the back panel) is for... onboard graphics? The chip with the heatsink is what?

one waterblock is mosfets. one is northbridge (video included) and the reg heatsink is southbridge.

[mcnbns]

:banana:! If they keep all those features for the production board I might have to skip the Ultra-D and go with this sucker.

Any word on when it is to be released, Grayskull?

[Poki]

*Tripping over my jaw* Able to deliever 170+ amps to the CPU @2.0v? That's 240 watts draw... That's pretty freakin' extreme IMO! Looks pretty good overall, just need to iron out your AMR solution and i'm sold.

[P_1]

also water cooling for the mosfets(circled in yellow) :slobber: :banana: :banana:

[bachus_anonym]

One more thing...

Is it just me or it XP-120 might not fit on it ??? MOunting hole is pretty close to the upper edge... XP-120 MIGHT be hard to fit in there...

[dippyskoodlez]

One more thing...

Is it just me or it XP-120 might not fit on it ??? MOunting hole is pretty close to the upper edge... XP-120 MIGHT be hard to fit in there...

Oh just get the waterblocks :p:

[isp]

That's some pretty classy stuff...custom DD blocks and all...
ETA? :slobber:

[Ackbar]

That's some pretty classy stuff...custom DD blocks and all...
ETA? :slobber:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=749799#post749799

Not in two weeks apparently... :D

[SPQQKY]

Hey, they stole my white PCB idea.....LOL. Boards sounds great, looks great. Time will tell.

[zoom314]

1 northbridge(above 16x pci-e) block, 1 mosfet block, 1 CPU block, southbridge passively cooled. The red and white are ATI's colours, and also the colours of the Canadian flag. Maybe trying to put Canada on the computing map much larger than it is is what was intended with the colour scheme.

Well as much as Canada is a nice place to visit in the summer, The Red does clash with the White of the motherboard. Now If the motherboard were Red and the parts that are red were White then It would be just fine. Otherwise It looks like part of a Polar Bears fur with some Blood on It. Of course putting It in a Non windowed case would compensate for Its looks too.

[jjcom]

Do I see two bios slots?

http://img144.exs.cx/img144/9787/biosslots9ma.jpg

Edit: whoa.. theres a THIRD.. what.. ARE those? :stick:

yeah, thats a feature I've always liked about those giga boards, a second BIOS chip. But three...whoa! Could be nice, for those who like to try out new BIOS'es. That way you've got your stock, your modded, and your whatever BIOS ready to go :D but who knows (other than ATI) if those are all for BIOS chips.

jjcom

[eva2000]

wow nice.. only seen MSI branded Xpress200 here in OZ http://www.pcmarket.com.au/2805_MSI_RS480M2_ATi_Radeon_XPRESS_200_Socket_939_ AMD64_.php

http://www.digital-daily.com/motherboard/ati-xpress-200p/index02.htm

[zoom314]

wow nice.. only seen MSI branded Xpress200 here in OZ http://www.pcmarket.com.au/2805_MSI_RS480M2_ATi_Radeon_XPRESS_200_Socket_939_ AMD64_.php

It has the buggy SB400 south bridge.

[jjcom]

yeah, that board isn't directed at us either :) It seems more like a motherboard for your mom who can't use computers very well. Basic board.

jjcom

[eva2000]

will sapphire Xpress 200 allow SPD'd PC2700 modules to run at DDR400 and higher ?

i.e. BH-6 ram mostly SPD PC2700 on some boards like MSI K8N Neo2 will force DDR333 divider and ignore DDR400 set option in bios

[Dillusion]

Anyone know (grayskull) if any mATX baords like this will be released? Even WB-less , any enthusiast mATX?

[The Mofo]

Looks like Danger Den is the one building the blocks. Copper bottoms. Check out the barbs fitted on the block.. Noticed their chromed and O-ring'd?

[|3ourne]

ohh emmm geee
that board looks soooooooooo perty !!!
that board + x850xt = P**P !!!!

[sinsinking]

IT'S TOTALLY COOL.
But the problem is oc availability on the board and support.
100% cOoL

[STEvil]

Impressive looking, I might just have to look at getting one ;)

[deception``]

Not a bad looking board indeed. Now just for some bios shots and I might be more impressed.

deception``

[situman]

chipset blocks and mosfet blocks is a keeper, but i got my storm g4 and g5 coming to kick some serious ass.

[Ackbar]

Looks like Danger Den is the one building the blocks. Copper bottoms. Check out the barbs fitted on the block.. Noticed their chromed and O-ring'd?


Here are some pictures of the motherboard and the custom Danger Den waterblocks that will be made available for sale specifically for this application.

To The Mofo: Thanks for joining the rest of us :D

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[IvanAndreevich]

This is insane.. this impresses me more than the DFI.

I think some of those bios chip sockets are for SATA chip bioses. I hope one is "dual-bios" style, though.

[Nubius]

I'll wait until I see actual performance shots of it. These days there's a lot of glamour and little performance. The ABit Fatal1ty board I hear isn't as good as it's cracked up to be considering it's specifically going towards gamers and OC'ers....mainly meaning it's performance doesn't justify the increase in price.

Not particularly fond of that ATI's boards colorscheme either, but that wouldn't matter assuming it proved to be a really good board.

As I said though, I'll wait to see some performance reviews of it before claiming "I found my next board"

[haPpydUde]

That thing looks sweet give me :slobber: .

[I(illa Bee]

hmm, i like the colors...i think is they did it oppisite...red mobo, and white parts...it would look liek legos...

kinda allready dose...

The specs are like giving the overclcoking community the power of god...im scared.....

[tictac]

The board use ITE voltage monitoring chip
Audio codec looks like realteak codec there

[I(illa Bee]

Looks like Danger Den is the one building the blocks. Copper bottoms. Check out the barbs fitted on the block.. Noticed their chromed and O-ring'd?

the logo on the blocks kinda gives it away too ya know

[Dissolved]

the logo on the blocks kinda gives it away too ya know


its allready been said dden made them in another ati thread :toast:

[=[PULSAR]=]

Are we really going to be benefiting from watercooled mosfets?

[haPpydUde]

=']Are we really going to be benefiting from watercooled mosfets?

Over conventinal sinks i think not, but they don't look as cool :toast: . Tho it does say 2.7volts vcore is availbe just disabled in the bios. So on the other hand mabye

[drcrawn]

This thing is from like bizzaro world or something. ATI has dropped a bomb. :worship:

[Nanobot]

Simply awesome ! :slobber:
Why do I suddenly feel the urge to sing the Canadian national anthem ? :D

I'm a little worried tho overclocking and onboard graphics chipsets usually don't mix well.

Grayskull do you know if the optional DD waterblock's fittings are 3/8" or 1/2" ?

[conrad.maranan]

Add me to the list of passengers hopping on the Sapphire Radeon Xpress 200 bandwagon. :D I hope it's a smooth ride.

[quicksilverXP]

I hope it's 3/" blocks... 1/2" is too big and ugly.

[Cathar]

I'll take the board, but they can keep all the blocks. :p: ;)

[Revv23]

DF who?

anyways, give one of these to opp and let him show us what its capable of like he did with the NF4 when the DFI first came out. ;)

[IvanAndreevich]

Don't compare it to the silly Fatality mobo's.. can't you tell the difference? ;)

[Nubius]

Don't compare it to the silly Fatality mobo's.. can't you tell the difference? lol yeah, i'm not comparing it in the literal sense because we have yet to see what this board does in terms of performance. I'm just merely pointing out the fact that lately there seems to be a trend of making things LOOK cool without proving any more beneficial :D

[IvanAndreevich]

Nubius
I don't know about you, but I get the impression that this board has the feature set for xtreem o/c'ing like the DFI and more.

I.e. look @ the RAM power supply system. That is the most impressive one I've ever seen by far. The 4-phase CPU power system also looks quite good on the PCB ;)

The only thing lacking is Dual PCI-E 8x or 16x ports for SLI :stick:

[cadaveca]

Ok, I've waited long enough. Where is mine? On sale tomorrow?

No SLi, but enough room that the x850 can fit and you can still use all the slots...they listened. A OEM listened. Can you believe that? Fatality boards suck...cheap components. All the "goodies" should be ripped off and replaced with better parts. They even use cheap fans. But ATI has gone full circle, said "screw aircooling...It's not good enough for this board!"

Wonder if there is a pack of nozzles included?

[Revv23]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26368

omg that pcb looks good

[conrad.maranan]

Dude. No :banana::banana::banana::banana:os allowed. :p:

[trakslacker]

Grayskull, I just want to say thank you. It is evident that a lot of the critical things that we listed in the ATI support section "what do you want in a mobo" thread were realized in this board. Many of these things could be dreamed up based on existing boards, however the one thing that found support in that thread specifically was SPQQKY's idea of a pure white mobo. I highly doubt that Sapphire just happened to dream this up on their own at the same time it was though of here, especially considering it has never been done before. This shows me that ATI is taking the opinions of its Xtreme users very seriously, which rocks. The mobo color is only a very minor detail, and even so, we got what we wanted, and it looks incredible. The execution and overall look of that board is gorgeous.

You can DEFINITELY add me to the ATI mobo bandwagon(assuming the performance is there ;) ).

Rock on ATI and Sapphire!

[S0nic]

this mobo looks great but am I the only one who prefers the DFI's layout?

[mrlobber]

Man, really tough time ahead to figure out how to keep my DFI's and get this one too :D

[Revv23]

i just hope this thing is cheap enough and well performing anough to sell, id hate to see all of ati's evident hard work and user feedback end up for nothing.

[thebluesgnr]

Fatality boards suck...cheap components. All the "goodies" should be ripped off and replaced with better parts.

Cheap components on the Fatal1ty? The AN8 is the only socket 939 board *available* with a 4-phase power circuit (that I know of anyway :D).


On-topic:
"Sapphire was prominently at TXGF as a manufacturer and distributor of ATI video cards, and as the manufacturer of the first AMD Radeon Xpress 200 motherboard, distributed under the Sapphire TUL brand. You will have a hard time finding TUL motherboards in the US, but we are told that they will be widely available in Asia and Europe. "

I thought TUL was Powercolor, didn't think Sapphire was involved too.
http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2373&p=5

[perkam]

-voltage.... :rolleyes:

-voltage range..... :confused:

-voltage range to...... :eek: ??

-voltage range to 4.0V...... :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: ......

[2fink]

wow, really like this board... :slobber:
to bad i dont have a normal atx-tower... only barebones :D

[MaxxxRacer]

wow that is an amazing board.. ati has sold me... when i get a pcie board it will be powered by ati

[setyotomo]

maybe the 3rd "bios" slot (right - below -) for SI3132 SATA II ?

:drool:

i agree in earlier post, that said it shoud be inverse color of this one... (board red - everything else is white)

cool... :toast:

[charlie]

so far........so REALLY good.

[cupra]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26368

omg that pcb looks good


definitely :slobber:

[cadaveca]

Sapphire=US, POWERCOLOR=UK, TUL=EAST ASIA?


Cheap components on the Fatal1ty? The AN8 is the only socket 939 board *available* with a 4-phase power circuit (that I know of anyway ).


I was refering to the OTES "Solutions". Seems they concenrtrated on looks instead of options on that one. The Fatality offers some things better than others, but this ATI board takes the cake. Best of them all, all rolled into one, or so it would appear.

[Nubius]

Nubius
I don't know about you, but I get the impression that this board has the feature set for xtreem o/c'ing like the DFI and more.
Yeah I understand that dude...the fact still remains that just because it's made for something doesn't mean it'll live up to it's reputation. I'll wait until I see reviews and how well it can perform before I make an actual judgement call on it.


Seems they concenrtrated on looks instead of options on that one. That's what I'm worried of with most of this 'OCers boards' these days...all looks no glory. I'm not saying the board sucks, I'm just saying I don't know if I'd say "YEAH GIVE ME ONE!" quite yet.

[perry_78]

DF WHO! I usually try to limit my use of acronyms, but this? OMFG!This is very nice!

If the price tag is unde $500 and custom waterblocks are included, ATI has a new customer rolling. I like Europe don't you? :D

[tictac]

go go ... PC ICE :worship:

you got a copy of that board right? :hehe:

[rzonealley]

this will be a total round up against DFI n Fatality.
but the onboard wc really cool.

[gundamit]

If the price tag is unde $500 and custom waterblocks are included, ATI has a new customer rolling. I hope you mean under $500 canadian. I'm guessing the waterblocks are for the show only and the low numbers of enthusiasts willing to shell out that kind of money on any mother board, will preclude the possibility of mass producing a waterblocked version of this motherboard.

I'll be statisfied as long as they keep the mounting holes for the mosfets. It'll give OC'ers more choices with regard to how they cool their mosfets. For that reason alone this board has piqued my interest. The fact they picked a spot on the mobo for the northbridge that doesn't get in the way of the video card is a bonus. Now if they throw up some huge stock performance and OC numbers, I'll put in a pre-order. :)

[killingspreez]

hm sweet
i think i'll visit the cebit this weekend by train.
cuz i HAVE to see this board damn......i could ask them few things....

mfg

[naelq]

this is the best looking mobo ive ever seen!

Awesome work ATI!

TRUE! :toast:
it's sexier than the Fatal1ty :banana: :D

[tictac]

finally Fatal1ty got some competition... :hehe:

[Rabbi_NZ]

subscribed

[Hombre]

Outstanding board and layout!

[StellaArtois]

just need to iron out your AMR solution and i'm sold.

Likewise... :slobber:

[aCidbAbY]

:::subscribed:::

[Slimmie]

Very nice board indeed, and those waterblocks are wonderfull. My next board!

[sobol]

Someone was bla bla about mobo colors. For me they are kewl , rare and impressive , and read + white is color of ATI logo so kewl.
Im wondering what switches/settings for memory timings that mobo will have.

[reject]

thanks a lot grayskull for listening to us. especially my request for the gfx slot to be right up top so the pci slots are usable :D
the bios slots are better than giabytes cause u cant remove gigabyte ones, kind of defeats purpose :rolleyes:
and the wcing mosfets is a very good idea, anyone living in somewhere hot will know, those mofos can get hotter than ur cpu heatsink

also would be cool for those with phasechange if the cpu block could be transformed to fit on ur new x800xl!

[FallenAngel]

Awesome, and thanks grayskull for taking us in consideration, I already bought the DFI mb, but perhaps who knows I will have 2 s939 mb's :hehe:

[GIGAFAN]

Guys my eyes roled down on the floor :YIPPIE: all i can see is this mobo :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :toast:

[mcnbns]

this will be a total round up against DFI n Fatality.
but the onboard wc really cool.
I would have to guess that the water blocks will be a cool but expensive option. I think Fatal1ty is out of this round, for sure. I'm not even sure DFI can trump this sucker.

[dippyskoodlez]

the bios slots are better than giabytes cause u cant remove gigabyte ones, kind of defeats purpose :rolleyes:


Why would you need to remove them? If you mis-flash one, you switch over to the working, like a bios savior... its probably better you dont remove them. keeps people like me from breaking em.
:p:

(or loosing them)

[Chevelle]

:slobber: :slobber:

WOW !!!

That will be one awesome mb :toast:

[MrQ3W]

Looks pretty sweet, especially the power delivery.
How good is that Realtek codec on it, better than nF3/4?
Board looks unique that's for sure..especially the backside looks very good. Me want. :toast:

[G0DZILLA]

Well it certainly looks impressive, love the colour setup, lets hope it performs as good as it looks.

[neokenzo]

I'm definitely getting this board on my next upgrade. Thanks for the info Grayskull :)

[Magnj]

ME likey. I guess I'll have to build another computer in the summer.

[Highland3r]

:O nice! Was hoping this neo2 would last for a while, but it seems another purchase is on the horizon :|

[reject]

Why would you need to remove them? If you mis-flash one, you switch over to the working, like a bios savior... its probably better you dont remove them. keeps people like me from breaking em.
:p:

(or loosing them)
some people had both those chips get corrupt, and then has to rma board. hotflashing seems like a much better solution, but maybe thats just me.
with 3 chips u can hotflash 1, and still have a 3rd for backup!

[killzone]

ditch the onboard video and ill take one

[situman]

Abit might go bankrupt, DFI's are fragile, hope ATI and Sapphire can deliver a great board. Im itching to upgrade, but dying DFIs are not my cup of tea. Now if the Fatality offers better ram voltages, I might just take a risk on a sinking company. Come on ATI, I have a x800xl in my sights too.

[Skip]

sweet specs, and really innovative looking board!

[Rippthrough]

I really wasn't going to upgrade to A64 for a good few months, but...
You've sold one board here already. 4-phase power should go nicely with an 0448 SPAW.
Sign me up for the first one in the UK.

[boostdfd3s]

Looks good, now my decision to go DFI has been altered...def have to wait for some testing and benchmark scores though. The board looks kind of candy cane-ish, but i could live with it for a nice stable OC. Any chance of a model with no onboard video?

[Skip]

i wish it was more of like a blasted white, like white-blasted (sandblasted), so there would be like specs of red. thats what i thought it was when i first looked, but upon further inspection it just looks more or less white.

[deception``]

I would have to guess that the water blocks will be a cool but expensive option. I think Fatal1ty is out of this round, for sure. I'm not even sure DFI can trump this sucker.

Don't be so quick to assume. I think that we can all agree that the board looks great, but we have yet to see any real results from this product.

deception``

[MJRL]

Grayskull- will all the boards have the voltages you said or will be a special board for overclockers?
Has i said in the other post the sample i made a review only have 1,45 v-core, and no volts for the ram.
If the retail boards will have more options i will make a correction in my review.
http://www.oc-zone.com/files/reviews/tul200p/bios3.jpg

[situman]

Don't be so quick to assume. I think that we can all agree that the board looks great, but we have yet to see any real results from this product.

deception``

True we should not jump to conclusions. Remember whats happening with DFIs? There are stickies on how to set up the ultimate DFI NF4 WAAAAAAY before the board showed up. Nothing against DFI. I still hope they resolve their quality issues so there will be some nice competition between the two boards.

[3FFeX]

looks like im selling my Ultra-d if this board runs as good as it looks

[G0DZILLA]

Aye

[WiCKeD]

One question: Did God make this board? :slobber:

Seriously though, when will these be available?

Can I get something at least half as cool in mATX form factor? :worship: I know I am in the minority, but... (please?)


Grayskull, I just want to say thank you. It is evident that a lot of the critical things that we listed in the ATI support section "what do you want in a mobo" thread were realized in this board. Many of these things could be dreamed up based on existing boards, however the one thing that found support in that thread specifically was SPQQKY's idea of a pure white mobo. I highly doubt that Sapphire just happened to dream this up on their own at the same time it was though of here, especially considering it has never been done before. This shows me that ATI is taking the opinions of its Xtreme users very seriously, which rocks. The mobo color is only a very minor detail, and even so, we got what we wanted, and it looks incredible. The execution and overall look of that board is gorgeous.

You can DEFINITELY add me to the ATI mobo bandwagon(assuming the performance is there ;) ).

Rock on ATI and Sapphire!No joke! :up: That color scheme is cherry. :D


Has i said in the other post the sample i made a review only have 1,45 v-core, and no volts for the ram.That's a Tul board and looks totally different. Sapphire may make both brands, but it looks like that is the reason they are distinguishing the brands. "Tul", rhymes with "dull" and is probably going to be aimed more at OEMs.

[flutie98]

*changes pants* :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :slobber:

i found my next mobo

[black rose]

Here comes that damn upgrade itch again... man that looks very nice. Hope it performs well. :toast:

[deception``]

True we should not jump to conclusions. Remember whats happening with DFIs? There are stickies on how to set up the ultimate DFI NF4 WAAAAAAY before the board showed up. Nothing against DFI. I still hope they resolve their quality issues so there will be some nice competition between the two boards.

If this is a jab at my thread (which simply aimed to be a guide for individuals as they piece together a system), then you are getting off the mark. And as far as DFI: they have fewer quality issues than one might think. Yes, there are a number of enthusiasts that have run into problems, but this is not representative of the majority. On the contrary; you'll find that, with most things, individuals are more vocal about a product when they are disastisfied more than anything. So you basing your opinions on the negative threads amongst the forums only provides you with a one-sided (albeit very audible) opinion.

Believe it or not, there are many individuals that are satisfied with their DFI NF4 motherboards. Hell, even the MSI boards have been known to die occassionally, but they still remain a very successful product.

I never said that ATI/Sapphire could never release a desirable product. Rather, I simply stated that more information is needed to draw any sort of conclusions. At least with the DFI NF4 boards people had other products from DFI (such as the NF3 UT, LP B Ultra B, and Intel DFI boards) that they could use as proof of their committment to the enthusiast.

deception``

[Rudzer]

Looks good (except for the colour scheme), but considering the last launches from ATI, it will be A LONG LONG LONG time before this is available...

[quicksilverXP]

I think by the time this comes out, it will be too late... announcements for new chipsets based on the next generation DDR (DD2 or DDR3) will occurr and will be available within the year... that's my prediction (assuming it comes out by next fall in mass retail or something...

[zoom314]

I think by the time this comes out, it will be too late... announcements for new chipsets based on the next generation DDR (DD2 or DDR3) will occur and will be available within the year... that's my prediction (assuming it comes out by next fall in mass retail or something...

Bah, Only If Your an Intel user, AMD won't be supporting DDR2 until It has a New memory controller for It's cpus and that will mean a new cpu socket. It may happen in 2006, But no earlier as DDR is not even as fast as the current AMD A64/FX/Opteron memory controllers that are available so far. K8s rule and Intel can't help but be frightened by these chips and their superior technology as they are getting to be better and better as time goes on. Resistance is futile Micronians. :) :D

[btomasie]

As numerous othes have already asked.... WHEN will this mobo be available to the public!!?? Anandtech had their "review" of the sample board the first week on November...that was over 4 months ago.

Also, I don't think in a million years that motherboard will come out with the white/red color scheme nor do I think the 6"x8" gaudy ATi logo will be on the back of it either. This was probably just a one-off done for shows, much like GM and Ford do with some of their vehicles.

As long as the specs are there, and we can get one without integrated video, there are going to be a LOT of used DFI nF4 Ultra's on Ebay in a couple of months!!! :D

Brian

[mdzcpa]

LOL...I change mobos about as frequently as a change my underwear. And I am loyal to no brand. If this ATI mobo works great, I'll use it. If not, I won't.

As far as someone mentioning Abit's financial health and DFI's being "fragile" that's just bunk. Abit chose not to report some financial information and received a regulatory notice and some idiot at the Inquirer interpretted the story wrong. Abit just came of one of thier best years financially. Not to mention that they do a ton of white box stuff that people never talk about.

As far as DFI, for every problem report there are a dozen happy users. The trouble reports are high because practically everyone is running one.

As far as I see it, the battle will be between DFI and ATI on this one. Abit, although I have no concern about them financially, I do thnk they have slipped. They have resorted to plastic gimmicks for the kiddies instead of true enthusiast features. The DFI NF4 is currently the cutting edge in terms of voltage options and the ability to handle heavy duty OCing. This new ATI mobo could be a great challenger.

That said, I'll reserve my final judgement when I put one through its paces with my own two hands.

[Orange]

red&white mobo ..... hmmm..... should I palce it in my kitchen? :p:
I hope ATI stick to their specs and the final product will be the best OCing board which will make all of us very happy. :)

[isp]

Red/Black would of been sexier imo. Not something I really care about though.

[mcnbns]

ditch the onboard video and ill take one
There is no onboard video. ATi makes two verisions of their chipset (at least) and only one has integrated video.

[kappa2001]

That board is beautiful :banana4:

[clockedOut]

There is no onboard video. ATi makes two verisions of their chipset (at least) and only one has integrated video.

Go back and look at the pics.... that board has ONBOARD video.

2 versions maybe, we will have to wait and see..... but this one shows video on board.

[Caper]

Komplett here in Sweden has listed 2 Sapphire mobo´s based on ATI Xpress 200.
One with onboard video and one without.
The one with onboard video seems to be released pretty soon, within 14 day´s.
The one without onboard video are expected 1 May.

Note that ETA are Kompletts and can be changed but it seems they are not that far away :)

[Bloody_Sorcerer]

*wipes chin* *puts on fresh clothes*
well, now that i finished that...
HOLY CRAP!!!
I personally like the color scheme; its like the DFI schemes in that its bold (except this is bolder; i've never even seen white PCB)

[situman]

If this is a jab at my thread (which simply aimed to be a guide for individuals as they piece together a system), then you are getting off the mark. And as far as DFI: they have fewer quality issues than one might think. Yes, there are a number of enthusiasts that have run into problems, but this is not representative of the majority. On the contrary; you'll find that, with most things, individuals are more vocal about a product when they are disastisfied more than anything. So you basing your opinions on the negative threads amongst the forums only provides you with a one-sided (albeit very audible) opinion.

Believe it or not, there are many individuals that are satisfied with their DFI NF4 motherboards. Hell, even the MSI boards have been known to die occassionally, but they still remain a very successful product.

I never said that ATI/Sapphire could never release a desirable product. Rather, I simply stated that more information is needed to draw any sort of conclusions. At least with the DFI NF4 boards people had other products from DFI (such as the NF3 UT, LP B Ultra B, and Intel DFI boards) that they could use as proof of their committment to the enthusiast.

deception``

lol

[conrad.maranan]

I wouldn't mind having onboard video. It can come in handy if you kill a card and don't have immediate access to another one.

[situman]

LOL...I change mobos about as frequently as a change my underwear. And I am loyal to no brand. If this ATI mobo works great, I'll use it. If not, I won't.

As far as someone mentioning Abit's financial health and DFI's being "fragile" that's just bunk. Abit chose not to report some financial information and received a regulatory notice and some idiot at the Inquirer interpretted the story wrong. Abit just came of one of thier best years financially. Not to mention that they do a ton of white box stuff that people never talk about.

As far as DFI, for every problem report there are a dozen happy users. The trouble reports are high because practically everyone is running one.

As far as I see it, the battle will be between DFI and ATI on this one. Abit, although I have no concern about them financially, I do thnk they have slipped. They have resorted to plastic gimmicks for the kiddies instead of true enthusiast features. The DFI NF4 is currently the cutting edge in terms of voltage options and the ability to handle heavy duty OCing. This new ATI mobo could be a great challenger.

That said, I'll reserve my final judgement when I put one through its paces with my own two hands.

I really dont know much about Abits financial information, so I won't comment on it anymore. Abit is resorting to plasticky tricks, ram cant possibly that get hot with only 2.8v :rolleyes: Abit has become the Toyota of motherboards: high quality, high content, low risk products. I'm very anxious to see the new ATI boards in action, especially when it comes out with its own "SLI." Nvidia vs ATI, VIA = bye bye.

[zoom314]

I wouldn't mind having onboard video. It can come in handy if you kill a card and don't have immediate access to another one.

Yeah that's true, It also makes It easier for someone to upgrade from a slower cpu platform, Like an XP-M.

[Bloody_Sorcerer]

yeah i've done that a couple times... i crushed my 9600 a while back with a a XP 2200+ heatsink and was forced to use some wretched PCI video card for a few weeks...

[mcnbns]

Whoops, I can't read. I guess it does have onboard video. :)

If it's cheaper for the one without onboard vid, that's what I'll get.

[LowRun]

Komplett here in Sweden has listed 2 Sapphire mobo´s based on ATI Xpress 200.
One with onboard video and one without.
The one with onboard video seems to be released pretty soon, within 14 day´s.
The one without onboard video are expected 1 May.

Note that ETA are Kompletts and can be changed but it seems they are not that far away :)

Woawww, if the boards are really the ones we hope they are, then the price is incredible :eek:

Only a MSI K8T NEO2 FIR is cheaper, otherwise, the two Sapphire are the cheapest of all 939 boards.

Smells like :banana4:


edit:

link added: http://www.komplett.se/k/kl.asp?bn=10482

[Caper]

That´s what confusing me...can they be this cheap??
If they are... :banana:
Proper link:
http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.asp?sku=307851&cks=PRL

$ 126

[Zebbo]

Incredibly beautiful board, but how do those blocks perform? I guess those blocks costs half of the board's price, just because they look cool. IMHO too early to do judgement yet :)

[LowRun]

That´s what confusing me...can they be this cheap??
Not that I do mind :)

I'm having a hard time believing it but i'd like for sure.

[babalouj]

wow, if they are gonna be that cheap, sign me up for two!

[LowRun]

wow, if they are gonna be that cheap, sign me up for two!

Waiting for two gigs of TCCD, i was scaring myself thinking the same and feelin' a little crazy for that.

That's what XS is cool for, so many peeps as crazy as i am or MUCH MUCH more that i can feel normal :hehe:

[Stewie007]

Man, I'm thinking of selling my MSI Neo 4 for this one :p. 3 water blocks? I'll use two with a regular water cooling setup, and put my chiller on the third block. Course I might swap it with a block that would be less likely to crack at sub zero.

Anyways, it looks to me like ATI is goin for the gusto. >=) Making a bang into the market, then going for mainstream. :p It worked in Graphics.....

[thebluesgnr]

The board available for pre-sale could be this one:
http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/29/1049.html#000000

[LowRun]

The board available for pre-sale could be this one:
http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/29/1049.html#000000

Yeah, it would make more sense.

[Caper]

Yes it would...but Komplett specifies SATA.
Can ya see SATA connectors on the Sapphire boards at ocworkbench?
Maybe just me beeing blind?

[LowRun]

Yes it would...but Komplett specifies SATA.
Can ya see SATA connectors on the Sapphire boards at ocworkbench?
Maybe just me beeing blind?

Seems like so by the IDE connectors, what d'ya think?

[DevilsRejection]

Sticky this, and is Saphire was smart they would send samples to OPP, Fugger, OPB, and Macci

[Caper]

Seems like so by the IDE connectors, what d'ya think?
Me beeing blind :)
Seems like SATA connectors.

[CHEMICAL]

Sticky this, and is Saphire was smart they would send samples to OPP, Fugger, OPB, and Macci

agreed^^^

this is got to be the best looking board i have seen hope they keep the specs!!!!!!!!!

now all ati needs to do is employ chilly1 to start making custom ati cascades

[Nubius]

Don't be so quick to assume. I think that we can all agree that the board looks great, but we have yet to see any real results from this product.

deception`` Finally someone else whos pickin up what I'm puttin down. That's what I said on like...page 1....these days people are pumping out more bells and whistles than functionality...

IMO that Fatal1ty board is all looks with not so much in the performance section. Dude jonathan is just trying to market his name with a board that doesn't even perform well enough to justify the extra cost.

I'm not a fan of ATI's video cards except for the 9xxx vs the FX series, but a motherboard is a whole new issue and if it lives up to good quality, high overclocks, and all that good stuff then I will definitely pick one up when I crossover to AMD64...however...much like these other people..I would like to see onboard video tossed out..

For a 'top OC'ers board' onboard video shouldn't even be remotely considered...so that makes me wonder to some degree how much this board will be able to hang under the knife.

EDIT: I will say though, I LOVE the fact that they put the NB in a good position so I could put on my northpole NB cooler from microcool. That thing is relatively tall, and with the NB where it is, I won't have to worry about a graphics card hitting it! :D So that's awesome.

Don't much like where the 4pin power is located though at the top of the board though..of course this is just personal pref, but I like the 4pin and the ATX power connector to be near each other :p:

[Klisp]

.. tobad i don't have a clear case. Wish OPP would get one to test on some phase.

[Ackbar]

I'm curious... if the waterblock were to break/leak, would they cover the board under warranty? If they're going to sell the waterblocks as an option on the board, I think they should. Don't you?

[Nubius]

I'm curious... if the waterblock were to break/leak, would they cover the board under warranty? If they're going to sell the waterblocks as an option on the board, I think they should. Don't you? Good point. What if it fried your board and your R520 :p:

[Xassius]

Good point. What if it fried your board and your R520 :p:

I think they'll sell the board only. Waterblocks are on that pic for show only (to show that nb blocks can be fitted into the mosfets).

I personally love the colour. :p:

[Bond_]

amazing board! :slobber:

[Klisp]

Agreed :slobber:

[DudeMiester]

If only they had more PCI-Express channels it would be perfect. This is what I want, 2 16x PCIe slots, 3 4x PCIe slots, 6 1x PCIe channels for mobo components, and no regular PCI. So that's 50 total PCIe channels, with 25GB/s aggreate bandwidth. Of course only HyperTransport 3 would supply a large enough FSB to service all that bandwidth, but that's just a matter of time. Also, considering that ATI is already demoing their SLI solution under NDA at CeBit, I'm surprised this doesn't have 2 16x PCIe slots. Oh well, I'm not upgrading till the rivision E chips start coming out, so hopefully something will come out that's PCIe only.

[Nubius]

I know red and white are ATI's colors, but like other members mentioned, I think a black and red board would look freakin awesome.

[The Mofo]

the logo on the blocks kinda gives it away too ya know

I didnt notice the logo. When did DD start using the 2 DD's on their blocks? I havent purchased a block from them since the maz4 gpu came out.

[Playful_Buffalo]

well its great on paper.......

and thats enough to make me doubt my DFI nf4 purchase :slobber:

[SIK_L_CELL]

Yes please! :D

[reject]

the dfi nf4 never stood a chance once i heard of this board. im just wondering dothan vs. venice, or to get turion

[mcnbns]

Venice, of course. Getting a Dothan will mean you can't use this mobo. :stick: :D

Purely price/performance I don't think Venice can be beat.

[perry_78]

the dfi nf4 never stood a chance once i heard of this board. im just wondering dothan vs. venice, or to get turion

The DFI had a great chance! I'm using this board for the next 2-3 months before the ATI comes out, and with that a X800XL :)

[reject]

i dont like the layout of the dfi, way too cramped. in europe its probly not a problem, but in summer here you can get pockets of 50c air floating around in your case, and thats with 1 gpu.

@mcnbns: u know that i meant the dothan mobo i asked ati to build

[Rudzer]

the dfi nf4 never stood a chance once i heard of this board. im just wondering dothan vs. venice, or to get turion

Yeah rigth...nice to see people come up with such "conclusions" when they dont even have real solid numbers, only specs...

Plus the fact that DFI already has an offer and it will take long time (looking at prior lauches) before something like this comes up...

[zA.Gosu]

Hey reject 35 degrees today?

[mdzcpa]

Yeah rigth...nice to see people come up with such "conclusions" when they dont even have real solid numbers, only specs...


Agreed.

Although this ATI mobo looks great in theory, and I do look forward to seeing what it can really do when, and IF, it arrives, the DFI is here now and is still the reigning king of AMD mobos.

I think its a wee bit early to announce a new champion that doesn't even exist yet :rolleyes:

[perry_78]

It's the reigning king of motherboards, but I agree with reject that it isnt ideal - but it's darn close, I love the DRAM placement, others disagree. With water-cooling the hot air pockets are not such an issue, a tripple radiator with 120mm fans does the trick :)

[Magnj]

I want AMR. Dual X800XLs should provide for goood fun

[Hallowed]

Looks awesome, has incredible layout, and all the voltages we need. The only immediate problem I see is lack of native SATA2.

I suppose my questions are:

1. Can it clock as advertised?
2. At X clocks can it perform as well or beyond that of a NF4? Last thing we need is a board that clocks like no other but still performs worse.

[xpr-k]

Even though I like Its features, The White coloring with Red slots looks ugly to Me, I like the Red as I'm partial to red, But a red/black motherboard would have looked better to Me. So If Sapphire is going to try and sell the motherboard in that color combo then I'll just have to decline, As even purple and black looks better... :shakes: :shakes:


spraypaint yer case shiny black on the inside et voila

[Hombre]

Maybe it's just a custom PCB and layout colors for the showoff. It is very possible that the final board will be based on a black PCB :D

[3FFeX]

Here are some pictures of the motherboard and the custom Danger Den waterblocks that will be made available for sale specifically for this application.



I'm curious... if the waterblock were to break/leak, would they cover the board under warranty? If they're going to sell the waterblocks as an option on the board, I think they should. Don't you?

The blocks wll be made available from DD specically for this application not sold with the board, but there will be blocks made available for it . read :rolleyes:

[Ackbar]

The blocks wll be made available from DD specically for this application not sold with the board, but there will be blocks made available for it . read :rolleyes:

I did read it, but the astute reader would notice that as you quoted, the OP said that these waterblocks would "be made available" but not which company would actually be selling them. If the mobo maker were to make it available through them (obviously made by DD though), then I see no reason why they shouldn't extend the warranty to cover any damage due to a product they offer as an add-on.

Of course, if DD sold the waterblocks directly then I see no reason for them to extend the warranty. I'm not sure this would have to be the case though, since the OP made no mention of such. Futhermore, DD would stand to benefit more from making waterblocks that fit across multiple applications unless they were specifically contracted to make custom waterblocks that were to only fit certain applications. Since we were told these are made "specifically for this application", one can consider that that means that we are looking at a product that was contracted to be made.

Maybe you should learn to read a little better yourself as there is no mention of the seller (although the maker has been mentioned). I'll give you a good example of this scenario related to cars. You can go out and add a supercharger to your car, but it'll void the engine warranty and if you were to break something you'd be on your own. Some car manufacturer's have contracted companies (for example Toyota has such a division called TRD) to make superchargers for their cars to meet strict specifications. Once they have done so, they won't sell the supercharger with the car from the factory, but offer it as an option you can buy off them aftermarket. Now in the case of Toyota, as long as you don't modify your TRD supercharger, your warranty still applies (directly stated in the information that Toyota gives you with the part). So, as you can see, the difference between lies in who is selling the part.

Before you start telling people that they should read, maybe you should think beyond the nearsightedness of your argument. :stick:

[mcnbns]

I don't think they should warrant anything against leaks other than if the block itself leaks somewhere (due to a defect or something). Most of the time it's user error and Dangerden/Sapphire/whoever shouldn't be held accountable for n00bs that don't know how to water cool.

Still, it would be next to impossible for whoever it was that sold the block to prove that it was the user, so the seller would end up footing the bill.

The Toyota analogy is good, but it isn't generally the car owner that's installing the supercharger, I would guess. Toyota knows exactly what's been done to the car before they give the customer a warranty. The water block vendor doesn't know how good the installation of its product on the motherboard will be.

[deception``]

the dfi nf4 never stood a chance once i heard of this board. im just wondering dothan vs. venice, or to get turion

This is a very foolish statement. How are you going to judge this board by pictures and specs alone? Honestly you are doing exactly what any marketing firm would want you to do: falling for the hype and some aesthetics. Instead of basing your decisions soley on how something looks, why don't you wait for the real thing.

deception``

[mcnbns]

basing your decisions soley on how something looks...
Did you miss the specs at the first page? Of course no one knows how this will really perform, but if it's anything close to its specs it should kick some royal ass. That's all people are trying to say.

[deception``]

Did you miss the specs at the first page? Of course no one knows how this will really perform, but if it's anything close to its specs it should kick some royal ass. That's all people are trying to say.

I did notice the specs on the first page. However, all non-final specs are always subject to change (as we already know). To be honest, I am very much intrigued by this board, but only a fool would draw a clear conclusion without actual results to go by.

deception``

[Ackbar]

I don't think they should warrant anything against leaks other than if the block itself leaks somewhere (due to a defect or something). Most of the time it's user error and Dangerden/Sapphire/whoever shouldn't be held accountable for n00bs that don't know how to water cool.

Still, it would be next to impossible for whoever it was that sold the block to prove that it was the user, so the seller would end up footing the bill.

The Toyota analogy is good, but it isn't generally the car owner that's installing the supercharger, I would guess. Toyota knows exactly what's been done to the car before they give the customer a warrantee. The water block vendor doesn't know how good the installation of its product on the motherboard will be.

That's true, I would agree that only leaks from the waterblock should be warrantied. You're right that it would be difficult to figure out who was at fault, but then they should ask that all waterblocks be sent in with the mobo then check for leakage. If none is found, then obviously replacement of the mobo under warranty would not be justified.

That's true, Toyota in fact prefers that you get the supercharger installed at the dealership. But they also prefer that you do all your service at the dealership as well. AFAIK according to US law for cars, the manufacturer can not void the warranty on account of someone else doing the installation/service alone. ie)If you get documentable proof that you always get your oil changed at 3000 miles but not by Toyota, they can not just void your warranty if your engine is sludged just because you didn't get the oil changed by them. Now if it were to be found that you used really poor quality oil that led to this, sure there's no reason they can't void your warranty. As long as no obvious modification and no negligance has been found on the part of the user, a car's warranty can not be legally voided. They might try to do so anyways...

Now if the mobo manufacturer specifically puts on their warranty:
"Although we have created a custom WB for this application and tested it, if it were to leak we won't cover it." Then you're out of luck, and that's the type of thing I was originally comtemplating in my post. Either way, my point was that if DD sells the block, then the issue is clearer since DD would probably not warrantee a mobo they did not make nor would the mobo maker against an aftermarket add-on that they are not directly selling. If the mobo maker offers the block, they could still opt to not warranty it (ie. offer it as a "at your risk" component, but doing so would leave some people confused about buying something specifically made for the mobo and purchased through the mobo maker that wouldn't be directly supported) but that would be at their discretion of course. Again, I'm not trying to say that they would be FORCED to warranty against leaks, but that they could do so if they wanted to. I am simply ASKING if they would, but the person I was posting in reply to was stating that it was OBVIOUS that it shouldn't be due to an argument that was not necessarily based on truth.

Clearly it isn't as obvious as he/she thought if he/she would consider all the possibilities. :banana4:

[nebuchanezzar]

I just can't wait to see how the power clockers can abuse this baby!!! I just bought most of the parts for a 754 build but eventually we all gotta go PCIe sometime and this already looks like the board to play with. They used alot of the suggestions the people here offered up and if the quality is there...well this thing has the potential to take over the enthusiast market for AMDs

[Marlowe]

There is a board that was conceived and built based on some of the feedback from this thread. By the end of this week, you will know what I'm talking about. ;)
That is one Xtreme motherboard! :slobber: Thank you for listening to us! :toast:
I hope there will be an AMR version too :D And I hope there will be more mounting holes around the cpu area. I wonder if that TDX thingie is as good as my antarctica, or if there are a point in replacing it with another waterblock at all. I wonder what those pinheaders and jumpers near the Sapphire brand does. I also wonder what the dimensions on those nipples are. As the motherboard is standard ATX, someone cold measure it out of the picture if they wanted.. (someone do it! :)) I hope your motherboard drivers will be good and intensively testet. I guess this is the board where you will use the also dicussed overclocking software. I hope this will be up to the task as well in every way.

It looks like a graphics card might conflict with the memory tho. All those waterblocks will defenitely heat some water. And coupled with a waterblock on a heavy overclocked and voltmodded X800 card, this loop will recuire some serious cooling! Looks like my dual heatercore will come to its right. Although I'm really thinking two separate loops will be needed for optimal cpu and gpu overclocking. I really hope the mosfets and the NB can be cooled passively, also under heavy overclocking. (like my P4C800..) Because new hw should be more effective, right?

I wonder what will prove better.. this and a rev E, or a Pentium M adapter ;)
After all, switching to pci-e will be godamn expensive.

As you can see, there is a lot of hoping :p: As the others have said, you still have a lot to proove to us.
I wish you good luck! :toast:

[zoom314]

The more I look at this motherboard and what not the more I think this is My next upgrade for zoom1, I'll still need a psu, cpu, water cooling and vapochill LS for the cpu, But It should do just fine with an FX-57 cpu. :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :slobber:

[Abraxas]

One question: Did God make this board? :slobber:

Seriously though, when will these be available?

Can I get something at least half as cool in mATX form factor? :worship: I know I am in the minority, but... (please?)

MSI Radeon Xpress 200 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=13-130-485&DEPA=0)

Hopefully this will be out come summer.

And how do I get those wicked DD waterblocks?

[RAINFIRE]

Here are some pictures of the motherboard and the custom Danger Den waterblocks that will be made available for sale specifically for this application.


Ok, 1st - are the A56 and A58 a DEAD product now? This link shows two Sapphire boards (http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/29/1049.html) and they are NOT this board? Anyone know what the hell is going on? They've had the A56 and A58 announced for quite awhile now and still no product pages?

2nd - Sapphire now has 3 announced ATI Radeon Xpress boards showing and what is this mobo model?

3rd. Is ATI going to be marketing the same mobo's under different companies like Powercolor, Sapphire etc? Hehe - this ought to be fun keeping up with the right BIOS. I know my Connect3D X850 XT PE is the same as 2 or 3 other brands, Asus being one of them. I for one could use a little less cross company marketing to stop my head from spinning around and around so much.

Socket 939 K8T890 , nForce4, SiS 756, Radeon Xpress 200 Next Gen Motherboard Pricing and Availability List (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=638014#post638014)

[LowRun]

Well, red is usually not one of my favourite but i must admit i just like the look of the mobo, so here we go for another pic, aircooling this time: http://www.clubic.com/t/screenshot121448.html

[zoom314]

Well, red is usually not one of my favourite but i must admit i just like the look of the mobo, so here we go for another pic, aircooling this time: http://www.clubic.com/t/screenshot121448.html

Seeing that, It might be possible for an XP-120 to fit there instead. That's cause the XP-120 is within AMDs specs for heatsinks and I like Its performance as I have one on zoom2 already, As long as the Caps aren't too tall that is. Oh and It looks better in the Clubic picture than It does in the Cebit photo, Just more subdued. Oh and I've fired off an email to Thermalright about this, They may not have an answer Yet, Unless they've had a sample board to work with already that is.

[thebluesgnr]

Another pic of this board can be seen here:
http://www.forumdeluxx.de/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=3288&password=

Go to CEBIT Day 2 -> Page 12. I didn't post a direct link so people will see they have a bunch of great pics from CEBIT. :D

[dimasdw]

One more thing...

Is it just me or it XP-120 might not fit on it ??? MOunting hole is pretty close to the upper edge... XP-120 MIGHT be hard to fit in there...

just put waterblock... :banana:

[trakslacker]

good lord this board is so nice. Props to Sapphire and ATi!

[fareastgq]

I'll pass on the dangerden blocks, g5 will be going on there with air cooling for the mosfets and NB, SB. Hopefully this board isn't all show and no go. Makes you wonder if DFI will be making this board.... heh. I could see Oscar Wu moonlighting to write a bios for ati, hehe. Judging from prelim reviews of the sample though, looks like theres a very good chance this will be THEE board.

[Evil_Spork]

sign me up! ill try one out!

[G0DZILLA]

Yes can't wait to see some production benchmarks

[WiCKeD]

MSI Radeon Xpress 200 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=13-130-485&DEPA=0)

Hopefully this will be out come summer.

And how do I get those wicked DD waterblocks?I said something half as cool. As an overclocker, that board doesn't even rate. :down:

[AvIOn]

I think This will be a part of my next upgrade. I'm now sitting on a DFI ut Lanparty, amd64 3400+ DTR and ocz TCCD... And i just cant live with this mobo anymore.. It's so unstable, and only single channel... :( So i first had my eyes on MSI s939 SLI, but this one from ATi just got my juices flowing here:)

Hope it will be out before June this year... Would be rally nice with this mobo, a64 4200+ and a r520 together with my pair of tccd's....

*dreaming*

[3FFeX]

heres some pics ive found searching around the web for more info .

[zoom314]

heres some pics ive found searching around the web for more info.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26505&stc=1&thumb=1 (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26505)



Nice pics, Although on the 3rd one I could only read ATi and the rest is blurry, Possibly needed a better camera or just adjust the one You've got if possible that is. Was that 3rd one of the Northbridge or the Southbridge? :slobber: :slobber: :slobber:

[dippyskoodlez]

Nice pics, Although on the 3rd one I could only read ATi and the rest is blurry, Possibly needed a better camera or just adjust the one You've got if possible that is. Was that 3rd one of the Northbridge or the Southbridge? :slobber: :slobber: :slobber:

NB-- caps to the right, matching thermal pad tear off, only one with a heatsink removed, and we've seen the SB before :P

[zoom314]

NB-- caps to the right, matching thermal pad tear off, only one with a heatsink removed, and we've seen the SB before :P

Thanks Dips.

[RAndomaN]

if it preforms as good as it should (according to paper) hello one of those when i next upgrade :D

[situman]

how come hte ATI reps are so quiet now? am i mistaken or they havent posted for a while?

[Dissolved]

how come hte ATI reps are so quiet now? am i mistaken or they havent posted for a while?

i bet there Busy, the ati show & new products..

[dippyskoodlez]

i bet there Busy, the ati show & new products..

and they probably dont browse the forums on weekends, as its probably their "time off" ;)

[LowRun]

This is the teasing part of the new marketing scheme ;)

[situman]

true, then the guinea pigs will buy the boards and tell the rest of us how it is.

[Vapor]

Nice pics, Although on the 3rd one I could only read ATi and the rest is blurry, Possibly needed a better camera or just adjust the one You've got if possible that is. Was that 3rd one of the Northbridge or the Southbridge? :slobber: :slobber: :slobber:
If you look hard enough, it also says RS480 in the first line of small print...definitely the NB.

[SLaY3r07]

Hexus has a little article on the Sapphire GROUPER (http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD0xMDUw)

[zoom314]

heres some pics ive found searching around the web for more info .

You got those pics from Hexus.net It looks like, I say that as They have the same pics. I won't direct link from there as It's a long way off.

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD0xMDUw

[Grayskull]

The feedback is a little overwhelming so I'll try to keep up with this thread and answer some questions...

There seems to be recurring questions regarding the ROM sockets. One is for system bios, the other two are SATA option roms for the SI3132s. The option roms may not be required on production boards. They are provisioned for testing but may be removed. If they are no longer required as option ROMs we might consider converting them to secondary sbios sockets.


yeah, thats a feature I've always liked about those giga boards, a second BIOS chip. But three...whoa! Could be nice, for those who like to try out new BIOS'es. That way you've got your stock, your modded, and your whatever BIOS ready to go :D but who knows (other than ATI) if those are all for BIOS chips.

jjcom

[Grayskull]

Actually yes, and pretty significantly if you are running a water cooled system. Many boards mount passive heatsinks on the MOSFETs and they rely on some amount of airflow coming from CPU heatsink to dissipate the heat. On an overvoltaged system, without any airflow from the CPU HSF (like in a system where the CPU is watercooled or vapochilled) the water cooled FETs really brings down the temperature in that area of the motherboard.

The board is provisioned however for various cooling solutions in that area, completely passive, heatsink and fan, heastsink and fan with external ducting and watercooling. It's a very flexible design.


=']Are we really going to be benefiting from watercooled mosfets?

[Dissolved]

Actually yes, and pretty significantly if you are running a water cooled system. Many boards mount passive heatsinks on the MOSFETs and they rely on some amount of airflow coming from CPU heatsink to dissipate the heat. On an overvoltaged system, without any airflow from the CPU HSF (like in a system where the CPU is watercooled or vapochilled) the water cooled FETs really brings down the temperature in that area of the motherboard.

The board is provisioned however for various cooling solutions in that area, completely passive, heatsink and fan, heastsink and fan with external ducting and watercooling. It's a very flexible design.


Fets get HOT! the ones on my OCZ booster at 2.8v get 90c in a standard case, with a fan they are around 40-70c

I love the Fets area. i think thats one of the BEST mobo features ive seen on a new mobo. Goes to show how kick.. ati and sapphire are :toast:

[Grayskull]

A common misconception is that onboard graphics somehow detracts from overclocking. In our architecture, there is no reason to believe this. The only thing that onboard graphics does is thrash the system memory a little harder. If the system fails with onboard graphics because of this, it only means it's not totally stable. Also, if you are running an external graphics card, the onboard graphics can be totally disabled and it's as if it was never there.

As for the waterblocks, since there has also been some questions regarding them...they are going to be offered as aftermarket components from Danger Den. They will look exactly as shown. I didn't measure the fittings but I believe they were 3/8" fittings. Feel free to ask Danger Den directly.


Simply awesome ! :slobber:
Why do I suddenly feel the urge to sing the Canadian national anthem ? :D

I'm a little worried tho overclocking and onboard graphics chipsets usually don't mix well.

Grayskull do you know if the optional DD waterblock's fittings are 3/8" or 1/2" ?

[Grayskull]

I would like to address some of your comments...

All pricing, availability and motherboard color scheme questions will need to go to Sapphire as it's their board. I can tell you this though, there are a lot more than a couple of these boards in white/red. As far as I know, ALL existing boards look exactly the same.

As for the initial Anandtech review, that was for our initial ATI Radeon Xpress 200 technology launch. It was very obvious at that time and still is today that those were reference boards. This is not.



As numerous othes have already asked.... WHEN will this mobo be available to the public!!?? Anandtech had their "review" of the sample board the first week on November...that was over 4 months ago.

Also, I don't think in a million years that motherboard will come out with the white/red color scheme nor do I think the 6"x8" gaudy ATi logo will be on the back of it either. This was probably just a one-off done for shows, much like GM and Ford do with some of their vehicles.

As long as the specs are there, and we can get one without integrated video, there are going to be a LOT of used DFI nF4 Ultra's on Ebay in a couple of months!!! :D

Brian

[Grayskull]

There is NOT and will NOT be any battles between ATI and any motherboard vendors. ATI supplies core logic technology to all the motherboard vendors and does not actively participate in selling motherboards.



As far as I see it, the battle will be between DFI and ATI on this one. Abit, although I have no concern about them financially, I do thnk they have slipped. They have resorted to plastic gimmicks for the kiddies instead of true enthusiast features. The DFI NF4 is currently the cutting edge in terms of voltage options and the ability to handle heavy duty OCing. This new ATI mobo could be a great challenger.

That said, I'll reserve my final judgement when I put one through its paces with my own two hands.

[Grayskull]

Right on the money.


i bet there Busy, the ati show & new products..

[situman]

So in the Hexus article I read tat the design of the mobo is 6 layer pcb. arent most designs 4 layers? Maybe Hexus has it wrong. Btw any estimated date of arrival?

[pershoot]

subscribin to thread.

great lookin board!

[thebluesgnr]

So in the Hexus article I read tat the design of the mobo is 6 layer pcb. arent most designs 4 layers? Maybe Hexus has it wrong. Btw any estimated date of arrival?

Most designs are 4-layers, but 6 is not that uncommon. The ECS KV2 Extreme and some of the recent DFI's LANPARTY (for Intel only) have 6-layer PCB.

[Gokou]

6 Layer PCB's are quite a bit more expencive... ala Opteron boards IIRC...

So is the mosfet area exactly the size of the NB? Cos i think a nice zalman chipset cooler would do nicely. I dont want to watercool 4 components on my rig, but dont want fans.... so a decent passive cooler would be ace.

[situman]

If it is indeed a 6 layer PCB, the chances of it being a real killer board is much higher. I mean does OEM really need a 6 layer PCB board? How much strain does it produce running things at stock. Still wondering when it will come out.

[AvIOn]

can't wait until this hits the streets... I have to wait for my next upgrade until this one comes out. Ati MoBo and Ati GFX :D weeeeeeee :) If this performs well, this will be my next mobo, FOR SURE! when can i buy it? june/juli? August ? may ?

[HARDCORECLOCKER]

:D Hm, I agree..........very nice looking board, but how will the ATI chipset clock compared to NF4 ?

Only looking cool is not enough............. ;)

Heard rumours from CBIT that the 3 BIOS chips are caused by a totally new BIOS system - independent circuits for RAM, CPU and GPU maybe.........

And what about the onboard video? Only way to use this or is it possible to add a GPU ?

All in all we need ClockGen ATI soon.................... :toast:

[HaLDoL]

Weren't these the boards OPP, macci and FUGGER used in Vegas? The same boards that didn't clock so well?

[nosferatu]

*subscribing*

If one decides to use the full watercooling kit; wouldn't the extra heat from the mosfets added to the loop cancel out any potential OC-gain? Or is this system designed for separate cooling loops?

[dippyskoodlez]

:D Hm, I agree..........very nice looking board, but how will the ATI chipset clock compared to NF4 ?

Only looking cool is not enough............. ;)

Heard rumours from CBIT that the 3 BIOS chips are caused by a totally new BIOS system - independent circuits for RAM, CPU and GPU maybe.........

And what about the onboard video? Only way to use this or is it possible to add a GPU ?

All in all we need ClockGen ATI soon.................... :toast:

greyskull has already stated what the bios sockets are for. hopefully they will make one of them a second bios.

onboard video? greyskull stated that also...

I think it was the ati chipset that was already out (maybe engineering sample) that was compared to an engineering sample of the nvidia board, and they either tied, or werent slightly apart from eachother. :D

[G0DZILLA]

Yah...maybe they squeezed some more performance out of it, if we are lucky its always nice to have competition, and this board looks so cool to. Would like to hear some pricing on this sucker tho.

[HARDCORECLOCKER]

greyskull has already stated what the bios sockets are for. hopefully they will make one of them a second bios.

onboard video? greyskull stated that also...

I think it was the ati chipset that was already out (maybe engineering sample) that was compared to an engineering sample of the nvidia board, and they either tied, or werent slightly apart from eachother. :D

:D I see, THX. All in all they start a good business, I'm thinking of all the sold coolers there, it is a good idea to sell a board and to have the equipment for it in Ya own house............ :toast:

[dippyskoodlez]

Yah...maybe they squeezed some more performance out of it, if we are lucky its always nice to have competition, and this board looks so cool to. Would like to hear some pricing on this sucker tho.

If it has complete support for the rev E's and dual cores, and the "rumors" about nforce 4 and E rev's having problems is true.. **IF**, it'll be a no-brainer for most.

I dont think the Nforce 4 will have too many issues with the rev E tho.. I bet most just freaked out early.

[perkam]

Hopefully ATI actually fulfills its promise of a 9600-based onboard video...uptil now its been X300 and it sucks in 01 :(

Speaking of 01...OPP has started a new thread on the future of 01 in the XS 3d section :D

Perkam

[Nanobot]

I just emailed DD and this is what they replied :

Quote:"sorry we are unable to
give any information about the new ATI board and or water blocks. All
questions need to be handled by ATI them selves"

So it's still a guess work as to where the waterblocks will be available from.My guess;Sapphire as a mobo option.
Who knows Sapphire might make the mobo and wb available similarly to one of thier "Toxic" line of video cards with Arctic Cooling Silencers,the mobo with water blocks would fit nicely in the Toxic line especially with the white and red color scheme.


A common misconception is that onboard graphics somehow detracts from overclocking. In our architecture, there is no reason to believe this. The only thing that onboard graphics does is thrash the system memory a little harder. If the system fails with onboard graphics because of this, it only means it's not totally stable. Also, if you are running an external graphics card, the onboard graphics can be totally disabled and it's as if it was never there.

As for the waterblocks, since there has also been some questions regarding them...they are going to be offered as aftermarket components from Danger Den. They will look exactly as shown. I didn't measure the fittings but I believe they were 3/8" fittings. Feel free to ask Danger Den directly.

[thebluesgnr]

Hopefully ATI actually fulfills its promise of a 9600-based onboard video...uptil now its been X300 and it sucks in 01 :(

Speaking of 01...OPP has started a new thread on the future of 01 in the XS 3d section :D

Perkam

The X300 is the 9600 in PCI-E. The problem with the onboard video is that it's slower than X300SE.

[elec999]

Heres another view of this board.
http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD0xMDUw
Thanks

[zabomb4163]

in another thread he reportedly broke the air WR fsb using this board easily. he also says that it is superior to the DFI board in terms of overclocking ability.

[zoom314]

in another thread he reportedly broke the air WR fsb using this board easily. he also says that it is superior to the DFI board in terms of overclocking ability.

With the Specs It has, I wouldn't doubt It. I intend to get one and set It up this way:

That will only need
an FX-57 2.8GHz cpu,
a Corsair CMX512-3200LL 512Mb Dimm,
a PC-7a vapochill modified Black case,
an Aspire 520w psu,
a Sapphire Grouper motherboard(VGA onboard already),
a Vapochill LS(Black),
a 20Gb 7200rpm hdd(I already have It),
a CoolerMaster Aquagate Water Cooling System (ALC-U01) for NB chip & the Mosfets.

So I wonder what is the AMD Vapochill LightSpeed WR right now?

[reject]

like 3.4ghz on a modded Ls on a fx53 or 55 isnt it?
i really like this mobo

[SlackeR]

With the Specs It has, I wouldn't doubt It. I intend to get one and set It up this way:

That will only need
an FX-57 2.8GHz cpu,
a Corsair CMX512-3200LL 512Mb Dimm,
a PC-7a vapochill modified Black case,
an Aspire 520w psu,
a Sapphire Grouper motherboard(VGA onboard already),
a Vapochill LS(Black),
a 20Gb 7200rpm hdd(I already have It),
a CoolerMaster Aquagate Water Cooling System (ALC-U01) for NB chip & the Mosfets.

So I wonder what is the AMD Vapochill LightSpeed WR right now?

I would rather ditch the FX and buy a bette PSU. realize how important these things are?? ;)

[zoom314]

I would rather ditch the FX and buy a bette PSU. realize how important these things are?? ;)

It has 35 Amps on the +12v rail and powers zoom2 @ 2.34GHz 24/7 and no that is not peak amps which I believe is somewhat higher.

[HARDCORECLOCKER]

With the Specs It has, I wouldn't doubt It. I intend to get one and set It up this way:

That will only need
an FX-57 2.8GHz cpu,
a Corsair CMX512-3200LL 512Mb Dimm,
a PC-7a vapochill modified Black case,
an Aspire 520w psu,
a Sapphire Grouper motherboard(VGA onboard already),
a Vapochill LS(Black),
a 20Gb 7200rpm hdd(I already have It),
a CoolerMaster Aquagate Water Cooling System (ALC-U01) for NB chip & the Mosfets.

So I wonder what is the AMD Vapochill LightSpeed WR right now?

:D Don't know, got no Lightspeed and no WR but take a look at PIC in SIG - done with a stock MACH II GT, of course a suicide shot.... :toast:

[zoom314]

:D Don't know, got no Lightspeed and no WR but take a look at PIC in SIG - done with a stock MACH II GT, of course a suicide shot.... :toast:

Nice pic, I hope It still works, albeit at a slower speed... :toast: :toast:

[OPPAINTER]

in another thread he reportedly broke the air WR fsb using this board easily. he also says that it is superior to the DFI board in terms of overclocking ability.
And what exactly is that world record? :D

OPP

[cadaveca]

lol..let's see the screen, then. I'm sure jaws will drop.

[philter]

Looks gud - but myself - I'd rather wait for maybe next one down the line for goodies like NCQ/SATA II on S/B and better embedded audio maybe summert like Cmedia's new DD LIVE Chip, and a few more USB
Specs do look promising but will leave the tesing/breakin in to others as I'm sick ov f@%Kin around with boards ATM just want a board that will perform well and keep permormin well!!
Any ov you guys n gals got a rig that has a week + uptime BTW??

[HARDCORECLOCKER]

Nice pic, I hope It still works, albeit at a slower speed... :toast: :toast:

:D Yes still working, but I'm waitin' for my RMA'd DFI NF4 - hope to get a little improvement with that board.

"Suicide shot" means that immedeately after taking the screenie system crashed....., but who cares, it was "stable for a screenie"......

:toast:

[SlackeR]

It has 35 Amps on the +12v rail and powers zoom2 @ 2.34GHz 24/7 and no that is not peak amps which I believe is somewhat higher.

well i know how it performs.
And i know a lot of people in Denmark who has lost harddrives due to a 12v line well beyond 13v, it has no sense lines, so you cant even mod it to fit your needs (which may not be a critical point on Sapphire but whatever), the lines put out quite a few amps, but i have seen people gain a lot of mhz going from Aspire to OCZ. Noise is an issue too.
Anyway if you have it already it might be worth it. I just think it is silly to go with a half-decent PSU along with a FX-55.
BTW: is that really only one stick of ram? no dualchannel? Don't get me wrong, the system sounds fun, and i might have misunderstood it, but i really think it sounds like that FX is overkill if you dont upgrade the rest of your system.

[zoom314]

well i know how it performs.
And i know a lot of people in Denmark who has lost harddrives due to a 12v line well beyond 13v, it has no sense lines, so you cant even mod it to fit your needs (which may not be a critical point on Sapphire but whatever), the lines put out quite a few amps, but i have seen people gain a lot of mhz going from Aspire to OCZ. Noise is an issue too.
Anyway if you have it already it might be worth it. I just think it is silly to go with a half-decent PSU along with a FX-55.
BTW: is that really only one stick of ram? no dualchannel? Don't get me wrong, the system sounds fun, and i might have misunderstood it, but i really think it sounds like that FX is overkill if you dont upgrade the rest of your system.

That will only need
an FX-57 2.8GHz cpu,
a G.Skill 512Mb TCCD PC4400 Dimm,
a Sapphire Grouper motherboard(VGA onboard already),
an OCZ 520w psu,
a PC-7a vapochill modified Black case,
a Vapochill LS(Black),
a CoolerMaster Aquagate Water Cooling System (ALC-U01) for NB chip & the Mosfets,
a 20Gb 7200rpm hdd(I already have It).

How's this?

I'd get the case in a Blue color, But It isn't really neccessary as Black will do.
Oh and this is a New system from the ground up, except for the hdd as It will mostly be used for crunchin numbers for Seti or such. a Dual core FX when It arrives would be really nice, But that is a ways off past the horizon.

Although I'd rather stay with a single Dimm as It is usaully easier to overclock one Dimm than with Two Dimms.

[RAINFIRE]

well i know how it performs.
And i know a lot of people in Denmark who has lost harddrives due to a 12v line well beyond 13v, it has no sense lines, so you cant even mod it to fit your needs (which may not be a critical point on Sapphire but whatever), the lines put out quite a few amps, but i have seen people gain a lot of mhz going from Aspire to OCZ. Noise is an issue too.
Anyway if you have it already it might be worth it. I just think it is silly to go with a half-decent PSU along with a FX-55.
BTW: is that really only one stick of ram? no dualchannel? Don't get me wrong, the system sounds fun, and i might have misunderstood it, but i really think it sounds like that FX is overkill if you dont upgrade the rest of your system.

You mean like this FX-55 with an Aspire? http://www.fx-55.com/watercool/ ? Hehehe - actually now I've sold the FX-55 USED for $950.00 and bought an OCZ Powerstream 520W, X850 XT PE, and a AMD 3500+ Winnie. Here's the current rig http://www.fx-55.com/myrig/ . Couldn't resist . . . :toast:

[G0DZILLA]

lol , still no availability or pricing :(

[hchu]

lol , still no availability or pricing :(
From the Inquirer (http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21826):
"The company made this motherboard in cooperation with ATI, and it's supposed to make it ready sometime in April."

[reject]

It has 35 Amps on the +12v rail and powers zoom2 @ 2.34GHz 24/7 and no that is not peak amps which I believe is somewhat higher.
slacker is right, that psu is really 300w. i have one and it barely works on a stock tbred/ rad 7000 system, undervolts heaps

[HARDCORECLOCKER]

:D Any secret pretest so far ? :toast:

[situman]

available soemtime in April. Meaning a month after should be the right time to pick up the board, depending on what kind of results/problems early adopters have. So I would guess Mid May (assuming it does come out in April) is the right time to jump on this board.

[qdemn7]

available soemtime in April. Meaning a month after should be the right time to pick up the board, depending on what kind of results/problems early adopters have. So I would guess Mid May (assuming it does come out in April) is the right time to jump on this board.Good, that means by July (my vacation month), all the bugs should have been found and rung out, so I can buy one with confidence (maybe). :slobber:

[EQS-Bob]

HI

I must say the Sapphire version look great with a very lovely colour but my EQS M56K9-MLF is running smooth

ATi xpress 200 chipset(RS480) is the best chipset i seem so far , Vaule for Money.

Just last night I was playing Half Life 2 on it with the onboard graphics still running smooth DX 9.0 support from Hardware.

Anyway EQScomputers.com is avaliable in Europe.
ATX version also out now called M58K9-MLF

Some news from Hexus.net

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD0xMDQ0

:banana: