SAPPHIRE launches AMD 780G-based motherboard

Mainboards

Published: Thursday 20th March, 2008 | Author: Parm Mann
Products: Sapphire PURE Hybrid CrossFire PI-AM2RS780G motherboard micro ATX - AMD 780G
Companies: Sapphire (All Sapphire content)
External reviews: Sapphire PURE Hybrid CrossFire PI-AM2RS780G motherboard micro ATX - AMD 780G

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An on-board graphics solution supporting DX10

SAPPHIRE's PI-AM2RS780G was first shown at CeBIT earlier this month and marks the company's first mainboard to feature AMD's 780G chipset together with the SB700 south bridge and support for AMD's Hybrid CrossFireX Graphics mode.

Here at HEXUS, we took an early look at what AMD's 780G chipset has to offer and concluded that it "ushers in a new era for gaming with respect to graphics integrated into a motherboard".

SAPPHIRE's offering, pictured above, supports AMD's AM2+ processors and features a 2000MHz HT3 bus as well as support for Dual Channel DDR2 memory.

The on-board graphics support DX10 and output to both VGA and DVI connectors located on the board's rear panel. Users seeking a little more punch for their gaming can utilise AMD's Hybrid CrossFireX mode and plug a HD 3400 series graphics card into the PCI-E 2.0 slot to work in tandem with the on-board GPU.

A second addition to SAPPHIRE's motherboard range was also announced today in the form of the SAPPHIRE PC-AM2RX780. With it comes CrossFireX capability on an ATX board based on AMD's 770 chipset and SB600 south bridge. Again, the board supports AMD's AM2+ processors and supports HT3 2000MHz Hypertransport speeds and Dual Channel DDR2 Memory DIMMs up to a total of 8GB.

Using CrossFireX (which HEXUS previewed last month), users can use one, two, three or four HD 3800 series GPUs together.

Both the PI-AM2RS780G and PC-AM2RX780 are now in production and will soon be available through SAPPHIRE channel and retail partners, the complete specifications for both are as follows:

SAPPHIRE PI-AM2RS780G specifications:

CPU	Socket AM2+ HTT 2000 MHz AMD® Athlon™64 With HyperTransport Technology Compatible with 64-bit Dual Core AMD® Athlon™64 X2 Processor and AMD Phenom™
Chipset	AMD 780G Chipset ( Hybrid CrossFireX™ ) + AMD SB700 Chipset
Memory	4 x 240-pin DIMM Sockets for unbuffered Dual DDR2 800Mhz SDRAM (up to 8 GB)
Expansion Slots	2 x 32-bit PCI Slots / 1 x PCI EXPRESS 2.0 x16 Slot
Storage	2 x Ultra DMA 133 / 100 / 66 IDE Device Support Embedded AMD SB700 Southbridge Chipset Supports 6 x Serial ATA2 HDDs with RAID 0, 1 , 10 Functions
Audio	Realtek ALC883 8-Channel HD Audio
Ethernet LAN	Marvell M88E8049/M88E8056-F PCI Express Gigabit PHY
USB	Embedded 10 x High Speed USB @ 480 Mbit / s
Special Features	Advanced 4+1 Power Design that supports the latest K8/K10 CPU and HT3.0 BIOS Debug LED Display Hybrid CrossFire. Ability to combine the features or raw horsepower of both your on board graphics and those of any Hybrid CrossFireX compatible PCI-e add in board. ATI Radeon™ HD 3200 Internal Graphic core fully supports DX10 HDMI (Audio and Video) function supported by adaptor connect to DVI port Support for ACPI S3 (Standby) function “IMAGE IT!” System Backup Software and “ProMagicPLUS!” System Recovery System
Rear Panel I / O	4 x High Speed USB Connectors @ 480 Mbit / s 1 x PS / 2 Mouse & 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Connector 1 x VGA D-Sub 15-pin Connector & 1 x DVI-D Connector 1 X RJ45 LAN Connector 1 x 8-Channel Audio I / O
Internal I / O	3 x High Speed USB Connectors @ 480 Mbit / s for 6 USB 2.0 Ports CPU / Chassis Fan Connectors 1 x 12V 8-pin ATX Power Connector and 1 x 24-pin ATX Power Connector 1 x Serial Port 9-pin Header Block 1 x Parallel Port 25-Pin Header Block CD / AUX Audio in Connectors 1 x Floppy Connector
BIOS	Award 8 MB SPI Flash ROM
Form Factor	mATX Form Factor 245X220mm

SAPPHIRE PC-AM2RX780 specifications:

CPU	Socket AM2+ HTT 2000 MHz AMD® Athlon™64 With HyperTransport Technology Compatible with 64-bit Dual Core AMD® Athlon™64 X2 Processor and AMD Phenom™
Chipset	AMD 770 Chipset + AMD SB600 Chipset
Memory	4 x 240-pin DIMM Sockets for unbuffered Dual DDR2 800Mhz SDRAM (up to 8 GB)
Expansion Slots	2 x 32-bit PCI Slots / 2 x PCI EXPRESS 2.0 x 16 (2 x PCI-E x 8 when used with CrossFireX™ Technology / 2 x PCI EXPRESS x1
Storage	2 x Ultra DMA 133 / 100 / 66 IDE Device Support Embedded AMD SB600 Southbridge Chipset Supports 4 x Serial ATA2 HDDs with RAID 0, 1 , 10 Functions
Audio	Realtek ALC883 8-Channel HD Audio
Ethernet LAN	Marvell M88E8049/M88E8056-F PCI Express Gigabit PHY
USB	10 x High Speed USB @ 480 Mbit / s
Special Features	Advanced Power Design that supports the latest Socket-AM2 K8 CPU Premium Capacitors and Power design afford best Over-Clocking performance “IMAGE IT!” System Backup Software and “ProMagicPLUS!” System Recovery System
Rear Panel I / O	4 x High Speed USB Connectors @ 480 Mbit / s 1 x PS / 2 Mouse & 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Connector 1 x RJ45 LAN Connector 1 x SPDIF Coaxial In and 1 x SPDIF Coaxial Out port 1 x Serial port 1 x 8-Channel Audio I / O
Internal I / O	3 x High Speed USB Connectors @ 480 Mbit / s for 6 USB 2.0 Ports CPU / Chassis Fan Connectors 1 x 12V 8-pin ATX Power Connector and 1 x 24-pin ATX Power Connector 1 x Parallel Port 25-Pin Header Block CD / AUX Audio in Connectors 1 x Floppy Disk Drive Connector SPDIF header
BIOS	Award 8 MB Flash ROM
Form Factor	ATX Form Factor 305X220mm

Official press release
SAPPHIRE Strengthens Mainboard Offering

HEXUS.community :: your right2reply

Re: SAPPHIRE launches AMD 780G-based motherboard

Posted by Methanoid - Thu 20th Mar 2008, 3:53pm

If (and it seems it doesnt) it had the Side Port 64/128mb memory and with those heatsinks on the caps, this could/should have been an awesome 780G mobo.

We need an overclockers board and one with SidePort memory for that VGA boost.

:(Quote