AMD will soon be bringing DDR3 support to the yet-to-be-launched AM3-based Phenom II processors, and seeing as other AMD partners have already announced their boards, Sapphire's getting in on the act too.
Pictured below is Sapphire's PURE CrossFireX 790GX, model number PC-AM2RS790GX. Unlike many of the other high-end partner boards, Sapphire has opted not to take the DDR3 approach and its first 790GX board is a DDR2 affair that supports either AM2+ or AM3 CPUs.
On paper, it isn't an entirely bad idea. The use of DDR2 should, we hope, lower overall costs and with DDR3 boards rolling out with memory running up to only 1,333MHz, the performance gap should be negligible.
Sapphire's board - featuring the AMD 790GX chipset and SB750 southbridge - supports up to 16GB of DDR2 1,066MHz via its four DIMM slots, and is accompanied by 128MB of DDR2 sideport memory. There are six SATA ports, a single IDE connector, on-board Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 HD audio and a useful 12 USB connectors.
Outputting 790GX's integrated graphics are a choice of DVI, VGA and HDMI outputs. Of course, if the integrated graphics don't live up to expectations, there's the option for Hybrid CrossFire via the two PCIe x16 slots. Roll on AM3.
Official press release: SAPPHIRE 790GX mainboard supports new AMD Phenom ll
Official product page: SapphireTech.com
