Sapphire are probably AMD's largest and longest term partner, producing the finest video cards for the discerning enthusiast audience. In recent years they have been expanding their product portfolio into other categories, such as power supplies and even all in one high definition media computers.
KitGuru recently reviewed their latest Pure Black X58 motherboard which was not only exceptionally well built, but which offered massive overclocking potential. Today we are looking at their unique take on Sandybridge, with their Pure Black P67 Hydra motherboard. With a retail price of around £199.99 in the UK is this a board that you should be shortlisting for your next upgrade?
The specifications are impressive. Sapphire are using a 6+2+3 phase power design for the CPU core, CPU VTT and memory with support for up to 16GB of DDR3 memory at speeds up to 1,600mhz. They have also included voltage measure points, dedicated power and reset buttons along with a diagnostic LED and switchable dual BIOS configuration.
Specification | |
CPU | Support Intel LGA1155: Intel Core i7 /i5 / i3 series processors |
Chipset | Intel® P67 Express Chipset |
BIOS | AMI BIOS, 16Mb Flash ROM |
Memory | 2 Channel DDR3 Technology 4 slots 240-pin DDR3 800/1066/1333/1600+ non-ECC ,un-buffered memory 16 GB Max. |
Expansion Slots | 4 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots 2 x 32-bit PCI slots |
Storage | 7 x Serial ATA III 6Gb/s connectors Supports HDDs with RAID 0, 1,5,10 functions |
Audio | Realtek ALC892 HD Audio CODEC with 8-Channel |
Ethernet LAN | Marvell 88E8057 PCI-Express Gigabit LAN |
Rear Panel I / O | 8 x USB 2.0 port 2 x USB 3.0 port 1 x 1394a port 1 x SPDIF Coaxial OUT 1 x Audio I / O ports 1 x SPDIF Optical Out 1 x Supporting Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR by Atheros AR3011 1 x e-SATA port PS/2 KB/MS combo port |
Internal I / O | 2 x USB 2.0 headers CPU 4 pin PWM Fan connectors 3 Pin Chassis Fan connectors 24-pin ATX Power connector 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector Control (Front) panel headers SPDIF In/out header 1 x 1394a headers |
Special Features | Voltage measure PAD Power on Button with Power LED Reset Button with HDD access LED Clear CMOS button Diagnostic LED with CPU temperature monitor Dual BIOS with select Jumpers or switch 100% Japanese Solid Capacitor |
Form Factor | ATX, Size 12″ x 9.6″ |
OS support | Windows Vista (32/64) bit Windows 7 (32/64) bit |