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| Sapphire Pure Crossfire AM2RD580 SLI under CrossFire | |
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(Review by MS, October 8, 2007) |
Final Thoughts
One thing the board proved it was not, is an overclocker's dream. Whereas we have gotten used to reaching HT frequencies in excess of 300 MHz on other boards, including Sapphire's own "RD480", the PC-AM2RD580 failed to meet our expectations. In a single instance were we able to reach 250 MHz HT reference frequency to boot into Windows - just enough to run one pass of CPUZ and capture the screenshot - but even SiSoft Sandra's memory test crashed the system. Admittedly, there was a dependency of the overclocking potential on the CPU used, with the FX-62 hardly reaching 215 MHz even with the multiplier adjusted down, and the X2-3800+ making it at least up to 235 MHz stable. On the other hand, bit-tech.net did not have much luck with their sample either other than that it went just a bit higher. One thing to keep in mind here is that the test sample is a relatively early pre-production run, also we found in the past that the more aggressive a BIOS was tuned for performance, the lower was the overclocking headroom - and vice versa.
One thing in favor of the PC-AM2RD580 in this respect is that it was never necessary to clear the CMOS, if the overclocking settings were overstepped to the point of a POST failure, the board made its prespecified reboot attempts and then recovered to default settings (200 MHz HT). That by itself is highly applaudable, we have seen other boards where the needle-nose pliers became the most highly appreciated tools within a day of testing.
Bottomline here is that the absolute performance is stellar, those who are in real need of the adrenaline rush of raw MHz may find a way of toning down the performance or else find another board that will clock higher - with a high likelihood of ending up where the performance oif the PC-AM2RD580 is by default.
An interesting aspect is the clearance between the PEG slots. All we can say at this point is: "fasten your seatbelts, 3-slot cooling solutions are on their way!" . Maybe not the next generation but certainly some of what we heard through the grapevine for Q3 2007 will run at some 400W power per graphics card and that translates into approximately 10 m2 required cooling area. Lots of fins and fans needed there!
However, there is also the option of running the PC-AM2RD580 with an SLI configuration. In fact, there was not a single glitch during the entire testing time and even though the official drivers do not support breaking of the lockout feature, hacked drivers are out there and if popular demand is high enough, nVidia will eventually react.
The current BIOS still suffers from a few glitches, the multiplier selection should work even with Cool'n Quiet enabled - at least, that is the feedback we got straight from the Texan horse's mouth. Other clean-up attempts are underway as we were informed. One additional suggestion would be to set the memory VTT in the BIOS as default to 1/2 VDD/VDDQ instead of having it completely independent and then offer a + selection for skewing the termination voltage up or down relative to the centerline. The current solution, as well-meant as it may be, is a glutton for punishment.
With respect to the software bundle, as long as it comes to drivers and necessary support, the PC-AM2RD580 deserves the highest acclamations. The Sapphire Select CD is a marketing gimmick each game we looked at was found cheaper elsewhere with the caveat that the prices excluded sales tax and S&H charges. On the other hand, there were a number of "Clearance Sales" during the time we checked that made Sapphire Select look like highway robbery. Again, those are the dynamics of the market, new games are expensive but end-of-life games have the inherent risk of being thrown away for pennies on the $.
The overall verdict is that the PC-AM2RD580 is an excellent choice for the performance oriented high-end user with little overclocking ambitions. This is complemented by a very pretty layout and superb stability along with the easiest installation procedures - courtesy of the included driver floppies. We are also confident that the minor BIOS issues will be polished out within one of the next revisions as well.
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