Sapphire PURE Black X58 Intel Motherboard
Final Thoughts and Rating |
Looking back and going through the test results leads me to a couple of conclusions. The first being that the PURE Black Intel motherboard showed us some good performance numbers and it did rather well against, and sometimes beating, a well seasoned veteran of the motherboard market ASUS. This shows me that Sapphire is really serious about improving their presents in this tough field. Not to say that their motherboards in the past have not been good, but just that, good. The other observation is that they might be trying to shake the AMD only motherboard image they have. There has been a few Intel boards in the past, but the AMD versions far outnumber them.
 When I was in at CES 2011 I was really lucky to have been at the Sapphire suite early one morning. Don, who is a great guy, was showing me around and giving me all the inside scoops when in came another gentlemen with something in a static bag. It was the final version of the PURE Black X58 (along with another Intel board) and I was going to be the first to see it and take pictures. But what really impressed me was that Don and the other guys, who just flew in, were genuinely excited as well. I knew that this meant something to them and I was hoping to get a chance to test it and share their enthusiasm.  I will say that I am awed with the direction that they are going with this board and with the Sandy-Bridge board that is coming next. I hope that the same kind of styling and attention is being put into this new board and other motherboards from here on out. I think the other manufactures better watch out as exiting from the PURE BLACK darkness is something that they should fear. |
| Pros
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Cons |
| – Easy to find and read markings on the board – Bluetooth – New styling for SAPPHIRE – LED temp display on MB – Quick access buttons/switches on MB – TriXX OC software – Desktop temp widget |
– Large name badge placed on heatsink – Non SLI for a X58 board |
