Prepare to be amazed by the Sapphire Pure X870A WiFi 7, a motherboard that's a true beauty and a budget-friendly beast!
The White Knight of Motherboards
Sapphire, known for its impressive B850 motherboards, has now ventured into higher-end chipsets, and the Pure X870A WiFi 7 is leading the charge. Don't be deceived by its snowy-white appearance; this motherboard packs a punch and offers a warm welcome to PC builders on a budget.
Key Features and Specifications
- Price: £210 / $249
- Pros: Exceptional build quality, attractive design, affordable price point, and an intuitive BIOS.
- Cons: Relatively limited feature set and the absence of toolless installation.
Performance and Specifications Breakdown
The Pure X870A WiFi 7 boasts a 16+2+1 VRM design with 55A phases, ensuring it can handle any AMD Ryzen processor with ease and provide some overclocking headroom.
The VRM heatsinks maintain peak temperatures at a cool 42°C, and while some may miss flashy ARGB LEDs, the clean, minimalist design is a breath of fresh air.
RAM and Storage Support
The motherboard supports up to 256GB (4x64GB) of memory via four DIMM slots. Sapphire rates maximum memory speeds of up to 8,400MT/s with overclocking, but for AMD CPUs, 6,000/6,400MT/s is a sweet spot, and the board performs admirably at these speeds.
Each M.2 slot has a passive heatsink, but accessing them requires a screwdriver. This includes the primary PCIe Gen 5 x4 slot, which is typically toolless on other X870 motherboards.
Build Quality and Design
Despite the old-school design, the build quality is top-notch. All materials, from heatsinks to PCIe shrouds, feel premium and substantial. The large thermal pad under the primary M.2 heatsink is a standout feature, ensuring efficient cooling.
Onboard Audio and USB Selection
The motherboard features a Realtek ALC897 codec, providing HD audio with up to 7.1 channels. While sound quality is good, it doesn't match boards with Realtek's ALC1220 codec.
The rear USB selection is solid, with at least one 40Gb Type-C port and a mix of Type-A ports. The selection is adequate for most builds but slightly limited compared to more expensive motherboards with the same chipset.
Networking and Firmware
Sapphire stays current with 5Gb Ethernet and Wi-Fi 7, offering faster speeds than the usual 2.5Gb LAN port. The Core BIOS is sharp and snappy, with easily accessible common settings and intuitive categories. Sapphire has made improvements, including a clear optimized defaults shortcut and a change log, but fan curve editing through numeric values is still lacking.
Performance Benchmarks
When pitted against the MSI MAG X870E Tomahawk Max WiFi, the Pure X870A WiFi 7 performs similarly across various tests. Notable differences are seen in CrystalDiskMark and PCMark, likely due to different SSDs used for testing.
VRM temperatures remain low at 42°C, and power consumption is reasonable, ranging from 79W at idle to 250W under load.
The 'Performance' toggle in the firmware enables Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) and lifts PPT limits, allowing more power to the processor. However, power consumption only nominally increases to 259W, and there's no change in multi-core scores.
Conclusion
The Pure X870A WiFi 7 excels in aesthetics and build quality. Sapphire's Core BIOS design continues to improve, offering a clean and intuitive experience. While the price is competitive, spending a bit more can unlock more features. However, for a white motherboard with comparable specs, the Pure X870A is a solid choice for those building a PC with a unique color scheme.
What do you think? Are you considering this motherboard for your next build? Let's discuss in the comments!
