Contents:

    The contents list of the Pure CrossFire Advantage is not very long. The end user is supplied with 1 each of the following cables: FDD, IDE, and SATA. A rear I/O connection panel is included, along with a quick install guide, a motherboard user's manual, installation cd, and the Sapphire Select software cd.

Software Bundle:

    In addition to a WHQL Driver CD, Sapphire mainboards are now shipping with a comprehensive software bundle, including PC-cillin 2004 with Trend Micro Internet Security for Windows and a Sapphire Select DVD, the exciting new way to deliver a choice of games to the end user. The DVD contains a selection of top applications and games from several leading software houses. The end customer can play each of the games for an one hour trial before choosing which titles to keep and using the activation codes for those titles.   

Motherboard Layout:

939 Socket

Too neighborly

    The socket on the Pure CrossFire Advantage is 939 ( Like you didn't know already) and sporting some close neighbors, as in capacitors, on the left side. To right are the DIMM slots for the RAM, and just below the CPU is the heat-sink for the Northbridge chip. All three of these sit close to the CPU socket; just be aware that not all heat-sink fans will fit because of this.

    The Northbridge processor is the newest one in ATI's lineup: the CrossFire Xpress 3200. The 3200 chipset is the first single-chip to offer dual x16 PCI Express interface. The Northbridge controller is one of the smallest on the market to date, being only 39mm x2 in size and packing 22m transistors. It is also constructed with 110nm technology, which keeps the chip small and cool.

RAM/Power/Floppy

It's true ;)

    Next up is the system memory: a total of four 184-pin DDR RAM sockets are on the motherboard. It supports 266/333/400 DDR RAM and a maximum of 4GB can be used. Off to the right of the DIMM slots are the 24pin power header and the floppy drive header.

SATA/Front Header

IDE Headers

    On the bottom right of the the motherboard are the locations for the primary and secondary IDE connectors, four SATA connections, two SATA II connections, and the front panel header. Just above the front panel header are two micro push buttons: these buttons are onboard power and reset buttons. Also we have the southbridge processor in this location.

2 USB headers

PCI slots

Master is lower slot

    Swinging over to the left side of the motherboard, we have the two USB headers at the bottom, along with a SPDIF header and a front panel audio header. Next up are the expansion slots. There are two PCI-E x16 slots: the top slot is a SLAVE and the lower slot is the MASTER... remembering this is key for the CrossFire to function properly with a master card. Next are two PCI-E x1 slots and two PCI slots.

Rear I/O connections

I/O connections labeled

    Last up is the motherboard rear panel I/O connections. This panel consists of the PS/2 and keyboard connector, parallel port DB25 port, four USB ports, and dual LAN ports: one is a Gigabit or 10/100/1000, and one is the standard LAN or 10/100.