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Sapphire Unveils "Polar White" PURE B650M WIFI Motherboard in China

Sapphire Technology has revealed another new motherboard design; the PURE B650M WIFI. As of late last week, this "polar white" model was introduced as a natural accompaniment to similarly pale graphics card options—one promotional shot had the newly launched product sat next to the manufacturer's PURE Radeon RX 9070 XT SKU. Sapphire's shift into motherboard territories is a relatively new endeavor; a premium NITRO+ B650M WIFI SKU was showcased last year. A B850 chipset-based successor was released in China, just over two months ago. A likely budget friendly offering was previewed around mid-April: PULSE A620AM WIFI. The PURE B650M WIFI's overall aesthetic brings ASRock's various compact Steel Legend board designs to mind.

Sapphire's official Weibo account positions the freshly unveiled PURE model as a mid-tier option: "the overall design style of this (microATX) motherboard is simple and stylish. Neither the PCB nor the heat dissipation armor is overly complicated." Despite these modest provisions, the PURE B650M WIFI is still a very capable piece of kit—the article's author delved into some technical nitty-gritty: "this motherboard (uses) a 12+2+1 power supply module. PWM control is RT3678BE, MOSFET is DrMOS from ALPHA & OMEGA with part code EX00. I checked the official website but couldn't find the specific model, it should be a new model. After asking Sapphire officials, I learned that the code is actually AOZ5510QI, a 55 A DrMos. Therefore, the power supply capacity of this motherboard is as strong as other Sapphire models, and can drive the current flagship Ryzen 9000X3D processor to full output." Regional reviewers seem to possess evaluation samples, but the brand has not yet announced an upcoming retail launch in China.

PC Enthusiasts Discover Samsung GDDR6 Modules in Radeon RX 9070 XT Cards

Just before the official launch of Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics cards, members of the Chiphell forum expressed concerns about unnamed evaluation samples exhibiting worrying memory module temperatures. Days later, Western review outlets published similar findings across several board partner specimens. Typically, pre-launch and retail units have utilized SK hynix GDDR6 VRAM modules—TechPowerUp's W1zzard uncovered numerous examples of the manufacturer's "H56G42AS8DX-014" model during teardown sessions. Curiously, Chinese PC hardware enthusiasts have happened upon Radeon RX 9070 XT cards that utilize Samsung GDDR6 memory modules. It is not clear whether Yeston has outfitted its flagship Sakura Atlantis OC SKU with Samsung components from the very beginning, but one owner documented a GPU-Z diagnostics session—late last month—showing "GDDR6 (Samsung)" onboard. Earlier this month, insiders posited that NVIDIA was in the process of changing its main GDDR7 memory vendor—from Samsung to SK hynix—for the GeForce RTX 50-series.

According to a recent Guru3D news piece, additional cases were reported. Online conjecture points to "higher end" custom models being updated with "cooler" modules. Hilbert Hagedoorn—Guru3D's head honcho—has gathered compelling information via community feedback channels: "the transition to Samsung memory has yielded noticeable thermal advantages. Early reviews and comparisons indicate that the new memory modules help lower temperatures significantly. Custom RX 9070 XT models running demanding benchmarks like Furmark have demonstrated memory temperatures of 75°C or lower without necessitating an increase in voltage or a reduction in clock speeds. Notable manufacturers, including Sapphire, XFX, and GIGABYTE, have already integrated Samsung's GDDR6 into their custom variants. However, as of now, AMD has not authorized its partners to explicitly differentiate between models with SK hynix and Samsung memory, likely to avoid confusion among consumers and maintain a consistent product lineup." Additionally, TechPowerUp forum members have found Samsung GDDR6 memory on Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 custom models. Thanks for the tip, Fluffmeister.

Sapphire Launches NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 Model, a Month+ After Flagship XT Variant

Sapphire introduced two brand-new NITRO+ models prior to the official launch of AMD's RDNA 4 graphics card generation. The manufacturer rolled out its flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT card on day one—March 6—but the "lesser" NITRO+ sibling was absent at retail. Late last week, ITHome revealed that Sapphire had finally got round to globally releasing their NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 16 GB SKU. At the time of writing, Overclockers UK seems to have cards in stock—priced at £629.99 (including VAT). Unsurprisingly, the freshly launched NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 model utilizes the exact same shroud and backplate design that is present on Sapphire's range-topper.

The latest entry retains all of the more expensive unit's mod cons—including a Quick Connect MagniPlate feature, STEALTH hidden power cable, 12V-2x6 (H++) external power connector, Tri-X cooling technology, optimized composite heatpipes, and Honeywell PTM7950 TIM. Major differences are disclosed in Sapphire's "engine clock" specs: "boost clock up to 2700 MHz" and "game clock up to 2210 MHz." The Hong Kong-based company has not officially commented on circumstances that led to the delay of its NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 graphics card. VideoCardz has dismissed claims about this particular model being postponed due to rumors of a displacement by forthcoming Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12 GB options.

SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 9070 Series Expanded with "METAL ALLOY" Options

Sapphire has quietly expanded its existing Radeon RX 9070 Series lineup with two new additions: PULSE METAL ALLOY Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070. According to VideoCardz, the manufacturer's Chinese website was updated with new product listings at some point last week. Sapphire's regional branch has not issued any fresh press material, regarding an official launch of these gray-shaded options. Sapphire's graphics card team has seemingly refreshed their standard black PULSE (RDNA 4 generation) triple and dual-fan shroud and backplate designs with new metallic tones and finishes. Fancier enclosures will not arrive alongside bump-up in specs—as mentioned in freshly-published official product pages, company engineers have stuck with AMD's reference figures for the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070. VideoCardz reckons that the PURE METAL ALLOY cards will debut in China; possibly as starting off as exclusives. Currently, the manufacturer's various global online presences only list the readily available black PULSE cards. Interestingly, the white PURE series shares the same overall (triple-fan) shroud and backplate setup—Sapphire's pale-shaded offerings feature very mild overclocks over "baseline MSRP" configurations. Chinese market pricing—for the two PULSE METAL ALLOY SKUs—was not available at the time of publication.

Sapphire Prepares PULSE A620AM WIFI MicroATX Motherboards

Sapphire Technology has given a sneak peek of its new PULSE A620AM WIFI motherboard. This board uses the AMD A620A chipset, comes in an microATX size, and has two slots for DDR5 memory. The PULSE A620AM WIFI boasts a 6+2+1 phase power system, with an aluminium heatsink that covers the VRM left-side area. Sapphire's tests show that the board "keeps steady and runs at consistent speeds when using high-end processors like the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 7 9800X3D at full load."

For extras, this board lets you overclock DDR5 memory up to 7200 MT/s, has one PCIe 4.0 x16 slot and one PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, comes with two M.2 storage spots, and includes built-in Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 support. On the back of the Sapphire PULSE A620AM WIFI board, you'll find one HDMI port, one DisplayPort, four USB 2.0 ports, one PS/2 port for keyboard and mouse, two USB-A ports, one RJ45 Ethernet port, two Wi-Fi antenna plugs, and three audio jacks. IT Home reports that the board "will hit online stores starting April 21" at what they call a "budget-friendly price". Judging from the aesthetics and features, Sapphire PULSE A620AM WIFI motherboards are oriented toward users on a tight budget. Until the official release, we just have to wait and see Sapphire's vision of a "budget-friendly price".

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT Reference PCB Design Revealed via Leak, Compared to Similar Sapphire PULSE Board

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 "MBA" models have turned up for sale through Chinese black market channels; with local PC hardware enthusiasts quickly snapping up these "reference design" curios—for "scientific" analysis, and in some cases: bragging rights. Officially, Team Red has relied on its board partners to produce an all-custom first wave of RDNA 4 gaming graphics cards. Recent discoveries of authentic-looking "Made by AMD" specimens suggested a very limited distribution of first-party units to trusted partners. According to a fresh ITHome news article, Team Red's Radeon RX 9070 XT reference PCB design was fully revealed via a comprehensive teardown. Kyogre shared heavily watermarked photos with the online publication; showcasing their disassembly of a "leaked" example.

Team Red's proprietary triple-fan cooling solution and backplate were removed; leading to the exposure of gory innards. ITHome provided a quick rundown visual clues—the analyzed unit features: "dual PCIe 8-Pin power supply interfaces, and a black shell with a tough and simple shape. It is about three slots thick and is equipped with a rear open and ventilated cooling backplane with a core back frame...Looking deeper into the internal structure of the graphics card, we can find that this graphics card is equipped with five heat pipes, the corresponding position of the GPU core uses a copper base, and the surrounding memory positions are also in contact with the metal frame through thermal pads. In addition, it is equipped with four video output interfaces."

Sapphire Develops Edge AI Mini-PC Series with AMD Ryzen AI 300, Targeting Gamers and Creatives

It seems that Sapphire is making a return to the Mini-PC consumer market as ComputerBase discovered during Embedded World 2025 event. There, Sapphire showcased engineering samples of its new Edge AI mini-PC family. These compact computing solutions are based on the latest AMD Ryzen AI 300 series processors.. The two models in this lineup—the Edge AI 340 and 350—feature AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 and Ryzen AI 7 350 processors respectively, with the former offering 16 GB of RAM and the latter providing 32 GB, both supporting impressive 5,600 MT/s memory speeds across two SO-DIMM slots. A more powerful model featuring AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 will also be available.

Even measuring just 117 × 111 × 30 mm in size (the power supply is just a regular external adapter), the Sapphire Edge AI series features a wide range of connections. They boast two HDMI 2.1 ports, two USB4.0 ports, 2.5 GbE LAN, Wi-Fi with Bluetooth, and two extra USB ports. As for storage, there's a regular 2280 M.2 slot for SSDs, plus another 2242 slot. Accessing internal components is easy; no tools are needed, as Sapphire makes use of a magnetic case-cover. This includes access to the SO-DIMM slots and storage areas. Sapphire says these mini-PCs will hit stores worldwide by late April (no word about pricing yet), however, some regions might get different setups or bare-bones versions without pre-installed RAM and storage.

Retailers Anticipate Increased Radeon RX 9070 Series Prices, After Initial Shipments of "MSRP" Models

Over the past month and a half, PC hardware retailers have tasked themselves with sharing of all sorts of bad news to their respective customer bases. Inet AB has outlined the outlook for regional availability of GeForce RTX 5070 graphics cards, but a newer blog entry focuses on the Team Red side of things. The popular Swedish store put a spotlight on today's launch of RDNA 4 products: "we have learned how the recommended prices, also known as MSRP prices, work for the launch of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT. We are not allowed to say exact prices.., but simply put, they will apply to a limited number of cards. For this release, we will have MSRP prices from three manufacturers, all of whom have both an RX 9070 and an RX 9070 XT at MSRP." According to Inet's product table, the brands are: ASUS, PowerColor and SAPPHIRE. Respectively, the PRIME, Reaper and PULSE product families serve as substitutes to (absent) AMD-built equivalents.

So far, the retail launch of Radeon 9070 Series has experienced fewer hiccups—when compared to recent GeForce RTX 50-series releases. Unfortunately, Inet has indicated that price climbs are in the pipeline for AMD's brand-new RDNA 4 generation. The shop's blog elaborated on shifting circumstances: "the prices only apply to the first shipment of each model. For Sapphire and ASUS it will be just as usual, we have only received one shipment, and you can buy it until it runs out, but with PowerColor it will be different. In other words, only the cards that were released with MSRP prices at release will be sold for the lower price." Earlier today, Overclockers UK's initial batch of "baseline price conformant" stock was depleted rapidly—forum and social media posts boasted about "thousands of units" being amassed in a warehouse, prior to launch. Gibbo—a well-liked OCUK employee—shared some additional insight (yesterday): "I feel stock will be fine for a few days. MSRP is capped quantity of a few hundred, so prices will jump once those are sold through. Re-stocks and pricing is unknown going forward, nobody really knows what April will bring due to instability in world with USA starting to rage a trade war, we are all hopeful it won't impact computer stuff, but who knows."

OCUK Created Massive Cube of SAPPHIRE PULSE RX 9070 XT Retail Stock, Claimed Supply of 1000+ Units

Earlier in the week, SAPPHIRE's Global Senior VP Marketing Manager—Adrian Thompson—posted a fascinating photo of soon-to-be released PULSE Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics cards, located in an unidentified warehouse. His social media post/teaser stated: "ready to ship to happy customers." Given the apparent impressive volume of boxed products on display, supply chain insiders have referred back to prior leaks. As far back as mid-January (2025), board partner custom Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 models were reaching end destinations; at retail/e-tail warehouses. In reaction to Thompson's preview of stockpiled RDNA 4-based PULSE boxes, Overclockers UK (OCUK) expressed mild disapproval.

Gibbo (aka Andrew Gibson) posted a follow-up on the company's discussion board: "as Sapphire jumped the gun with our content (TUT, TUT), I might as well share with you guys the Borg Cube (that) Overclockers UK's marketing department spent hours building out of Sapphire RX 9070 XT Pulse Cards and yes the cube is solid, the center is even more 9070 XT Pulse cards, and we have over 1000 in stock just of this model. Even better, OCUK will hit £569 (including VAT) on this incredible beast of a card, with hundreds to go round at MSRP. In fact, we have so much stock we could build an armada of Borg Cubes pretty much out of every model we have and from all brands, we have several thousand cards in stock spanning across Sapphire, PowerColor and ASRock all of which have 1000+ in stock of each brand." This friendly update strikes with a happier tone—in sharp contrast, Gibbo detailed a sorry situation prior to the launch of GeForce RTX 5090 cards. At the time of writing, the Overclockers UK webstore is down—visitors are seeing "504 Gateway Time-out" error messages. A lot of pre-launch buzz and hype has likely drummed up plenty of buyer interest—thus causing an overloading of servers. In yesterday afternoon's board post, Gibbo continued his Star Trek-themed musings: "we then also have several hundred cards from Gigabyte and ASUS as well, this launch will be impossible to resist as such is the reason we built Borg Cubes, because AMD will assimilate you, resistance is futile, BUY tomorrow (March 6) from OCUK at 2pm with prices starting from £524.99 Inc VAT."

SAPPHIRE Announces NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 Series Graphics Cards

SAPPHIRE Technology announces the latest SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070 graphics cards, built on the new AMD RDNA 4 architecture specialized for gamers and creators. With a plethora of new exciting features alongside the iconic powerful cooling engineering from the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ lineup, expect a new premium centerpiece for all gaming graphical needs.

NITRO Charged for an Elite Next Generation Adventure
The SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 Series Graphics Cards will be available in these enthusiast models:
  • SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU with 16 GB memory, AMD RDNA 4 architecture, DisplayPort 2.1a
  • SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 GPU with 16 GB memory, AMD RDNA 4 architecture, DisplayPort 2.1a

Custom AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT Appears Powered by 12V-2x6 Connector

Days before releasing, Chinese leakers on Chiphell are showcasing a custom variant of AMD's upcoming Radeon RX 9070 XT with what appears to be a 12V-2x6 power connector. The custom AIB model is Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+, which features a triple-fan cooling configuration and a departure from Sapphire's older GPUs that used eight-pin power connectors. Despite proving to be problematic for NVIDIA, this power connector could do well with AMD's Navi 48 XT GPU SKU due to its power consumption envelope. With an entire GPU projected to use 304 W total board power, the 12V-2x6 connector could easily power this configuration without the need to overheat and possibly melt. If it manages to power 600 W TGP NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, then powering a custom Radeon RX 9070 XT shouldn't be an issue.

Even if the card experiences a heavy overclock, power limits will remain within a usable range so as not to cause any trouble. Sapphire's reason for ditching the older, reliable eight-pin power connectors is unknown, but the use of the new 12V-2x6 here isn't expected to be problematic either. Some previous VBIOS records in our GPU DB indicate that the GPU could boost the Navi 48 XT SKU to 2,520/2,518 MHz, which is about 120 MHz higher than the stock AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT boost clock.

Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 XT BIOS Leak Reveals "Navi 48 XTX" GPU Variant

Sapphire's premium NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card model was the subject of several leaks in the recent past—unsurprisingly, gaming GPU detectives gathered evidence of a very high speculative price point. The AIB's top "champagne gold" offering is due for a full unveiling; we expect to see examples tomorrow—AMD will broadcast a special Radeon RX 9070 Series presentation. Within the past 24 hours, VideoCardz received a compelling tip-off—the GPU news specialist was pointed in the direction of TechPowerUp. Currently, the site's VGA BIOS Collection hosts a downloadable "Sapphire 9070 XT 16 GB BIOS (Nitro+)" ROM.

The VGA BIOS build date is listed as "2024-12-13," with the file becoming available to download roughly two days ago (February 25). VideoCardz highlighted interesting "BIOS Internals" information; namely the mentioning of a "Navi48 XTX" GPU variant. Since CES 2025, AMD and its board partners have kept quiet about finer RDNA 4 details, but insiders and leakers have noted the existence of a generic "Navi 48" GPU. TechPowerUp's GPU database listings of AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB and RX 9070 16 GB (non-XT) are freshly updated; reflecting new information sourced from pre-launch VGA BIOS listings. The incoming flagship seems to utilize a "Navi 48 XT" GPU variant (note: not 48 XTX), while its non-XT sibling is (supposedly) based on "Navi 48 XL." VideoCardz has heard whispers of a next-gen "Navi XTXH," industry moles have linked this sub-model to a supposed "higher-end" 32 GB RDNA 4 card. TPU's GPU database also alludes to an AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT GPU; just updated with a "Navi 48 LE" designation.

AMD Radeon RX 9070-series Pricing Leaks Courtesy of MicroCenter

It appears as if US computer hardware retailer MicroCenter jumped the gun and posted the pricing of AMD's upcoming Radeon RX 9070-series graphics cards. This includes both the RX 9070 and the RX 9070 XT and the company posted pricing for no less than eight different cards from ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, PowerColor, Sapphire and XFX. The listings have since been removed, but VideoCardz posted a screenshot of the pricing for the various cards and it's not looking for AMD, at least not based on its statement that "85% of gamers buy cards below $700", since only two out of the eight cards manages to meet AMD's statement. Admittedly, some pricing appears to be placeholders, but it's clear that AMD's partners want more than AMD's MSRP pricing for their cards.

Starting with the RX 9070 cards, ASRock comes in at US$649.99 for its Radeon RX 9070 CL Triple Fan, whereas the only other RX 9070 is the Sapphire Reaper Triple Fan which is listed at US$1,099.99, which this card quite obviously won't sell for. The cheapest RX 9070 XT is again from ASRock in the shape of the RX 9070 XT SL Triple Fan for US$699.99, which is followed by the XFX RX 9070 XT Swift Triple Fan for US$729.99. The Gigabyte and Sapphire cards are listed at US$899.99 followed by ASUS and PowerColor at US$1,049.99 and US$1,100,00 respectively, all of which appear to be placeholder pricing. Even so, at over US$700, AMD is really going to have to deliver some unexpected performance figures to be able to compete with NVIDIA this time.

Sapphire Launches NITRO+ B850M WiFi Motherboard Model in China

Sapphire Technology has introduced a new NITRO+ motherboard model in China—weekend reports pointed to a listing on JD.com, where the latest addition resides alongside various previous-gen B650 options. This appears to be another region specific release—priced at 1299 RMB (~$179 USD). The NITRO+ B850M Wi-Fi model seems to share its overall aesthetic design with the preceding B650M-equipped equivalent. As surmised by VideoCardz, the Sapphire NITRO+ board's VRM patterning reminded them of the leaked premium-tier Radeon NITRO+ RX 9070 graphics card series.

The generational jump from AMD B650 to B850 chipset—as expected—yields only minor benefits (see below). The older NITRO+ B650M Wi-Fi model is a significantly cheaper prospect; coming in at 899 RMB ($124 USD). VideoCardz's weekend detective work settled on a nice improvement: "based on our research, the memory overclocking support has increased from 7600 MT/s+ to 8000 MT/s. Keep in mind that these figures may be higher for both motherboards; this is just what Sapphire guarantees when paired with a supported memory kit." Industry watchdogs believe that ASRock is likely involved in the contract manufacturing of Sapphire's motherboard offerings—the former has been long-involved in pumping out NZXT-badged products.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT Listed On Amazon - One Buyer Snags a Unit

We live in crazy times, that's for sure. We have already witnessed a plethora of listings for AMD's RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT GPUs - both set to hit shelves early next month - indicating a decent value proposition compared to NVIDIA's RTX 5070 family, if the leaks and rumors are anything to go by. More recently, as spotted by @momomo_us, Amazon briefly listed a bunch of RX 9070 and 9070 XT cards from XFX. The pricing details are as follows:
  • XFX Swift AMD Radeon RX 9070 OC - $649.99
  • XFX Swift AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT - $749.99
  • XFX Quicksilver AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT - $769.99
  • XFX Mercury AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT OC - $819.99
  • XFX Mercury AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Magnetic Air Edition - $849.99

Sapphire Radeon NITRO+ RX 9070 Series Promo Images Leaked Online

Sapphire is readying multiple Radeon RX 9070 custom designs for next month's launch; official announcements and leaks have revealed upcoming PURE, PULSE and NITRO+ cards. The latter was identified in AMD's CES 2025 press material, but no demonstration sample turned up at last month's Las Vegas AIB roundup. A lone fuzzy low-resolution screengrab showcased the premium Radeon RX 9070 series card's hefty and blocky triple-slot profile. An hour or two ago, Everest (aka Olrak29) uploaded two alleged promotional images to social media. Thankfully, the leaked shots have arrived with decent pixel definition. Sapphire has initiated staggered marketing campaigns for its lower-end and mid-range RDNA 4 cards, so the latest leak has most likely preempted an upcoming official reveal of (possible) NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 cards.

Sapphire reserves the crème de la crème of feature sets for its premium-tier NITRO+ designs. Previous-gen examples were substantial prospects, and the incoming design is touted to continue that dimensional legacy. Well-heeled Team Red enthusiasts will welcome an updated triple-fan configuration and somewhat subtle internal ARGB lighting zones. The leaked card sports a luxurious "champagne gold" tinted shroud and backplate, with an optional detachable panel. The vented side plates sport a lighter-hue, but the elaborate triangular cut-out aesthetic could be off-putting to certain connoisseurs. Press outlets have honed in on the new NITRO+ model's hidden power connector design, potentially leading to a single input—utilizing a 12 or 16-pin interface.

Sapphire Initiates Radeon RX 9070 XT & 9070 PURE Series Marketing Campaign

Sapphire Technologies has started teasing new PURE series graphics cards; earlier today a social media post stated that new offerings are: "coming your way." An accompanying image presents two semi-obscured signature white models—press outlets believe that the pair are custom Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 (non-XT) models. Sapphire did not exhibit at CES 2025, but a lonely triple-fan Radeon RX 9070 XT PURE card did make the overseas journey to Las Vegas. At the time, AMD presented a small smattering of RDNA 4 board partner samples at a roundup showcase.

Sapphire started to market its new darker dual-fan PULSE design last month, but a series of leaks have ruined the company's (social media-driven) build-up of product anticipation. We have not witnessed any Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT or 9070 (non-XT) PURE stock reaching retail storage locations, but lower-end PULSE models have been distributed—reportedly, at least East of the Mediterranean. Sapphire's CES demonstration sample sported an almost all-white enclosure, a triple-fan cooling solution and dual 8-pin power connectors. The PURE Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 (non-XT) models could feature limited RGB lighting—an "ARGB out" connector was present on the back section of Sapphire's presentation card.

Sapphire Semi-reveals Dual-Fan Pulse Radeon RX 9000 Design

Sapphire has half revealed its new PULSE graphics card design—yesterday's social media post provided an early look at the signature black/gray shroud adorned with red lines. This seems to be Sapphire's first push into marketing their upcoming AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and 9070 (non-XT) custom designs. TechPowerUp handled and inspected a new Sapphire PURE model at last week's CES trade event—this particular sample was included in a round-up of Team Red's partner custom designs—but the newly revealed PULSE card was not showcased.

According to a VideoCardz report, Sapphire's new Radeon RX 9000-series NITRO+ model has been teased in AMD's CES-oriented marketing material. The Hong Kong-based tech graphics card specialist chose to not send their Navi 48-based flagship over to Las Vegas—industry experts believe that AIBs are eagerly waiting on Team Red to settle on and announce an official release date. Marketing campaigns are expected to fully kick in closer to RDNA 4's launch window.

Sapphire's Radeon RX 7700 XT Pure Frostpunk 2 Edition Looks Even Better In Person

We had a chance to briefly stop at Sapphire and it is one of the rare AMD GPU AIB partners that has something new to showcase at the Computex 2024. While it was announced earlier last month, we had a chance to check out the new Sapphire Radeon RX 7700 XT Pure Frostpunk 2 Edition graphics card, and it looks even better in person.

It could have something to do with the fact that we liked the original Frostpunk game and we can't wait to check out Frostpunk 2 when it launches on July 25th, but the card with white shroud and white fans with Frostpunk elements on its backplate certainly has its appeal. You also get a game code for the Deluxe Edition of the game in the box as well as some other goodies including custom keycaps and pin badges.In case you somehow missed it, the Radeon RX 7700 XT is based on the 5 nm Navi 32 GPU, packing 54 compute units for a total of 3,456 stream processors. AMD is targeting 1440p gaming with this card and it comes with 48 MB of Infinity Cache and 12 GB of 18 Gbps GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit memory interface. It needs two 8-pin PCIe power connectors, and includes two DisplayPort 2.1 and two HDMI 2.1 outputs.

Sapphire Announces Radeon RX 7700 XT Pure Frostpunk 2 Edition, Includes the Game's Deluxe Edition

Sapphire today unveiled the Radeon RX 7700 XT Pure Frostpunk 2 Edition graphics card. The card is a branding collaboration with 11 bit Studios, which releases Frostpunk 2 this July. The city-building survival strategy game is one of this Summer's most anticipated game releases. Sapphire celebrates it with a variant of the RX 7700 XT Pure graphics card that has a game code for the Deluxe Edition of Frostpunk 2, a themed backplate, and some goodies in the box, including custom keycaps, and enamel pin badges. While the backplate is heavily themed on the game, the all-white cooler shroud, the white impellers for the three fans, and the rest of the card, sticks with the white color scheme that's characteristic of Sapphire's Pure brand. The card comes in a collector's edition box themed after the game.

Based on the 5 nm "Navi 32" silicon, the Radeon RX 7700 XT features 3,456 stream processors across 54 compute units. The GPU is based on the RDNA 3 graphics architecture, and AMD recommends it for 1440p gaming with maxed out settings. The card features 12 GB of 18 Gbps GDDR6 memory across a 192-bit wide memory interface, and features 48 MB of Infinity Cache memory. The card draws power from a pair of 8-pin PCIe power connectors. Display outputs include two each of DisplayPort 2.1 (featuring UHBR 13.5), and two HDMI 2.1 connectors. The card will release to market in July, probably alongside the game's July 25 release date, pricing isn't known yet (we asked Sapphire).

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT Slides Down to $399

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT continues to be on a downward pricing slope, with prices over the last weekend touching as low as $399 on Newegg. The Sapphire RX 7700 XT Pulse is listed with the retailer for $409, with a coupon discount shaving off a further $10. At $399, the RX 7700 XT poses a severe competitive threat to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB, with the cheapest card on Newegg going for $419; and the cheapest RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB at $389. The RX 7700 XT is a 1440p-class graphics card, and is from a segment above both the RTX 4060 Ti cards, with a 14% higher performance at 1080p than the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB, and 16% higher performance at 1440p. It's offers roughly the same performance in games with ray tracing, trailing the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB by just 1% in our testing. NVIDIA has a rather large price-performance gap between the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB and the RTX 4070 (cheapest going for $525).

AMD to Address "Bugged" Limited Overclocking on Radeon RX 7900 GRE GPU

TechPowerUp's resident GPU reviewer extraordinaire—W1zzard—has grappled with a handful of custom design AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE 16 GB models. Team Red and its board partners are pushing a proper/widespread Western release of the formerly China market-exclusive "Golden Rabbit Edition" GPU. TPU's initial review selection of three Sapphire cards and a lone ASRock Steel Legend OC variant garnered two Editor's Choice Awards, and two Highly Recommended badges. Sapphire's Radeon RX 7900 GRE Nitro+ was also honored with a "...But Expensive" tag, due to its MSRP of $600—the premium tier design was one of last year's launch day models in China. Western reviewers have latched onto a notable GRE overclocking limitation—all of TPU's review samples were found to have "overclocking artificially limited by AMD." Steve Walton of Hardware Unboxed has investigated whether the GRE's inherent heavily limited power specification was less of an issue on Sapphire's Nitro+ variant—check out his "re-re-review" video below.

The higher board power design—305 W OC TGP limit and 351 W total board power—is expected to exhibit "up to 10% higher performance than Radeon RX 7800 XT" according to VideoCardz, but falls short. TPU's W1zzard found the GRE Nitro+ card's maximum configurable clock of 2803 MHz: "Overclocking worked quite well on our card, we gained over 8% in real-life performance, which is well above what we usually see, but less than other GRE cards tested today. Sapphire's factory OC eats into OC potential, and maximizes performance out of the box instead. Unfortunately AMD restricted overclocking on their card quite a lot, probably to protect sales of the RX 7900 XT. While NVIDIA doesn't have any artificial limitations for overclockers, AMD keeps limiting the slider lengths for many models, this is not a gamer-friendly approach. For the GRE, both GPU and memory overclocking could definitely go higher based on the results that we've seen in our reviews today." An AMD representative has contacted Hardware Unboxed, in reaction to yesterday's Update review—the GRE's overclocking limitation is a "bug," and a fix is in the works. This situation is a bit odd, given that the Golden Rabbit Edition is not a brand-new product.

Sapphire Announces Radeon RX 7900 GRE NITRO+, Pulse, and Pure

SAPPHIRE Technology announces the latest SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE graphics card, crafted on the groundbreaking AMD RDNA 3 architecture designed to provide incredible performance to gamers and creators alike. Premium components and complex cooling designs enveloped in a Cold Rolled Steel Frame ensure a smooth, cool, and quiet gaming experience.

Experience strong and steady 4K gaming with the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE graphics card, engineered with expert cooling systems, top-notch components and a strong sleek design including SAPPHIRE PANTHEON features found on every NITRO+ product. The SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE graphics card features 80 Compute Units and 5120 stream processors, a Boost Clock of up to 2391 MHz and a Game Clock of up to 2052 MHz. Enjoy breakthrough performance on the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE with 16 GB of GDDR6 high-speed memory clocked at up to 18 Gbps with 64 MB of AMD Infinity Cache technology. The graphics card is built with 2x HDMI 2.1 and 2x DisplayPort 2.1 ports to provide support for up to 4 output ports for a wide variety of monitors on the market.

[Editor's note: We've reviewed all three new cards today: Pulse, Pure, Nitro+]

Alphacool Intros Eiswolf 2 AIO for RX 7900XT Reference and XFX RX 7900 XTX Merc

New Eiswolf 2 AiO - now also for custom designs of the RX 7900XT/XTX GPUs! Alphacool expands its product range and enables the cooling of AMD's RX 7900XT/XTX graphics cards with the innovative Fullcover GPU AIO water cooler. The enormous waste heat from the new generation of graphics cards is dissipated excellently with these coolers. The very good water flow and the large cooling surface are the result of the particularly filigree fin structure. The jet plate with revised inflow engine also distributes the water perfectly over the cooling fins. The full-surface chrome plating of the cooler not only offers resistant protection against acids, scratches and damage, but also achieves a beautiful homogeneity and exceptional shine. The Aurora design of the cooler impresses with its visually calm and simple design as well as the wonderfully uniform lighting, which is achieved via digitally addressable RGB LEDs.

The expandable Eiswolf 2 delivers an all-round carefree package and ensures that its user can easily access a performance-oriented GPU water cooling system out-of-the-box. Also included are the NexXxos ST30 360 mm radiator, the Rise Aurora 120 mm fans, DC-LT 2 pump and TPV hoses with quick-release coupling.
The Eiswolf 2 AiO - 360 mm for RX 7900XT Reference and RX 7900XTX Merc 310 are now available in the Alphacool online store.

AMD Unveils Embedded+ Architecture, Combining Embedded Processors with Adaptive SoCs

AMD today announced the launch of AMD Embedded+, a new architectural solution that combines AMD Ryzen Embedded processors with Versal adaptive SoCs onto a single integrated board to deliver scalable and power-efficient solutions that accelerate time-to-market for original design manufacturer (ODM) partners. Validated by AMD, the Embedded+ integrated compute platform helps ODM customers reduce qualification and build times for faster time-to-market without needing to expend additional hardware and R&D resources. ODM integration using Embedded+ architecture enables the use of a common software platform to develop designs with low power, small form factors, and long lifecycles for medical, industrial, and automotive applications.

"In automated systems, sensor data has diminishing value with time and must operate on the freshest information possible to enable the lowest latency, deterministic response," said Chetan Khona, senior director of Industrial, Vision, Healthcare and Sciences Markets, AMD. "In industrial and medical applications, many decisions need to happen in milliseconds. Embedded+ maximizes the value of partner and customer data, with energy efficiency and performant computing that enables them to focus in turn on addressing their customer and market needs."
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