Fan Noise

The Sapphire PI-AM2RS690MHD is all passively cooled, so there is no fan noise. If you read our ASUS M2A-VM review, you may remember that we complained about an electrical chirping noise that is present when the board is highly overclocked and the load on the system is changing. On the Sapphire board it is present as well but several orders of magnitudes quieter. You have to put your ear next to the board and concentrate on it to realize it is there.

Overclocking

With all the options available in the BIOS, overclocking is really easy. We tested at a x5 multiplier, to make sure that the CPU is not limiting our maximum overclock.



While super-expensive high-end motherboards can run much higher bus speeds, over 300 MHz is absolutely sufficient for most overclocking. Remember, your CPU has to be able to run at these clocks as well. 50% overclock is about the maximum you could expect if you get lucky with your CPU pick.