It looks like Sapphire wants slices of not just the performance and enthusiast pies, but also the high-volume mainstream one. Its latest creation is a motherboard based on Intel's small business-oriented B75 chipset, the Pure White B75M-MA. Built in the micro-ATX form-factor, this board doesn't add too much over the B75's feature set. To begin with, its LGA1155 socket, which supports current generation Core "Ivy Bridge" and previous generation Core "Sandy Bridge" processors, is powered by a 4+1 phase VRM, which draws power from an 8-pin EPS connector. That's a giveaway that a performance/enthusiast design team was behind this mainstream motherboard.
The LGA1155 socket is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory; and a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. Three PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots that are wired to the B75 PCH, make up the rest of the all-PCIe layout. Storage connectivity includes one SATA 6 Gb/s, and three SATA 3 Gb/s ports. The board provides a total of four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear-panel, two via headers). 6+2 channel HD audio, a number of USB 2.0 ports, a keyboard/mouse combo PS/2, and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of the connectivity. Display outputs include DVI and D-Sub. Expect competitive pricing.
