Sapphire X870EA Nitro+ PhantomLink Review

Conclusion

Conclusion

Such is the runaway success of the AMD Ryzen processors, you almost can’t have enough motherboards. Choice is great for the consumer. For manufacturers it means that you have to do something to stand out from the crowd.

Like the graphics card Sapphire have gone down the route of giving you options. With the RX 9070 XT Nitro+ PhantomLink card you could use it on a standard motherboard and hide the power cables around the back. Here you can use a standard GPU and just ignore the PhantomLink connector. That would be massively missing the point, we admit. However, with finances as they are it’s a great way to get your setup together piecemeal without having it sitting in a box, unused. The PC of Theseus if you will.

Performance is very much where we’d expect. On the many products we’ve tested since the X870 launch the uniting factor has been the consistency of the performance. Yet another good point for consumers as you can purchase based upon price and design. In the case of the Sapphire X870EA Nitro+ PhantomLink, a name that just rolls off the tongue, we really like that it looks unlike most other options. The VRM heatsinks in particular look amazing in the flesh. Heck they look darn good in photos. The M.2 heatsink has a similar uniqueness. We certainly can’t think of anything that looks quite like it.

Of course the primary thing is whether you plan on using the PhantomLink connector. This is where things get a bit sticky. If you do, and you’re building afresh, the fact it’s the only BTF component seems like a missed opportunity. Why not go all in on the sleek and smooth lines of the cableless design? And if you don’t plan to take advantage of that way to power your GPU, you’d have to have a lot of fear for the robustness of the 12VHPWR cable to justify going down this route. It sits in a halfway house, neither one thing nor another. Great if you are upgrading a bit at a time, or want a full Sapphire rig, difficult to see the point of if you don’t.

Despite all that though, we have to look at it as it is. You’ve got a lot of connectivity, a design you’re not going to find anywhere else, and a decent amount of performance. It’s enough to win our OC3D Gamers Choice award. We just wish Sapphire had really gone all in on the BTF design.

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