Question Sapphire 9070 XT BTF (PhantomLink) and motherboard?
Question Sapphire 9070 XT BTF (PhantomLink) and motherboard?
At Computex Sapphire presented an updated 9070 XT featuring "BTF," a new standard that supposedly enables power routing from the motherboard to the graphics card. They also showcased a compatible "BTF" motherboard, though there’s no further information beyond what was revealed at the event in May. Anyone have any insights on when these items might be released or sold?
I found a new ASUS TUF GAMING B850-BTF motherboard that catches my eye. I’m planning to buy it during the 4th of July sales. I’ll also get an MSI MAG PANO 100R PZ White Project Zero Mid Tower ATX Gaming Case. I’m hoping a video card will be available for Labor Day sales. Oh bleep. I spent a lot of time thinking about it and ended up ordering at 3am. Luckily, Newegg mentioned the MSI case is the last one left in stock. At least there are still many ASUS motherboards available.
Yeah, I noticed the ASUS TUF...and was seriously thinking about it...but all the ASUS BTF video cards are Nvidia, and I definitely don’t want an overpriced Nvidia card. Sapphire seems to be the only other company supporting BTF, and they just announced a BTF AMD RX 9070XT. I just can’t find anything else besides the original reveal at Computex.
I completely understand this point; a GPU shouldn't cost more than a CPU. That's why I'm also eager to find out if Sapphire will be available in September, probably at the same $800 price. The issue is that the standard BTF motherboard layout has become a common design supported by around 25 companies. We'll likely see other boards following this approach, such as the Ice model from Gigabyte. However, ASUS was clever enough to patent the specific graphics card high-power slot connector, and other GPU makers must license it from them to include it on their cards. We'll have to see how many companies are willing to pay for that. If everything goes smoothly next weekend, I'll enjoy a cleaner build with no messy 24 and 8 pin cables. Even with various strimmers, I've never seen one that really organizes the cables well. The USB port cables are also quite bothersome to look at.
I chose to go with the ASUS motherboard. I put together these components:
added:
ASUS TUF GAMING B850-BTF WIFI White
LIAN LI UNI CL Fans 6xReverse 1xNormal White
MSI MAG PANO 100R PZ White
had these:
AMD 9950X3D
G.SKILL TRIDENT Z5 ROYAL NEO Silver
LIAN LI HYDROSHIFT II LCD-C 360CL White
LianLi Edge 1200 psu
and the result was this:
https://imgur.com/a/wEH231E
View: https://imgur.com/a/wEH231E
which appears much neater without all the wires and tubes. Now I’m putting aside the rest of the summer for building computers and will wait until labor day sales to decide on a GPU. I think I’ll go with a Sapphire 9070 Nitro+, either the standard version or the XT version based on price. Considering the case layout, even if I get the wired one, the wires won’t be too long—going from the back bottom of the GPU to the nearest rubber grommets in the back of the case. So it should stay mostly clean, even without a BTF connection GPU.
It seems like you're excited about the Sapphire 9700XT BTF card and its LED color scheme.