As for the CPU overclocking options, there is the whole bunch of then, too:

• The frequency of the clock generator forming the CPU frequency can be adjusted from 200 to 440MHz with 1MHz increment;
• The frequency of the PCI Express bus can be independently adjusted from 100 to 200MHz with 1MHz increment;
• The CPU frequency multiplier can be adjusted manually (reduced below the nominal value). The minimal value is 4x;
• The parameters responsible for the working frequency and width of the HyperTransport bus can also be adjusted. The frequency of this bus is set with a multiplier (to the clock generator frequency), which can be set to 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, and 5x. The width of the bus can be set to 8 or 16 bits in any direction.
• The VID bits of the processor can also be adjusted, so that the CPU voltage can be increased from 0.8 V up to 1.55V with 0.025V increment. Besides that there is a setting that allows increasing the Vcore by up to 0.6V (with 0.02V increment). In other words, the maximum CPU Vcore you can set on this mainboard is 2.15V;
• The memory voltage can be selected manually: from 2.6 to 4.0V with 0.05V increment. Besides that you can also use a special setting to correct the Vmem (up or down) by up to 10.2%;
• The chipset voltage can be increased from the default 1.22V to 1.32V, 1.4V or 1.5V;
• The voltage on the HyperTransport bus can be increased from the nominal 1.22V to 1.29V, 1.39V or 1.5V;
• The PCI Express bus voltage can also be adjusted. You can increase the nominal voltage of 1.2V up to 1.5V, and the nominal 1.8V – to 1.9V with 0.1V increment.

If this is not an ideal list of settings, then it is really close to that. All these settings available and working flawlessly can make Sapphire PURE Innovation PI-A9RX480 into a real overclocker’s dream. Really, how many Socket 939 mainboards have you see that allow increasing the processor Vcore up to 2.15V and have the memory work at 4V at the same time?

However, this is not the end of the list yet. Besides that, the mainboard also provides means for dynamic CPU overclocking. And unlike many other mainboards, Sapphire PURE Innovation PI-A9RX480 allows changing the parameters of this overclocking procedure. Namely it allows changing the increments of the CPU frequency increase and setting the CPU temperatures when automatic overclocking is acceptable. This technology together with Cool’n’Quiet allow controlling the CPU working frequency in an intellectual way depending on the CPU temperature and utilization.

All in all, the designers of Sapphire PURE Innovation PI-A9RX480 did a great job on the mainboard BIOS. However, they still forgot about one very important thing, unfortunately. The mainboard cannot clear all the CPU and memory settings to their default values in case of over-overclocking. In other words, if your system wouldn’t boot after another extreme overclocking attempt, the only way to resolve the issue will be the Clear CMOS jumper. Even though this jumper is located in an easy-to-reach place on the PCB, I don’t think you will be excited about opening the case every time you need to reset the settings to defaults.