[Fr3ak] EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW review

[Fr3ak]

It's been a while since I have been doing a community review. This time I want to take a closer look at the EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW. The board will have a price of about $179.99, which seems to be nice in my eyes. According to the product spec sheet, it offers two PCI-Express-X16 2.0 slots, so it's fully SLI capable. You can read the features from the spec sheet and the pictures, so I won't bore you with that. I guess you are interested in performance and overclockability rather than the multimedia features. This is XtremeSystems after all.

I will test the board with a couple of CPUs hoping to find one capable of a high FSB. I will be using air and single stage first, maybe LN2 later on, depending on how much free time I have. For now I can only post a couple pictures, as I haven't set the sytem up yet, but I will do so as soon as possible. I should be done before Sunday if nothing goes wrong. Enjoy the pictures and stay tuned for more to come =)

http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=12018&stc=1&d=1207640903

http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=11980&stc=1&d=1207604264

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[Fr3ak]

I dont have a camera here, except the brilliant camera of my iPhone, so I won't post any more pics for now.

Nontheless I want to present you some interesting info from the BIOS:

- As on Nvidia boards, single cores of the CPU can be disabled right in the BIOS
- The Power button has a power LED in it (what a surprise;)) and the RESET buttuon has a HDD LED built-in which is very helpful when the board is not in a case
- 3 profiles for Timings/Voltages can be stored and loaded in the BIOS
- Voltage ranges are:
Vcore: 0.50000V - 1.80000V
CPU FSB: 1.2V - 1.55V
Memory: 1.8V - 2.5V
SPP: 1.3V - 1.55V
NF200: 1.2V - 1.55V
GTLREF: +0mV - +160mV


I set some voltages to safe values and booted up at 400 MHz FSB with ease =)

http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=12611&stc=1&d=1208380169

http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=12612&stc=1&d=1208380195

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[Fr3ak]

Reserved for OC results.

[Rattle]

sweet subscribed

[GOZR]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2901735&posted=1#post2901735

[phill]

Wonders if he should have bought the 780i...

[op1e]

About time a midrange board had dual 16x lanes. Looks like the only thing missing from the one I have is the Tri-SLI option.

[mascaras]

Nice fr3ak :)

i will also test this mobo with Q6600 & E8400 + 9800GX2 + 4Gb DDR2 !

Report results in few days !

But the mobo seems very nice , and its a very good option for SLI configs :)

regards

[k|ngp|n]

Hows the review coming fr3ak? Been playing with mine too and it was really smooth and trouble free to setup.

[dinos22]

sweet board and photos

can this board do high FSB with dual cores?

[mascaras]

sweet board and photos

can this board do high FSB with dual cores?


from EVGA forum:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2901220&postcount=3




regards

[dinos22]

interesting

[Leeghoofd]

Hows the Vcore holding up ? also a big drop like I encountered with the 780i ?

[Amey]

Is 750i Ultra just like 780i ? (680i + some chip to add PCIe 2.0 capability :D) ?

I mean 750i Ultra = 650i Ultra + the chip ?

Whats the chip called btw ?

[Asgard_thor]

it seems like the northbridge heatsink is too close, you can't mount a TRUE for example vertically?

[FlimFlam00]

This looks like a tight mid-ranged board. Might have to get one. How are the temps?

[Fr3ak]

I didn't do anything with the board today as I came come from work late. I am planning to start testing the board tomorrow. I will hopefully be able to answer all of your questions then.

[GOZR]

I'll get mine tomorrow Wednesday

[Amey]

Waiting for your testing Fr3ak. :)

[saaya]

olli, please use a different font to watermark your pics in future, the one you used really doesnt look good :D

[Ghost742]

first thing i would do is replace the tim under the nb.... cooler, you'l be shocked to see all the gunk they put under there. this board seems to use different caps then the 780 as well, wonder if that will have a impact.

[Fr3ak]

olli, please use a different font to watermark your pics in future, the one you used really doesnt look good :D

I use a different font very time I post pictures, so relax ^^

I usually replace the TIM before even installing a board, but this time I want to see what the board can do "Out of the box" first.

[The Jedi]

According to the product spec sheet, it offers two PCI-Express-X16 2.0 slots, so it's fully SLI capable.

According to the manual (http://www.evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=123-YW-E175-A1):


PCI Express x16 Slots
These two PCI Express x16 slots are reserved for graphics or video cards. The design of this motherboard supports two PCI-Express graphics cards with x8 bandwidth using NVIDIA’s SLI technology.
...
For Single Mode, insert the VGA card into the "PCIE X16_1" VGA slot. (labeled on the board).
The “PCIE X16_2” VGA slot will become inactive.


I'm thinking EVGA has maybe not made "Dual x16" clear, although it is a 750i. CPU-Z would clear it up.

[InfamousChu]

I would like to know if the NB and SB have same mounting holes as 780i .. Thinkin about ordering one and throwing some EK WB on there but not sure if the NB and SB will line up..

[ghost_recon88]

Why does the manual quote it as "The design of this motherboard supports two PCI-Express graphics cards with x8 bandwidth using NVIDIA’s SLI technology." Makes it sound like 8/8 instead of 16/16.

[Justifire]

As far as I remember, the FTW had barbs on the NB-block for optional watercooling?
Or is that only for the 780i FTW ?

[Fr3ak]

There are no barbs for watercooling. The cooling just looks like the 780i one.

Plans are to set up the board after I had dinner, so I will find out about the 2 PCI-E slots soon.

[GOZR]

RGR will stay tuned :)

[InfamousChu]

Fr3ak, you said the cooling looks just like the 780i but do you know for sure that its the same? i want to get the 750i and WC with EK 780i mobo blocks

[Fr3ak]

There are a couple of pictures on page 1, so you can see for yourself.

The cooling looks exactly like the 780i one to me.

There is a Nforce 100 chip below the NB cooler too, so chances are, the board really has 2 electrical 16x PCI-E lanes.

[TheKarmakazi]

awaiting your results, since this is actually an affordable SLI solution for those of us without deep pockets and free samples.

[evil-98]

there being sold at newegg for 189 free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188026

looks like a pretty solid board

[JacobF]

Fr3ak, you said the cooling looks just like the 780i but do you know for sure that its the same? i want to get the 750i and WC with EK 780i mobo blocks

Yes, it is the same, meaning that the EK MCP/SPP should fit fine.

[InfamousChu]

sweet! think im going in for a 750i ftw then!

[InfamousChu]

Fr3ak lets see some results!

[Fr3ak]

I was busy with work tonight, so I will install the OS, drivers, etc tomorrow. That means I will finally be able to show some results tomorrow or if that fails, on friday. I am sorry for the delay guys, but I am very busy with work atm. :/

[melanko]

I will be definitely looking forward to this review, this board looks like a good bang for the buck.

subscribed.

[systemviper]

Why does the manual quote it as "The design of this motherboard supports two PCI-Express graphics cards with x8 bandwidth using NVIDIA’s SLI technology." Makes it sound like 8/8 instead of 16/16.


That sounds like the 650i, it was an 8/8 and the 680i gave you the 16/16, lets just hope the similarities 650i/750i.......680i/780i doesn't track the same

[mascaras]

i also start testing one tomorow , with dual core (E8400) , quad-core (Q6600) and 4Gb Ram :yepp:

the mobo seems pretty nice , lets see if performance also good , because im planning sell P5E X38 and keep Evga 750i Sli FTW + 9800GX2 + E8400 :yepp:


Also waiting for your results Fr3ak ! :up:


regards

[GOZR]

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=320413&mpage=1&key=&#320604

[Rattle]

i also start testing one tomorow , with dual core (E8400) , quad-core (Q6600) and 4Gb Ram :yepp:

the mobo seems pretty nice , lets see if performance also good , because im planning sell P5E X38 and keep Evga 750i Sli FTW + 9800GX2 + E8400 :yepp:


Also waiting for your results Fr3ak ! :up:


regards


what operating systems will you be testing ? vista 64 I hope:up:
can't wait your reviews are always awesome.

[drizzt5]

Ah... i might have to sli 8800 gt's again ... :(

Keeping my eye on this board....

[mascaras]

what operating systems will you be testing ? vista 64 I hope:up:
can't wait your reviews are always awesome.

Vista 64bit !


regards

[Rattle]

nice ! last nv mobo i had didnt play nice in v64 with 4gb with sli.

[wedfighter]

awaiting result...
nice pics btw :up:

[GOZR]

First review


http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1766_1.html

[LagunaX]

600 fsb?!?

[[XC] gomeler]

600 fsb?!?

Huh? I saw a 44x FSB run in there, no 600FSB. Ram wasn't running 1:1. Need a better review to make a decision on this chipset. Hope Fr3ak can deliver. No pressure ;)

[phill]

And hopefully with a Quad core as they seem to not overclock as well on the FSB as the duallies... Mine certainly didnt :(

[noobzed]

First review


http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1766_1.html

broken link

[Leeghoofd]

Link works fine Noobzed they tested sadly only E8500 and the new E7200, no quad... and poor FSB performance in that review but I never gave them much credit as they usually tested with an old Pentium D , at least they have soem new CPU's now...

[nut311]

sweet 750i SLI, nice pictures...

[drizzt5]

Come on! I wanna see some reviews with quads... preferably q6600.

[mascaras]

i will also test with Q6600 , But Fedex didnt delivered the mobo today , only tomorrow morning :mad:


regards

[drizzt5]

i will also test with Q6600 , But Fedex didnt delivered the mobo today , only tomorrow morning :mad:


regards

Thanks... if they compete with the P35's or x38's at all i will buy one... i would like a mobo with SLI option just incase.

Awaiting your results. :)

[Fr3ak]

I will be able to do quadcore testing at the weekend too. For now I am setting up my good old E6600 ES which is good for 555 MHz FSB on P35. I gave my E8400 to a friend, but I will try to get another high clocking wolfdale.

[Fr3ak]

Sorry, I kept you guys waiting for quite some time, but I am really busy with work.

I am installing Xp as I write this, so benchmarks will be up tomorrow, as promised.

I dont have a camera here, except the brilliant camera of my iPhone, so I won't post any more pics for now.

Nontheless I want to present you some interesting info from the BIOS:

- As on Nvidia boards, single cores of the CPU can be disabled right in the BIOS
- The Power button has a power LED in it (what a surprise;)) and the RESET buttuon has a HDD LED built-in which is very helpful when the board is not in a case
- 3 profiles for Timings/Voltages can be stored and loaded in the BIOS
- Voltage ranges are:
Vcore: 0.50000V - 1.80000V
CPU FSB: 1.2V - 1.55V
Memory: 1.8V - 2.5V
SPP: 1.3V - 1.55V
NF200: 1.2V - 1.55V
GTLREF: +0mV - +160mV


I set some voltages to safe values and booted up at 400 MHz FSB with ease =)

As soon windows is installed, I will see at what FSB my E6600ES can boot into Windows on air.

[berndawg3]

Ooh, I'm excited! This is looking to be a perfect budget SLI board.

[Fr3ak]

Right, I did some very fast testing as I am tired as hell, because it's already midnight here.

I increased voltages a little and I consider them 24/7 voltages. My E6600ES's limit on single stage is 555 MHz FSB. Honestly I never tried it on air, but knowing other CPUs I think this is pretty much as far as I can get with that CPU on air.

Voltages were:
Vcore: 1.5V
FSB: 1.3V
SPP: 1.4V
NF200: 1.3V
Memory: 2.2V
GTLREF: default

http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=12204&stc=1&d=1207867433

Note: I only tested 1M, because I want to go to bed asap. Prime95 and 32M runs will follow at the weekend. I could boot up to 525 MHz, but not into windows.

[SoF]

You sleep too much :ROTF:
If I would be sure I won't need my E6850 for the next 2 weeks I could send it to you - rene told me it does 600 FSB on air also :eek: This would be a good one to test this board regarding FSB :D just drop me a pm if you want to :) I would be interested in that as I am awaiting a 790i in some time ;) so far you are really teasing me with your tests :D

[mascaras]

Freak are you using the new bios released 7th???


http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=317004


regards

[drizzt5]

Nice so far, and thank you for the review,

awaiting results with quads.

[SavageFuDD]

Thanks Freak for your time, because of you and Rattle, Iv got one comming tomorrow, Im gonna give it a try with my 2 8800 gt superclocks and the e8400 I have, and I have a e3110 coming saterday.. Im exit3ed to see what I can do with this!!

[FlimFlam00]

Nice. Thanks Fr3ak. Fr3ak likes to keep us in suspense!

So I ordered a Evga FTW, and an e8400 to replace the 680i/e6600 in my 2nd rig. Looking forward to diddling around with the new parts.

[Fr3ak]

I ramped up the voltages before I went to bed, but the FSB limit was still the same, which is why I am 99.9% sure, it's the CPU holding me back.

mascaras: I am using the BIOS that came with the board. Seems to work fine for me. No weird behaviour with the board. I will update the BIOS today.

[mion]

How's vcore droop"\?

[mascaras]

Finally Fedex delivered the motherboard , tests later guys !


Ok freak i will also test with stoK bios then update to new bios !


:up:

[Fr3ak]

SZ12 BIOS is available now, the major highlights are listed below:

* Added support to enable/disable individual cores on a multi-core CPU
* Improved PCIe 2.0 compatibility

I can already disable cores in the BIOS...

Too bad you still need a floppy drive in order to flash the BIOS. I don't really like flashing the BIOS using Windows.

I have a E8500 and a couple of quads, but I am not sure if I will test them. I already know that they top out at 450 - 490 MHz FSB on 780i and 790i. From my first impression the 750i overclocks as good, so I do not see how the FSB could magically be better than that.

[Family man 72]

If you have 2 gpus,please test 3D :)

[Fr3ak]

Sure, will do at the weekend. I have 2 Zotac 9600 GT cards.

[GOZR]

quick test at 4.5 on E8500.. :)

Moding my case now..

[drizzt5]

I can already disable cores in the BIOS...

Too bad you still need a floppy drive in order to flash the BIOS. I don't really like flashing the BIOS using Windows.

I have a E8500 and a couple of quads, but I am not sure if I will test them. I already know that they top out at 450 - 490 MHz FSB on 780i and 790i. From my first impression the 750i overclocks as good, so I do not see how the FSB could magically be better than that.


I flashed my bios with a cd on my 680i se(grr)... i'm pretty sure you can do it with this 750i right?


How does this mobo compare to the p35's when OC'ing q6600's?

[JacobF]

Yes you can download the ISO version to flash, anyways his board has the latest BIOS on the EVGA website.

[Hyperhorn]

Decent numbers so far, go ahead :)

[Fr3ak]

Thanks for the information Jackup. My CD-burner broke, so that wasn't an option for me in the first place, which is why I didn't think about using a CD to flash =)

I have a E8500 , a QX9650 and a second Zotac 9600 GT, so I can do some more testing with the board and add some more pictures.

[Scratch[USA]]

I flashed my bios with a cd on my 680i se(grr)... i'm pretty sure you can do it with this 750i right?


Or USB stick

[Ghost742]

yup download HP drive key boot utility. then you should be able to boot from a flash drive

[Fr3ak]

You don't need a bootable USB stick. Just a normal USB stick with the BIOS on it seems to be fine. You can enter AWD-flash right at bootup, so everything is fine.

I am having trouble with the E8500 ES I have. That chip seems to be an early sample and a terrible clocker when it comes to max FSB. Seems like I will have to use my E6600 under the single stage. The E8500 is a little troublesome and not even stable at 3.6GHz as it seems.

Edit: Ok, ignore that, I fail for the same trick all over again: USB sticks at bootup are the devil if first boot device is set to removerable ^^

But the max FSB of the E8500 sucks nontheless, at least with a multi of 6, 7 is even worse.

[SavageFuDD]

Well I got mine, Swaped it from the EVGA 680i board,, Vista took care of the drivers, and all is good so fare without a fresh install of vista,,

Well Im AT 400fsb 1.28 in the bios with a droop at 1.22, so far so good in orthose,, My other board would laugh at me running 400 fsb @ 1.28 I had it at 1.36 just to get 3.6? and 1.475 with a droop to 1.42 to get 4.050 on this chip,, GOOD! I thought it was the board holding me back, and was hoping it wasn't my chip.

My e3110 will be here tomorrow,, shesh I hope all this works out,, I love my SLI to mouch lol..


Freak you think I need to update the bios?


EVGA 750i, E8400. 4 gig of OCZ Reaper 1066, 2 8800 gt's Superclocks

[Fr3ak]

What is your BIOS version.

[SavageFuDD]

Ver 6.00 pg I think


I edited my last post a bit

[Fr3ak]

Seems to be the same one I have, so it should be alright.

[GOZR]

Freak what is the serial number of the E8500 ?

[Fr3ak]

"Intel confidential" ;)

I have no idea what week. Will check tomorrow. It is a very early sample from last year.

Looks like the E8500 I have tops out at about 510 MHz FSB on air. Guess I will do some 3D tests first before I try the QX9650 tomorrow.

[GOZR]

Lol :)

[SavageFuDD]

NOPE!! I got a crap chip!!

Though Im getting less volts to run Im still higher than I'd like to be!! My 680i board I had vcore set 1.475 with a droop at 1.42, and this board I'm set to 1.435 with a droop at 1.38, it is better, but you know thats just not as good as some of the other chips iv seen,, I know that the max for the chip is 1.45v and I pushed it on the other board, that may have done it to,, Hopefully the e3110 im getting tomorrow will do good..

Now I will say one thing, all the board volt are in the green NB is the highest at 1.4 v

Stable on the 680i at 1.45

[SavageFuDD]

Well it failed orthose at 1.425, got it at 1.45 the max, with a droop of 1.39v, going to run it overnight and see what happens..


Looking forwerd to seeing what you will do FREAK,,

[BrokeDown]

Watching this thread. I think I'm done with my AMD setup right now. I'm really for a 45nm C2D or C2Q, just don't know what cpu to pick.

[FlimFlam00]

BTW everyone, Evga is holding a second 750i FTW contest/giveaway. (http://www.evga.com/articles/404.asp)

[Fr3ak]

Sorry to keep you guys waiting for quite some time, but I ran into some probems today.

I am very happy with the board so far. It is a very good overclocker and in comparisson to 680i, it's lightyears ahead when it comes to booting and oc behaviour in general. I noticed when the CPU is overclocked to the edge of stability, the board hangs at bootup (only sometimes and very are) and needs one or two resets. Memory overclocks very good too, a little better than what I was able to run on P35.

When I wanted to test 3D, I ran into some problems though. I am already in contact with EVGA, so the problem is known and being worked on. Seems like I chose the only video card, that is troublesome with the board: a overclocked 9600 GT.

If you are not aware of what Nvidia implemented into the 9600 GT, I recommend this article by W1zzard: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/Shady_9600_GT/. In short: The GPU of the 9600 GT can be overclocked in two ways: using a software tool like Rivatuner or by increasing the PCI-E frequency. "Now where is the problem?", you might think. The problem is: you cannot adjust the PCI-e frequency in the BIOS on a 750i chipset yet. Nor is there any tool out that allows you to make changes to the PCI-e frequency. Note, that this is my assumption and I might be totally off: I think the 750i chipsets adjusts the PCI-e frequency depending on the load of the video card.

What does that mean in my case? That means the 9600 GT is being overclocked dynamically depending on the load because the PCI-e frequency most likely changes on the fly. That results in a black screen i.e. a crashing video card once it enters 3D mode, because I am using a factory overclocked version from Zotac (amp! edition), which is clocked to 725MHz on the GPU by default at a PCI-e freqiency of 100 MHz. Now if the PCI-e frequency is around 120 MHz, the real GPU speed could be closer to 800 MHz which makes the card crash once it enters 3D mode. Again: the 9600 GT is the only video card I know, that is being overclocked by increasing the PCI-e frequency, so any other video card will work just fine. A test with my old 7300 GT proved that. No issues whatsoever.

Luckily, doing hardware reviews is my job and I tested the exact same video cards on a Asus Striker 2 780i and a EVGA 780i reference board a while ago using a QX9650 @ 400 * 9, 3.6GHz and DDR2-800 4-4-4-8. I used the 174.12, but the performance is the same with 174.74. I tested booth drivers with several video cards and results were within a small margin. With that config, I got 24,130 3DMarks in 05 with cards running 745/1798/1120 MHz in SLI. Using a E8500 at the same speed on the 750i, I got 24,249 3DMarks with cards running at 630/1503/1120 MHz with 2 cores less and half the L2-cache. 3DMark05 does not make use of more than 2 cores, but might benefit from the bigger cache, so the E8500 has a slight disadvantage in this test. Ok, now how can I compare those 2 results without knowing what the video cards real clockspeed was? I tested the cards for max clocks without artifacts. I didn't see any on the 750i, so I assume the real clockspeed of the cards was around or less than what it was on the 780i. That means 750i is as fast as 780i.

I know this expalnation and assumption is very adventurous to say the least, but as I won't have other video cards until monday, that's all I can do for now.

[mascaras]

thnks for the Info Fr3ak !


:up:

[melanko]

Cool Cool. Added the 750i to my Newegg wishlist.

[Fr3ak]

Added the screenshots in the previous post.

The boards performance is great. I got some really promising scores with the 2 9600GTs on air, considering the circumstances without knowing what the GPU speed really is. Furthermore: in case the chipset changes the PCI-e frequency on the fly, means performance will even be better when the speed is fixed and not changing all the time.

9600 GT results at HWbot: http://www.hwbot.org/quickSearch.do?hardwareId=GPU_1291&name=GeForce+9600+GT+%28279%29

[Don_Dan]

Again: the 9600 GT is the only video card I know, that is being overclocked by increasing the PCI-e frequency, so any other video card will work just fine. A test with my old 7300 GT proved that. No issues whatsoever.


Are you sure that the 9600 GT is the only video card that does this? I thought all Geforce 9 do it, so could you test it with a 9800 GTX?

Another request: Could you please run some Everest memory benchmarks? :)

[SavageFuDD]

Anyone explain wy I can hit 500 x 8 with 1.425v, droop to 1.38, and I can't break 450 x 9 with 1.45v,? on a E3110 or the E8400, now if I feed it more volts, I can get it up there, but I would rather have it less than 1.45v in the bios.

Its gotta be the chip,it can't be the board its running sweet so fare for 4 hours in orhtose at a 2000 FSB with 1.425v and a droop to 1.38v on the chip, all the board voltages are 1 notch above stock.

Can I post pics after Im done?

[drizzt5]

Savage do you have any complaints about noise from the NB?

[SavageFuDD]

not sure what you mean?

[drizzt5]

Is the North bridge fan noisy for you?
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=184096&page=2
Here mascaras says it is...

I may actually be getting this board.... i hope the price does not go up.

[Ghost742]

its the same nb heatsink as the 780i, at 100% i cant sleep 60% is a bit better.
i would place a better fan on there.

[drizzt5]

What fan would be good to purchase to go along with the 750i...to replace the stock NB fan?

[SavageFuDD]

ok,, lol sorry, ahh its not as loud as my cpu fan, or case fans..

[triple_A]

Very cool board.

Can't you use clockgen to monitor pci-e speed and rivatuner to monitor real gpu speed of the 9600's?

[drizzt5]

I see people hit 4ghz on air (for tests, not daily usage) with q6600's on a 680i a1 board... can it be done on this new 750i?

[saaya]

your new name tag is much better :D
and thanks for those infos! :toast:

the 9600gt stuff sounds weird tho...

[Ghost742]

What fan would be good to purchase to go along with the 750i...to replace the stock NB fan?

as of now i have a coolermaster 60mm fan on it.
when im not gaming or anything else demanding i keep it at 30%.
at 100% it keeps the mcp at 40c tho:rofl: .
wish i could read the spp temp:down:

[gigabit]

Will the Ultra 120 extreme fit on this board with the fans facing out the back or will the NB heatsink+fan block that?I will have this board tomorrow now im worried im gonna need another H/S

[mascaras]

Will the Ultra 120 extreme fit on this board with the fans facing out the back or will the NB heatsink+fan block that?I will have this board tomorrow now im worried im gonna need another H/S


Hi

I made the review of the mobo with that cooler (thermalright extreme 120)


you have a photo with the cooler installed on the mobo (Hardwre photo) in the review :

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=184096


:up:

[Fr3ak]

The fan controller of the board is pretty sweet aswell. You can set it up in many different ways. I totally forgot to take pictures of the BIOS. Will do so in the evening, after I insulated the board for single stage. I will test 2 9800 GTX or GX2s on the board to see if those cards have similar issues as the 9600 GT.

[Leeghoofd]

I put a 6cm fan on the 780i NB (SmartCooler LFM 1560MV) attached it with two strips... cools way better and less noise...

http://users.pandora.be/OAP/SLI%20003.jpg

[Roch]

The Antec Spotcool works a treat I've been told.

[BrokeDown]

Anyone testing this board with a Q9450? I'm definitely buying this board soon, but need a good CPU to run it with.

[Fr3ak]

The 45nm quads top out at 450-490 MHz on booth P35 and 780/790i. From my experience the 750i is equal in terms of overclockability and performance to 780i.

[BrokeDown]

The 45nm quads top out at 450-490 MHz on booth P35 and 780/790i. From my experience the 750i is equal in terms of overclockability and performance to 780i.

On air or water?

From what I've been reading from reviews of the 9450, is that it does pretty good in the mid 3Ghz range, which would be just fine for me.

[Fr3ak]

On good air or watercooling. Cooling is not that important when it comes to FSB walls. Most CPUs have the same FSB wall on air and watercooling. It only changes when you go subzero - at least from the testing I have done.

Too bad I came home from work late, so again no BIOS pictures, but I am almost done with the insulation of the board and I have a 9800 GTX here for additional testing. For more info on the board, have a look at mascara's review: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=184096

Some pictures of the setup, my single stage and the top of the Cooler Master 1,000W PSU reflecting my desk =)

[drizzt5]

Fr3ak, i asked this in a diffrent thread, so I apologize for posting this twice but I really wanted some more opinions.

Would you recommend this board over an equally priced p35 and x38? Even if someone doesn't have any intention for SLI atm and doesn't know if he wants to SLI in the future?

[Fr3ak]

That is a difficult question. If you have no intention of running either SLI or crossfire, a cheap P35 board will do just fine. I haven't seen a single board that cannot do 500 MHz FSB with the right equipment. So far mainboards with Intel chipsets have been less troublesome for me in regards to overclocking, but I have to admit, Nvidia did a really good job on the 790i. The 750i impressed me aswell. So far I didn't have any weird booting behaviour. It is completely different to 680i. For me 750i and P35 are equal, so I cannot recommend one over the other. At some point, it is a matter of price, as P35 boards are cheaper than 750i. Then again, why should someone buy P35 now, ehen P45 will be on the market by the end of the month.

[drizzt5]

You bring up exactly what concerns me. P35's are becoming dated.

The p35 i had my eye on (the dfi lp lt) is the same price as this board... Creating a hard decision... I never know when i might want to splurge money into 2 9600 gt's or another 8800 gt.

I need to think it over myself, maybe i should wait until the end of the month since i'm not in desperate need yet.



edit: I may get an x38 dfi lt... i found a sweet open box deal on newegg for $200.

[cornman]

How stable has the board been compared to a p35 or x38? Any problems when running 2 cards in sli?

[Fr3ak]

Apart from the fact I had to downclock the 9600 GTs which is a issue of the card rather than the board, I didn't have any problems. I will test a new BIOS in the evening to see if there are still any problems and test the board with a 9800 GTX. I will try another card in SLI tomorrow, in case everything works fine and I will go sub zero on the E6600 to max out the FSB.

drizz75: Why getting X38 now when X48 is already out?

[Fr3ak]

Ok, I have a good and a bad message.

The bad one is: Even with the new BIOS and a PCIe frequency of 101 MHz, I have trouble getting the 9600 GT to work. I still have to downclock it in order to finish a benchmarks.

Now to the good point: With the 9800 GTX, the board totally rocks. No problems whatsoever. Great performance and no iddues at all so far. I will get a second 9800 GTX tomorrow to test SLI.

3D is stable from bootup with a PCIq frequency of 140 MHz. With a working windows tool, I am pretty sure you can even increase the speed a little further. Max FSB with the new alpha BIOS seems to be the same. No improvment there.

I made some pictures of the BIOS I will add in Post #2 (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2901770&postcount=2). Those pictures are one of the worst I ever took. My deepest apologies.

From what I can tell, the board overclocks my memory better than on P35. Though I have to measure the voltage first to make a fair comparisson. The difference from the vcore I set in BIOS and what CPU-Z displays is miles different: 1.45V in BIOS are 1.408V in windows, according to CPU-Z. I will measure the exact voltage tomorrow with a DMM: I have to measure from the back of the board and I am way too tired to do something like that now as I would fall asleep during the process.

For the voltage screenshot, I maxed out all voltages in the BIOS to show what the maximum voltages are. That is everything I can think of at the moment. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[drizzt5]

drizz75: Why getting X38 now when X48 is already out?
A little above my price range.. i was hoping to spend $130-230... If you can recommend a good one that isn't too expensive that I'll consider it.

Based off of the clocks i've seen people get on this board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136043
I might just get this one and throw the extra money into a fund for my WC setup.


I just found this one though
http://www.motherboardpro.com/DFI-LanParty-DK-X48-T2RS-DDR2-Motherboard-X48-Chipset-Crossfire-Ready-X48-Motherboard-p-557.html

[AndrewL1950]

I am thinking about getting this board, but I am slightly worried about what heatsinks will fit it. Do you think most will be able to fit, and if not, do you have any recommendations for something around $50 for this board? I will also be getting the Thermal light LGA775 mounting kit, hopefully that works as well.

[BrokeDown]

Fr3ak,

Are you testing different types of memory as well, or are you just running the same sticks? What kind of speeds are you able to get?

Also, what CPU do you think is showing to be the best for this board as far as OC and stability?

[JacobF]

Just a heads up, a new BIOS is available that allows PCIe frequency adjustments, it can be found here:

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=329864

[Fr3ak]

Thanks jAckUp for the information!

I didn't see the mounting of many new air coolers, so honestly, I cannot tell which one will fit. The NB is not that high, the critical point would be the mounting of the NB, because the screws of the NB mounting are pretty close to the CPU socket. Any cooler that fits a 780i reference board just fine, will fit on this board too.

I tested several kits of DDR2 memory, but they are all Micron D9GMH based. I just got a 4GB kit that I will try in the evening, but I only have 32bit XP installed.

As for the choice of CPU: That is up to you. The board shows great stability with booth dual and quad core CPUs. I wouldn't get a low end CPU with a FSB wall at 400 MHz ish, because that would be a waste for the board.

As for overclocking, the EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW is one of the most troublefree mainboards I ever used. I can fully recommend this board in terms of overclockability and performance - with one exception: If you are going to use a 9600 GT (SLI), you should probably get a 780i or Intel based board, until the problems with 750i + 9600 GT are solved.

[JohnnyNitro]

Hello all.. I just want to verify.. I am building my first gaming rig this weekend. I have all the stuff and am Xtramely excited. I have a couple of questions...

1) I did order a Palit 1GB 9600 gt but only 1.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261013

I WILL run SLI when my bank account recharges.. so I shouldn't have any issues with one card right out of the box?

2) I am running the Tuniq tower..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001

Will this be a good cooling solution for the EVGA 750i / E8400 combo?

Anything else you all can recommend for a first time builder I am open..

Thanks in advance!

[Fr3ak]

The Tuniq tower is a great cooler and from the picture it looks like it will fit the 750i just fine.

Now for the 9600GT: I think you will have the same problems, even when the card is running at stock speed. It might work, but it might not work. Why don't you get a 8800 GT instead? That card is faster and about the same price.

[AndrewL1950]

Ya, I am going to be picking up this board along with a Q9450. First system build in a long time. Mainly in part to the reviews here and Guru3d's new review. I think I am going to get back into overclocking also which I have not done in a LONG time.

I have the Noctua U9B and didn't know if the unique mounting system would fit the board. Here is a photo

http://www.evga.com/forums/upfiles/474834/8106C52FC52041EFA80CFEAB102A4371.jpg

If anyone who has the board could confirm it would fit, that would be appreciated.

[Fr3ak]

After looking at my board, I am 99% sure your mountng will fit fine on the EVGA 750i. There is a keep-out area around the socket to make sure there is some kind of standard. I didnt see any parts violating the defined rules. The mosfet heatsink is far away, so I am very positive, there won't be anything in the way for the mounting.

I am running 9800 GTX SLI right now and it works flawlessly. Will post some screenshots and results later. I switched to a 4 GB DDR2 kit aswell and I am running 400 MHz 4-3-3-4 right now. No problems at all.

[JohnnyNitro]

Fr3ak.. thanks for the advice..
I like the Palit as it has the HDMI and display port right on the card. I am thinking on hooking this up to my LCD TV. I looked and nobody really makes a comparable card. (connection wise)
any suggestions?
I know you can get the DVI to HDMI cable and all but its nice to have it port out the back directly.

[Fr3ak]

All cards from Zotac have a DVI to HDMI adaptor. I dont know any cards that have a native HDMI port. I am more into overclocking than multimedia hardware tbh.

I really suggest a 8800 GT over a 9600 GT , especially with a 750i. In Germany the cards price is about the same, but 8800 GT has a better performance and the same cooler. There are some brands with aftermarket coolers like the Elitegroup 8800 GT with Arctic Cooling Accelro S2 and Turbo module.

[Rattle]

After looking at my board, I am 99% sure your mountng will fit fine on the EVGA 750i. There is a keep-out area around the socket to make sure there is some kind of standard. I didnt see any parts violating the defined rules. The mosfet heatsink is far away, so I am very positive, there won't be anything in the way for the mounting.

I am running 9800 GTX SLI right now and it works flawlessly. Will post some screenshots and results later. I switched to a 4 GB DDR2 kit aswell and I am running 400 MHz 4-3-3-4 right now. No problems at all.

are you in xp or vista 64 by chance ?

[JohnnyNitro]

I see. But isnt the "9" series more future proof?

[Fr3ak]

No, just because the number is higher, does not mean it's better. The G94 is a light version of the G92-GPU that the 8800 GT uses. The whole 9 series is basically a refresh of the 8 series. I would get a 8800 GT over a 9600 GT any time and a 8800 GTX over a 9800 GTX.

[BrokeDown]

Fr3ak,

I think I'm gonna pick this board up soon with a E8400 from Newegg.


I see. But isnt the "9" series more future proof?

doesn't matter when talking about the GTs. the 88GT a better card, period.

[AndrewL1950]

Thats what I am doing. I am going to pick up an 8800GT. With the system I am building I will be able to play any game I want at max settings (Outside of 1900X1200 AA Crysis) for a few years. When Nvidia launches there new line of cards, I will pick one up but the 9 series is not a big enough of an upgrade and on most games it's overkill. My eyes can't tell the difference between 65 FPS and 75 FPS.

[geoffsthaboss]

im thinkin of throwin together a new rig using this mobo. either that or a x38, prob a dfi dk.
cant decide if i wanna go with sli or xfire.
either way ill be usin a 2x2 kit of ram (red tracers or pi g.skills) and a e8200 or e8400.
with 1 retail and one open box you can get 2 8800 GTs or 3870 for right around $300
should be a good rig, this review has helped sway me to what might be my first nvid board.

[JohnnyNitro]

Oh man.. I havent even built my system and I am going to have to RMA at newegg already.... :( Oh well

How about this.. worthy>>?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500006

[drizzt5]

For that price, just get an 8800 gts g92

[cornman]

Yes, definitely get an 8800gts g92, I have the evga version and it is faster than an 8800gtx and maybe even an ultra if you overclock it which it does really well. It also stays very cool because of the dual slot cooler, it never goes over 55 degrees celcius while playing crysis.

[JohnnyNitro]

Ok.. I have been doing research.. I am torn. Not an easy one! What do you all feel is the best card for $200 after rebtates (give or take 10 bucks)?
Thanks for your responses.

I like this unit so far...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130337

[cornman]

I would get that card for sure, I can overclock mine (which is already overclocked) from 670mhz to 760 and it could go higher I just havent tried it yet. The 8800 gt can get really hot (like 90C) and the 8800gts g92 only gets to around 55C with the fan set at 55%.

[JohnnyNitro]

Ok.. I am still going to build my system this weekend with my 9600, as I have been waiting too long not to! I will RMA the 9600 and grab the 8800GTS.


Thanks for all your help and responses guys... I apprecaite it!

[Shampoo]

Good information about the behaviour of this board.

I'm thinking about upgrading soon only because I want to be a part of the 4GHz club.

I'm currently running an E6420 @ 3.2GHz, couldn't get this stable at 3.4GHz and up on my Asus P5N-E SLI board (650i chipset).

I love my current board. It clocks well, I've had an E8400 up to 480MHz FSB, I know, I know, that's nothing compared to the most recent chipsets, but for such a board I think it's great.

Plus it's very stable, handles 4GB of ram just fine after recent bios updates, before it had a big gaping hole from high 700s to low 800s for ram speeds when using 4 sticks of ram.

When do you guys think the price will drop?

I'm planning on going with an E8400 or the X3110 (probably the X over the E).

I'm used to thinking midrange boards should cost in the 130-150 range, and this board is a good 200 bucks, which I believe is a highend board, here in Canada.

Cheers,
Mike

[AndrewL1950]

Good information about the behaviour of this board.

I'm thinking about upgrading soon only because I want to be a part of the 4GHz club.

I'm currently running an E6420 @ 3.2GHz, couldn't get this stable at 3.4GHz and up on my Asus P5N-E SLI board (650i chipset).

I love my current board. It clocks well, I've had an E8400 up to 480MHz FSB, I know, I know, that's nothing compared to the most recent chipsets, but for such a board I think it's great.

Plus it's very stable, handles 4GB of ram just fine after recent bios updates, before it had a big gaping hole from high 700s to low 800s for ram speeds when using 4 sticks of ram.

When do you guys think the price will drop?

I'm planning on going with an E8400 or the X3110 (probably the X over the E).

I'm used to thinking midrange boards should cost in the 130-150 range, and this board is a good 200 bucks, which I believe is a highend board, here in Canada.

Cheers,
Mike

I am also waiting for a sale or price drop. I order my stuff from Ncix and their sales are downright horrible (save $5). The EVGA 750I was on for $170 a couple days ago now they bumped it up to $200. Same with the Q9450. The OEM version was on for $370 now it's up to $394, only $5 less then the retail package.

[Fr3ak]

are you in xp or vista 64 by chance ?

I am on 32bit XP. I totally forgot to upload the pictures yesterday - shame on me about that. I will post them during the day.


8800 GTS G92 > 8800 GTX > 8800 GT > 9600 GT

[Fr3ak]

Here are two screenshots of 9800 GTX SLI. The board is running just fine and it seems to like my Corsair Dominators. 4 GiByte @ 450 MHz 4-3-3-4 at 2.2V. Still tesing for max clocks. I need a new CPU badly hehe

[Hyperhorn]

What's your feeling about the memory(-controller)? You mentioned the "b*tchy" 680i, but I liked it when it came to tight (sub)timings.
And how do you feel about the per-clock-performance?

[GOZR]

Testing SLI at 1024x768 ????

[Fr3ak]

That is the standard resolution of 3DMark 03 and 05 ;)

And 03 scales with every additional video card or higher GPU clocks =)

About the 680i: I was more talking about the boards suddenly stop working or only booting 2 out of 10 times. The memory clocks really well on 750i. I have no set of memory that I tested on P35, 680i and 750i, so I cannot give you a exact estimation.

Memory performance on 680i was worse compared to P35 clock for clock and I have the impression 750i's performance is closer to P35 than 680i, which is a good sign.

[Hyperhorn]

Thx :toast:
I had my Striker always @air, so luckily none of these problems which are typical for subzero AFAIK.

750i seems the best choice for a cheap SLI-solution...

[tw33ter]

What's a good quadcore and set of 2x2gb to go with this board?

[Fr3ak]

Depends on how much money you want to spend. The best quadcore is the QX9650, but the Q9450 seems to be a nice bang for the buck. The Q6600 is still 65nm, but it has a multi of 9 and overclocks quite nice with the G0-stepping.

45nm quadcores have a lower multiplier because of the higher default FSB and they run into a FSB wall at 450-490 MHz.

As for 4GB kits of DDR2: I had great result with OCZ Reaper DDR800 4-4-3 and right now I am using Corsair Dominators TWIN2X4096-9136C5DF. They are even better, but also more expensive.

[tw33ter]

Do you have a link to where I can find those dominators? They aren't listed on corsair's website, and cant find them anywhere lol. Thanks :D

edit: since I found the q9450's in stock, I just placed an order for one of those. Now just need to find some memory to pair it up with.

[Fr3ak]

Looks like that memory is not out yet. I will ask if I can get a release date from Crosair.

[AndrewL1950]

Do you have a link to where I can find those dominators? They aren't listed on corsair's website, and cant find them anywhere lol. Thanks :D

edit: since I found the q9450's in stock, I just placed an order for one of those. Now just need to find some memory to pair it up with.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=28269

see if you can get those.

[FlimFlam00]

Thanks for the review Fr3ak. Here's my little Lian Li a05 with a 750i build

No point in giving a review since mascaras and Fr3ak have all but covered this board, but I thought I would share my rig since people love thread pics! Might as well add to the fun. Love the board, and it is a great board for the money. Nice OC's, great layout, great value, robust, featured bios, and reliable. Somehow, while prices for cpus and gpus have dropped, mobos have skyrocketed. It is nice to get this type of performance for a good price, and get a great layout.

However, the stock nb fan sounds like a weed whacker. You must replace it. I took Leeghoofd's inspiration, and did what he did to his 780i fan. I put a 60mm Stealth on it, and now my system is whisper quiet again.

Systems specs:

LL a05 [blowholes up top - needs the airflow in this case]
Cosair 620w
q6600 (b3) [32 idle]
Swiftech h20-120 Compact
2 x 1gb Dominators 8500 or 2 x 2gb Mushkin 6400, depending on the day
Evga 8800 GTX
HDs: 250 [XP + Vista Ultimate] / 300gb [apps] / 750 [data + media]
Dvico HD tv tuner
Creative x-fi Audio
LG Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player
Plextor DVD-RW
SilenX fans

Yes, my Dominator fan is missing 6 screws - I just did a diagonal pattern after stripping 2 of them modding the fan. I put in 3 Mini Kazes, and there is a big difference in dBa - another suggestion worth thinking about.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kenergy/a05/IMG_0229.jpg

[Ghost742]

does moving the card down a slot help nb temps at all?

nice rig, the case looks smaller then mine which is hard to believe tho.

[drizzt5]

With all the stuff in there... the case looks pretty big to me, lol.

I know how big a GTX is and in his case with the rest of the stuff he makes it kind of small looking.

Nice build. Wat clocks do you get with that b3?

[FlimFlam00]

I had it had 470 with an 8 multi, but I could not get it Prime stable; then again, I did not aspend a lot of time tweaking. Running at 470 x7 for ~3.3 @ 5-5-5-12 with 2x1gb Corsair Doms 8500.

[InfamousChu]

just got my 750 in cant wait to fire it up!

[AndrewL1950]

just got my 750 in cant wait to fire it up!

mine should be here tomorrow. Can't wait.

[RADCOM]

+1 lol

[Fr3ak]

My GPU containers will be here soon, so I can do some more xtreme testing =)

[AndrewL1950]

So I got the board and needed to change some of my memory timings to those Mushkin Greg gave me.

However when I go to Advanced Chipset settings, none of the options he told me are there.

I also have no idea how to find my CPU multiplier.

Can anyone let me know how?

CPUZ is saying it's at X6 and my E8400 is only running at 2GHZ

[Fr3ak]

Disable "Intel SpeedStep" and "C1E Function" in teh CPU Feature submenu, that you can find under Advanced BIOS Features.

To change the multiplier you have to go to Frequency/Voltage Control and enable "CPU Ratio Control Unlock". After than you can set the multi in the same menu ("CPU Ratio Control").

[AndrewL1950]

Disable "Intel SpeedStep" and "C1E Function" in teh CPU Feature submenu, that you can find under Advanced BIOS Features.

To change the multiplier you have to go to Frequency/Voltage Control and enable "CPU Ratio Control Unlock". After than you can set the multi in the same menu ("CPU Ratio Control").

Ya, I figured it out. Was confused there for a moment.

Do you know of a problem with CPUz and this board? In bios my multiplier is X9, and CPU at 3ghz. Yet CPUz keeps saying it's at X6 and 2ghz.

[Fr3ak]

CPU-Z should be 100% correct. With C2D CPUs, the multiplier is always correct when the FSB is detected right too.

[JohnnyNitro]

Hello all,
I am getting a BSOD when Vista 64Bit installs. It copies all the files to the hard drive then has to do the reboot. Upon this reboot it starts windows and has the progress bar start then BSOD. I have had XP 32 bit stable on here.. Any suggestions or ideas..
Thanks in advance.

[billyboy]

Does anyone know if it will work with a xeon E3110 out of the box? Also would you guys recommend watercooling the chipset? what with?

[FlimFlam00]

Hello all,
I am getting a BSOD when Vista 64Bit installs. It copies all the files to the hard drive then has to do the reboot. Upon this reboot it starts windows and has the progress bar start then BSOD. I have had XP 32 bit stable on here.. Any suggestions or ideas..
Thanks in advance.

I'd look into the sata drivers and load the latest. Also for Vista, I would remove 2-3 gb from the build, install the 4gb vista hotfix, and then try it again with all ram installed.

[JohnnyNitro]

Yep that was the issue.. 99% sure anyway as I am now finding out that the Dlink 132 usb NIC I was (going) to use does not offer 64 bit support. OH well time to get a newer NIC with Vista 64 bit drivers. Any suggestions????
Took 2GB's out and Vollia...
Until I get the updates from MS .. and all other stuff, I will wait to put in the other 2GB stick.
Thanks for all you help!!

[FlimFlam00]

Nice! I am jealous that it is never that easy for me. usually I have a retention plate fall, or a leak, and a bad bios flash, and a blown psu or something, and I have to rma stuff, swap out parts or something.

Glad it was as easy as just "pulling it out!" :rofl:

[railmeat]

Thx :toast:
I had my Striker always @air, so luckily none of these problems which are typical for subzero AFAIK.

750i seems the best choice for a cheap SLI-solution...

750i seems the best choice for a cheap SLI-solution


agree %100,VERY good ram support\timings.amazing cpu clocks and yes full 2.0 16x2 sli board.plus electric green and black look amazing.

[crash5s]

After frying another striker I'm interested in this board. Same rig as in my sig just sans striker. Has anybody encountered the corruption issues that 780/790/680 were plagued with?

[Fr3ak]

I didn't even encounter them on 790i that I am using every day.

[Cisco]

Just a couple of FYIs I wanted to post here cause this is the best 750i thread around. Not major problems but #1 has resulted in a few fried USB gadgets:

1, The printed manual you get with this board (the PDF manual on the EVGA site has been corrected) may have the location of the front panel USB connector in the wrong place on page 16 (it's right on pages 5 & 6.) The USB header is the blue one right next to the digital post code thingie and the battery. A few people apparently hooked their front-panel USB to the firewire connector resulting in a few fried iPods... ouch!

2. If you have an Antec P180 or P182 case (maybe other cases) the HDD led won't work. The LEDs in these Antec cases seem to need 3+ volts to light-up but this MB is only putting out ~2.5 with HDD activity. Other than replacing the LED on the Antec case, no known solution atm.

3. The power LED is also not working on the same Antec cases. The Antec connector is 3 pins with the wires at 1 & 3 and 2 empty. This MB has a 2-pin connector. Solution: move the white wire into the middle connector and it'll work.

Credit for figuring out the Antec case problems to u2sparky at the EVGA 750i forum.

Other than the above... this MB rocks!

[Leeghoofd]

Didn't the reference boards have the same LED issue with previous models ? Bios update fixed that... maybe it will again...

[Fr3ak]

I didn't get retail packaging, so I couldn't say anything about the manual. Weird thing about the LED though.

[hillywav]

nice review fr3ak
actually i planning 2 buy this baby in next 2 weeks

here's my will be rig :

EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW
intel e8400
corsair hx620
corsair dominator 1066Mhz 2x2gb
XFX Gforce 8800GT x2
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7
Lite-On Sata Dvd burner

any input?

oh btw
http://www.evga.com/articles/401.asp

nice one there :D

[Fr3ak]

Sweet setup you are gonna build, but why did you choose that weak air cooler for your CPU?

[hillywav]

Sweet setup you are gonna build, but why did you choose that weak air cooler for your CPU?

i planing for w/c setup in future...
due lack of current budget
so ac7 only a temp cooler hehe :p:

[miahallen]

Fr3ak,

It is possible to run quad SLI on this board right? I'm scared of data corruption on the bigger brothers (I have 1.5TB of data I don't want to compromise).

[drizzt5]

Did evga fix that 9600gt problem you talked about earlier in this thread?

[Fr3ak]

i planing for w/c setup in future...
due lack of current budget
so ac7 only a temp cooler hehe :p:

OK, that's ok then.


Fr3ak,

It is possible to run quad SLI on this board right? I'm scared of data corruption on the bigger brothers (I have 1.5TB of data I don't want to compromise).

Sure quad SLI works perfectly. Just triple SLI does not.


Did evga fix that 9600gt problem you talked about earlier in this thread?

Not that I know of. But they sent me a EVGA 9600 GT and I will try that card on the board in the evening.

[drizzt5]

Not that I know of. But they sent me a EVGA 9600 GT and I will try that card on the board in the evening.

Hope they do, alot of people are thinking about 2x9600gt's + 750i ftw.

[Fr3ak]

Peoiple should be getting 8800 GT for SLI. That card is faster and costs about the same.

Haven't had the time to try the EVGA 9600 GT yet, but I have a free timeslot tomorrow morning. So fingers crossed :)

[phill]

Peoiple should be getting 8800 GT for SLI. That card is faster and costs about the same.

I can say that is does seem very cost effective :) I paid a bit more than the current prices for my two EVGA 8800GT's but since the prices have dropped, I think they are a bargin for SLI... Only downside is you have to have an Nvidia motherboard and my XFX 780i is not a good one! :(

Still never mind :) Trying to hunt down two 8800GTX's since I'm trying to save up for a 30" Dell now :)

[railmeat]

Hope they do, alot of people are thinking about 2x9600gt's + 750i ftw.

i might grab another 8800gtx for sli :D not sure tho cause the 9900gtx is coming out and im thinking grab that and move my 8800gtx to my beater rig,decesions,decesions....

[phill]

How good are the GTX's up against the G92 GTS's? Are they a lot better for higher screen sizes because of the extra ram?? I'm talking 1920 x 1200 minimum here.. :)

[Fr3ak]

GTX/Ultra is still the fastest single GPU card, especially in high resoltutions with AA and AF enabled.

[phill]

Are there any particular models of cards to get or are they all of a muchness? Was looking at a pair of Asus 8800GTX's for around £175 each, would they be any good?

[Fr3ak]

EVGA 9600 GT KO works like a sharm with the board =) Just finished 03 with 800/2000/1050 MHz :)

[N3it1]

Nice review,now i know what board im gonna get.This DFI 680i is such a horror story and dont want to use it any longer.
Also nice that the 2x16pci-e slot thing got cleared,i almost got my eye on 780i already cause i thought this mobo is going to be 2x8pci-e when SLI is running.
Still gotta figure out am i going to sell my E6600 or Q9300,planning the future with SLi.My E6600 is a beast,havent tested the Q9300 yet though.
So it would be :
E6600 or Q9300
8800GTX (another GTX later for SLI)
750i motherboard
4x1gb Corsair 800mhz DDR2
And maybe a new PSU,my antec 500W is passive heated prolly cant handle SLI setup.
Once again,beatiful review and it surely helped me alot with my upcoming choice for my new motherboard.

[PopeGold]

I just ordered a EVGA 750i the other day to replace my MSI 650i.... i have twin ECS 9600GT's and this thread scared me. My cards are not factory overclocked...they are reference clocked.... is this issue resolved with the 9600GT or is it vendor specific?

An EVGA rep chimed in and said a new bios was out what allows the PCI-E to be adjusted.... has this been checked?


thanks

[GoreRanger]

Yes, its SZ17 and it does allow the PCI-E to be adjustable.

[railmeat]

GTX/Ultra is still the fastest single GPU card, especially in high resoltutions with AA and AF enabled.

totally agree my single 8800gtx tromps bf2\q4 at 2048x1536 without a hitch settings med-hi 60 fps.

the 9800 is nothing more the a stall move on nvidias part til the 9900series comes out.nothing beats the 8800gtx\ultra clock for clock.ppl will argue the 9800gtx is faster etc.but thats because the 9800gtx is clocked up crazy hi core\mem speeds so guess what it better be.but dont forget the FACT that when u ramp up the hardware supior 8800gtx\ultras they destroy the 9800series in higher res easily,and yes the more memory helps alot.ppl showing tests 1600x1200 and under mean nothing to hi res gamers like myself.the 9800gtx is a DOWNGRADE from my 8800gtx now.

if the 9800gtx was worth anything when it came out it would have been a $600 card,not $350:rolleyes:.the 9900gtx is thee card that will replace the 8800gtx\ultra,not the 9800gtx stall card.

+++++read this thread,the ppl voted and AGREED the 9800gtx is a waste of time\money++++++
9800gtx,a complete letdown to 8800gtx\ultra owners?
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=183309

click my sig links for MANY PICS- e8400(replaced e6600) ,enermax 1000watt,evga 750i(replaced dead dfi 680i) 8800gtx setup.it runs amazing and the sli option is priceless....!!!

[N3it1]

Someone wanna share their BIOS settings?Im running quad Q9300.

[hillywav]

any video coruption issue m8?

i just curios i can't find it in XS ~_~

[N3it1]

any video coruption issue m8?

i just curios i can't find it in XS ~_~

from who did you ask?

[crash5s]

bump just got this recently.

what are good safe chipset voltages for this board at 1600 fsb?