Conclusion
Dan's Thoughts:
When you look at the design of most 680i SLI boards, it's hard to think about how it could be improved on too much. The reference design is actually quite good, and deviation from that design hasn't always proven to be the best idea for some manufacturers as I found out with the ASUS Striker Extreme. While the N680SLI-DQ6 doesn't set any overclocking records, it does raise the bar for features. Four network ports and 10 SATA II ports is quite a feature list and right now no other board offers more flexibility. The stability of the N680-DQ6 is nothing short of outstanding and working with the board is really painless and quite enjoyable. It's not a perfect board as I've already stated earlier. The size of the chipset cooling proved to be problematic as I couldn't mount either a Thermaltake Big Typhoon or a Cooler Master Hyper 48 due to the plate on the bottom of the board. Even so is easily one of the better boards I've laid my hands on in recent times and it really adds to Gigabyte's reputation. If you are in the market for a 680i SLI chipset based board, this one deserves top consideration.
Kyle's Thoughts:
Dan makes some great points above, that I will not bore you with repeating. My personal experience with the N680SLI-DQ6 was flawless as it ran SLI stable under a full GPU and CPU load for days. It simply worked exactly as it should have.
The dual BIOS interested me while I was flashing the BIOS, so I forced a flash failure. As advertised, the secondary CMOS took over and allowed me to reflash the primary CMOS getting me back up and running in no time. Of course the value of this feature will never be appreciated unless you have been the victim of a bad flashing experience that renders your entire system useless.
I am not sure what most anyone will do with 4 Gigabit NICs, but to each his own.
I do find it exciting that we are seeing the transition to more robust components on motherboards as this is surely a great thing in the industry.
While Gigabyte has come on strong now for the better part of a year with great enthusiast motherboards, their future is somewhat uncertain. Its recent failed partnership with ASUS has left it somewhat hobbled to my understanding so it will be interesting to see if Gigabyte stays on their current track in the enthusiast market.
The Bottom Line
Gigabyte has another great enthusiast-class motherboard in the N680SLI-DQ6. It should easily satisfy most all overclockers looking to get more out of their systems. Had we seen it attain some higher overclocks on the super-high-end, it would have quickly sported a [H] Gold Editor's Award. That might only be a BIOS revision away. Now for the shocker. The N680SLI-DQ6 is selling in e-tail for $350 and over. It is a hard price to justify given the bevy of great motherboards in the market that come with a comparable feature set and better overclocking ability. It's a great motherboard, but not a bargain.
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks