nForce 790i SLI/Ultra chipset mobos - Reviews/OC/Guides

[RADCOM]

No they are not used OEM = original equipment manufacturers they are minimally packaged unlike the retail version. They are meant for people who build their own PC's

DEFINITION - This confusing term has two meanings:

1) Originally, an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) was a company that supplied equipment to other companies to resell or incorporate into another product using the reseller's brand name. For example, a maker of refrigerators like Frigidaire might sell its refrigerators to a retailer like Sears to resell under a brand name owned by Sears. A number of companies, both equipment suppliers and equipment resellers, still use this meaning.

2) More recently, OEM is used to refer to the company that acquires a product or component and reuses or incorporates it into a new product with its own brand name.

[HaD3k]

I'm looking at the new heatpipes on the EVGA 790i and was wondering if there was enough space to mount a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme.

[Delirious.]

I am having a problem with the 790i ultra. I have a q6600 that was capable of a 1700 QDR for 3.825 ghz on a 780i board. With this 790i, I can't go beyond 1630. It just doesn't post past that. I have also tried a multiplier of 8 and 1800, no post.

Has anyone experienced this problem?

[canislupy]

I'm looking at the new heatpipes on the EVGA 790i and was wondering if there was enough space to mount a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme.

It fits.. BUT... depending on how you orient the HS, the fan clip in the corner that comes close to the MB HS will be useless. I just unclipped that part from the HS and pushed it out of the way. So my fan has 3 corners secured, doesn't seem to be a problem at all.

In other news, SLI is not playing nicely with 4x DIMMs. I even clocked the Cellshock down to 1600MHz @ 9-9-9-24-2t to no avail. Still crashed the NV display driver and BSOD.

[Delirious.]

I am having a problem with the 790i ultra. I have a q6600 that was capable of a 1700 QDR for 3.825 ghz on a 780i board. With this 790i, I can't go beyond 1630. It just doesn't post past that. I have also tried a multiplier of 8 and 1800, no post.

Has anyone experienced this problem?

I am thinking that it has to do with GTL mod that can be performed in the bios for kentsfields. Anyonw know anything about this and what settings for a Q6600?

[TheHardCase]

I picked up EVGA 790i & 2 hours later I returned it.
I'll spend the extra money on the striker 790i, after how hot the NB is on evga. The board looks cheap ect, guess I'm just an asus fan.
My board will arrive tomorrow & I'll post my findings...

[LockBreaker]

Are the ASUS boards better than the XFX and EVGA boards?

[Borgod]

I picked up EVGA 790i & 2 hours later I returned it.
I'll spend the extra money on the striker 790i, after how hot the NB is on evga. The board looks cheap ect, guess I'm just an asus fan.
My board will arrive tomorrow & I'll post my findings...

How hot did your SB and NB get with the evga?
volts?

[dinos22]

how hot was it?
how was that measured

are you talking about NB or SB

[TheHardCase]

how hot was it?
how was that measured

are you talking about NB or SB

NB...
It was hot enough that I could not keep my finger on it, what really pissed me off was the vdroop on the board.
I ran cpu-z & the vcore was jumping up & down, on another note I could run 1.34vcore all day on my E8400 at 4.07GHz on Asus 780i, but I had to pump 1.41v into this board to make it stable.
Yeah they included a plastic fan that sounds like a race car, maybe it cost them 50cents what a joke.
For $370.00 + Tax I'll keep my money thank you.
Fastest bench I ever did, refund please...

[TheHardCase]

Are the ASUS boards better than the XFX and EVGA boards?

Yes 100%, you can see the difference.
Can't answer the XFX but evga 790i ultra is a joke up against my Asus 780i.

[dinos22]

hmmm stange

did you have a fan on it or passive??

[TheHardCase]

hmmm stange

did you have a fan on it or passive??

Yeah after I put the 140dBA (Race Car Fan On It) I could touch the NB.

[dinos22]

Yeah after I put the 140dBA (Race Car Fan On It) I could touch the NB.

seriously though
i've been benching in 22-27C ambient temps with NB fan and 1.45v and heatsink was warm

i also added a 100CFM kitten eating fan now for just in case but SB feel pretty warm while NB i got no issues with at all whether with monster fan or smaller provided chipset fan

[SaiNRuB]

For that price on that memory I would go with the Crucial DDR3 PC1600 2gb for $299.99 at Clubit or the G SKILL ones for $229.99 at Newegg

WTF?!


I paid $290 for those on Sunday, !

Thanks for the heads up, i know they dont to price guarantee's but its worth a shot for $60.

[seamumc]

WTF?!


I paid $290 for those on Sunday, !

Thanks for the heads up, i know they dont to price guarantee's but its worth a shot for $60.

They dropped the price on the 2x2GB version as well. From 499 to 464. Well I guess DDR3 prices are starting to really come down now.

[SuporterPoli]

Does this thing heat up as much as the 780i? Is Asus better that Evga or others?

[nikolas61]

There were a link in the Review section under Striker II Extreme.

tnx

[pinto]

It fits.. BUT... depending on how you orient the HS, the fan clip in the corner that comes close to the MB HS will be useless. I just unclipped that part from the HS and pushed it out of the way. So my fan has 3 corners secured, doesn't seem to be a problem at all.

In other news, SLI is not playing nicely with 4x DIMMs. I even clocked the Cellshock down to 1600MHz @ 9-9-9-24-2t to no avail. Still crashed the NV display driver and BSOD.

Strange, i can run 24/24 4 Cellshocks at 1600mhz 66518 2T (2v) with my SLI of GX2 without any problem on my Xfx. The only problem of the reference card is the vdrop. I swap my SE2 for the XFx, the Asus was a real crap: BOSD, vista's corruption and low performance on it. Now i need to find the P02 bios to enabled P and P2 options (absolutly no perf gain on the asus with them enabled)!

[sonofander]

have you been able to take those cell shock any farther than 1600 in the 4 gig config?

[Gunslinger]

@ Hardcase, did you check to make sure the heatsink was making good contact with the chip? The reference boards can be pretty bad like this, or also for having the TIM gooped on overly thick.

[canislupy]

Strange, i can run 24/24 4 Cellshocks at 1600mhz 66518 2T (2v) with my SLI of GX2 without any problem on my Xfx. The only problem of the reference card is the vdrop. I swap my SE2 for the XFx, the Asus was a real crap: BOSD, vista's corruption and low performance on it. Now i need to find the P02 bios to enabled P and P2 options (absolutly no perf gain on the asus with them enabled)!

I'm using SLI'd 8800GTX's, so possibly a difference there. I will be making more attempts at using the 4 DIMM's tonight. Are you stable running games? I seemed to have no issues under windows or running cpu/mem benches, but when running WoW (not exactly a tough game on the cards, I do run at 2560x1600 though) I got the NV driver failure. Hard to fault the cards themselves since everything is rock solid w/ only 2 sticks installed.

[slim142]

For that price on that memory I would go with the Crucial DDR3 PC1600 2gb for $299.99 at Clubit or the G SKILL ones for $229.99 at Newegg
And on the CPU go for a e8400 or a QX6700 for around $399.00 on ebay. Higher multi would be better then the Q9450 I would think.

Wow! I know the little secret on the HZ series and now that you have give me the link IM AMAZED!!!! I think they were around $400 last time I checked that pair! Gonna wait for it to come back in stock to get one Thanks a lot!

[Ahrimanic]

I'm noticing some issues with my 790i...thought I'd chime in and get some expert feedback. My goal is a 24/7 Prime stable gaming system, here's what I'm working with:

QX9650 - 10x400
eVGA 790i Ultra
Patriot 1333mhz 2x2GB @ 1600mhz
Vista x64

My first concern was how stable the memory would be overclocked to that extent. I've isolated and tested this rather heavily the past few days and I'm satisfied that I can stay stable w/ 1600mhz @ 1.8v (stock 1.7v) with stock timings + 2T. I also bumped the north/southbridge voltages up a notch.

My main problem at the moment is keeping the voltage down on the QX9650 and still maintaining a stable system. I'm noticing a rather hefty vdroop, right now I'm at 1.45v, and reading 1.35v under full load on all cores w/ small FFTs. Is this normal? I am watercooling, although it is my first setup, and will be switching to a better rad once I have waterblocks for a second loop for my GPUs. Anyway, I'm idling around 38C and peaking at 62C under full load for several hours with the above voltage (assuming 105 Tjmax, which seems to be highly debated). Bumping the voltage down between 1.3-1.4 (about where I'd like to be) drops idle/load temps 3-4C however I fairly quickly fail small FFT load testing in Prime95.

Is there a consensus on whether 1.45v is safe for this processor 24/7? Granted it may be too soon to tell, but I have read a lot of success stories as far as prime stable 24/7 4Ghz OCs on the QX9650 with lower voltages. It seems as though the vdroop on this board is what's killing me. Any thoughts? Thanks!

[eternal_fantasy]

The only problem of the reference card is the vdrop. I swap my SE2 for the XFx, the Asus was a real crap: BOSD, vista's corruption and low performance on it. Now i need to find the P02 bios to enabled P and P2 options (absolutly no perf gain on the asus with them enabled)!

EXACTLY!! My Asus S2E was BSOD all over the place, often after passing prime stably for a few hours, then starting a game, opening a web browser etc... and had to install vista several times cus system file integrity check fails right after installation and could not fix the corrupt files... system processes randomly stops responding... VCore was dead stable though.. but means all.

Now my EVGA 790i Ultra seems absolutely stable. But having a 0.1V droop kinda sux... Guess can't have it all

nice to know I'm not alone in situations like this.