[First Look] DFI 680i LT NF-680i LT SLI (56K Warning~~~)

[virtualrain]

As far as DFI vs. EVGA or others, I think if this boad had come out at the same time as the EVGA board, there would probably be very few EVGA users right now... that board had so many problems initially. (Although I suspect that DFI probably avoided teething issues with this chipset by delaying so it's not black and white).

However, the fact is that DFI is very late to the party and EVGA has done an admirable job of making an outstanding overclocking board with it's revs and bios updates (from what I've read). DFI is playing catch-up in that regard.

The EVGA board (these days) has the benefit of a large installed base and a huge community which makes it easier for noobs as well. With the DFI board being so new, that installed base and collective wisdom hasn't yet developed, but will over time.

At any rate, given that my stable quad overclock requires fairly radical GTL settings, I suspect I would not get the same level of overclock on a board that did not provide GTL tuning. I think those guys that get the same overclock on both boards are just fortunate to have a "typical" CPU that fits the profile to which the EVGA board was designed. If you don't have such a CPU, then what? You either get a board like the DFI or you suffer with a low overclock. Remember, Not all EVGA quad owners are hitting 3.6GHz... who knows what they might achieve if they put their quad in a DFI and spent time tuning it?

One final thought... sadly, by the time DFI gets this board rocking and the collective user community has it nailed, it will probably be obsolete.