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

[OBR]

it is not depend on linked or unlinked, but on real ratio (you can see it in cpuz, everest) but easy way is with linked ...

[slim142]

I wonder why the egg doesnt have any on stock when NCIX has almost run out of them...

[Big Myke]

Ncix is based in BC, Canada and Newegg is based in California.

But why would the Canadians sell it before the Americans, I'm not sure..

Edit: I just an e-mail from an online e-commerce company who I placed a pre-order for the asus 790i ultra informing me that Asus delayed shipments of their mobos. Hopefully this delay does not apply to newegg or clubit.

My educated guess would be that they delayed the mobo so that they are released along with the asus en9800gx2

Disappointing.

[Lu(ky]

Let me rephrase this a little FROM: I have had problems with my eVGA 680i many times but it was from bad RMA's and not getting a good fixed replacement board.
TO: 1 bad eVGA 680i motherboard, with 3 bad replacement boards.

[dinos22]

lol Nasgul

can a MOD here please give nasgul a custom title
nvidia motherboard hater

[canislupy]

At C1 (Base Memory Detect), my EVGA 790i is hanging (damn I hate that incessant beep). The mem volt light is orange, both of which lead me to the RAM. No matter which slot I use with which stick (either and/or both), it looks like either my board or this Cellshock PC3-14400 is DOA (both sticks? hard to believe). I don't think its that this board doesn't like Cellshock, since IIRC there is someone on these boards who is also using this combo.

To be sure it wasn't CPU related as I just got an E3110, I also tried my X6800. Same results for both.

Resetting CMOS does nothing.

Removed everything non-essential.

Banged head against wall.

Anyone have any ideas or am I doomed to RMA land on what was supposed to be the savior of my 680i troubles it replaced.

[slim142]

Ncix is based in BC, Canada and Newegg is based in California.

But why would the Canadians sell it before the Americans, I'm not sure..

Edit: I just an e-mail from an online e-commerce company who I placed a pre-order for the asus 790i ultra informing me that Asus delayed shipments of their mobos. Hopefully this delay does not apply to newegg or clubit.

My educated guess would be that they delayed the mobo so that they are released along with the asus en9800gx2

Disappointing.

It already did, release was suppose to be on the 18, but w/e I really dont care about it now. The press release on the asus site made it all clear that this waiting was not worth it.

Anyways guys, anybody had any trouble with the famous CPU INIT problem? or any other boot problem? RAM voltage issues or anything?

[sonofander]

@ canislupy:

I had the exact same prob. Same board, same ram

The board isn't giving the ram enough volts to boot. I had to go buy a POS kit of 1066 ddr3 to boot with, get into the bios to raise the volts, everything fine since.

Update to bios po3 - seems to help, but I'm keeping the back up kit of ram just in case

[ACE76]

tired of waiting for Striker... just ordered the EVGA board.

honestly, it's probably for the best. I remember when quads first came out and the 680i was teriible at clocking them, EVGA gave out free new revision boards... Then, when 780i hit, EVGA gave a $70 upgrade path to it from the old 680s.

Can't say I ever remember Asus taking care of it's customers so well. So the bottom line is that the Asus is gonna cost $150 more (and will have more bling) and the EVGA board is gonna take care of me if anything goes wrong.

I think the EVGA is the smart purchase at this point
(do we all appreciate how I'm justifying the EVGA purchase since I was too damn impatient to wait for the Striker???)

I agree but wish that the EVGA board had 8 phase power, not 6...not a deal breaker, but if you intend on doing some heavy duty OC, 8 phase is the only way IMO.

[dinos22]

I agree but wish that the EVGA board had 8 phase power, not 6...not a deal breaker, but if you intend on doing some heavy duty OC, 8 phase is the only way IMO.

ARE YOU SURE

have a look at vince's 5.9GHz 2v benchmarks with a quad

is that heavy enough for ya

read up a little on it here
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...spx?i=3265&p=3
Kris touches on it

The EVGA 790i also uses a true 6-phase PWM controller, where many other boards may make use of 4-phase controllers designed in such a way as to appear to be native 8-phase solutions. Supply-side capacitance has been significantly increased and the main +12V input capacitance has gone way up from only 470uF to 2000uF. This helps overclocking as some cheaper PSUs have higher allowable tolerances when it comes to input current ripple. We say this knowing full well that beyond a certain point additional capacitance matters very little. Often times larger capacitors are used in order to take advantage of their lower equivalent series resistance (ESR), a specification that has a great deal to do with how quickly the capacitor can react to sudden load changes and provide current precisely when needed.

Motherboard PWM Comparison
  	Intel
Spec 	780i 	790i 	Notes
Loadline (mohm) 	1 +/- 0.1 	0.93 	1.01 	Higher loadline values create more droop
Max Icc (A) 	125 	165 	220 	High current output supports higher overclocks
Max Overvoltage (V) 	1.6 	1.8 	2.0 	Higher voltages allow for extreme overclocking
Output Ripple (mV) 	10p-p 	9p-p 	6p-p 	Less peak-to-peak ripple means "cleaner" power and more stable overclocks
Thermal Drift (mV) 	+/- 4 	+/- 3 	+/- 2 	Tighter tolerances means that the circuit is less susceptible to variations in component temperatures
Phase Jitter (ns) 	no spec 	390 	180 	Less jitter means smoother, more stable power delivery
Efficiency 	75% 	82.4% 	83.6%

Higher efficiency allows for cooler components at higher currents and less energy used by the system

We have listed a few of the more important PWM specifications in order to compare the differences between the 780i and 790i processor power systems. These are just a couple of the more measurable improvements made to ensure ample processor power delivery under even the most demanding situations and to help minimize the detrimental effects of supply-line switching noise and de-stabilizing output ripple. Overclocking places tremendous demands on the power delivery system and without this strong foundation, even your best efforts are sure to fail (particularly in the case of long-term overclocking).

NVIDIA also recognized the need for a more capable power subsystem cooling solution due to the tremendous current draw of 45nm CPUs experienced during aggressive overclocking. The heatpipe has been extended to encompass both sets of MOSFET banks, including an extra segment of fins used to close the circle and provide additional surface area for maximum heat dissipation. The heatsink assembly is made entirely of aluminum, except for the steel casing used to hold it together, and the included fan can be used to provide active cooling when pushing the board to its absolute limits. The fan speed can also be manually adjusted in the BIOS if you find the whine at full-speed to be a little over the top.

[ACE76]

I'm sorry, I don't even know who Vince is....he did that with a reference clone 790i Ultra board? If so, that's amazing....the earllier 680i and even the 780i boards didn't perform THAT well.

I'm surprised that with the way boards are made these days that the reference board still doesn't have aluminum caps.

[dinos22]

I'm sorry, I don't even know who Vince is....he did that with a reference clone 790i Ultra board? If so, that's amazing....the earllier 680i and even the 780i boards didn't perform THAT well.

I'm surprised that with the way boards are made these days that the reference board still doesn't have aluminum caps.

Vince = kingpin

best overclocker in the world

how can you not know vince j/k

read this thread the benchmarks are in there
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=178546

[ACE76]

That was an informative article...makes me wonder if the Striker II Extreme's 8 phase power is a "fake" and no where as good as the reference design's.

[ACE76]

Nice read!

I want to hold off on going DDR3 mainstream but this is making me want to buy a 790i now...I just ordered a DFI X48 T2R and a 9800 GX2 too.

[eternal_fantasy]

That was an informative article...makes me wonder if the Striker II Extreme's 8 phase power is a "fake" and no where as good as the reference design's.

IMO Reviewers tends to write in favor of the product they are currently reviewing, giving it the benefit of the doubt.

Just a little extract from another article, the Asus P5E3 Premium, again from Anandtech, and you will know what I mean:

6-Phase EVGA PWM: March 18th, 2008
"Because of this, the proper design and implementation of a well-developed 5-phase solution can often outperform a lesser 8-phase solution.

The EVGA 790i also uses a true 6-phase PWM controller, where many other boards may make use of 4-phase controllers designed in such a way as to appear to be native 8-phase solutions."
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...spx?i=3265&p=3

8-Phase Asus PWM: Date: February 20th, 2008
"ASUS' power delivery system is among the best in the business at this time. An ADP3228 PWM controller commands an 8-phase solution, made up of low-DCR, solid ferrite-core Yageo inductors, and ultra-low ESR Nichicon capacitors."
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3229&p=2

Of course, these are merely my observations. Take from it what you will, but I often look for the facts and stats, and less on the reviewer's opinion.

[funkflix]

Recieved my XFX today! I will post some results later.

[slim142]

Good luck flunkflix

And btw, how can you NOT know who vince is? xP

BTW, I can see people who bought the SIIE are pretty busy OCing... I see no pictures from them lol! would like to see some

[sonofander]

having a hard time booting into OS with mem frequency in unlinked mode... I can run my ram @ 1800 no prob at 450 fsb in sync mode, but if I drop my fsb to 400, I can't run 1800 in unlinked mode

Anybody having any luck with this? Help me!!! LOL

[dinos22]

having a hard time booting into OS with mem frequency in unlinked mode... I can run my ram @ 1800 no prob at 450 fsb in sync mode, but if I drop my fsb to 400, I can't run 1800 in unlinked mode

Anybody having any luck with this? Help me!!! LOL

install RAM in black slots

[sonofander]

install RAM in black slots

They are...

[gastoncapo]

just bought a evga 790i !!! cant wait to get it...now the next buy is ddr3 ram, what do you guys recommend?? i will be using a q6600 for overclocking fun..i am new to ddr3 so any advise would be greatly appreciated!!

[sonofander]

just bought a evga 790i !!! cant wait to get it...now the next buy is ddr3 ram, what do you guys recommend?? i will be using a q6600 for overclocking fun..i am new to ddr3 so any advise would be greatly appreciated!!

the best there seems to be out right now is the Cell Shock 1800 (theres a thread on it in the bandwidth section). Corsair's 1800 CL7 seems to be doing well too

If those kits are too expensive any kit with micron gtr/gts will do

go have a look around in the bandwidth section - theres alot of discussion on DDR3 right now and kits that have the micron chips

[slim142]

C mon guys! no point on buying such expensive RAM! You are already DDR3 future-proof, get a good 1333mhz and wait for the high-ends to come down in price...

Also, dinos and ppl with S2E boards, whats up with BIOS 503 and 504? I heard they are REAAAALLY good, are they really thaaat good?

[ShoNuff]

having a hard time booting into OS with mem frequency in unlinked mode... I can run my ram @ 1800 no prob at 450 fsb in sync mode, but if I drop my fsb to 400, I can't run 1800 in unlinked mode

Anybody having any luck with this? Help me!!! LOL

Are you using the PO3 bios?

[sonofander]

Are you using the PO3 bios?

as it turns out, I guess I'm not running the new bios

can't download it from EVGA... can someone post it or email it to me?

EDIT:

got em' thanks!