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.

[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.

[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)!

[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.

[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.

[Lu(ky]

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.

So which board do you like best then eternal_fantasy? Asus S2E or the eVGA?
eVGA is working a 790i FTW board with a N/B water block with a 8-phase.