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

[sonofander]

What are the difficulties that you are talking about? What makes the evga board an easier overclocker? Fill us in bro

On the ref board, you can jump in perfectly stable at 400+ FSB without changing a thing. Not so on the striker... Takes some tinkering. I've been able to get to 470 so far, but its taking some work. The upside is you have alot more control with the striker bios

I hope ya mean 3ns, 30ns that's an awesome difference... maybe a setting you forgot with the reference board...

Not 3... 30!!!
and I'm pretty sure I accounted for all available settings on the EVGA. Thing is, I haven't even started tweaking mem timings on the striker!

Again, if you want easy, get the ref board. Its not a bad board and it handles itself well. Its just my opinion that there are gains to be had, and if you're willing to spend a day tweaking the bios,working through the bsods and instability, the striker is just a better board once you get it dialed in

[bellinghamwa]

I also have been pleased with my EVGA 790i performance; including RAID 0 performance.

Below is a screenshot of 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 in RAID 0. Note, the Average read is about 210 MB/s on the first 200GB which I am well under with my existing programs.

Note, the Average Read on the 790i is about 20MB/s faster than it was on my older 680i using the exact same hard drives.

[xt0m]

I'm at 487fsb on the SIIE but initial impression is that its loads of work to get stable
Kinda thinking to give the XFX/EVGA a go

[sonofander]

I'm at 487fsb on the SIIE but initial impression is that its loads of work to get stable
Kinda thinking to give the XFX/EVGA a go

no joke!

but well worth the work IMHO

[xt0m]

Im not overly patient in that regard, spent a few days in a row already
Had some SPD issues with OCZ 1600C7 as well btw

E: XFX 790i on its way now ^^

[LockBreaker]

What is best of the ASUS, XFX and EVGA boards? When it comes to the 790i Ultra SLI chipsets.

[sonofander]

read the last 2 pages of this thread. It depends on what you're looking for

[LockBreaker]

I was thinking about the ASUS Striker II Extreme. But now I am not shure anymore, because I saw some mixed up opinions about the board.

I am looking for a board with good OC-capbilities so I can bring my upcoming Q9450 to about 3,6 or more.

EVGA, ASUS or XFX? (790i)

[seamumc]

the xfx and evga are the same boards, both by Foxconn and are reference boards.

[LockBreaker]

Ye, but what's the best choice for overcloking-capabillity and stability?

EDIT: I guess I'll just read the last two pages. But it would be nice if someone could answer me on my question. Please!

[seamumc]

Ye, but what's the best choice for overcloking-capabillity and stability?

Unfortunately there aren't that many folks with the boards with time to comment. This thread and others in the OC and Review forums have a bit more to go on.

I also recommend checking out EVGA's forums. This is something you are going to need to make up your own mind on.

There are certainly 'quirks' with both boards, most of the information on the XS forums is from folks interested in benchmark scores not everyday usage.

HardOCP has a pretty good preview on the XFX which should apply to the EVGA as well. They certainly keep in mind that they got burned last year when they gave the 680i a glowing review only to be embarrased by the various problems that plagued the chipset.

I'm with HardOCP, I'd wait at least a month before grabbing a 790i mobo.

[LockBreaker]

Ok. So I guess I am back at the XFX then.

What about the Foxconn Dreadnought? Is it any better? A little too early too say maybe?

[eternal_fantasy]

I still like my STRIIEX

I found two FSB Holes (400 + 475) thats right. No other issues yet. My cellshock RAM works very well on the STRIIEX. No Problems.

But i still have only a crap E6600 and no SLI.
Don´t forget: i´m completely nvidia-n00b... only use intel-boards before. I must learn a lot.

Next week i get two 9800GTX i hope. No E8500 is available Should i buy the E8200? I don´t know...

I have used different CPUs on the S2E and here are my findings;
Using the QX9650 I can only run at default FSB. Multiplayer has no effect on stability, so I can run at 4Ghz/333FSB fine.
Using the E8400 only up to 3.8Ghz
Using the QX6850 up to 3.6Ghz, 450Mhz FSB, and using only 1.28V!!! (usually need about 1.4V)

note: Using BIOS 0507

just replaced my reference board with the SIIE... thought I'd throw up some impressions and observations.

The reference board is definately easier to oc. DEFINATELY! lol
while the Striker is taking a bit more work, I've noticed some performance improvements. Seems like clock for clock, the STriker has better mem performance as well as 3D performance.

My mem read/write/copy are all up by at least 1000 (per everest) and latency is down by 30ns or so

3D benches are up by about 400 points or so

this is a great board... lots of nice touches tha the ref board doesn't have and increased performance from my experience. Again, it is definaely harder to work with, but it seems to me that the time spent in really figuring out your overclock is time well spent

sending my ref board back this afternoon

The third thing I notice of the reference board (after the stability and droop) is that the memory performance on the EVGA is totally lacking compared to the ASUS. at the same FSB and CPU/RAM speed my memory performance dropped by 1500MB/s read, and an increase of around 15s latency, from 49ns to 64ns. My PCMark Vantage score also show a drop of around 1500 points.

On the ref board, you can jump in perfectly stable at 400+ FSB without changing a thing. Not so on the striker... Takes some tinkering. I've been able to get to 470 so far, but its taking some work. The upside is you have alot more control with the striker bios



Not 3... 30!!!
and I'm pretty sure I accounted for all available settings on the EVGA. Thing is, I haven't even started tweaking mem timings on the striker!

Again, if you want easy, get the ref board. Its not a bad board and it handles itself well. Its just my opinion that there are gains to be had, and if you're willing to spend a day tweaking the bios,working through the bsods and instability, the striker is just a better board once you get it dialed in

I have spent around a week trying to get my S2E stable with the QX9650 with any sort of FSB overclock. As said in my previous post it all seems perfectly stable stressing using ORTHOS or OCCT for hours, but BSOD for no reason, and happens during PCMarkVantage runs almost always, and sometimes during shutdown/restart.

sonofander, Which version BIOS are you using? can you do a file integrity check in vista? and also can you post your BIOS settings on the S2E, as I can duplicate your setup with CellShock Memory and QX9650 CPU. Lastly can you run PCMark Vantage on your overclock setup? it always seem to bring my S2E system down with any sort of FSB overclock. Thanks!!

[eternal_fantasy]

Oh and I'm on EVGA 4.05Ghz 450FSB, 1800Mhz 7-6-6-21 1:2 absolutely stable!

Funny thing is the performance is about the same as the ASUS S2E 4Ghz 333FSB, 1818Mhz 8-7-6-21 stable....

[dinos22]

The third thing I notice of the reference board (after the stability and droop) is that the memory performance on the EVGA is totally lacking compared to the ASUS. at the same FSB and CPU/RAM speed my memory performance dropped by 1500MB/s read, and an increase of around 15s latency, from 49ns to 64ns. My PCMark Vantage score also show a drop of around 1500 points.

i agree absolutely about memory performance on those bioses

once you get the new bios from evga with P1 and P2 it will be the same as Asus

[Tony]

the evga will take the bios as will the xfx, you just need the right force command for awdflash
They are the same board you know LOL

[Lu(ky]

just replaced my reference board with the SIIE... thought I'd throw up some impressions and observations.

The reference board is definately easier to oc. DEFINATELY! lol
while the Striker is taking a bit more work, I've noticed some performance improvements. Seems like clock for clock, the STriker has better mem performance as well as 3D performance.

My mem read/write/copy are all up by at least 1000 (per everest) and latency is down by 30ns or so

3D benches are up by about 400 points or so

this is a great board... lots of nice touches tha the ref board doesn't have and increased performance from my experience. Again, it is definaely harder to work with, but it seems to me that the time spent in really figuring out your overclock is time well spent

sending my ref board back this afternoon

Very nice mini review I have seen. How is the Vdroop on the Asus vs eVGA board?

[dinos22]

the evga will take the bios as will the xfx, you just need the right force command for awdflash
They are the same board you know LOL

Tony

i emailed the bios i have to Pedro. He tried to flash his eVGA and could not flash it

I thought they are the same but maybe there are some slight differences
don't think pedro would have issues following simple instructions lol

[slim142]

Hey guys one question real quick

How good is tankguys.biz for buying stuff? Im asking cause I just pre-ordered a Q9450 Retail and I would like to know if this guys have their word on items like this (hot, limited items). I know Im probably on a pretty long list but... will they really ship my cpu once they get them in stock? will it take them a long time?

[Tony]

Tony

i emailed the bios i have to Pedro. He tried to flash his eVGA and could not flash it

I thought they are the same but maybe there are some slight differences

P03r2? you may need a better version of awdflash and the correct command line.

AWDFLASH BIOSNAME.BIN /F/PROT

Now all you need is the awdflash that came with that command line

[Tony]

p1 and p2 switch off at 475fsb, so if you are looking for performance over this just use ntune to clock up for now

[dinos22]

P03r2? you may need a better version of awdflash and the correct command line.

AWDFLASH BIOSNAME.BIN /F/PROT

Now all you need is the awdflash that came with that command line

i didn't have to do anything fancy to be honest

all i had to do is boot to bootable floppy and then insert new floppy with bios file and flash program and type flash.bat

[dinos22]

p1 and p2 switch off at 475fsb, so if you are looking for performance over this just use ntune to clock up for now

are you sure mate

have a look at my testing thread
if they were off and i booted at 556MHz FSB at 5GHz and did 9m14s 32M SuperPi there is no way that is off (as that superpi time is very very fast)

i ONLY tested at 500 and 556MHz FSB (booting from bios) and it was lightning fast.

please find all attached screenshots here
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=179484

i have done step by step 32M benchmarks at 500*9.5 and have shown how much impact P1 and P2 make on performance

[Tony]

on the evga or reference with a prior version to the bios i just mentioned they do...things change with each bios release though.
P1 and P2 options are there to force the option ON after the cut off point.

I have a feeling they are tied to tRD some how in a bid to increase FSB capability on the chipset, more testing will soon prove this right or wrong. I have 0507 for the Asus also which has tRD along with P1 and P2, thing is tRD does next to nothing unless you set 1 where it just stops the board booting.
Side note..tRD on the formula does nothing, its a placebo option as far as i know...set what you like to look good but don't expect a performance increase

i just got going on 790i, I did 8GB at 2000 on FCG's Asus rig which I have not seen anyone else do yet and now the quest is to get the XFX doing it also if I can get this bios to flash on monday

[railmeat]

on the evga or reference with a prior version to the bios i just mentioned they do...things change with each bios release though.
P1 and P2 options are there to force the option ON after the cut off point.

I have a feeling they are tied to tRD some how in a bid to increase FSB capability on the chipset, more testing will soon prove this right or wrong. I have 0507 for the Asus also which has tRD along with P1 and P2, thing is tRD does next to nothing unless you set 1 where it just stops the board booting.
Side note..tRD on the formula does nothing, its a placebo option as far as i know...set what you like to look good but don't expect a performance increase

i just got going on 790i, I did 8GB at 2000 on FCG's Asus rig which I have not seen anyone else do yet and now the quest is to get the XFX doing it also if I can get this bios to flash on monday

"I did 8GB at 2000 on FCG's Asus rig "

wow!!

what nb,ram voltages?