[Fr3ak] EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW review

[Hyperhorn]

Thx
I had my Striker always @air, so luckily none of these problems which are typical for subzero AFAIK.

750i seems the best choice for a cheap SLI-solution...

[tw33ter]

What's a good quadcore and set of 2x2gb to go with this board?

[Fr3ak]

Depends on how much money you want to spend. The best quadcore is the QX9650, but the Q9450 seems to be a nice bang for the buck. The Q6600 is still 65nm, but it has a multi of 9 and overclocks quite nice with the G0-stepping.

45nm quadcores have a lower multiplier because of the higher default FSB and they run into a FSB wall at 450-490 MHz.

As for 4GB kits of DDR2: I had great result with OCZ Reaper DDR800 4-4-3 and right now I am using Corsair Dominators TWIN2X4096-9136C5DF. They are even better, but also more expensive.

[tw33ter]

Do you have a link to where I can find those dominators? They aren't listed on corsair's website, and cant find them anywhere lol. Thanks

edit: since I found the q9450's in stock, I just placed an order for one of those. Now just need to find some memory to pair it up with.

[Fr3ak]

Looks like that memory is not out yet. I will ask if I can get a release date from Crosair.

[AndrewL1950]

Do you have a link to where I can find those dominators? They aren't listed on corsair's website, and cant find them anywhere lol. Thanks

edit: since I found the q9450's in stock, I just placed an order for one of those. Now just need to find some memory to pair it up with.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=28269

see if you can get those.

[FlimFlam00]

Thanks for the review Fr3ak. Here's my little Lian Li a05 with a 750i build

No point in giving a review since mascaras and Fr3ak have all but covered this board, but I thought I would share my rig since people love thread pics! Might as well add to the fun. Love the board, and it is a great board for the money. Nice OC's, great layout, great value, robust, featured bios, and reliable. Somehow, while prices for cpus and gpus have dropped, mobos have skyrocketed. It is nice to get this type of performance for a good price, and get a great layout.

However, the stock nb fan sounds like a weed whacker. You must replace it. I took Leeghoofd's inspiration, and did what he did to his 780i fan. I put a 60mm Stealth on it, and now my system is whisper quiet again.

Systems specs:

LL a05 [blowholes up top - needs the airflow in this case]
Cosair 620w
q6600 (b3) [32 idle]
Swiftech h20-120 Compact
2 x 1gb Dominators 8500 or 2 x 2gb Mushkin 6400, depending on the day
Evga 8800 GTX
HDs: 250 [XP + Vista Ultimate] / 300gb [apps] / 750 [data + media]
Dvico HD tv tuner
Creative x-fi Audio
LG Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player
Plextor DVD-RW
SilenX fans

Yes, my Dominator fan is missing 6 screws - I just did a diagonal pattern after stripping 2 of them modding the fan. I put in 3 Mini Kazes, and there is a big difference in dBa - another suggestion worth thinking about.

[Ghost742]

does moving the card down a slot help nb temps at all?

nice rig, the case looks smaller then mine which is hard to believe tho.

[drizzt5]

With all the stuff in there... the case looks pretty big to me, lol.

I know how big a GTX is and in his case with the rest of the stuff he makes it kind of small looking.

Nice build. Wat clocks do you get with that b3?

[FlimFlam00]

I had it had 470 with an 8 multi, but I could not get it Prime stable; then again, I did not aspend a lot of time tweaking. Running at 470 x7 for ~3.3 @ 5-5-5-12 with 2x1gb Corsair Doms 8500.

[InfamousChu]

just got my 750 in cant wait to fire it up!

[AndrewL1950]

just got my 750 in cant wait to fire it up!

mine should be here tomorrow. Can't wait.

[RADCOM]

+1 lol

[Fr3ak]

My GPU containers will be here soon, so I can do some more xtreme testing =)

[AndrewL1950]

So I got the board and needed to change some of my memory timings to those Mushkin Greg gave me.

However when I go to Advanced Chipset settings, none of the options he told me are there.

I also have no idea how to find my CPU multiplier.

Can anyone let me know how?

CPUZ is saying it's at X6 and my E8400 is only running at 2GHZ

[Fr3ak]

Disable "Intel SpeedStep" and "C1E Function" in teh CPU Feature submenu, that you can find under Advanced BIOS Features.

To change the multiplier you have to go to Frequency/Voltage Control and enable "CPU Ratio Control Unlock". After than you can set the multi in the same menu ("CPU Ratio Control").

[AndrewL1950]

Disable "Intel SpeedStep" and "C1E Function" in teh CPU Feature submenu, that you can find under Advanced BIOS Features.

To change the multiplier you have to go to Frequency/Voltage Control and enable "CPU Ratio Control Unlock". After than you can set the multi in the same menu ("CPU Ratio Control").

Ya, I figured it out. Was confused there for a moment.

Do you know of a problem with CPUz and this board? In bios my multiplier is X9, and CPU at 3ghz. Yet CPUz keeps saying it's at X6 and 2ghz.

[Fr3ak]

CPU-Z should be 100% correct. With C2D CPUs, the multiplier is always correct when the FSB is detected right too.

[JohnnyNitro]

Hello all,
I am getting a BSOD when Vista 64Bit installs. It copies all the files to the hard drive then has to do the reboot. Upon this reboot it starts windows and has the progress bar start then BSOD. I have had XP 32 bit stable on here.. Any suggestions or ideas..
Thanks in advance.

[billyboy]

Does anyone know if it will work with a xeon E3110 out of the box? Also would you guys recommend watercooling the chipset? what with?

[FlimFlam00]

Hello all,
I am getting a BSOD when Vista 64Bit installs. It copies all the files to the hard drive then has to do the reboot. Upon this reboot it starts windows and has the progress bar start then BSOD. I have had XP 32 bit stable on here.. Any suggestions or ideas..
Thanks in advance.

I'd look into the sata drivers and load the latest. Also for Vista, I would remove 2-3 gb from the build, install the 4gb vista hotfix, and then try it again with all ram installed.

[JohnnyNitro]

Yep that was the issue.. 99% sure anyway as I am now finding out that the Dlink 132 usb NIC I was (going) to use does not offer 64 bit support. OH well time to get a newer NIC with Vista 64 bit drivers. Any suggestions????
Took 2GB's out and Vollia...
Until I get the updates from MS .. and all other stuff, I will wait to put in the other 2GB stick.
Thanks for all you help!!

[FlimFlam00]

Nice! I am jealous that it is never that easy for me. usually I have a retention plate fall, or a leak, and a bad bios flash, and a blown psu or something, and I have to rma stuff, swap out parts or something.

Glad it was as easy as just "pulling it out!"

[railmeat]

Thx
I had my Striker always @air, so luckily none of these problems which are typical for subzero AFAIK.

750i seems the best choice for a cheap SLI-solution...

750i seems the best choice for a cheap SLI-solution


agree %100,VERY good ram support\timings.amazing cpu clocks and yes full 2.0 16x2 sli board.plus electric green and black look amazing.

[crash5s]

After frying another striker I'm interested in this board. Same rig as in my sig just sans striker. Has anybody encountered the corruption issues that 780/790/680 were plagued with?