[Mini-Review] EVGA 750I SLI FTW (470FSB with Quad-core !!)

mascaras · 04-11-2008, 08:54 AM

About EVGA:

Quote:

Founded in 1999, EVGA has grown exponentially in the channel, serving the system builder, distribution and retail markets with products that offer the highest in quality and customer satisfaction, thereby making the computing experience transparent to the hardware in the box.
EVGA only offers visual processing products based on NVIDIA chipsets and in year 2005 expanded its product line to include motherboards.

For further information online about EVGA, visit http://www.evga.com.

About 750 i SLi FTW :

Quote:

The EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW is the latest addition to EVGA line of high-performance SLI-ready motherboards .
Engineered for the win, this motherboard features 100% solid state capicators, and a 6 phase power solution to achieve the stability of extreme FSB and memory overclocking.

The EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW motherboard brings screaming performance and SLI power at a lower retail price.

Performance and stability for the win:

* Reach extreme overclocking speeds supporting 1600MHz FSB and beyond.*
* 6 phase power design for the ultimate in stability and performance.*
* Solid state capacitors allowing better overclocking and stability.*
* Easy troubleshooting features with on-board CMOS Reset button.*
* Extreme DDR2 speeds of 1066MHz and beyond.*

Features and Benefits:

* NVIDIA SLI certified*
* Intel socket 775*
* 45nm CPU ready (Yorkfield & Wolfdale)*
* 6 Phase power design*
* PCI Express 2.0 support*
* 4 Right-angled SATA-2 ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5, JBOD*
* On-board buttons for CMOS/Power/Reset*
* HD Audio - 7.1 Channel*

PCI Express 2.0:

When using this platform with an EVGA PCIe 2.0 graphics card; double the bandwidth is achieved. With up to 16GB/s of bandwidth and advanced power management features, PCIe 2.0 is the ultimate interface for enthusiasts. PCIe 2.0 is entirely backwards compatible, meaning a PCIe 2.0 card or motherboard will work with any PCIe device and visa versa.

6 Phase power design & Solid state capacitors

CMOS/Power/Reset on-board buttons

Bios Voltages :

Vcore : 0.50000v - 1.80000v
Memory : 1.80v - 2.5v
vFSB : 1.2v - 1.55v
SPP : 1.3v - 1.55v
NF200 : 1.2v - 1.55v
GTLREF : +0mV - +160mV

As we see , Bios has a lot of settings/voltages !

..

Hardware

- Intel E8400 -
- Thermalright Extreme 120 -
- Evga 750i SLi FTW -
- Geforce 9800GX2 -
- 4GB (2x2GB) Gskill 8000 PQ -
- Seagate Barracuda 250GB Single Platter -
- Corsair HX-620W -

Everest Inf

CPU-Z

Default

Intel E8400 @ 3Ghz (333x9)
4GB Gskill PQ @ DDR2-800Mhz / 5-5-5-15
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

SuperPi 1M

Everest

Overclock & Vdroop

Intel E8400 @ 4Ghz (445x9)
Vcore Bios = 1.35v
4GB Gskill PQ @ DDR2-990Mhz / 5-5-5-15 (Unlinked)
Vdim = 2.05v
All other voltages = AUTO
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

Not much vcore droop from Bios to Windows Idle (0.02v)

Also Vdroop (Windows Idle >>> Windows Load) not too much , just 0.02v :

Total Vcore droop from Bios to Windows Full Load = ~ 0.04v

SuperPi 1M

Everest

Nvidia chipsets are well known for being very good in memory bandwidth , specially in read and latency !

With the current settings on EVGA 750i Sli FTW we got 10800MB/s Memory Read and around 50ns latency !

For comparison , with Asus P5E X38 with same FSB but with memory speed even Higher (1066Mhz) i got 9350MB/s Read & 54.5ns Latency !

500 FSB 1:1

Intel E8400 @ 4Ghz (500x8)
Vcore Bios = 1.35v
4GB Gskill PQ @ DDR2-1000Mhz / 5-5-5-15 (Linked)
Vdim = 2.05v
SPP = 1.40v
All other Voltages = AUTO
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

Everest

Very Good Results , specially the excellent Latency = 47.2ns !!

Intel E8400 @ 4Ghz (445x9)
Vcore Bios = 1.35v
4GB Gskill PQ @ DDR2-1000Mhz / 5-5-5-15 (Unlinked)
Vdim = 2.05v
All other voltages = AUTO
Geforce 9800GX2 Default (600/1500/2000)
Forceware 17.74 HWQL
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit (Not SP1)

With 3Dmark 2006 we finish the first part of the Review !

We can say that EVGA motherboard done pretty well with Intel new generation of Dual Core processors , good OC , no problems with 4Gb ram and excellent bandwidth results !

If you have a Dual Core and you´re looking for a good Mobo Price/Performance , with EVGA 750i SLi FTW you already know that's guaranteed and also the advantage of being SLi-capable !

-----------------------------------------------------------´´-------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware

- Intel Q6600
- Thermalright Extreme 120 -
- Evga 750i SLi FTW -
- Geforce 9800GX2 -
- 4GB (2x2GB) Gskill 8000 PQ -
- Seagate Barracuda 250GB Single Platter -
- Corsair HX-620W -

CPU-Z

Default

Intel Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz (266x9)
4GB Gskill PQ @ DDR2-800Mhz / 5-5-5-15
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

SuperPi 1M

Everest

Overclock & Vdroop

Intel Q6600@ 3.6Ghz (400x9)
Vcore Bios = 1.48v
4GB Gskill PQ @ DDR2-1000Mhz / 5-5-5-15 (Unlinked)
Vdim = 2.05v
SPP = 1.5v
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

CPU-Z

As we see , with 1.48v set in Bios = 1.456v Windows idle

SuperPi 1M

Everest

Intel Q6600@ 3.6Ghz (400x9)
Vcore Bios = 1.48v
4GB Gskill PQ @ DDR2-1066Mhz / 5-5-5-15 (Linked)
Vdim = 2.05v
SPP = 1.5v
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

450 FSB & Quad-Core

Intel Q6600@ 3.6Ghz (450x8)
4GB Gskill PQ @ DDR2-1000Mhz / 5-5-5-15 (Linked)
Vcore= 1.48v/1.49v
Vdim = 2.05v
SPP = 1.5v
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

CPU-Z

Vcore droped from 1.48v/1.49v Bios to 1.465v Windows Idle

Everest

Prime95 @ Small FFTs

Intel Q6600@ 3.6Ghz (450x8)
4GB Gskill PQ @ DDR2-900Mhz / 5-5-5-15 - Linked @ Sync (1:1)
Vcore = 1.48v/1.49v
Vdim = 2.0v
SPP = 1.5v
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

Vdroop is a little bit higher than with the Dual core , but here we also used Higher Vcore !

1.46v Windows Idle >> 1.41v Windows Full (running Prime95 Small FTTs )

Total Vcore Droop from Bios to Windows Full Load = ~ 0.06v/0.07v

..

470 FSB & Quad-Core

Intel Q6600@ 3.29Ghz (470x7)
4GB Gskill PQ @ DDR2-940Mhz / 5-5-5-15 (Linked)
Vdim = 2.0v
vFSB = 1.35v
SPP = 1.5v
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

CPU-Z

Everest

Prime95 @ Small FFTs

Seems like the EVGA 750i motherboard also performs very well with Quad-core processors !!

470 FSB with Quad-core is really awesome!

.

Q6600@ 3.6ghz (400x9)
4GB Gskill PQ @ DDR2-900Mhz / 5-5-5-15
9800GX2 Default
Forceware 174.74 HWQL
settings : High
1680x1050
Vista 64bit
DX10

!TimeDemo Run 2 Finished.

Average 49.3 FPS
Min 29.7 FPS
Max : 66.2 FPS

..

Q6600@ 3.6ghz (400x9)
4GB Gskill PQ @ DDR2-900Mhz / 5-5-5-15
9800GX2 Default
Forceware 174.74 HWQL
settings : Very High
1680x1050
Vista 64bit
DX10

!TimeDemo Run 2 Finished.

Average 31.4 FPS
Min 13.7FPS
Max : 37 FPS

Like ou friend Borat use to say :

GREIT SUCCESS!!

Unfortunately i dont have Two cards to run/test SLi , but i think our friend Fr3ak will do same 3D tests with 9600GT SLI , so stay also tuned in his review HERE !

...

To sum things up, what can i say from Evga Latest Board?

well, its fast! Freaking fast! Its Well done, and its layout is excelent! It´s Quad-Core & Dual Core Performance was very good, and Full SLI with 16x/16x is kick Ass!

The Price is just right, and the performance is expected to go up, with upcoming bios and drivers!

» Quality«
» Performance «
» 6 Phase power design & Solid state capacitors «
» CMOS/Power/Reset on-board buttons «
» Overclock «
» SLI capable «
» Price «

» NB Fan a little noisy «
» Bios still needing some tweaking «

Special thnks to EVGA for the Sample !

Regards!

...

mascaras · 04-11-2008, 08:55 AM

reserved 2

fungry · 04-11-2008, 09:14 AM

some nice pictures there.

FlimFlam00 · 04-11-2008, 09:25 AM

Nice initial post Mascaras. I see you succumbed to the allure of the 750i FTW like I did.

Love the layout of this board, and really intrigued by its value/OC potential.

Some people don't seem to think this is a worthy step up from the 680i, but maybe you guys will agree that there are certain redeeming qualities about doing this. 680i have issues with quads. The layout is better. Plus, hopefully, the BISO updates and CS drivers will be more mature and robust even though both CS's share many things.

Wonder how hot the NB runs?

Leeghoofd · 04-11-2008, 09:37 AM

if this baby retails for around 150 euro's I might give it a shot too, but I need to make sure if the Vcore still droops/drops as much as the 780i (P03 bios) did...

Will watch this thread closley Mascaras

mascaras · 04-11-2008, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leeghoofd

if this baby retails for around 150 euro's I might give it a shot too, but I need to make sure if the Vcore still droops/drops as much as the 780i (P03 bios) did...

Will watch this thread closley Mascaras

1.30v Bios = 1.28v Windows idle = 1.264v FULL

Leeghoofd · 04-11-2008, 03:08 PM

Those are the volts I can live with, damn with the 780i I needed 1.6volts to be at 1.49 under load...

Thx man...

mascaras · 04-11-2008, 04:13 PM

1.343v Bios

Idle (1.32v)

Full (1.304v)

All voltages Auto , except Vcore & vdim

regards

drizzt5 · 04-11-2008, 04:16 PM

NICE!...

I wanna see some results with a q6600 :P I might be picking up this board... I'm a little mad at the price rise though -_-

GOZR · 04-11-2008, 06:16 PM

"price rise"

?? ??

drizzt5 · 04-11-2008, 06:41 PM

I saw it for 179 or something with free shipping on newegg yesterday... maybe the day before... It's just a little more now, not a big deal.

GOZR · 04-11-2008, 06:47 PM

Hummm that is weird I always saw it at 189 Newegg or 199 at EVGA..

So hurry get one ...

drizzt5 · 04-11-2008, 06:53 PM

I could be mistaken, but i know for a fact i saw free shipping prior to the reviews arriving on newegg.

~~Omastar~~ · 04-11-2008, 06:58 PM

Somehow, their NB cooling solution bugs me. Hot air blows against the back of the video card PCB?

FlimFlam00 · 04-11-2008, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omastar

Somehow, their NB cooling solution bugs me. Hot air blows against the back of the video card PCB?

Mod it!

Doh, my 750i FTW won't be here until Wed, even though my 8400 comes on Mon.

Loser777 · 04-11-2008, 07:24 PM

Looks like a great board for SLI, now lets see how high the FSB can go...

mascaras · 04-12-2008, 07:37 AM

Dual Core tests added !

regards

FlimFlam00 · 04-12-2008, 08:21 AM

Mascaras, nice work, great pics, and I applaud your overall thoroughness

Those are some tasty numbers, and I think it is safe to say, Evag/Nvidia hit the mark on this board, and it is a great value considering its performance.

Really, I think it hits the price point of where boards should be.

GOZR · 04-12-2008, 08:53 AM

"I think it hits the price point of where boards should be"

100 % agree.......

triple_A · 04-12-2008, 09:49 AM

LOL can't believe they actually named a motherboard "FTW"

Anywayz, seems like a nice mobo. I'd love to see how it clocks with a quadcore.
could be a nice board to replace my p5n-e sli with in a couple of months..

GOZR · 04-12-2008, 09:53 AM

Better "FTW" than "WTF"

drizzt5 · 04-12-2008, 10:10 AM

I lawled when i saw FTW... Thought it stood for something technical at first...

mascaras · 04-12-2008, 02:22 PM

added few tests @ Quad-core

mion · 04-12-2008, 02:48 PM

how big is the northbridge heatsink, the bottom part?

Counter CS · 04-12-2008, 04:49 PM

Great success