NVIDIA 680i: The Best Core 2 Chipset?
by Gary Key & Wesley Fink on November 8, 2006 4:45 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Test Setup
NVIDIA designed the 680i chipset motherboard that is being released as the EVGA 680i SLI.
The 6-phase, 6-layer motherboard is passively cooled for normal operation. An accessory fan for the chipset is included for extreme overclocking. Since this is a review of the new 680i chipset there will not be in-depth comments on the board layout. However, readers should be aware of the horrible location of the front panel connectors in the middle right edge of the board. They are stacked in line on-top of the auxiliary 12V Molex and the IDE connector, with the memory slots on the other side.
This busy location makes it impossible to do much of anything in setup without dislodging the front panel LEDs and switches. The color code for the front panel connector is also wrong, and does not match any case setup we have tested. Color coding is a good idea but colors should match common setups. NVIDIA is aware of the issues with the location of the front panel connector and the color-coding and they have told us both issues will be fixed in a future revision of the motherboard.
The EVGA 680i SLI was used for all testing of the 680i chipset.
The AnandTech launch article for the NVIDIA 8800 GPUs provides test results with the 680i, 8800, and Core 2 Duo and Quad processors. This chipset review in contrast concentrates on comparing performance with our standard setup of the E6700, 2GB of DDR2 running DDR2-800 3-3-3 timings, and the NVIDIA 7900GTX to other tested Socket 775 Core 2 motherboards.
NVIDIA designed the 680i chipset motherboard that is being released as the EVGA 680i SLI.
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| Click to enlarge |
The 6-phase, 6-layer motherboard is passively cooled for normal operation. An accessory fan for the chipset is included for extreme overclocking. Since this is a review of the new 680i chipset there will not be in-depth comments on the board layout. However, readers should be aware of the horrible location of the front panel connectors in the middle right edge of the board. They are stacked in line on-top of the auxiliary 12V Molex and the IDE connector, with the memory slots on the other side.
This busy location makes it impossible to do much of anything in setup without dislodging the front panel LEDs and switches. The color code for the front panel connector is also wrong, and does not match any case setup we have tested. Color coding is a good idea but colors should match common setups. NVIDIA is aware of the issues with the location of the front panel connector and the color-coding and they have told us both issues will be fixed in a future revision of the motherboard.
The EVGA 680i SLI was used for all testing of the 680i chipset.
| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor: | Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (X2, 2.67GHz, 4MB Unified Cache) |
| RAM: | 2 x 1GB Corsair TCM2X1024-9136C5D Tested at DDR2-800 3-3-3 2.2V |
| Hard Drive(s): | Hitachi 250GB SATA2 enabled (16MB Buffer) |
| System Platform Drivers: | NVIDIA - 9.35 |
| Video Cards: | 1 x EVGA 7900GTX - All Standard Tests 2 x EVGA 7900GTX - SLI on NVIDIA 1 x ATI X1900XTX - ATI Standard Tests on Intel 2 x ATI X1900XT (Master+Standard) - CrossFire on Intel |
| Video Drivers: | NVIDIA 93.71 ATI Catalyst 6.10 |
| CPU Cooling: | Tuniq Tower 120 |
| Power Supply: | OCZ GameXstream 700W |
| Motherboards: | EVGA 680i SLI ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe (Intel 975X) Intel 975XBX (Intel 975X) ASUS P5B Deluxe (Intel P965) ASUS P5N32-SLI (nF4 SLIX16 Intel) Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (Intel P965) Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 (Intel P965) DFI Infinity 975X/G (Intel 975X) ASRock 775Dual-VSTA (VIA PT880 PRO) |
| Operating System: | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
The AnandTech launch article for the NVIDIA 8800 GPUs provides test results with the 680i, 8800, and Core 2 Duo and Quad processors. This chipset review in contrast concentrates on comparing performance with our standard setup of the E6700, 2GB of DDR2 running DDR2-800 3-3-3 timings, and the NVIDIA 7900GTX to other tested Socket 775 Core 2 motherboards.
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MikeyC - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
I'm looking forward to this. Any idea on when you guys will have the bin numbers for the different rates of OC-ability? I'm planning on OCing my e6600 on this board this weekend; I'll post up my numbers if that'll help.Gary Key - Sunday, November 12, 2006 - link
We have not figured it out yet. Two CPUs from the same week and they both act differently during overclocking. We are still working with NVIDIA on this matter.Joepublic2 - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
965 and 975 boards to my knowledge don't support a FSB/mem ratio smaller than 1:1. Does this chipset have the right multiplier to use DDR2-400 while retaining a 1066Mhz FSB?Gary Key - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
The memory settings are sync or async capable on this chipset if you unlink the FSB and Memory in the BIOS. So the answer is yes to your question but believe me this chipset needs good DDR2-800 to get the most out of it. A 1T command rate can make a significant difference in several applications and games. We already found a 4FPS difference in Q4 at 1280x1024 with DDR2-800 at 1T instead of 2T as an example. We will have more on this in our actual board review.Joepublic2 - Monday, November 13, 2006 - link
I was asking mainly because a conroe board that could run a 4:3 FSB/mem multiplier could be an even better overclocker than the 965. One would only need RAM that could hit DDR 752 for a 500Mhz FSB for example.A great review as always!
VooDooAddict - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
Any idea if there are mATX boards using any of thse new chipsets on the way?Gary Key - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
There is the possibility of the 650i Ultra being on a mATX board in late January. However, the suppliers might wait for the new NV Intel IGP chipset coming in Q1. We should have more information in December.
BadThad - Thursday, November 9, 2006 - link
Should be CPU, the X6800 is not a GPU, lol.
Wesley Fink - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
Correctedyacoub - Thursday, November 9, 2006 - link
Do all of the 680i SLi boards require active cooling on the northbridge? That's actually a deal-killer for me, as motherboard fans are about the worst ones out there anymore since they're small, fast-spinning (and due to those two characteristics they are noisy), usually short-lived, and I've yet to see one that is dynamically controlled by the temp of the northbridge.I'm guessng 650i boards don't require active cooling, but are any of the 680i boards using a non-reference design sporting completely silent cooling?