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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davidos - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
Great Review... When can we expect the cheaper 650 boards?Gary Key - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
December for 650i SLI and January for 650i Ultra.
jackylman - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
Why no power consumption tests? I mean, we know the NFurnace is a power hog, but numbers would be nice.A review from another site has the NFurnace consuming about 25W more at idle than a P965. Buy one now and save on your heating oil bill!
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
The upcoming 8800 review reports power consumption of the 8800 on the 680i. We figure a 680i with 8800 SLI and phyics processor should draw enough power to light San Jose :-) ALL the first DX10 video cards will likely require huge amounts of power.We will compare 975x, 965, and 680i chipset on power consumption and add it to the review later this evening.
jackylman - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
Awesome, thank you!Gary Key - Sunday, November 12, 2006 - link
Hi,I decided to run the power tests with a typical high-end setup in a case. We are still working on getting down to the board level properly but these numbers should give you a good indication of the results to date.
X6800, 2GB Memory, 8800GTX, 2 Optical drives, 2 320GB Hard Drives, USB Floppy, Cooler Master Stacker 830 case with 4 120mm Fans, Tuniq 120 Cooler, SB X-FI.
Idle - Power Savings Off
680i SLI - 242W
590SLI - 236W
975X - 221W
P965 - 218W
Full Load -
680i SLI - 324W
590SLI - 331W
975X - 313W
P965 - 309W
We should have some overclocking and SLI numbers by the end of the week.
gramboh - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
Been waiting for this chipset/mainboards to come out for a while, might finally be time for C2D build (with G80!)Thanks for the review.
BladeVenom - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
Nice review. Any idea as to when these should start to shop up at retailers?Wesley Fink - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
The EVGA boards are supposed to go on sale today. We have reports they were on the shelves at Frys last night.nVidia says partner boards will be available beginning today, and ODM boards should start appearing in early December.
hubajube - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
They're on sale at Newegg right now. $270.