NVIDIA 680i: The Best Core 2 Chipset?
by Gary Key & Wesley Fink on November 8, 2006 4:45 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
nForce 650i SLI & 650i Ultra
For buyers not interested in the top-end features or top end price of the 680i, NVIDIA will offer two additional models at lower price points.
The 650i SLI, which will sell in the $150 to $199 price range, will support a single x16 PCIe video card, or SLI with two video cards driven by two x8 PCIe slots. PCIe lanes are reduced to 18, SATA-II ports from 6 to 4, USB 2.0 from 10 to 8, and it comes with a single Gigabit Ethernet port instead of the two with teaming on the 680i.
The nForce 650i Ultra, designed to sell in the $99 to $149 price range, offers a single x16 PCIe slot in 18 total PCIe lanes. Features are otherwise the same as the 650i SLI.
While there is some overlap in market segments, the 680i is designed to compete with the Intel 975X premium motherboards while providing dual x16 SLI graphics compared to dual x8 CrossFire on the 975x. The 650i SLI should compete with premium Intel 965 boards, while the 650i Ultra will compete with low-end or entry-level P965 motherboards.
For buyers not interested in the top-end features or top end price of the 680i, NVIDIA will offer two additional models at lower price points.
The 650i SLI, which will sell in the $150 to $199 price range, will support a single x16 PCIe video card, or SLI with two video cards driven by two x8 PCIe slots. PCIe lanes are reduced to 18, SATA-II ports from 6 to 4, USB 2.0 from 10 to 8, and it comes with a single Gigabit Ethernet port instead of the two with teaming on the 680i.
The nForce 650i Ultra, designed to sell in the $99 to $149 price range, offers a single x16 PCIe slot in 18 total PCIe lanes. Features are otherwise the same as the 650i SLI.
While there is some overlap in market segments, the 680i is designed to compete with the Intel 975X premium motherboards while providing dual x16 SLI graphics compared to dual x8 CrossFire on the 975x. The 650i SLI should compete with premium Intel 965 boards, while the 650i Ultra will compete with low-end or entry-level P965 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?