EVGA nForce 650i Ultra: Performance on a Budget
by Gary Key on April 10, 2007 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Overclocking - E4300
We were able to reach a final benchmark stable setting of 9x380 FSB resulting in a clock speed of 3420MHz. Our E4300 is not the best of the lot and has not gone above 400FSB on several boards so we consider these results to be very good for our particular sample. We were able to POST and enter XP at 9x390 but could not complete our benchmark test suite.
We were able to run our OCZ Flex PC2-9200, OCZ Flex CAS3 PC2-6400, and our Corsair PC2-8888 at the reported timings with a 1T Command Rate enabled with 2.10 V. However, the memory had to be set to Sync mode in order to utilize these timings and command rate. With the memory voltage being limited to 2.1V, it was very difficult finding memory modules that would allow CAS3 and 1T command rate operation while overclocking the FSB. We also had to set the SPP voltage to 1.30V to ensure stability at 1T operation with all of our processors. Vdroop was very acceptable on this board during overclocking with an average drop of .02V during load testing with our E4300.
Overclocking - E6300
Switching to an E6300, we reached a final setting of 7x509 FSB resulting in a clock speed of 3569MHz. We had to loosen our memory timings slightly while overclocking in order to maintain stability at the higher FSB rates. We were not able to run a command rate of 1T past 450FSB and attribute this to crosstalk on the board due to the four-layer design and a lack of memory voltages past 2.1V. We did notice in 4GB testing that we had to change our OCZ Flex PC2-6400 CAS3 memory timings to 4-4-3-10 2T at 2.10V for stable 24/7 operation in a variety of applications. Vdroop was acceptable during load testing with our E6300 with an average drop of .03V.
| EVGA nForce 650i Ultra E4300 Overclocking Testbed |
|
| Processor: | Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Dual Core, 1.86GHz, 2MB Unified Cache 800FSB, 9x Multiplier |
| CPU Voltage: | 1.4625V (default 1.30V) |
| SPP Voltage: | 1.40V |
| FSB Voltage: | 1.40V |
| Cooling: | Tuniq 120 Air Cooling |
| Power Supply: | OCZ ProXStream 1000W |
| Memory: | OCZ Flex XLC PC2-6400 (2x1GB) |
| Video Cards: | 1 x MSI 8800GTX |
| Hard Drive: | Western Digital 150GB 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Buffer |
| Case: | Cooler Master CM Stacker 830 |
| Maximum OC: | 380x9 (3-4-4-9 1T, 760MHz) 3420MHz (+84% CPU) |
| . | |
 |
| Click to enlarge |
We were able to reach a final benchmark stable setting of 9x380 FSB resulting in a clock speed of 3420MHz. Our E4300 is not the best of the lot and has not gone above 400FSB on several boards so we consider these results to be very good for our particular sample. We were able to POST and enter XP at 9x390 but could not complete our benchmark test suite.
We were able to run our OCZ Flex PC2-9200, OCZ Flex CAS3 PC2-6400, and our Corsair PC2-8888 at the reported timings with a 1T Command Rate enabled with 2.10 V. However, the memory had to be set to Sync mode in order to utilize these timings and command rate. With the memory voltage being limited to 2.1V, it was very difficult finding memory modules that would allow CAS3 and 1T command rate operation while overclocking the FSB. We also had to set the SPP voltage to 1.30V to ensure stability at 1T operation with all of our processors. Vdroop was very acceptable on this board during overclocking with an average drop of .02V during load testing with our E4300.
Overclocking - E6300
| EVGA nForce 650i Ultra E6300 Overclocking Testbed |
|
| Processor: | Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Dual Core, 1.86GHz, 2MB Unified Cache 1066FSB, 7x Multiplier |
| CPU Voltage: | 1.4500V (default 1.3250V) |
| SPP Voltage: | 1.50V |
| FSB Voltage: | 1.40V |
| Cooling: | Tuniq 120 Air Cooling |
| Power Supply: | OCZ ProXStream 1000W |
| Memory: | OCZ Flex XLC PC2-6400 (2x1GB) |
| Video Cards: | 1 x MSI 8800GTX |
| Hard Drive: | Western Digital 150GB 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Buffer |
| Case: | Cooler Master CM Stacker 830 |
| Maximum OC: | 509x7 (3-4-4-10 2T, 793MHz) 3569MHz (+91% FSB/CPU) |
| . | |
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Switching to an E6300, we reached a final setting of 7x509 FSB resulting in a clock speed of 3569MHz. We had to loosen our memory timings slightly while overclocking in order to maintain stability at the higher FSB rates. We were not able to run a command rate of 1T past 450FSB and attribute this to crosstalk on the board due to the four-layer design and a lack of memory voltages past 2.1V. We did notice in 4GB testing that we had to change our OCZ Flex PC2-6400 CAS3 memory timings to 4-4-3-10 2T at 2.10V for stable 24/7 operation in a variety of applications. Vdroop was acceptable during load testing with our E6300 with an average drop of .03V.
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kentster2 - Wednesday, April 18, 2007 - link
This motherboard sounds perfect for me but I can't find it anywhere. In fact I can't find any boards based on the 650i Ultra chipset available anywhere. I did find the specs on an MSI board based on this chipset but again no availability. Does anyone know when the general availability will be for these boards?yyrkoon - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Still does not compare to the best AM2 'budget' board out there. Add the following, and it would do good I think:1) Heatpipe cooled chipset
2) Either one more PATA port, or 2 more SATA ports for a total of 8 drives
3) Firewire ( not supported ?! )
4) Overclocking options out the wazzu, with memeory voltages capable of 3.0v
Are the PATA ports controlled by the 430MCP ? It seems that way, going by the features list. If this is the case, WHY leave out a PATA port ? It does not make sense. These four things I've mentioned above are not too much to ask, ABIT has already proven that with the NF-M2 nView, and places like newegg, ZZF, etc can not seem to keep these boards in stock ! What gives . . .
kmmatney - Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - link
it;s obvious that having a high priced sound card will help out with frame rates, but what about a cheaper card? Would a $27 Creative Audigy SE provide the same speed benefits by taking the load from the cpu?Gary Key - Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - link
The SE will provide frame rates that are on average about 2~3% worse than the X-FI in my experiences.lopri - Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - link
Gary's measure is remarkably similar to my observations on EVGA 680i board. (Interesting because the chips used on the 680i SLI are different from 650i Ultra) Without active cooling, I saw SPP temp rising to 100C(!) and MCP to 80C. This will not only cause instability (especially mated with other high-end components) but likely shorten the lifespan of the board. Even more worrisome is that the ever-increasing popularity of those L-shaped HSFs. These HSFs provide practically zero air-flow on the board's hot (i mean, HOT) spots and therefore the heat keeps building up.
I think NV at this point just assume that their target audience are *enthusiasts* in that:
1. Enthusiasts today just accept that a new motherboard/chipset is basically a beta product and expect fix/patches via BIOS updates and/or hardware revision.
2. Enthusiasts tend to employ their own cooling solution anyway.
And that's exactly what I've done up to this date. Every single NV chipset board I bought the first thing I did was replacing stock chipset/VRM cooling with aftermarket stuff.
And I'M TIRED OF IT.
This board may be selling for $99, but in order for you to build your main rig with a peace of mind on it, you will need an aftermarket cooling for the missing SB HSF (how dare they leave it wide open like that is beyond me) and the paltry NB heatsink for a heavier one. There goes extra $20~30 quite easily.
To my eyes, this board cut so many corners and definitely not worth $99. $70~80 maybe. And I do think that's how much it'll sell for in less than a month.
nullpointerus - Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - link
When it's included, active cooling's crap anyway. The little NB/SB fans last a few months at most before giving out completely. Motherboard makers should get in touch with Zalman or somebody like them and get some decent quality HSF's on these boards.jay401 - Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - link
Totally agree! It would be stupid to buy a motherboard that requires you buy other items just to ensure stable operation and longevity.Scarceas - Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - link
Really, who needs 2.2V? If you have RAM that needs that much voltage, chances are you paid more money for it, and the board you are looking to use it with will probably not be a budget board.WT - Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - link
I have an eVGA N41 board, so I want to like this thing, but looking at this 650 board .. blechhh .. talk about plain Jane !! It looks like a straight reference board or an Intel board ! Regardless of looks, performance is what we want, so I would refer anyone looking at this board to read Anand's earlier article on the MSI P6N Platinum and see if that isn't a better fit for your needs. The extra $40-50 is well justified (in my case at least) with the better cooling setup on the MSI board as well as Firewire (just bought a miniDV camcorder) so give that a read as well.If the MSI Plat is priced too high, then check out the FI board priced at $108 at popular vendors websites.
Pirks - Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - link
Gary, E6300 has TWO megabytes of cache, not FOUR