Point to getting a 680i and waiting for an R600?

Yes, you should. It will be out by the end of this month. If they dont pull a G80/C55XE..

Wait for the Abit IN9 32X-MAX, its shaping up to be one of the best (if not THE best) 680i motherboards. Jan '07...

Yea, I have high hopes for the Abit too. The Striker extreme seems really gimmicky, and I just don't see how the gimmicks justify the price. RD600 seems like it could go either way. Since DFI is probably going to be the only manufacturer that utilizes it support could be an issue. And the 680i has thrown down a pretty tough challenge in terms of FSB overclockability. Can't wait to see a comparison though!

:trophy: Preach that like the gospel.
In the weird case that it would be the best OCer of them all, it wouldnt be for much, so it wouldnt be worth the ~$150 extra youll be paying for it over the Abit or DFI.

Rumor has it that well have the IN9 by mid december (call it a xmas miracle), its enginering, its price, its Digital VRMs... its all so alluring...

Yea, I agree completely. While I'm not entirely sure about the stability and longetivity of digital VRM's (I worked on similar devices on a massive scale in the Navy) at least that's an actual ADVANCEMENT of motherboard technology. Soldering some radio-shack push buttons onto jumpers, wiring up some LED's, and depleting the world's copper resources for heat-pipes just isn't too advanced. Don't get me wrong, some of these features are cool/possibly slightly useful, but you can't tell me 3 simple pushbuttons (4 if you count the one on the back), some blue LEDs, a three digit LCD counter, and some copper tubes are worth 50-100 bucks. And aside from that, what do these boards REALLY offer over reference. I'll wait to see the BIOS, but even that doesn't justify much of a cost, if anything, these companies should be including these features in ALL available bioses, though I'm sure idiots would burn up motherboards night and day... Bah, it just really upsets me. CPU prices finally take a huge dive with C2D, and mobo manufacturers look like they're trying to recoup that money for their own products..shame.

For motherboards they have prove much lower voltage fluctuations and since they have been used in server motherboards (wich run 24/7) for a long time I wouldnt doubt their longevitiy.


Thats mainly because were paying a 'adopter' price for the newest technology.
The 650i Ultra chipset will have great (although not as much as 680i) OCing capabilities and wil be priced at ~150. You can also get a S3 and OC to over 450Mhz FSB for $115.