Calling all SLI boards.....

[skyguy]

Will be in the market for an SLI mobo in the not-too-distant future......I actually won't be going SLI, however, I simply need the extra slot to go with a 3-monitor configuration.

I'm aware of the 650/680 boards and some of the 680 problems. Stability is key, so I'm wondering if I should run the other way or take my chances and go 680........or maybe 650 is a better option?

Other than the 650/680, are there any good 965 SLI mobos that can OC very well (>430 FSB)?? And have any of these been verified to run an Intel Quad Core??



Much appreciated.

 

[BUFF]

officially SLI is only supported on nVidia chipsets.
Yes, it's been made to work with hacked drivers on other chipsets but afaik there aren't any hacked drivers supporting the latest nVidia cards.

 

[PCAnalyst]

I would say take the chance. eVGA and Nvidia are very good at responding to the various complaints from their forums and will likely keep pumping out revised BIOS' as they have been doing and as the product matures.

I think 3 weeks was the longest wait the two kept the public waiting for the Big Fix for SATA/RAID issues.

 

[skyguy]

So then I wonder if there's much of an advantage to going 680 over 650 instead? Any experience about 650? I've done some reading and it sounds promising, great overclocking, at a much reduced price. Is the feature set that much better on the 680?

 

[PCAnalyst]

From my limited understanding I would say beyond x16 (x2) PCIe SLI with third x8, and extra SATA... nothin much.

I am not sure if there is much of a diference between running the vid cards in SLI on dual X16's vs dual x8's, and since you are not(at least at this time) going to use SLI... it seems like a no brainer to me.

The 650i should have relatively the same BIOS options as big brother for Overclocking such as saved profiles, small incremental voltages, very good definitions to right of screen...yada yada yada, and touting as much as 2025MHz on the FSB(see evga 122-CK review on PCPerspective.com).

I couldn't see using another board, I have tried to find something cheaper that I could use that would give me as much as the 680i offers but as of now it doesn't exist.

 

[skyguy]

Interesting info, thx.

AFAIK, the 8800 cards don't saturate the full X16, and I was told that X8 should be fine and won't bottleneck. Mind you, for the extra bit on the total cost of a build, I doubt going with 650 would save that much money overall anyways.

Yes, I highly doubt I'd be going SLI, I simply need the extra slot to enable a 3-monitor setup. I was going to do it with the 965 board, a 7900GTX and then a simple PCI card for the 3rd display, but with my new 8800 coming, I can't mix-and-match DX9 and DX10 cards........apparently they won't play nicely together with the drivers. So my best bet for 3 monitor setup is to go with a G80 hooked to my 22" display, then a G84 in the Spring to the other 2 19" displays.

But I'm planning on going with liquid cooling and Team Xtreem RAM for the new build, so I wanna push a high OC. Need a good mobo, and hopefully one that can take quad core Intel later. Will the 680 take quad core?

 

[PCAnalyst]

Interesting info, thx.

Sure...

AFAIK, the 8800 cards don't saturate the full X16, and I was told that X8 should be fine and won't bottleneck. Mind you, for the extra bit on the total cost of a build, I doubt going with 650 would save that much money overall anyways.

I think you get about 2-5 more FPS with x16 a little over 12 fps in UT2004 running a single card... so I understand the logic, but if your going to pay that kind of money? Might as well I say

And $100 cheaper or so for the lesser board... everything helps.

But I'm planning on going with liquid cooling and Team Xtreem RAM for the new build, so I wanna push a high OC. Need a good mobo, and hopefully one that can take quad core Intel later. Will the 680 take quad core?

Wish I could muster the juevos to buy those Teams... Just too dayam much at ~ $400.

The 680i supports the quad core line which is why I chose it. And I read last night of an overclock to 3.65 on the board with the QX6700 on air.

I imagine you will squeeze 4GHz out of it with liquid... though I wouldn't do it Not with a $1000 processor... Although it is Winter

 

[skyguy]

Well I guess it sounds like the 680 is preferred. I love the notion of being able to simply pull out a 6300 and drop in a quad core into the mobo. Nothing pi$$es me off more than having to upgrade a mobo and reformat the HD after I spent forever getting everything customized to my liking.

Ya, the Teams are NICE. I actually can get a good deal on them, that's why I'm considering it. And since they can handle a high OC, along with a 680 and liquid I should be able to hit some good numbers.....on a dual core for now then a quad later.


Out of curiosity, have you OC'd your setup, your sig shows damn fine specs. If so, any problems with the 680i? FSB, stability, volts?

 

[BUFF]

I am not sure if there is much of a diference between running the vid cards in SLI on dual X16's vs dual x8's, and since you are not(at least at this time) going to use SLI... it seems like a no brainer to me.

up until now there hasn't been but I was reading a review yesterday which indicated that with the very latest games & hardware that there may be a significant difference (their tests on 1 game showed over 20% difference in max. fps but more importantly a huge difference in minimum fps). Of course really only noticeable at very high res., aniso etc. but you wouldn't be buying 2x8800s to run at 1024x768 ...

 

[PCAnalyst]

FSB at 400MHz to run 1:1 with RAM with 3.2GHz CPU and 800 RAM.

Debating whether it is worth it to continue running at 3.2GHz... I am quite a cautious person.

 

[skyguy]

LOL, I'm running @ 430 FSB on a 6300 and 800 RAM and I thought I was cautious LOL.

Actually, my temps now are ok and I have below stock vCore, and just +0.2 vDIMM, so I'm not worried. I'm gonna sell this rig and go up to a 6600, hoping to get 3.5 ghz on liquid. Then hopefully quad-core next year, I'm such an upgrade whore LOL.

400 FSB isn't too demanding, so as long as the 680 is stable around the 400 mark, should be good to go.

 

[Sublime_OS]

go with the 650i