Other Deciding Factors

So Nvidia's reference board leads in actual motherboard performance via the ECS PN2 SLI2+ but only by a hair, and that hair is too thin to weigh down most buyers. Other factors that stand out among similarly-performing products include overclocking and added features. A quick repeat of the overclocking results in a handy comparison chart:

Asus leads in maximum achievable bus clock speed, but a quick note on that new BIOS might convince a few buyers to take a wait-and-see approach: BIOS 901 made core voltage changes between 1.430 and 1.600 volts ineffective, removing the most popular Core 2 overclocking voltage range of 1.45 to 1.55 volts. This single change is most likely responsible for a failure to reach previously attained heights of 346 MHz and 458 MHz seen in 680i Comparison Part One.

Abit has come along a bit by getting its IN9 32X-MAX solidly into the "400s", but there should be room for more. And two months of waiting for BIOS version 1.1 to reach final version status is already causing impatience among current owners.

MSI and Gigabyte look to take the industry by storm with added features, the P6N Diamond offering hardware-accelerated RAID plus four PCI-Express x16 slots and the coveted Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio DSP; the GA-N680SLI-DQ6 providing Quad Gigabit networking and 10 Serial ATA ports. Gigabyte's "serious" entry is very close to retail availability, so buyers who prefer P6N Diamond features can only hope that MSI picks up the pace!

Conclusion

Nvidia's reference platform wins the 680i performance race Compare Prices on nForce 680i Motherboards with the ECS PN2 SLI2+ carrying the banner. Other brands of Nvidia's reference design are identically capable, and buyers would be well advised to consider price, package contents and warranty differences before choosing a brand.

Those who find the reference platform is just shy on features might consider the Asus Striker Extreme, Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6 or MSI P6N Diamond. Of these three "feature packed" 680i motherboards, Asus leads in overclocking bus speed, Gigabyte in storage and networking and MSI in audio and graphics support. The field is far too tight to determine a clear feature leader except overclocking, where Asus' high bus speeds are hampered by a CPU core voltage adjustment bug in current BIOS.

A strong integrated feature set including "ultimate SLI capability" continues to lure enthusiasts, but is the 680i really worthy? Nvidia's promise of "legendary"overclocking has yet to be proven, with Asus' leading clock speeds failing to reach those of its own P965 chipset board. Nvidia's on-chipset RAID controller also pails in comparison to Intel's mid-budget ICH8R. Second-rate RAID performance could be a driver issue, but Nvidia hasn't even refreshed the XP platform driver since last fall!

Author's Note

It hasn't been easy for Nvidia's fans and partners, as several BIOS revisions were needed to bring its reference boards up to expected levels of stability, compatibility and performance. Now buyers of alternative designs are faced with the same issues that initially plagued the reference boards. 680i technology holds a lot of promise; let's hope Nvidia delivers on that promise before this technology loses relevance.

Which motherboard would I choose? For my personal system, MSI's P6N Diamond features are most appealing, but the board just isn't ready yet. Gigabyte's GA-N680SLI-DQ6 would probably go in my media server if I had one, and Asus' Striker Extreme has features that will enhance convenience for my test platform.

Lacking any perfect choice I must allow you to lead the way this time.

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