Onboard Devices
| Northbridge | Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI SPP |
| Southbridge | Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI MCP |
| Voltage Regulator | Six Phases |
| BIOS | P06 (06/25/2008) |
| 333.3 MHz (FSB-1333) | 333.3 MHz (+0.0%) |
| Clock Generator | Nvidia |
| Connectors and Interfaces | Row 6 - Cell 1 |
| Onboard | 3x PCIe x16 (Transfer Modes: 2x 2.0, 1x 1.0) |
| Row 8 - Cell 0 | 2x PCIe x1 |
| Row 9 - Cell 0 | 2x PCI |
| Row 10 - Cell 0 | 2x USB 2.0 (2 ports per connector) |
| Row 11 - Cell 0 | 1x IEEE-1394 FireWire |
| Row 12 - Cell 0 | 1x Serial Port header |
| Row 13 - Cell 0 | 1x Ultra ATA (2 drives) |
| Row 14 - Cell 0 | 7x Serial ATA 3.0 Gb/s |
| Row 15 - Cell 0 | 1x Front Panel Audio |
| Row 16 - Cell 0 | 1x Internal Power Button |
| Row 17 - Cell 0 | 1x Internal Reset Button |
| Row 18 - Cell 0 | 1x Fan 4 pins (CPU/Chassis) |
| Row 19 - Cell 0 | 4x Fan 3 pins (Chassis/Chipset) |
| IO panel | 2x PS2 (keyboard + mouse ) |
| Row 21 - Cell 0 | 2x Digital Audio Out (S/P-DIF optical + coaxial) |
| Row 22 - Cell 0 | 1x External SATA |
| Row 23 - Cell 0 | 1x IEEE-1394 FireWire |
| Row 24 - Cell 0 | 6x USB 2.0 |
| Row 25 - Cell 0 | 6x Analog Audio Jack (7.1 ch. out, Mic+Line In) |
| Row 26 - Cell 0 | 2x RJ-45 Network |
| Mass Storage Controllers | Row 27 - Cell 1 |
| nForce 790i MCP | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s (RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5, JBOD) |
| JMicron JMB362 PCI-E | 1x eSATA + 1x SATA 3.0 Gb/s |
| Network | Row 30 - Cell 1 |
| 2x Broadcom B5071A2KFBG PCI-E | 2x Gigabit LAN Connection |
| Audio | Row 32 - Cell 1 |
| Realtek ALC888S | 7.1 + 2 channel Multi-Streaming Output |
| FireWire | Row 34 - Cell 1 |
| Texas Instruments TSB43AB22A PCI | 2x IEEE-1394a (400 Mbit/s) |
An otherwise typical high-end device list stands out only because the XFX nForce 790i Ultra has seven SATA ports and one eSATA port, rather than the expected 6+2 combination.
Rear panel connections include two PS/2 ports, coaxial and optical digital audio outputs, a single eSATA port, an IEEE-1394 FireWire port, six USB 2.0 ports, six analog audio jacks, and two Gigabit Ethernet ports.
The XFX nForce 790i Ultra is the second motherboard in today’s comparison to use the tiny JMicron JMB362 2-port SATA controller for eSATA. Below it is the oddly-placed internal connection to the same controller.
Defying conventional wisdom, the XFX nForce 790i Ultra uses solid capacitors for its Realtek ALC888S audio controller, and electrolytic capacitors in most other areas. The electrolytic capacitors are Samxon brand, a name that has earned a great deal of respect compared to other non-Japanese brands.
The XFX nForce 790i Ultra’s TSB43AB22A IEEE-1394 FireWire controller is hidden beneath a PCI Express x16 slot latch. In front of it, an old-fashioned socket-mounted BIOS ROM is easily replaced in the event of a bad flash.
