NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Preview

Name: NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Preview - Page 18
Brand: NVIDIA

by Marco Chiappetta — Wednesday, November 08, 2006, 12:50 PM EDT

Performance Summary: The nForce 680i SLI performed very well throughout all of our testing. In every benchmark we ran, our nforce 680i SLI-based system performed on-par or better than a reference system based on Intel's flagship 975X Express chipset. It also outpaced an Asus P5N32-SLI Premium motherboard, powered by the older nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition chipset, in every test.

NVIDIA clearly is bringing a winning product to market with the nForce 680i SLI. The chipset supports all current and some future Intel processors, its performance it top notch, and it's a very good overclocker. The nForce 680i SLI is also arguably the most feature-rich chipset to ever be released for the Intel platform. NVIDIA is the only company to offer a solution for the Intel platform with true, dual PCI Express x16 graphics slots, it has six native SATA ports with RAID support, dual-Gigabit LAN, HD Audio, and a flexible memory controller. And let's not forget that the only way to get SLI support with an Intel processor is with an nForce SLI based motherboard.

The nForce 680i SLI is impressive in just about every category concerning features and performance. The proposed price point puts motherboards based on this chipset in a higher bracket, but since when do enthusiasts not pay top dollar for flagship products? Power consumption was also relatively high versus Intel's 975X Express, but that too is to be expected considering the nForce 680i SLI has more PCI Express lanes and features in general. Overall, we really liked the nForce 680i SLI, and we're giving the EGA reference board we tested high marks on the Heat Meter; a 9 to be exact. Anyone looking to build a high-end, SLI capable rig, powered by an Intel processor will likely be pleased by the nForce 680i SLI.


Great Overclocker SLI Support Flexible Memory Support EPP Support Excellent BIOS Convenient Slot Configuration	Somewhat Expensive Power Consumption Runs Hot

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Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com