NVIDIA 680i: The Best Core 2 Chipset?
by Gary Key & Wesley Fink on November 8, 2006 4:45 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Gaming Performance
The overall gaming performance of the 680i platform is excellent and is competitive with or faster than any Intel Socket 775 motherboard tested at AT. These results confirm the 680i is an excellent gaming platform for Core 2 processors.
Dual GPU Performance
With the Intel 975X chipset supporting CrossFire only and the review/benchmarks of the NVIDIA 8800 GPU also posting today, there was little point in running benchmarks with the 7900 GTX SLI with nothing to really compare to in performance. For more details on performance of the NVIDIA 680i with the NVIDIA 7900 GTX and 8800 series GPUs, please refer to the 8800 launch review that was also posted today.
The overall gaming performance of the 680i platform is excellent and is competitive with or faster than any Intel Socket 775 motherboard tested at AT. These results confirm the 680i is an excellent gaming platform for Core 2 processors.
Dual GPU Performance
With the Intel 975X chipset supporting CrossFire only and the review/benchmarks of the NVIDIA 8800 GPU also posting today, there was little point in running benchmarks with the 7900 GTX SLI with nothing to really compare to in performance. For more details on performance of the NVIDIA 680i with the NVIDIA 7900 GTX and 8800 series GPUs, please refer to the 8800 launch review that was also posted today.
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MikeyC - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
I'm looking forward to this. Any idea on when you guys will have the bin numbers for the different rates of OC-ability? I'm planning on OCing my e6600 on this board this weekend; I'll post up my numbers if that'll help.Gary Key - Sunday, November 12, 2006 - link
We have not figured it out yet. Two CPUs from the same week and they both act differently during overclocking. We are still working with NVIDIA on this matter.Joepublic2 - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
965 and 975 boards to my knowledge don't support a FSB/mem ratio smaller than 1:1. Does this chipset have the right multiplier to use DDR2-400 while retaining a 1066Mhz FSB?Gary Key - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
The memory settings are sync or async capable on this chipset if you unlink the FSB and Memory in the BIOS. So the answer is yes to your question but believe me this chipset needs good DDR2-800 to get the most out of it. A 1T command rate can make a significant difference in several applications and games. We already found a 4FPS difference in Q4 at 1280x1024 with DDR2-800 at 1T instead of 2T as an example. We will have more on this in our actual board review.Joepublic2 - Monday, November 13, 2006 - link
I was asking mainly because a conroe board that could run a 4:3 FSB/mem multiplier could be an even better overclocker than the 965. One would only need RAM that could hit DDR 752 for a 500Mhz FSB for example.A great review as always!
VooDooAddict - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
Any idea if there are mATX boards using any of thse new chipsets on the way?Gary Key - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
There is the possibility of the 650i Ultra being on a mATX board in late January. However, the suppliers might wait for the new NV Intel IGP chipset coming in Q1. We should have more information in December.
BadThad - Thursday, November 9, 2006 - link
Should be CPU, the X6800 is not a GPU, lol.
Wesley Fink - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
Correctedyacoub - Thursday, November 9, 2006 - link
Do all of the 680i SLi boards require active cooling on the northbridge? That's actually a deal-killer for me, as motherboard fans are about the worst ones out there anymore since they're small, fast-spinning (and due to those two characteristics they are noisy), usually short-lived, and I've yet to see one that is dynamically controlled by the temp of the northbridge.I'm guessng 650i boards don't require active cooling, but are any of the 680i boards using a non-reference design sporting completely silent cooling?