EVGA 790i SLI FTW Sneak Peek - Digital PWM

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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A quick look at the unboxing of our new EVGA 790i SLI FTW motherboard we just got in for testing. Have not been many Digital PWM boards in the recent past. Never saw this ABIT IX38 Quad GT first hand. ABIT would not send one because they said it would "not stand up to our testing." We will see how the EVGA does though. :cool:

Our Video is HERE!

Here is what EVGA has to say:

EVGA took the original overclockers dream; The EVGA 790i SLI FTW; and made it even more extreme with the addition of Digital Power Management (Digital PWM - Pulse Width Modulation), once again improving upon the voltage stability and efficiency. In addition, the EVGA 790i SLI FTW Digital PWM includes solid state capacitors, an 8-Phase Power design, on-board all ferrite core chokes, an enhanced enthusiast BIOS, Vdroop control and much more. The EVGA 790i SLI FTW Digital PWM is the Ultimate platform for those who demand the best and expect the best!
Click to expand...
 
Hopefully it won't be $400+

and it would have been sweet to see this in LGA1366 instead of 775... :eek:
 
Wow. That is a sexy motherboard. I can't wait to see is Digital PWM lives up to the better overclocking claim or if it will simply end up being a useless marketing point. Too bad I'm not in the marker for LGA775 boards anymore though. My next major upgrade will either be Core i7 or AMD's new CPUs, whichever does better.
 
dR.Jester said:
Hopefully it won't be $400+

and it would have been sweet to see this in LGA1366 instead of 775... :eek:
Click to expand...

I bet it will be over $400. NVIDIA is not producing a Nehalem chipset.
 
Awesome commentary by Kyle, nice and relaxed. And I do agree with the last comment, my e-penis is already growing seeing those PWM's soldered on the motherboard.
 
Visually appealing board.

I like how they moved the SATA ports away from in front of the PCIe slots.

Implementation of digital PWM clears out the area around the CPU. This should solve HSF and CPU water block mounting issues.

Hopefully the board will perform as good or better than its older brother.
 
I've got a DFI P35 T2R UT with a digital PWM and it's been awesome so far. I haven't pushed it far (only 450FSB) but it's been stable as a rock for over 6 months.
 
Checked out eVGA.com listing for $339.99 and judging by the forums, looks like multiple members' status are in "processing order". Didn't notice anyone posting anything about the digital PWM advantages at the time of this posting. My question is with the lack of components ( caps, chokes, etc.) around the socket area, will there be a decrease in heat build up?
 
I know you're not a huge DFI fan or anything Kyle, but they've been using DPWM on boards for quiet a while now. Considering this is an enthusiast site, I would think you guys would look at their boards more often as they generally offer the best and most robust bios options on any board hands down.

You may disagree of course and ymmv, but they've been producing quality boards since the board in my sig. I do admit that their boards aren't always plug and play though. Sometimes you have to update the bios as soon as you get it and you may have to tweak some things to get it running smoothly, but once you do you're generally in for some great over clocks.

I've also noticed some boards as of late by Asus,Gigabyte and the like you've had to work with to get up and running as well, so that kind of puts them in the same boat.

I think I read a post where you had a falling out with DFI on getting them to respond to your questions or regarding reviewing new boards?

I can't remember exactly what it was, but I'm sure you can clarify.

Anyway, they have great support forums that work pretty well from my experience and friends experience as well if you need some help.

Would be nice to see you guys review some of their boards again in the future if you could hash things out between the [H] and DFI. ;)

Back on track on the subject of this board, it looks nice and I hope it does improve the clocks as well as provide some lower heat output if possible. I need to build a new rig myself, but I think I may hold off till Nehamlem or AMD's new line.

Maybe I can pop in a newer vid card and maybe two more sticks of ram, oc a bit and get another 8-10 months worth of gaming out of my current rig before having to plop down cash on a new one.

Though I've been putting it off entirely too long now, this rig is now 3yrs old....how times flys. :eek:

Anyway, here's just a few boards below that they offer with DPWM.

DFI LANPARTY LT X48-T3RS
http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_pr...p?PRODUCT_ID=6075&CATEGORY_TYPE=LP LT&SITE=NA

DFI LANPARTY LT X48-T2R
http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_pr...p?PRODUCT_ID=5917&CATEGORY_TYPE=LP LT&SITE=NA

DFI LANPARTY LT X38-T2R
http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_pr...p?PRODUCT_ID=5719&CATEGORY_TYPE=LP LT&SITE=NA

DFI INF. BloodIron_P35-T2L
http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_pr...RODUCT_ID=5496&CATEGORY_TYPE=INFINITY&SITE=NA

DFI INF. BloodIron_P35-T2RL
http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_pr...=US&CATEGORY_TYPE=LP UT&INDEX_TYPE=MB&SITE=NA

These 3 as well, figured you could check out the site if you're interested any further. =]
LANPARTY UT P45-T2RS
LANPARTY UT X48-T3RS
LANPARTY UT X48-T2R
LANPARTY DK X48-T2RS
LANPARTY DK X38-T2R
LANPARTY DK P45-T2RS
 
Never even knew DFI sold those in the States. Very cool, though, I remember seeing them back in 2005 when my buddy Jacky ran DFI. Things greatly changed when he left. We could not get answers out of DFI. Honestly, after how I have seen their customers treated I have no desire to send my readers towards them and have them end up with terrible support on products that are hit and miss at best.
 
Kyle, that sounds like ECS. I'm currently in a hell hole of a RMA situation with them. I keep telling myself to get a decent board, but I's po.
 
After the horrible experience I've had with my EVGA 750i SLI FTW motherboard I can't in good conscience recommend Nvidia chipsets to another person. Sure it overclocks like mad but the infamous 'video corruption' issues and the nasty way Nvidia is trying to 'deal' with the problem by adding artificial latency to the cpu and memory subsystem makes my experience with this board sour at best.

The 780i and 790i boards are prone to this issue too.


However, I would like to note that I am totally stoked to see these video reviews from Kyle and the [H] gang. I REALLY like them and I think you guys are on to something here, please keep them coming!
 
Am I the only one that *cringed* when Kyle was spinning the newly opened board directly on the hard wooden surface? :cool:
 
AuxNuke said:
Am I the only one that *cringed* when Kyle was spinning the newly opened board directly on the hard wooden surface? :cool:
Click to expand...

Nope, I was cringing as well, but I am sure Kyle has played with hardware enough to know what they can/can't take.
 
OK my EE degree is admittedly old and dusty but If I go here http://www.evga.com/articles/00431/ and look at the picture of the motherboard, directly north of the CPU socket I see two large chips side by side that are labeled (by EVGA presumably) as "Digital PWM". Blowing the dust off the old sheepskin I notice these chips are between the power mosFETs (under the heatsink/pipe) and the surface mount capacitors. This leads me to guess that the chips labeled "Digital PWM" are nothing more than the filtering inductors for the VRM in the newer IC type packaging. This is supported by the fact that I do not see the more normal "little black cubes" package type inductors anywhere and this is the typical uninspired component layout commonly seen. Also a quick look at the leads of those chips clearly makes it apparent they are power devices and not digital anything.

So, is EVGA so stupid (sorry but they are an electronics company/seller and surely have someone competent around) that they do not know what the hell they are talking about or where it is on the board, or was that just a convenient place to put the label "Digital PWM" as the inductors are certainly part of a "Digital PWM" circuit and correctly figure 99.995% of the suckers will not know the difference anyway? Either way it is sad.


Now if you look below the 8 pin EPS Aux power connector and a little toward the socket you see an IC with a lot of signal sized leads that I suspect (I can only suspect because the pic is not good enough to get numbers off of the chip) is the PWM controller. Perhaps it is digital as opposed to using analog feedback control and voltage sense, I hope so. If not you are being had.

What has got me bent way out of shape beyond rational reason is that with the big deal made about digital PWM the proper part that "makes" the claim valid is not highlighted but instead a component that has been around for 150years is put into a new package and its use is not even unique to this motherboard. I need a new life.

Don't get you knickers in a twist about a digital PWM, a badly designed one is worse than a good analog one and the reverse also holds true.

I have no idea if this is a good board or a bad board but I know for sure nobody at EVGA is paying the least bit of attention to ensuring their technical data is represented correctly and accurately.

And before you flame me (which is a rules violation btw) I own an EVGA video card and love it and I think EVGA customer service is the best in the industry. I pray for the day they sell Intel chipset boards and "red" video cards.

I just wish all these companies would get their heads out of their butts and sell a technical product on its technical merits and back it up with the data and specs needed to make an informed decision.

What is the RMS ripple of the "digital PWM circuit" ?
Per the testing standard put forth in Intel's design guild for CPU voltage regulators what is the overshoot and undershoot of the "digital PWM circuit"?
For a valid Vid of a CPU what is the delta +/- in volts (tolerance if you will) of the "digital PWM circuit" vs the desired Vid voltage ?
For a voltage setting in the bios what is the delta +/- in volts of the actual voltage delivered vs the voltage set ?
What is the max continuous rated amperage of the "digital PWM circuit" ?
What is the voltage and temp rating of the filtering caps of the "digital PWM circuit" ?
(one might note the normal "can" type caps have been replaced by surface mount devices, I sure hope the ripple is low)

These are the things that tell you the quality of a PWM circuity and not this marketing BS. A PWM circuit with a digital controller has the potential to provide better and more stable voltages and current to the CPU, that all, just the "potential". The overall circuit design and its implement ion is what determines the actual performance.

I would be thrilled for someone to point out where I messed up if there is a mistake in this analysis for I am disappointed and expected better from EVGA.

and don't get me started on "....includes solid state capacitors"

For balance - This could be the greatest PWM implementation in all the world for all I know/can tell, my major issue is the inaccuracy and lack of the information to determine if is or not which is, obviously, annoying me greatly.
 
I CANNOT CONFIRM DIGITAL MAKES YOU CLOCK HIGHER DUE TO DIFFRENT MANUFACTURES.

200 mhz was gained with my DFI compared to gigabyte.


and got digital on my DFI Lanparty UT 790FX M2R
and on my DFI Lanparty JR(junior Matx ;D) 790GX M2RS (2x pci-e aswell =) )

And my voltages are rock stable,
I can increase voltages with :
Special VID 0.16% increase for each time up to 125%
CPU VID Control: 0.00625 increase.
Thats certanly better than 0.025 which my gigabyte MA790FX-DQ6 does, and which faaaaails BIG time. 1.3 V = 1.37 Sry gigabyte, you guys made a terrible amd 790fx board.

please test P45 and 790GX Microatx from DFI, and see, do you really need theese big boards to have fun. obviously 8/8x pci-e GEN2 wont hold for 2x 4870x2.
but for 4850's or 4870's would be fun. i could do it myself, but im so lazy :p
 
the board sure looks nice , but after my experiences with nvidia chipsets I wont buy from them


EVER!
 
i cant say the same, all nvidia chipsets ive setup worked outta the box, just for randoms tho, 1 got defective out of 7 which is still higher than the ati/amd 100-0
intel 2-70 (the two might just be not the chipset and just manufacture(asus)

aaaanyways.
DFI got digital for P45 prolly and X48. gogog have fun with dfi ;D
why dont you guys @ [H] test DFI, all my friends are like.. ehm asus ? whats so special about asus?

other than rampage n stuff.
Foxconn black ops woot about that motherboard.
The woooorld isnt just Gigabyte, EVGA, BFG, ASUS.


I bought the most expensive board ever. a gigabyte, only to be screewed with 2x rma's in under 6 months.
And its supposed to be one of the best.

Anyways.. test this board vs the standard pwm one, and we'll see ;D
and dfi boards got digital on all UT models i think, and Lanparty JR p45 and 790GX i think it was.
 
Enjoying my 750i FTW ([email protected] stock voltage) but I've been able to avoid the vid corruption bug, unlike Falcon and hundreds of other users. After knowing about it before buying, I assumed it was an easy BIOS fix and that was that.

This wasn't my first eVGA board, as I owned the S939 NF41 as well, and doing your homework on each boards possible problems before buying it makes it verrrry worthwhile on your end.

I've since passed on buying yet another eVGA board (630i mATX) due to issues resuming from sleep mode (not good on an HTPC rig !!) so while I agree with BF in principle, you can find the occasional lucky nutjob like me that seems to have missed out on that lovely corruption bug.

My Step Up window closed 3 weeks ago, so no 790 FTW for me. It just took too long to become available, and buying DDR3 would eliminate my funds for that second GTX260 card as well.

Anyhoo, nice review, Kyle ! Wating to see what this thing will do under the torture box.
 
Blue Falcon said:
That's the regular 790i, pretty much the 790i reference board. It's been available for several months now.
Click to expand...

Sorry, looked identical to the one in the sneak peek and was confused what was so new about it :(

I thought digital PWN was a bad thing? Isn't it better to just have more *real* pwm's?
 
One thing to point out - The capacitors on this board do not have the plastic sockets like some other companies. I was disappointed to see this, because the 780i FTW has a few that are close to the edge of the board and easy to break off.
 
Bill thanks for some insight. I love EVGA for their support and how they stand behind their products. However after going through 4 680i motherboards and countless hours of rebuilding I can say I have never wasted as much time on a board for personal use. The videos are getting better though Kyle (should have had them years ago) just want to see some more after your have tested. Once again kudos to bill's insight and I will take the wait and see approach.
 
dont be afraid of the HW, they can take a load :p

my cats currently sleeping on my gigabyte ma790FX DQ6 which is making alot of statics, but im 100% sure it doesnt affect score, and even when i treated it nice, it still sucked.


anywayz.

kyle and aom or what ur name was.

DFI got A HELL LOT OF Digital PWM mobo's

Ive had mine for ages now.. feels like :p 790FX m2r got it(its even discontinued!!)
 
Bill, i dont have an EE degree, but the Digital PWM the PCB layout is almost identical to my DFi board that had a Digital PWM and i think it even uses the same IC and resistors(harder to confirm). I dont know if companies would necessarily want to divulge that information that you're talking about but i definitely agree that it would be a good way of proving a digital PWMs effectiveness.

After Further Review it appears that the EVGA Board uses a slightly differing part number than the IC on my board. If you want to compare, watch the video kyle made and compare it against this picture i took way back when.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/JEWISHMAFIA/P3050495.jpg?t=1222962106
 
might be so, then EVGA uses prolly something good too =)

my dfi ones are craaazy 0.00625 increase + the 0.16% special add increase. thats hard to beat, some accurate voltage adjustments i can do with it.

Kyle mind testing some dfi aswell perhaps ?

JR%20P45-T2RS.jpg


Dfi got a neat Microatx board, they just go and do stuff no1 else do, or does it way better =)

They have some issues with quality it feels like, but when it works,( i can just say i have had 9 dfi board all work except for 1 (nf4 expert.)
 
I wondered why I haven't read any DFI reviews here lately. Now it makes sense.

Personal issues aside with the lack of information you've been able to attain Kyle, they still make some kick ass boards, and for the sake of completeness, if you can get them to unwind their anus long enough to crap a couple boards in your direction, I think it'd be in good interest to check them out.

Even if you did extensive in house testing yourself before passing any reviewed unit on (say 2-3 full blown uses before you do a public review) the OC community here is quiet in relation to DFI, and many others are experiencing damn good OC's, and smokin fast boards. It just feels like somethings been missing in the Motherboard forum and I think thats it.
 
Anyone else think the name for this board is rediculously long? Also, as far as nvidia chipsets go, i killed my first 680i a1 after about 2 months, memory controller died, evga cross shipped me a new board free (never signed up for EAR program). My 2nd board has been chugging along perfectly fine and cool for 6 months until i switched over to the red team. As far as DFI goes, i ordered a UT x48 board and UT x38 board, both of them corrupted the bios as soon as i tried to push 440 FSB and bricked, so they got returned and i ended up picking up a rampage. Kind of wish the 260s had come out at the right price instead of 500 bucks per, i would have just stuck with my 680i and sli instead of buying a new board/4870 crossfire setup.
 
Amazing that you guys keep referring to DFI's digital PWM boards, and yet not one of you has mentioned their first- the ICFX3200-T2R/G, based on ATI's red-headed stepchild of a chipset, the RD600. God, I hated that board- so happy when I went to an Abit AB9 QuadGT (also digital, btw).
 
Kyle & team: really enjoying the addition of the video reviews/quick-start reviews – it adds another dimension that complements very nicely the full review & forum activity. You guys have got a really impressive business improvement/customer satisfaction delivery plan in place there. Big ‘hat’s off’ to you guys for adding breadth & depth to your content, whilst appealing to old & new alike.
 
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