eVGA updates nForce 680i

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Oldman

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eVGA has announced that it will offer a new revision of its eVGA nForce 680i motherboard to those who are using the board for overclocking Intel's quad-core processors. Exactly what's new with the new revision isn't revealed, but apparently this wasn't something that could be fixed through a BIOS update. Those who are using a quad-core (and only those) with their eVGA nForce 680i can turn to eVGA's RMA service (make sure to have registered first) and then eVGA will contact you when the new motherboards are ready. Those who've tested the board haven't had any problems pushing their quad-cores to 400x9 and 450x8. Unfortunately, we haven't seen any more extreme tests, but so far the new revision seems very promising.
 
According to Jacob at EVGA, there is a fix that will be available. So this RMA may very well be unnecessary.

We have acknowledged the bottleneck already, addressed it, and the fix is on the way, this fix ONLY addresses high overclocking on the Quad Core CPU's, with this fix you will be able to increase the FSB far beyond what the board is capable of now.

This is not the "strap mod" but a legitimate fix that allows for much higher FSB frequencies when using Quad Core CPU's, Dual Core CPU's are unaffected.

Fixes like this take time to diagnose, test, and make sure they are working for all. We don't want a quick overnight fix that may work, we wanted to the root of the bottleneck, and fix it, this takes time.

The holiday delayed it a bit further than anticipated, but the fix is finalized and on the way.
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Night Black said:
According to Jacob at EVGA, there is a fix that will be available. So this RMA may very well be unnecessary.
Click to expand...

The only thing that Jacob has confirmed was that the fix was not a "Strap Mod". He never said that a MB swap wasn't needed.

There is a new board under a different part/serial number. I'd expect that the RMA boards in the queue will be eating up these new boards first before they start to filter them out to the retail side (speculation). RMA requests will be fulfilled in March sometime.
 
friedchicken said:
The only thing that Jacob has confirmed was that the fix was not a "Strap Mod". He never said that a MB swap wasn't needed.

There is a new board under a different part/serial number. I'd expect that the RMA boards in the queue will be eating up these new boards first before they start to filter them out to the retail side (speculation). RMA requests will be fulfilled in March sometime.
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If EVGA actually swapped old boards for new I would be:

1) astounded
2) a customer for life.

The much more likely process is that a motherboard mod is being developed and returning your old board will result in you getting a modded board from a repair pool of boards sent in for mod. or worse, wait for yours to be modded and returned. If the fix is a good effective one, there is nothing wrong with this and is still a landmark customer service action, I know of no other manuf that has done this.

We did it all the time with our central office digital switching equipment, to send out a new design rev and trash the old stock will run you out of business pretty quick.

anywho will be really interesting to see what happens. EVGA had a big problem with some of their video cards which I think they handled pretty well, some people did not think so, but EVGA did something, and thats a lot more than most companies, I am really starting to think I am going to give them higher priority in consideration when I make new buys, Last thing I bought was a 440mx graphics card, still works.
 
if they would swap all boards then I think all users would have quadcores from now :) a fix is a fix in bios or driver, hardware related isn't so easy, but indeed there were some posts about a new chipset revision....Nvidia messed up bad... releasing these chipsets half a year to soon to the masses....
 
http://www.evga.com/community/messageboard/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=28369&whichpage=1

Dear 680i Users,

Some users have reported they are encountering obstacles in over-clocking Intel Quad Core CPUs in excess of 1300MHz FSB on the EVGA nForce 680i SLI platform.

If you have an Intel Quad Core CPU and are experiencing this issue, EVGA will swap your original unit for a motherboard that improves your Intel Quad Core over-clocking.

U.S. - EVGA advanced RMA service will replace the board
Canada - EVGA will replace the board in a normal RMA process
Europe - EVGA will replace the board in a normal RMA process

If you are interested in receiving a replacement, please be sure your product is registered on our site at http://evga.com/register/. After registering, please visit http://evga.com/support/680i_fsb.asp and enter your serial number and stay tuned for an update on when to RMA your board in early March via email.

Note: This offer is only applicable for the Intel Quad Core issue listed above.

Thank you,

EVGA Management Team
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and

The new one is..
PCB 180-7R093-0000-D00

The old one was..
PCB 180-7R093-0000-C00
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and

the only differnce I see in the board from the "AR" series is
6 MOSFET Vreg's removed [thst I believe were the source of the problem]

1 LPC connector[debug] [Item 16 in maunal pg 11]
Oh, and that cap is green like the larger one.
and a cleaner area under CPU socket on the underside of mobo i.e. no resistors in the way.
Click to expand...
 
If you live in the U.S. is will be replaced via cross shipment so you will not have any downtime besides installing the new motherboard.
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:eek: :eek: OK I AM astounded.

EVGA will be my supplier (video card, mb too new ) !
 
More good news for Evga Quad Core owners...

680i Users:

EVGA has heard loud and clear about the cross shipment service from our customers. EVGA is going to offer a similar service globally as it offers here in the US. Please stay tuned for details on each region.

EVGA will offer the following to all customers:
* Direct cross shipment to all customers
* Cover the shipping cost both directions
* Products are going to ship with a 3 Day shipping method.
(this is the current plan)

As a reminder, this will not count against your EAR program, if you have purchased an EAR with your previous serial number; then that will carry over to this new serial number.


Thank you,
EVGA Management Team
Click to expand...
 
I have no clue about market release. This only speaks to those outside the US who weren't eligible for cross-shipping of their MB. I expect that current retail stocks will be depleted by mid-march before they start ordering the new boards.
 
The only reasons for me not to get the Evga 680i as my next motherboard was the Quad Core
performance and the resisters behind the CPU area. I may purchase this new motherboard if
and when it hits Newegg.
 
Same thing I am waiting on also. I wonder how many NewEgg has in stock and if they are shipping old ones still? I think you just order and hope for the best.. OUCH!
I wonder how these "changes" will change performance for the DUo use also?! This thing will have to be tested again..
 
Smitty1705 said:
Same thing I am waiting on also. I wonder how many NewEgg has in stock and if they are shipping old ones still? I think you just order and hope for the best.. OUCH!
I wonder how these "changes" will change performance for the DUo use also?! This thing will have to be tested again..
Click to expand...

Core 2 Duo users will be unaffected, in our testing, the overclockability of Core 2 Duo's remain the same, this update affects only Quad Core CPU FSB speeds. (around 450MHz FSB for Core 2 Quad CPU's)
 
Jacob Freeman said:
Core 2 Duo users will be unaffected, in our testing, the overclockability of Core 2 Duo's remain the same, this update affects only Quad Core CPU FSB speeds. (around 450MHz FSB for Core 2 Quad CPU's)
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Does this affect all EVGA 680i or just a few?
 
So what's the difference between the two different EVGA 680i boards?

They have a Part Numbers:

122-CK-NF68-TR

AND

122-CK-NF68-AR

The AR being a little more money..

Had NO idea there were 2 to choose from!

Smitty
 
Night Black said:
Does this affect all EVGA 680i or just a few?
Click to expand...

Doesn't affect all boards, but it does affect many when trying to increase above 1300MHz FSB with a Quad Core CPU.

Also, the difference between the AR/TR is the packaging and warranty, the actual boards are identical though.
 
Smitty1705 said:
So can we expect to see this new series in the market instead now?
Click to expand...

its been for sale at newegg for a week or so.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813188013

the new boards are a1 and t1, superceding ar and tr


there is also another new board listed since yesterday the nf63, which is also a 680i board. the only thing in the spex that is any different thasn the nf68 is that it says that the "memory standard" is ddr2 800, rather than the ddr2 1200 listed for the other boards.

this board is not listed on evga's website and is about the same price as the t1/tr.
 
Ockie said:
All Evga retail products comes with a double lifetime warranty.
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Nope

Question / Issue
What are the differences between the NF68 AR,TR,A1, and T1 680i Motherboards?

Answer / Solution
Update: 3-1-2007
To clear things up for everyone asking how you can tell the difference with the EVGA 680i SLI boards with the fix for the Intel Quad Core CPU; EVGA will be doing a small change to its part number for this particular SKU.

EVGA will modify the last digit of its part number to reflect this change

122-CK-NF68-AR will be replaced with 122-CK-NF68-A1
122-CK-NF68-TR will be replaced with 122-CK-NF68-T1

The AR/A1 is the full retail box, includes all cables and brackets and comes with a lifetime warranty upon registration.
The TR/TR is the lite version, does not include all brackets, manual comes on CD, has only the essential cables and comes with a 2 year warranty.

AR/A1 - packing list:
Motherboard
I/O shield
NB fan
SLI bridge
Driver CD
Manual
USB bracket
Firewire bracket
Serial port bracket
6 SATA data cables
3 SATA power cables
IDE data cable
Floppy data cable
RAID floppy driver disk

TR/T1 - packing list:
Motherboard
I/O shield
NB fan
SLI bridge
Driver CD
2 SATA data cables
1 SATA power cable
IDE data cable
Floppy data cable
Click to expand...

http://www.evga.com/support/faq/afmviewfaq.aspx?faqid=57729

I ordered my 6600 / 680i A1 board combo today from newegg... has a nice rebate + Supreme Commander for free :)
 
EVGA customer service is top notch and I will be a customer for life. Their programs around RMA, Tech Support, Step Up and community are second to none.
 
On newegg.com it shows the new a1 and t1 boards no longer support raid5. Is this a typo or did they actually drop the support for raid 5 with the new revision?
 
My replacement Motherboard will be here by FRIDAY :D. With the prepaid returned shipping label, and all i have to do is send the old motherboard back. Only the motherboard not the accessories.
 
bushdiverq said:
On newegg.com it shows the new a1 and t1 boards no longer support raid5. Is this a typo or did they actually drop the support for raid 5 with the new revision?
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Probably typo, newegg seems to have a few things missing off each product description ;)
 
I received my RMA yesterday. They didn't just send a replacement board, they sent a brand new shrinkwrapped retail box with the new board (A1) and accessories included. The RMA email says only to send back the board, no accessories, so I get to keep a bunch of extra cables, northbridge fan, sli bridge, etc. Fastest RMA service I've ever had, and easiest hands down. Thanks eVGA!!
 
Now that what we call service. EVGA has another customer for life, excellent, painless, and fast RMA i have ever heard. I will get my motherboard today, and yes they said send only the Motherboard back not the box, so i can match all the black sata cables now with my motherboard.

How is the result of this new Motherboard "armyoffoo" in terms of overclocking from the previous version?
 
jmackay said:
Nope



http://www.evga.com/support/faq/afmviewfaq.aspx?faqid=57729

I ordered my 6600 / 680i A1 board combo today from newegg... has a nice rebate + Supreme Commander for free :)
Click to expand...

As I was going through the lifetime warranty, I noticed this:

All EVGA Products purchased ON or AFTER November 1, 2006 MUST be registered within 30 days from ORIGINAL DATE OF PURCHASE to receive full lifetime warranty. (All products not registered within 30 days will ONLY receive a 1 year limited warranty.)


FUCK :mad: Neither my cards nor my boards (I have a few evga boards and cards) were registered.
 
annaconda said:
Now that what we call service. EVGA has another customer for life, excellent, painless, and fast RMA i have ever heard. I will get my motherboard today, and yes they said send only the Motherboard back not the box, so i can match all the black sata cables now with my motherboard.

How is the result of this new Motherboard "armyoffoo" in terms of overclocking from the previous version?
Click to expand...

Dunno, sold it on eBay before I got it. Moving over to an SFF PC, tired of lugging my full tower to LAN parties.
 
1. Are people here getting the rma for the new board even if they don't have a quad core cpu?

2. If you already got your new board from EVGA has everyone been getting a full retail box with all the accessories or just the motherboard?
 
nippyjun said:
1. Are people here getting the rma for the new board even if they don't have a quad core cpu?

2. If you already got your new board from EVGA has everyone been getting a full retail box with all the accessories or just the motherboard?
Click to expand...

They send the new motherboard with the box, but the new motherboard does not have accessories, they send me new Game Dark Massiah Might and Magic
 
I just received my RMA board (A1) yesterday ^_^ and they included dark messiah with it schweet!! always wanted to try that game hope the install goes smooth :D
 
i did mine last weekend, and my board is on its way.. should be here this friday... :D... can't wait.. evga is the best... going to be a customer for life... best service from any company i have ever experienced...
 
Process took 1 week. Registered and requested RMA last week, received new board and Dark Mesiah today!
 
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