Well, I killed another 680i SLI board.

Why not run a test with 2 similar setups: One overclocked, one stock.

Buy everything at the same time (hopefully same batches) & see if one dies.

if the stock one is killing your ram, there is a serious issue.

If only the overclocked one is killing your parts, then perhaps t he 680i sli is just not a good overclocker. I don't think I'd go blaming 680 chipset motherboard manufacturers for dead parts if you are overclocking.

My bike redlines at 15,500. I'd never thinking of changing the rev limiter to 20k and then wondering why other parts that interact with the engine die.

I used to overclock but no longer have time unfortunately, but then again these days I don't see the benefit as much. I no longer do multimedia stuff nor gaming.

My EVGA 680i toasted 4 sets of RAM with everything running stock - no overclocking.
 
I'm looking forward to the 780i SLI as I'd like a better more reliable solution for SLI than what I've had working with the 680i SLI chipset based boards.

As for the Maximus Formula you've made an excellent choice. It is one of my favorite boards right now.
Dan Is there any difference between the SE and regular maximus formula mobos aside from the NB block?

thinking about going x38 with a couple 3870's since intel screwed me again lol
 
Is this a problem that only affects the 680i chipset and not the 650i? I have been running a GA-N650SLI since around March or April at both stock and overcloccked speeds with no issues. E6600 @3.0 and 2GB A-DATA PC6400 DDRII 800. Volted at 1.9v 4-4-4-12.

You guys have me wondering if i am lucky or if it is just a 680i issue.
 
Yeah...I'd suggest going with 650i unless there is something you actually need with the 680. 8X PCI-E in SLI doesn't hinder performance and I don't even know what the dual gigabit ethernet is for.
 
Out of all the noise in this thread, I find it interesting that nobody has mentioned Micron D9's and the way they tend to 'change' over time, often requiring more and more vdimm to remain stable, until they eventually self destruct. Also, during the course of this 'change', you can also observe how they would no longer post at default vdimm. It makes no difference what chipset you have when it comes to the D9's that have this issue.

I think the 680i chipset takes a lot of heat, and some of it justified because just like any other non-intel chipset, they are usually harder to tweak, more picky regarding ram configurations, and generally do require more knowlege to set up. But myself, and many others see threads like this and either scratch our heads, maybe wonder when our board is going to die, or just chalk it up to bad luck or user error. I see a lot of both in this thread, but not a whole lot that makes me think there is some inherent issue with my rig that's going to go BANG! one day.
 
Out of all the noise in this thread, I find it interesting that nobody has mentioned Micron D9's and the way they tend to 'change' over time, often requiring more and more vdimm to remain stable, until they eventually self destruct. Also, during the course of this 'change', you can also observe how they would no longer post at default vdimm. It makes no difference what chipset you have when it comes to the D9's that have this issue.

About how long does that take usually? I have Adata Extreme's in my board and they seem to be D9 chips...
 
I think it depends on a few factors such as cooling, what vdimm you have them set to as well as what speed you have them running at. In any case, to get PC8000 D9 chips to even approach rated speed will require at least 2.0v, which shouldn't be a problem because at least in my case, OCZ guarantees the ram up to 2.3v.

My first set got unstable withing 2 weeks and by the 4th week they would not stabilize at all, regardless of voltage. Also, once I did have to increase vdimm (after 2 weeks) somewhere after that they would not post at bios default. I wound up buying a cheapie stick of ram just so that I could get back running after CMOS flash.

The 4 sticks of D9 I just removed from my rig and replaced with 2 Gskill 2gb PC8000 modules lasted since March of this year. All 4 produce errors now and I've already obtained an RMA from OCZ for them.
 
It's not just d9 chips.

Out of the 3 sets that died in my rig , only one set was d9.

It kills my kingston valueram just as fast (micron d6 I believe).
 
hmm all of this talk is making me worried about the evga board i got, i guess the best bet is to sell it off as well as the other 8800gtx i have and get myself an x38 board, is that a good idea??
 
now will i notice a huge dropoff in performance in crysis and COD4 if i drop the SLI setup??
 
hmm all of this talk is making me worried about the evga board i got, i guess the best bet is to sell it off as well as the other 8800gtx i have and get myself an x38 board, is that a good idea??


Does that make sense to you? Are you having any problems right now? There are thousands out there with that mobo running Sli and are happy with it.
 
thats true, and all honesty once the 780i comes out, I will probably jump on that. Luckily for me I have a p5k deluxe sitting around as a backup board if anything goes wrong. Just wanted your guys opinions on this.
 
Dan Is there any difference between the SE and regular maximus formula mobos aside from the NB block?

thinking about going x38 with a couple 3870's since intel screwed me again lol

Not that I can recall.

Is this a problem that only affects the 680i chipset and not the 650i? I have been running a GA-N650SLI since around March or April at both stock and overcloccked speeds with no issues. E6600 @3.0 and 2GB A-DATA PC6400 DDRII 800. Volted at 1.9v 4-4-4-12.

You guys have me wondering if i am lucky or if it is just a 680i issue.

It's a problem with the 680i SLI. All other 600 series chipsets including the 680i LT seem to be no more problematic than anything else.

Yeah...I'd suggest going with 650i unless there is something you actually need with the 680. 8X PCI-E in SLI doesn't hinder performance and I don't even know what the dual gigabit ethernet is for.

I think the 680i LT is the way to go. Dual x16 support and none of the problems the 680i SLI seems to be famous for.

Out of all the noise in this thread, I find it interesting that nobody has mentioned Micron D9's and the way they tend to 'change' over time, often requiring more and more vdimm to remain stable, until they eventually self destruct. Also, during the course of this 'change', you can also observe how they would no longer post at default vdimm. It makes no difference what chipset you have when it comes to the D9's that have this issue.

I have two sets of D9 OCZ Flex XLC modules that will post at default values. They work fine at 800MHz using 2.1v. At 1150MHz they require 2.3v however one set is nearly a year old and the other set is 6 months old or so. Neither set shows any instability or problems. I've also used several sets of D9 memory modules for my reviews of 680i SLI chipset based boards and I've had no trouble with them. The only modules I've burnt up on a 680i SLI board were Patriot 2GB modules. I'm not even sure what chips they used. They are the EPP Patriot Extreme modules if that helps.

I think the 680i chipset takes a lot of heat, and some of it justified because just like any other non-intel chipset, they are usually harder to tweak, more picky regarding ram configurations, and generally do require more knowlege to set up. But myself, and many others see threads like this and either scratch our heads, maybe wonder when our board is going to die, or just chalk it up to bad luck or user error. I see a lot of both in this thread, but not a whole lot that makes me think there is some inherent issue with my rig that's going to go BANG! one day.

I can't say that your rig will go bang or not. The fact is that there are far too many 680i SLI owners that have the same consistent problems to ignore. However there are also plenty of 680i SLI boards not experiencing problems. I've got one board thats the older AR revision and I've had no issues with it in almost a year. I've got my Striker Extreme which is a terrible overclocker, and horrible about memory choices, but still reliable with the right modules. I've also experienced the gamut of issues the 680i SLI has to offer.

About how long does that take usually? I have Adata Extreme's in my board and they seem to be D9 chips...

I do not believe all the talk that D9 modules will eventually flake out or fail. Don't worry about it unless it starts happening to you.

I think it depends on a few factors such as cooling, what vdimm you have them set to as well as what speed you have them running at. In any case, to get PC8000 D9 chips to even approach rated speed will require at least 2.0v, which shouldn't be a problem because at least in my case, OCZ guarantees the ram up to 2.3v.

My first set got unstable withing 2 weeks and by the 4th week they would not stabilize at all, regardless of voltage. Also, once I did have to increase vdimm (after 2 weeks) somewhere after that they would not post at bios default. I wound up buying a cheapie stick of ram just so that I could get back running after CMOS flash.

The 4 sticks of D9 I just removed from my rig and replaced with 2 Gskill 2gb PC8000 modules lasted since March of this year. All 4 produce errors now and I've already obtained an RMA from OCZ for them.

I've used three different sets of D9 modules in my own rigs without issues. I've also used a number of Corsair modules that were D9 based and I had no issues with them in any of my boards or review boards either.

It's not just d9 chips.

Out of the 3 sets that died in my rig , only one set was d9.

It kills my kingston valueram just as fast (micron d6 I believe).

I had one set not believed to be D9 die on me.

hmm all of this talk is making me worried about the evga board i got, i guess the best bet is to sell it off as well as the other 8800gtx i have and get myself an x38 board, is that a good idea??

I wouldn't worry at all. If it dies, it dies. Nothing you can do about it really.

I got to say I have had no issues with the new revision at all.

I've had issues with both the AR and A1 revision boards. All of the A1 boards I've had problems with were paired with a heavily overclocked quad core processor.

now will i notice a huge dropoff in performance in crysis and COD4 if i drop the SLI setup??

Yes. Well depending on the resolution you run your games at anyway.

Does that make sense to you? Are you having any problems right now? There are thousands out there with that mobo running Sli and are happy with it.

Agreed. Just because many people have issues doesn't mean that you will too.

thats true, and all honesty once the 780i comes out, I will probably jump on that. Luckily for me I have a p5k deluxe sitting around as a backup board if anything goes wrong. Just wanted your guys opinions on this.

I wouldn't jump on anything. I'd wait at least 30 days on the 780i. That's about how long it took to solve the SATA corruption issues and other major problems with 680i SLI reference boards. The reference boards were handled faster than the others. The ASUS boards took 4 or 5 months to get some of the issues resolved to a decent degree.
 
Well I really hope the 780i WILL support Penryn Yorkies ( as till now it only supports the dual Wolfdale cores and latest news doesn't sound promising ) otherwise Nvidia SLI with DDR2 support ( 780i if you wish) will be the joke ( or marketing ripoff ) of 2008... and ATI will gain some ground with the Crossfire on X38 platforms.

790i will prolly be what 680i should have been from the start ( fingers crossed ), though the early pictures I saw on Extreme systems still have those mega bulky NB heatsinks... they need to work that heatoutput quickly !!!!

Or maybe they can grant Intel the SLI licence , that would be fab !!! :D

Also a note to those that implement it's from the OC's, most peeps that buy boards for SLI don't run on stock clocks , at least I never cash out over 300 quid on a mobo to run at stock... why do they foresee the beefy voltages anyway then... it's just a bad design by the Green team and the newer revs might it slightly better though they never succeeded to get it as stable as their designs Nvidia did for the AMD platform...
 
hey Dan, for the most part I run Crysis at 1920 x1080 on my 37 inch westinghouse. Also I like showing off the 2 gtx's through the window of my new Silverstone TJ09BW case.
 
I currently have an AR board with a Q6600 @ 3Ghz. I don't consider that a huge overclock, but it's decent I suppose (Came from an Opteron 165 -1.8Ghz that could hit just shy of 3Ghz). Anyway as far as problems are concerned I did have some issues with random restarts and EVGA was quick to tell me I needed the A1 revision for proper quad core support. I'm waiting on that to arrive as we speak.

Anyway, there is this tidbit on the EVGA forums. Seems that the thermal gum is particularly less than craptacular on the NB, SB, and mosfet heatsinks ( omg no way!... imagine that...) and replacing the stock crap with some AS Ceramique resolves a lot of stability issues. This is something I always did with my AMD boards and particularly from Asus as they had a tendency to use that pink crap that was like candle wax. I did that with this AR board and haven't had a random reboot since doing it. Coincidence? Might be something to it...might not...but I'll be doing that to the A1 board I get hopefully this week.
 
I currently have an AR board with a Q6600 @ 3Ghz. I don't consider that a huge overclock, but it's decent I suppose (Came from an Opteron 165 -1.8Ghz that could hit just shy of 3Ghz). Anyway as far as problems are concerned I did have some issues with random restarts and EVGA was quick to tell me I needed the A1 revision for proper quad core support. I'm waiting on that to arrive as we speak.

Anyway, there is this tidbit on the EVGA forums. Seems that the thermal gum is particularly less than craptacular on the NB, SB, and mosfet heatsinks ( omg no way!... imagine that...) and replacing the stock crap with some AS Ceramique resolves a lot of stability issues. This is something I always did with my AMD boards and particularly from Asus as they had a tendency to use that pink crap that was like candle wax. I did that with this AR board and haven't had a random reboot since doing it. Coincidence? Might be something to it...might not...but I'll be doing that to the A1 board I get hopefully this week.

I have replaced the thermal paste on a couple of 680i SLI A1 boards and there was little to no change in the north bridge temperature. I've also got a AR board that's been running with no change to the thermal material and its' north bridge runs 20c cooler than the two A1 boards that blew up on me.

It makes me think that there is a QC problem with the 680i MCPs. All the boards that died on me or gave me problems ran hotter in the same system than the boards that work perfectly.
 
I had a friend that had the corruption problem with the 680i and the BIOS flash of eVGA site fixed all of his problems, been rock solid ever since. I don't know about Asus on the other had, the only thing I can say is everyone I have seen/know with Striker Extreme have not had any problems. Dan, have you flashed yo the latest BIOS from eVGA? Also what is the exact model number of your board?

Anyone with this board and SLI? http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=495&l4=0&model=1567&modelmenu=1
 
Ouch, man. Guess I'm glad I went with the 650 instead of 680. Too bad all the Intel chip sets only support crap-fire.
 
Weird, I had my EVGA 680i since spring and never had a single issue with it. No random crashes, no BSOD's, never had to exchange one or anything. I have a mild overclock on it as well. Just put the FSB up to 400 so I have my E6300 at 2.8Ghz and my ram at 1:1.
 
I had a friend that had the corruption problem with the 680i and the BIOS flash of eVGA site fixed all of his problems, been rock solid ever since. I don't know about Asus on the other had, the only thing I can say is everyone I have seen/know with Striker Extreme have not had any problems. Dan, have you flashed yo the latest BIOS from eVGA? Also what is the exact model number of your board?

Anyone with this board and SLI? http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=495&l4=0&model=1567&modelmenu=1

I am using the latest BIOS from EVGA, BIOS P31. I had the problem with BIOS P26, P30 and P31. The board is model # 122-CK-NF68-A1. I'm not exactly a noob when it comes to solving board problems. I've worked with and owned quite a few of these EVGA boards and I've worked with plenty of other 680i SLI boards.

Ouch, man. Guess I'm glad I went with the 650 instead of 680. Too bad all the Intel chip sets only support crap-fire.

As I've said, the 680i LT should never be discounted. It's 90% of what the 680i SLI is and overclocks just about as well.

Mine too, had it 11 months working like a horse! Although I did fry two sets of micron D9's. :D

I've only fried the one set of modules, so I've been lucky so far. No problem with D9's.

Have you seen any differences on overclocking between the two?

The 680i LT and 680i SLI overclock about the same.

Weird, I had my EVGA 680i since spring and never had a single issue with it. No random crashes, no BSOD's, never had to exchange one or anything. I have a mild overclock on it as well. Just put the FSB up to 400 so I have my E6300 at 2.8Ghz and my ram at 1:1.

I've got a 122-CK-NF68-AR running an E6600 tha'ts nearly a year old. I'm running a moderate overclock on it also and I've never had BSODs, or crashes, or any other problems with that system. Not all 680i SLI boards are crap, and I never said they were. However if you want to really put your board to the test, drop in a quad core and overclock the piss out of it.
 
I am using the latest BIOS from EVGA, BIOS P31. I had the problem with BIOS P26, P30 and P31. The board is model # 122-CK-NF68-A1. I'm not exactly a noob when it comes to solving board problems. I've worked with and owned quite a few of these EVGA boards and I've worked with plenty of other 680i SLI boards.

I wasn't knocking on your experience I was just wondering what one you used. The way it sounds now from what I have read, I think when I do my Quad Core SLI build I will, A: Get the Striker Extreme or, B: 680LT - it seems that this does not have the problems the 680i has and from what I know OC's nicely (better than the striker).
 
lucky for me i guess I only do a mild oc with my quad core, I think 3ghz is just fine for what i need, though I do want to jump to a 45mm chip once they do come out.. Thats the only reason why I wouldn't mind going and try an Asus Maximus Formula.
 
I wasn't knocking on your experience I was just wondering what one you used. The way it sounds now from what I have read, I think when I do my Quad Core SLI build I will, A: Get the Striker Extreme or, B: 680LT - it seems that this does not have the problems the 680i has and from what I know OC's nicely (better than the striker).

The Striker Extreme has it's own issues. Not the least of which is vdroop. They tend to burn up memory as badly as anything. Additionally they are even more picky about RAM selection than the regular reference design 680i SLI motherboards. The 680i LT is the way to go but triple SLI is going to be impossible with it. If that prospect is going to be an issue for you, then you need to consider waiting on the 780i SLI.
 
The Striker Extreme has it's own issues. Not the least of which is vdroop. They tend to burn up memory as badly as anything. Additionally they are even more picky about RAM selection than the regular reference design 680i SLI motherboards. The 680i LT is the way to go but triple SLI is going to be impossible with it. If that prospect is going to be an issue for you, then you need to consider waiting on the 780i SLI.

Nah, I am gonna keep regular SLI for now, then when - IF nVidia reintroduces Quad SLI I am certain a new chip set will be out by then. I know one of my buddies was have a TUN of problems, then I told him to put the fan on that came with the board. Gotta love it. I think I will get an LT, just hope those fans are good, and wont burn out anytime soon.
 
Nah, I am gonna keep regular SLI for now, then when - IF nVidia reintroduces Quad SLI I am certain a new chip set will be out by then. I know one of my buddies was have a TUN of problems, then I told him to put the fan on that came with the board. Gotta love it. I think I will get an LT, just hope those fans are good, and wont burn out anytime soon.

better yet, get your own fan to put on the chipset. The one that came with my EVGA is LOUD AS HELL... it's the loudest thing in my system...can hear that little fan over everything including the hsf on the 8800GTS when it's on high. I've got a 60mm maglev fan that I'm going to put on there instead when the A1 shows up.
 
better yet, get your own fan to put on the chipset. The one that came with my EVGA is LOUD AS HELL... it's the loudest thing in my system...can hear that little fan over everything including the hsf on the 8800GTS when it's on high. I've got a 60mm maglev fan that I'm going to put on there instead when the A1 shows up.

I had an EVGA fan that I used on my south bridge while I was watercooling the north bridge. That is one loud bastard! Fortunately my Black Pearl doesn't have this issue.
 
I've got a 122-CK-NF68-AR running an E6600 tha'ts nearly a year old. I'm running a moderate overclock on it also and I've never had BSODs, or crashes, or any other problems with that system. Not all 680i SLI boards are crap, and I never said they were. However if you want to really put your board to the test, drop in a quad core and overclock the piss out of it.

I wish I could. I have one of the early 680i's that dont support quad core overclocking.
 
I wish I could. I have one of the early 680i's that dont support quad core overclocking.

Actually if you call EVGA up and tell them you've upgraded to a quad core, they'll send you an A1 revision through the RMA process which is supposed to support the quad-core overclocking.
 
Actually if you call EVGA up and tell them you've upgraded to a quad core, they'll send you an A1 revision through the RMA process which is supposed to support the quad-core overclocking.

Yes they will.
 
well I am going to pick up a maximus formula to play around with and run it for a few days and then decide if there is a difference or not between SLI 8800gtx or a single 8800gtx on an x38.
 
well I am going to pick up a maximus formula to play around with and run it for a few days and then decide if there is a difference or not between SLI 8800gtx or a single 8800gtx on an x38.

If you've got the cash to just buy a Maximus Formula I wouldn't worry about your 680i SLI board dying. At least not until it does. I'd hold on to your cash and just wait for the 780i SLI's to hit the market and for the first reviews to hit.
 
good idea, but i did get a nice offer for this card an an extra cpu i have laying around... always can be nice to have the extra cash sitting in my account.
 
Back
Top