which NVIDIA nForce 680 MOBO to get ??

T

truesq

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am trying to leave AMD side and try Intel this time

my current setup is Asus A8N32-SLI-Delux with AMD 3500+

i checked the market i saw

ASUS Striker Extreme

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775

or for example

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express

i am really confused about what to buy

i am going to buy E6850 3.0ghz

so if any one can suggest for me i will be appreciated ..:)
 
Personally, I wouldn't get a 680i unless you know you're going to go SLI. The P35 are better boards IMHO.

If you're buying a 680i board, get the eVGA T1/A1.
 
I have the BFGtech 680i....They're all reference boards anyway, just go with the one with the best warranty. Just to let you know, BFG is a bit slow with BIOS updates, all they have to do is put in their own interface, not actually fuck with the timings, so I dont' see what their problem has been. EVGA is usually pretty quick with BIOS updates.
 
In case you really need SLI go for the EVGA latest rev, For the Striker I love mine, also it dropped in price and performance, stability and overclocks and co are very fine now with the latest bios updates... I have had zero issues with my Striker board but I don't do RAID, nor 4 gigs ... just day to day use, gaming and Folding...

If you don't need SLI please opt for a P35 chipset based mobo , runs cooler way easier to get stable at high overclocks and so easier to setup in general...
 
I have the Abit IN9 32MAX and although it is 100% stable now at 450FSB running my E6600 @ 3.6Ghz it was a bitch to set up. Yet while my Asus WS64Pro i975 chipset needed only 1.45v to run my processor @ 3.6Ghz this one needs freaking 1.58 vcore. Thanks go I am on water. Nevertheless I second what the others have said, unless you are certain that you need SLI go with Intel.

If you need SLI then go for the EVGA A1 revision that is also the best overclocking 680i board for quad cpus in case you need to push it with one. All the other 680i boards do not reach any high fsb with the quads and this is an electrical hardware issue that as far as I know only EVGA took the time to correct.
 
If you need SLI get the DFI 680 board, by far the best 680 board availible.
 
leeghoofd said:
In case you really need SLI go for the EVGA latest rev, For the Striker I love mine, also it dropped in price and performance, stability and overclocks and co are very fine now with the latest bios updates... I have had zero issues with my Striker board but I don't do RAID, nor 4 gigs ... just day to day use, gaming and Folding...

If you don't need SLI please opt for a P35 chipset based mobo , runs cooler way easier to get stable at high overclocks and so easier to setup in general...
Click to expand...

And if one doesn't run SLI but does need both x16 and x8 on the motherboard?
 
thank you very much guys

i dont need SLI so i think am going with P35 i will consider P5K3 Deluxe or P5K Deluxe .. :D
 
truesq said:
thank you very much guys

i dont need SLI so i think am going with P35 i will consider P5K3 Deluxe or P5K Deluxe .. :D
Click to expand...

DDR3 is pretty expensive. I'd take a good long look at the regular P5K Deluxe before I spent the extra money on the P5K3.
 
Since you asked about 680i boards, I will relay my experiences with them...

1. eVGA or XFX 680i LT (My 680i LT feels more stable at higher FSB speeds than my regular 680i). XFX usually follows in the direction of eVGA products. (But, there has been some rivalry lately between the two). Very well priced! My personal choice!
2. DFI 680i LT (Not much difference from Reference 680i LT's in performance except a 3rd pci-e graphics slot). DFI was late to the game with their version of the 680i LT. DFI explained that they would NOT be manufacturing a FULL BLOWN 680i. Mucho $$$.
3. My Abit IN9 32x-max 680i board was GOOOOD for dual cores, horrible for quad cores. Also a pain to set up. Damn POST CODE ERRORS. The bios can be a little hard to follow if you aren't a "pro-sumer" computer builder or don't have alot of time inside the inner workings of a BIOS.
4. eVGA or XFX Full Blown 680i boards. Unless you want a phys-x card and 2 extra USB ports, there really is not a reason to fork out the extra cash. VERY good boards but the same performance can be had on a 680i LT, minus a few features.
5. I benched tested an Asus Striker. Probably the fastest board of the 680i's. Nice FSB but man, was it picky.. It was EXTREMELY picky. OMG! Also, mine was somewhat "buggy". It would hang between reboots. I had to totally power down for a full minute and then restart. Did I mention it was picky? ..LOL! The cost is WAY too high, IMHO.
6. BFG was mentioned and just for the record, it really isn't ANY different than the eVGA and XFX boards. I have never used the BFG but someone mentioned BIOS updates. Take it for what its worth. If you regularly update your BIOS, then you may want to consider the eVGA then the XFX. If not, and your BIOS updating is limited to once or twice for the lifetime of the board, BFG may be the choice for you.. Especially if you can find it on sale, cheaper than its cousins.
 
officermartinez said:
Since you asked about 680i boards, I will relay my experiences with them...

1. eVGA or XFX 680i LT (My 680i LT feels more stable at higher FSB speeds than my regular 680i). XFX usually follows in the direction of eVGA products. (But, there has been some rivalry lately between the two). Very well priced! My personal choice!
2. DFI 680i LT (Not much difference from Reference 680i LT's in performance except a 3rd pci-e graphics slot). DFI was late to the game with their version of the 680i LT. DFI explained that they would NOT be manufacturing a FULL BLOWN 680i. Mucho $$$.
3. My Abit IN9 32x-max 680i board was GOOOOD for dual cores, horrible for quad cores. Also a pain to set up. Damn POST CODE ERRORS. The bios can be a little hard to follow if you aren't a "pro-sumer" computer builder or don't have alot of time inside the inner workings of a BIOS.
4. eVGA or XFX Full Blown 680i boards. Unless you want a phys-x card and 2 extra USB ports, there really is not a reason to fork out the extra cash. VERY good boards but the same performance can be had on a 680i LT, minus a few features.
5. I benched tested an Asus Striker. Probably the fastest board of the 680i's. Nice FSB but man, was it picky.. It was EXTREMELY picky. OMG! Also, mine was somewhat "buggy". It would hang between reboots. I had to totally power down for a full minute and then restart. Did I mention it was picky? ..LOL! The cost is WAY too high, IMHO.
6. BFG was mentioned and just for the record, it really isn't ANY different than the eVGA and XFX boards. I have never used the BFG but someone mentioned BIOS updates. Take it for what its worth. If you regularly update your BIOS, then you may want to consider the eVGA then the XFX. If not, and your BIOS updating is limited to once or twice for the lifetime of the board, BFG may be the choice for you.. Especially if you can find it on sale, cheaper than its cousins.
Click to expand...

thank you i really appreciated to share your experince :D
 
P35 DDR2 version all the way mate if you don't need SLI, if you get an Asus go for the P5K premium (not the DLX), it's slightly more expensive, but doesn't have the fets on the rear of the mobo, better pwm and runs cooler in general... if you want total control of all voltages, temps and co Blitz formula is the way to ( even more expensive ) but it's in the normal enthousiast price range, so nothing extramegfasupersuperexpensive liek the Striker was
 
officermartinez said:
Since you asked about 680i boards, I will relay my experiences with them...

1. eVGA or XFX 680i LT (My 680i LT feels more stable at higher FSB speeds than my regular 680i). XFX usually follows in the direction of eVGA products. (But, there has been some rivalry lately between the two). Very well priced! My personal choice!
2. DFI 680i LT (Not much difference from Reference 680i LT's in performance except a 3rd pci-e graphics slot). DFI was late to the game with their version of the 680i LT. DFI explained that they would NOT be manufacturing a FULL BLOWN 680i. Mucho $$$.
3. My Abit IN9 32x-max 680i board was GOOOOD for dual cores, horrible for quad cores. Also a pain to set up. Damn POST CODE ERRORS. The bios can be a little hard to follow if you aren't a "pro-sumer" computer builder or don't have alot of time inside the inner workings of a BIOS.
4. eVGA or XFX Full Blown 680i boards. Unless you want a phys-x card and 2 extra USB ports, there really is not a reason to fork out the extra cash. VERY good boards but the same performance can be had on a 680i LT, minus a few features.
5. I benched tested an Asus Striker. Probably the fastest board of the 680i's. Nice FSB but man, was it picky.. It was EXTREMELY picky. OMG! Also, mine was somewhat "buggy". It would hang between reboots. I had to totally power down for a full minute and then restart. Did I mention it was picky? ..LOL! The cost is WAY too high, IMHO.
6. BFG was mentioned and just for the record, it really isn't ANY different than the eVGA and XFX boards. I have never used the BFG but someone mentioned BIOS updates. Take it for what its worth. If you regularly update your BIOS, then you may want to consider the eVGA then the XFX. If not, and your BIOS updating is limited to once or twice for the lifetime of the board, BFG may be the choice for you.. Especially if you can find it on sale, cheaper than its cousins.
Click to expand...


Awesome, man. You seem to have alot of experience with the 680i's. I myself have owned 2 and I can tell you that there are some gaping FSB holes that are different from board to board. It's kinda weird, but I'm fairly happy with my purchase and would recommend them to people who are going SLI or want the possibility, you're not going to get the maximum overclock possible on this board. So if you play superpi more than WiC, go with another board :-D
 
the best non reference board is the dfi 680i lt. the evga 680i and 680i lt are prob the best reference boards and have great warranties and cs.
 
I havent had a ton of 680i/650i motherboards, but I do have two of them.

I use the ASUS P5N32-E SLI. It is a slightly modified version of the Striker.
I currently have an e6700 on board that is clocked at 3.3 Ghz. This board has been nothing but smooth for me since I bought it in November.
I like SLI, that's why I bought the board. I have two 8800 GTX. I use X-Fi for sound. Aside for some goofy nvidia GPU drivers and their ntune which is worthless, my board has run like a champ. I dual boot XP and Vista Home Premium, I still am waiting for nvidia to release a goo SLI vista driver, so I game almost exclusively with XP.
Otherwise Vista has been no problem on the board.
My son's computer is a 650i board, the ASUS P5N-E SLI. It has also been a good solid board, but doesnt OC as well as the 680i. He has SLI 7900 GTX and the board is very good. He plays primarily Guild Wars, so screaming high resolution is not his goal in life. His board has an e6600 at 3.0 Ghz. It isnt real stable above that. Probably heat related.

I'd recommend either of these boards if you plan to SLI. If you dont, there are other great options that may be cheaper. I also have two Gigabyte P965 boards that are really great and cheap. At this point though everybody seems to be going to the P35 based boards if they are not into SLI.
Good luck.
 
No one has mentioned the Gigabyte 680i board. I just put a new system together last night and used the Gigabyte. It seems to work fine so far. I didn't have any problems putting it together and getting it going. I haven't overclocked yet, but I'm not that concerned about its ability for that. I put a Q6600 (G0 stepping) in it with a Scythe Ninja cooler. We used a 850 watt Enermax Galaxy PS. Patriot PC-6400 ram (4 gig - 2x2). Vid card - MSI 8800 Ultra. So far so good!
 
The only problem I have with 680i boards other than the eVGA is that you never know what chipset revision you're going to get. I've heard of problems with the quad cores with the IN9 and the Gigabyte board just like the old TR/AR eVGA boards. AFAIK, eVGA is the only board manufacturer that you know what chipset revision you're going to get.
 
Well, my BFGtech 680i is A2 silicon, both of them, in fact. Hope that tidbit helps :-D
 
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