EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW Intel Motherboard Reviewed

The EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW ($US200) is a motherboard for Intel that features:

• Intel Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium EE, Pentium D, & Pentium processor support
• Nvidia nForce 750i SLI MCP and SPP chipset
• dual channel DDR2-800 memory support, up to 8GB
• 8x USB 2.0 ports
• 4x Serial ATA II, with RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5, and JBOD
• Gb LAN
• 2x 1394a ports
• Azalia High-Definition audio
• 2x PCI Express v2.0 x16 slots

"... users who would like to build an SLI graphics subsystem have very limited options when it comes to choosing mainboards for LGA 775 processors. Nvidia nForce 6 series doesn't support contemporary Intel processors, NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI and nForce 750i SLI run very warm and unstable during overclocking. ... we can only leave the decision making to SLI fans here. You may either use only one graphics card, or give up CPU overclocking altogether or overclock to pretty mediocre speeds. You may wait for new Nvidia chipsets or even switch to ATI graphics cards. The choice is yours, and at this time we cannot recommend any Nvidia nForce 750i SLI based mainboards. None of them are really good, so no wonder very few companies have them in their product range." [X-bit Labs | EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW Mainboard Review: Rehabilitated?]

As it seems, overclocking fans won't be interested in the nForce 750i SLI mobos. If you just have to have a system with an Intel processor and 2 graphics cards in SLI, probably the best way to have it is to run it at stock speeds.

Technorati : 750i, evga, intel, motherboard, nforce, nvidia, review, sli

Intel X48 and Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI Chipsets Compared

Planning to build a new rig that features support for the latest processors, PCI Express 2.0 and DDR3-1600 memory? Two high-end chipsets from Intel (X48) and Nvidia (nForce 790i Ultra SLI) were compared, to help you decide which chipset to choose for your upcoming high-end rig.

X48 and nForce 790i SLI Ultra Common Features:

• 800, 1066, 1333, 1600 FSB
• Dual channel DDR3 memory (8GB max)
• 2 x16 (rev. 2.0) PCIe
• 6x SATA/300 w/ NCQ ports
• 0, 1,10, 5 RAID
• GbE NIC

The nForce 790i SLI Ultra, has these extra features:

• 1 x16 (1.0) PCIe support
• 62 PCIe Lanes (against 40 for X48)
• UltraATA Port
• Second GbE NIC

The Intel X48, however, has more USB 2.0 ports (12 vs. 10 for the 790i).

"Both platforms provide a better feature set and more flexibility than any other chipset for the Intel architecture available today. ... There are small advantages for the X48 chipset regarding performance and overclocking, but they don't really count towards my conclusion, as no one will ever notice them. ... the Intel chipset will be maxed out with two ATI Radeon HD graphics cards, the Nvidia platform will work with up to three GeForce 8800 GTX or faster cards, or with the GeForce 9800 GX2 double deckers, effectively providing quad graphics for the enthusiast." [Tom's Hardware | High-End Chipset Battle]

Tom's Hardware also suggests the upcoming Intel P45 chipset for those who do NOT need dual PCI Express graphics.

Technorati : 790i, chipset, intel, motherboard, nforce, nvidia, x48