EVGA nForce 650i Ultra - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 19th Jun 2007, 09:54

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...e_650i_ultra/1

Gaming on a budget? Cheap motherboards worth the bother? Well the new nForce 650i Ultra chipset seems to fit the inexpensive bill quite nicely, and not everyone needs SLI! We test EVGA's board to see if it's really worth spending a few monies instead of a lot.

DXR_13KE · 19th Jun 2007, 11:47

cheap and weak.... remembers me my evil asrock board, how i hate it for being weak, at least it had lots of features. that back side looks very barren and it is greeeeen, my old asrock was dark blue and was cheaper.

DougEdey · 19th Jun 2007, 12:04

Cheap board should have parrallel and serial on the I/O at least, it'd save money from running extra cables and making extra PCI-blanking plates

eek · 19th Jun 2007, 13:52

Not a bad review, but I found the gaming section a bit weak. I understand why it was coupled up with a budget card and so on, but given that not a single other board it was compared with shared the same card, it failed to give a proper indiction of its relative performance. It seemed almost pointless including the results from other motherboard/card combos as they added nothing IMO.

If you're comparing gfx cards against each other then it makes sense to test a variety of cards.

When comparing motherboards surely it makes sense to keep as much as you can the same, including the gfx card - especially when looking at game performance? The fact that it got beaten by every other board was not surprising given they housed a 7900GTX.

kenco_uk · 19th Jun 2007, 14:28

Aye, that does seem a bit of a strange decision.. why not do another run of gaming benchmarks with the 7900 card plugged in?

A budget setup doesn't necessarily mean *everything* has to be a few notches behind technologically.

Bindibadgi · 19th Jun 2007, 14:30

I see your point, I just don't have anything in the lab to compare it to. The Gigabyte and board has gone back already and I only just found the MSI P6N Platinum again.

The 650i Ultra is specifically designed for the 7600GS.

In hindsight I should have tested with an E6300 and 7900 GTX, perhaps, or given I found the MSI far sooner I might have had time to put that together with a 7600GS and E6300.

The gaming performance in high res is GPU limited anyway, if anything the 7600GS is a representation in there.

It's a point noted, but I find it hard to review mainstream boards since companies tend to want to keep the hardware.

If you really want, I can throw the board back on when I have time and do a 7900 GTX and E6300 with the 650i but the MSI will take far longer since I've got to start from a scratch installation.

Nature · 19th Jun 2007, 15:28

I like the position of the Pci slots on this here board. Moast of Nforce 500-600 series boards the pci's slots are smushed together, near a potential dual slot GPU, or in the middle of two pci express lanes. This one is breazy-Mc-easy. Plenty ov room for tv tuners, sound cards, and what have you.

I don't consider this board a bargain for US pricing... Considering a 680 ultra from EvGA is 25 bones more... 25 dollars is not a lot when you weigh in what Joe consumer gets on a 680 ultra.

Flawless review, and the new color-coated graphs have grown on me. I'd really like to see a nice laptop review from you guys soon, the last one was from rock and had a whole lotta creepy skulls on it...

note: for those of you using a mac, you can make that badgi's avatar go in slow motion if you click on the scroll bar really fast like...

./^\.Ace./^\. · 19th Jun 2007, 15:33

I just looks like it is missing a lot of stuff. It looks like a low end Intel mother board

trig · 19th Jun 2007, 17:49

Quote:

but swapping out the CPU for a certain unreleased 1333MHz FSB Intel processor allowed us to easily exceed this limit.

gimme

keith_j_snyder2 · 19th Jun 2007, 18:45

Maybe for a sec...i thought rich will use 8600 GT or GTS.I mean that will give the better idea for the latest things.

Spaceraver · 19th Jun 2007, 23:23

hmm.. i like.. I still run an EVGA 7800GS AGP on a p4p800s-e mobo. might be time to upgrade to this board and a 8something series card. Couple that with a Samsung or LG 22" inch tft and that should keep me happy for a few years. just dont know which gfx card. 88 or 86.
And i like it oldskool (yes skool

) watercooled ofc.

Pie_uk · 19th Jun 2007, 23:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by eek

Not a bad review, but I found the gaming section a bit weak. I understand why it was coupled up with a budget card and so on, but given that not a single other board it was compared with shared the same card, it failed to give a proper indiction of its relative performance. It seemed almost pointless including the results from other motherboard/card combos as they added nothing IMO.

If you're comparing gfx cards against each other then it makes sense to test a variety of cards.

When comparing motherboards surely it makes sense to keep as much as you can the same, including the gfx card - especially when looking at game performance? The fact that it got beaten by every other board was not surprising given they housed a 7900GTX.

yep, me flicking through it thought somethings not right here. then found out once i read though it carefully.

strange way of testing gaming performance, almost pointless imo

qupada · 20th Jun 2007, 01:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougEdey

Cheap board should have parrallel and serial on the I/O at least, it'd save money from running extra cables and making extra PCI-blanking plates

I wondered about that too, surely it's cheaper to solder a serial port onto the board than make a PCI bracket with cable. At least they haven't just disposed of it entirely I guess, some of us with serial port UPS's don't want to buy USB>RS232 converters.

The parallel port on the other hand? Good riddance I say.

Bindibadgi · 20th Jun 2007, 17:35

E6300, 7900 GTX scores added for comparison

Woodstock · 20th Jun 2007, 23:04

i sure as hell hope theres a labelling mistake on the photoshop graph

Tim S · 20th Jun 2007, 23:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woodstock

i sure as hell hope theres a labelling mistake on the photoshop graph

kenco_uk · 20th Jun 2007, 23:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

E6300, 7900 GTX scores added for comparison

woot! Crikey, they're quite telling!

groucho · 22nd Jul 2007, 15:42

I can't find anything in documentation about a connector on this mobo for the PC case speaker but I see a 4-pin connector near the audio connectors in the corner of the board that fit the connector that my case has for the speaker. Any ideas?

Also, if I want to connect my CD/DVD player to the mobo to get audio (with either a 2 or 4-pin connector) can I do that? Again, nothing in documentation. In my other systems without integrated audio, the sound card typically has a place to plug this connector in.

Bindibadgi · 22nd Jul 2007, 19:48

PC Speaker? Why do you need it? Boot problems? It'll likely be on the front panel pin out. I've not seen anyone use an old 4-pin connector for the DVD/CD player in YEARS, now it's all done over the normal IDE/SATA digital connection in all OS' and software I can think of. Or do you mean a separate external devise, like a stand alone?

19th Jun 2007, 09:54	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	EVGA nForce 650i Ultra http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...e_650i_ultra/1 Gaming on a budget? Cheap motherboards worth the bother? Well the new nForce 650i Ultra chipset seems to fit the inexpensive bill quite nicely, and not everyone needs SLI! We test EVGA's board to see if it's really worth spending a few monies instead of a lot. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

19th Jun 2007, 11:47	#2
DXR_13KE Madeira's banana is the best!!! Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Madeira ; Portugal Posts: 6,469	cheap and weak.... remembers me my evil asrock board, how i hate it for being weak, at least it had lots of features. that back side looks very barren and it is greeeeen, my old asrock was dark blue and was cheaper. __________________ *Renegade X - 0.40 Release!* <---- CLICK!

19th Jun 2007, 12:04	#3
DougEdey I pwn all your storage Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Southampton Posts: 13,933	Cheap board should have parrallel and serial on the I/O at least, it'd save money from running extra cables and making extra PCI-blanking plates __________________ Burnout: Paradise Stats!XBL: DougEdey Bindi PSN ID: DougEdey Twitter Last edited by Tim S; 19th Jun 2007 at 12:08. Reason: thx for the typo - fixed!

19th Jun 2007, 14:28	#5
kenco_uk I feel your presents. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Bourne, Lincolnshire, UK Posts: 6,302	Aye, that does seem a bit of a strange decision.. why not do another run of gaming benchmarks with the 7900 card plugged in? A budget setup doesn't necessarily mean everything has to be a few notches behind technologically. __________________ MSI X58M - i7 920 4Ghz - 6GB Corsair - GTX260 648/2520 ::: Vote for bit-tech T - theevilelephant - "it sounded like bouncing around on a pogo stick, screaming in chinese while occasionally throwing a cat at a door."

19th Jun 2007, 14:30	#6
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,260	I see your point, I just don't have anything in the lab to compare it to. The Gigabyte and board has gone back already and I only just found the MSI P6N Platinum again. The 650i Ultra is specifically designed for the 7600GS. In hindsight I should have tested with an E6300 and 7900 GTX, perhaps, or given I found the MSI far sooner I might have had time to put that together with a 7600GS and E6300. The gaming performance in high res is GPU limited anyway, if anything the 7600GS is a representation in there. It's a point noted, but I find it hard to review mainstream boards since companies tend to want to keep the hardware. If you really want, I can throw the board back on when I have time and do a 7900 GTX and E6300 with the 650i but the MSI will take far longer since I've got to start from a scratch installation. __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

19th Jun 2007, 13:52	#4
eek CAMRA ***. Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: in meh own little world Posts: 1,511	Not a bad review, but I found the gaming section a bit weak. I understand why it was coupled up with a budget card and so on, but given that not a single other board it was compared with shared the same card, it failed to give a proper indiction of its relative performance. It seemed almost pointless including the results from other motherboard/card combos as they added nothing IMO. If you're comparing gfx cards against each other then it makes sense to test a variety of cards. When comparing motherboards surely it makes sense to keep as much as you can the same, including the gfx card - especially when looking at game performance? The fact that it got beaten by every other board was not surprising given they housed a 7900GTX.

19th Jun 2007, 15:28	#7
Nature Supermodder Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Jinan, China Posts: 417	I like the position of the Pci slots on this here board. Moast of Nforce 500-600 series boards the pci's slots are smushed together, near a potential dual slot GPU, or in the middle of two pci express lanes. This one is breazy-Mc-easy. Plenty ov room for tv tuners, sound cards, and what have you. I don't consider this board a bargain for US pricing... Considering a 680 ultra from EvGA is 25 bones more... 25 dollars is not a lot when you weigh in what Joe consumer gets on a 680 ultra. Flawless review, and the new color-coated graphs have grown on me. I'd really like to see a nice laptop review from you guys soon, the last one was from rock and had a whole lotta creepy skulls on it... note: for those of you using a mac, you can make that badgi's avatar go in slow motion if you click on the scroll bar really fast like... __________________ Peace, Love, Empathy, Respect, Generosity, Smiles, and Hugs

19th Jun 2007, 15:33	#8
./^\.Ace./^\. Multimodder $./^\.Ace./^\.'s Avatar$ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 150 $./^\.Ace./^\. is on a distinguished road$	I just looks like it is missing a lot of stuff. It looks like a low end Intel mother board __________________ CPU: Intel i7 920 \| RAM: 6GB OCZ Reaper DDR3 1866MHz \| Mother Board: Asus P6T \| Graphics: Dual BFG GeForce GTX295 rev.B Quad SLI \| PSU: Antec TPQ-1000 \| CPU Cooler: Cooler Master V8 \| Hard Drives: 500GB Seagate Barracuda, 500GB WD Caviar Black, 1TB WD Carviar Green \| Optical Drive: Pioneer DVR-216D \| Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 \| Monitor: LG W2343T 23" \| OS: Windows 7 Pro 64bit \|
$./^\.Ace./^\. is offline$

19th Jun 2007, 18:45	#10
keith_j_snyder2 Multimodder Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: new delhi Posts: 146	Maybe for a sec...i thought rich will use 8600 GT or GTS.I mean that will give the better idea for the latest things. __________________ AMD Athlon 3200+(2000 MHz) Winchester (Cooler Master Hyper 48),MSI RS482M4-ILD,Kingston KVR 512x2(1024MB)400MHZ,Gainward 6800 GS 256MB GDDR3 @ 425/1000,250GB WD Caviar 2500JS,80GB Seagate Barracuda,Lite-on DVD/RW,Cooler Master 430Watts PSU. www.sunehrepal.com http://www.technewstime.com

19th Jun 2007, 23:23	#11
Spaceraver Weekend Junkie Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kolding, Denmark Posts: 1,307	hmm.. i like.. I still run an EVGA 7800GS AGP on a p4p800s-e mobo. might be time to upgrade to this board and a 8something series card. Couple that with a Samsung or LG 22" inch tft and that should keep me happy for a few years. just dont know which gfx card. 88 or 86. And i like it oldskool (yes skool ) watercooled ofc. __________________ "Faith: not wanting to know what is true." - Friedrich Nietzsche. "Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful." - Seneca Last thing I remember, I was drinking this glowing green sht out of a test tube and dancing like a bstard.

20th Jun 2007, 17:35	#14
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,260	E6300, 7900 GTX scores added for comparison __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

20th Jun 2007, 23:04	#15
Woodstock So Say We All Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,657	i sure as hell hope theres a labelling mistake on the photoshop graph __________________ Hell hath no fury like a hippo with a machine gun.

22nd Jul 2007, 15:42	#18
groucho What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1	I can't find anything in documentation about a connector on this mobo for the PC case speaker but I see a 4-pin connector near the audio connectors in the corner of the board that fit the connector that my case has for the speaker. Any ideas? Also, if I want to connect my CD/DVD player to the mobo to get audio (with either a 2 or 4-pin connector) can I do that? Again, nothing in documentation. In my other systems without integrated audio, the sound card typically has a place to plug this connector in.

22nd Jul 2007, 19:48	#19
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,260	PC Speaker? Why do you need it? Boot problems? It'll likely be on the front panel pin out. I've not seen anyone use an old 4-pin connector for the DVD/CD player in YEARS, now it's all done over the normal IDE/SATA digital connection in all OS' and software I can think of. Or do you mean a separate external devise, like a stand alone? __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!