XFX nForce 680i SLI - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 27th Jun 2007, 13:09

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...rce_680i_sli/1

XFX is another Nvidia graphics board partner that has joined the motherboard market with an enthusiast-orientated nForce 680i SLI motherboard. We check it out to see if it's worth buying instead of the Inno3D and EVGA boards already on the market.

Mankz · 27th Jun 2007, 13:55

Do we really need constant reviews of all of the referance design 680i boards?

Anywho, good review as allways!

Bindibadgi · 27th Jun 2007, 14:34

I know what you mean, but this goes back to CeBit and my conversation with XFX went something like this:

Bindi: "Send us something interesting!"
XFX: "k, we have a pre-overclocked (???) LT board coming soon"
Bindi: "Sounds great, send it on"

Two months later we get a plain Jane 680i in the post and I don't check the box til I come to review it

Anywaaaay, at least this lets you know the differences aren't that much across the entire range and the whole difference is in the packaging. It's still good to know there isn't much to know, right?

trig · 27th Jun 2007, 15:37

ok, what are the differences between all the evga 680i boards on newegg? there are like 3 or 4 of em, ranging from 150 to 210...

widmod · 27th Jun 2007, 15:50

i supose 21 on the board description diagram is the power and reset switches and not a second RS232 Port? somehow it does look more like switches than a pinout...

samkiller42 · 27th Jun 2007, 17:21

Did you guys ever manage to get a stable EVGA borad, i know when i got mine, Tim went through 3 of the damn things, and im still on my first.

Good review guys

Sam

Techno-Dann · 27th Jun 2007, 17:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mankz.

Do we really need constant reviews of all of the referance design 680i boards?

Anywho, good review as allways!

Second the motion... A good review, though, even if it's basically the same hardware the third (?) time around.

Out of curiosity, are the rounded IDE cables the same as the ones from the EVGA package? They look round, but on the inside, it's just the ribbon cable that's been sliced into strips, so it doesn't bend worth beans?

Bindibadgi · 27th Jun 2007, 17:44

Urgh, I think we gave up in the end tbh, I havent seen one around for months. We've done other nforce 6 EVGA boards since though.

Dan: 2nd

I can't remember the EVGA package but I've just checked and it's a properly rounded (and very colourful internally!) IDE cable.

pendragon · 27th Jun 2007, 18:19

thanks for the review!

..this just makes my choice of 680i board harder :P heh ...too bad you couldnt include benchmarks with 8800's vs 7900 .. oh well

Bindibadgi · 27th Jun 2007, 18:32

Well Tim does those in Gfx reviews

Tim S · 27th Jun 2007, 18:40

I think the other issue is that bit-tech only has the one 30" screen and the numbers on a pair of 8800s at 1600x1200 would be pretty pointless because they'd be stupidly high.

That said, I do want to upgrade our graphics cards for mobo reviews at some point because, yes, the 7900 and X1900-series cards are getting a bit long in the tooth now.

pendragon · 27th Jun 2007, 21:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

Well Tim does those in Gfx reviews

Yea.. I'm just being selfish.. heh

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim S

I think the other issue is that bit-tech only has the one 30" screen and the numbers on a pair of 8800s at 1600x1200 would be pretty pointless because they'd be stupidly high.

I suppose... but who doesn't love stupidly high numbers!?

Nature · 28th Jun 2007, 11:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

Well Tim does those in Gfx reviews

Who does the mobile graphics reviews? I've yet to see any review for the new 8xxx and 2xxx series cards from Bit-tech. And other sites just don't compare with that bitty-techy quality

Tim S · 28th Jun 2007, 11:51

We're in the process of running the numbers for a review on the mid-range GeForce 8 and HD 2000 series cards.

DXR_13KE · 28th Jun 2007, 12:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim S

We're in the process of running the numbers for a review on the mid-range GeForce 8 and HD 2000 series cards.

great

DrewBear11 · 28th Jun 2007, 23:37

Treated myself to this

Very nice board, really like it, however mine didnt come with any nuts/bolts/whatever and didnt have any motherboard stand offs.

Also missing a drivers cd.....

Moving on, only real problem is that it will not work with my xfi extreme gamer, blue sceen's, locks up.....

can anyone shed any light on this, or is this an issue with any other 680i's ?

Cheers

Fused · 28th Jun 2007, 23:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrewBear11

Treated myself to this

Very nice board, really like it, however mine didnt come with any nuts/bolts/whatever and didnt have any motherboard stand offs.

Also missing a drivers cd.....

Moving on, only real problem is that it will not work with my xfi extreme gamer, blue sceen's, locks up.....

I also bought this as I thought it matched with the XFX 8800gts 320mb XXX i purchased

Mine didnt have a drivers cd either

(No nuts and bolts either but i wasnt expecting ne, shud I have been? (plenty came with my case neway))

I have a creative x-fi extreme gamer and works perfectly fine installed the drivers after loading windows and that was it. Im assuming youve checked your xfi extreme gamer was fine on another system?

completemadness · 29th Jun 2007, 01:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fused

Mine didnt have a drivers cd either

Maybe they want you to go on the site to get the drivers, because by the time u install them off the CD they are usually out of date anyway

Quote:

(No nuts and bolts either but i wasnt expecting ne, shud I have been? (plenty came with my case neway))

i haven't seen a motherboard come with nuts/bolts, most likely because that is all done with the case

probably because the standoffs depends on the case, and the nuts depend on the standoffs, so it makes more sense to put the nuts/bolts with the case and just give you a motherboard

Bindibadgi · 29th Jun 2007, 12:35

Mobos don't come with nuts and bolts, that's a case thing.

You should have had a driver CD in the envelope thing though.

DrewBear11 · 29th Jun 2007, 18:46

Ah right, yeah maybe i was expecting too much for it to come with extra bolts and standoffs.

I was getting blue screens with the xfi, with the drivers off the cd, i havnt tried newer drivers with the card yet, maybe i will in the next few days.

Is there anywhere i can request a driver cd or anything, because i couldnt find specfic drivers for that exact board on the xfx site..

cheers

27th Jun 2007, 13:09	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	XFX nForce 680i SLI http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...rce_680i_sli/1 XFX is another Nvidia graphics board partner that has joined the motherboard market with an enthusiast-orientated nForce 680i SLI motherboard. We check it out to see if it's worth buying instead of the Inno3D and EVGA boards already on the market. __________________ 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)

27th Jun 2007, 14:34	#3
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,291	I know what you mean, but this goes back to CeBit and my conversation with XFX went something like this: Bindi: "Send us something interesting!" XFX: "k, we have a pre-overclocked (???) LT board coming soon" Bindi: "Sounds great, send it on" Two months later we get a plain Jane 680i in the post and I don't check the box til I come to review it Anywaaaay, at least this lets you know the differences aren't that much across the entire range and the whole difference is in the packaging. It's still good to know there isn't much to know, right? __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

27th Jun 2007, 15:37	#4
trig sweet sweet hangin joben Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: cardboard box outside of sears Posts: 1,638	ok, what are the differences between all the evga 680i boards on newegg? there are like 3 or 4 of em, ranging from 150 to 210... __________________ I love me some me e8400 @ 4.45 ghz..ac freezer 7..2 gigs patriot extreme 1150 mhz..abit ip35-pro..xfx 4770 with asus top bios @ 926 core/1077 memory..antec p182b..corsair hx620..seagate 500 gb 32mb cache THE best site ever...1600 signatures under the same avatar...time for a new one

27th Jun 2007, 15:50	#5
widmod Stopp the Relix guy Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: AUSTRIA Posts: 382	i supose 21 on the board description diagram is the power and reset switches and not a second RS232 Port? somehow it does look more like switches than a pinout... __________________ Gaffa-Tape is a very simple modding device <sings>I'm from AUSTRIA</sings>and NO we have no kangaroos Microsoft NEVER stopped the beta phase of any of its operating systems i will not apologize for my language skills

27th Jun 2007, 17:21	#6
samkiller42 KEEP IT CLEAN! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Havant, Hampshire, England Posts: 3,191	Did you guys ever manage to get a stable EVGA borad, i know when i got mine, Tim went through 3 of the damn things, and im still on my first. Good review guys Sam __________________ The Rig: i7 920 D0, Gigabyte EX58-UD5, 12GB DDR3 1600mhz, BFG GTX295, Samsung 64gb SSD, WD 640gb Black, Samsung F2 Eco 1TB, Dell 3007WFP, Windows 7 RC. The Netbook: Samsung NC10 Black, Intel Atom, 2gb DDR2 The Mac: Awaiting Delivery

27th Jun 2007, 17:44	#8
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,291	Urgh, I think we gave up in the end tbh, I havent seen one around for months. We've done other nforce 6 EVGA boards since though. Dan: 2nd I can't remember the EVGA package but I've just checked and it's a properly rounded (and very colourful internally!) IDE cable. __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

27th Jun 2007, 18:19	#9
pendragon I pickle they Join Date: May 2004 Location: Massachusetts,usa Posts: 632	thanks for the review! ..this just makes my choice of 680i board harder :P heh ...too bad you couldnt include benchmarks with 8800's vs 7900 .. oh well __________________ -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- GCS d-@ s-:>: a- C++$ UL---@ P++>+++++$ L+ E----@ W+++ N o? K? w++>+++++ O---@ M-- V? PS--() PE+@ Y? PGP-@ t+(+++) 5(+)@ X@ R+(++) tv@ b++ DI@ D++ G e++>+++++ h! r(%) y? ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

27th Jun 2007, 18:32	#10
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,291	Well Tim does those in Gfx reviews __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

27th Jun 2007, 18:40	#11
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	I think the other issue is that bit-tech only has the one 30" screen and the numbers on a pair of 8800s at 1600x1200 would be pretty pointless because they'd be stupidly high. That said, I do want to upgrade our graphics cards for mobo reviews at some point because, yes, the 7900 and X1900-series cards are getting a bit long in the tooth now. __________________ 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)

28th Jun 2007, 11:51	#14
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	We're in the process of running the numbers for a review on the mid-range GeForce 8 and HD 2000 series cards. __________________ 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)

28th Jun 2007, 23:37	#16
DrewBear11 Minimodder Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 29	Treated myself to this Very nice board, really like it, however mine didnt come with any nuts/bolts/whatever and didnt have any motherboard stand offs. Also missing a drivers cd..... Moving on, only real problem is that it will not work with my xfi extreme gamer, blue sceen's, locks up..... can anyone shed any light on this, or is this an issue with any other 680i's ? Cheers

29th Jun 2007, 12:35	#19
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,291	Mobos don't come with nuts and bolts, that's a case thing. You should have had a driver CD in the envelope thing though. __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

29th Jun 2007, 18:46	#20
DrewBear11 Minimodder Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 29	Ah right, yeah maybe i was expecting too much for it to come with extra bolts and standoffs. I was getting blue screens with the xfi, with the drivers off the cd, i havnt tried newer drivers with the card yet, maybe i will in the next few days. Is there anywhere i can request a driver cd or anything, because i couldnt find specfic drivers for that exact board on the xfx site.. cheers Last edited by DrewBear11; 29th Jun 2007 at 18:51.