Lab Update: Nvidia nForce 680i SLI - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 12th Aug 2007, 15:57

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

The latest P30 BIOS for Nvidia's nForce 680i SLI chipset claims to offer a whole host of performance and overclocking improvements, so does it give a new lease of life to an ageing chipset?

xion · 12th Aug 2007, 16:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim S

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

...so does it give a new lease of life to an ageing chipset?

An ageing chipset? With all the teething problems this board has had to get its foot in the door i'm surprised the uptake has been as strong as it is, with the 975/65 Granddad still making noise it seems to be you have to gamble reliability for enthusiast features. The good thing about reference design boards is the frequency of bios/driver updates, you know it will be sorted soon if you happen to be an early adopter. All said and done, i think it's about time for my P5W-DH deluxe to retire in favour of a less Ageing 680... :P

nphekted · 12th Aug 2007, 17:48

How does its overclocking performance compare to P35 on the newer BIOS?

Max Spain · 12th Aug 2007, 19:01

That is a disappointing bios "upgrade." I wouldn't be surprised if they just loosened the chipset's internal timings. When I read the description, I was hoping that they had added GTL adjustments, but this bios is just a way to inflate their mhz numbers to make ppl think 680i is a better overclocker than P35, even though performance is now worse

A custom bios is a way better option.

pejcaofrito · 12th Aug 2007, 20:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Max Spain

A custom bios is a way better option.

Hard to belive, but true. How can this happen? specially considering that nV has such a huge user base? so asus (as an example) that sells 2 680i mobos does it better than nV that has ALL XFX, eVGA, BFG etc mobos!

ODD!

Bindibadgi · 12th Aug 2007, 20:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by nphekted

How does its overclocking performance compare to P35 on the newer BIOS?

The P35 is still young and we haven't heard of any "special" BIOS' yet, however the Asus Blitz series look good and we've just asked for a DFI LANParty P35 too

samkiller42 · 12th Aug 2007, 21:08

Is there any difference with this update to the standard packaged bios im running?
Oh, how difficult is it to update a bios?

Thanks

Sam

DarkLord7854 · 12th Aug 2007, 21:13

Quote:

However that's probably due to the fact the older BIOS features LinkBoost, and simply overclocking the PCI-Express lanes to 125MHz and HyperTransport to 250MHz will cure that insufficiency.

Is that proven to work and make-up for the slight drop in performance?

Bindibadgi · 12th Aug 2007, 21:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkLord7854

Is that proven to work and make-up for the slight drop in performance?

Nvidia says it isn't, that's why the dropped it and the XFX didn't have it when I reviewed it here but it might offer some explanation to the performance difference.

Sam: boot your board, on POST check the P number at the top: that's your BIOS version. Updating should be as easy as any other board.

DarkLord7854 · 12th Aug 2007, 22:00

Well I have the very first generation board from eVGA (when they boards had the data corruption problems), switching to Quad eventually but the minor performance drop doesn't really seem worth "upgrading" (if you can call it that considering it's mostly a down-grade) only to have slightly better overclocking ability.

Bindibadgi · 12th Aug 2007, 22:05

Depends how old your BIOS is I suppose. It's only a minor performance drop but the overclockability is far greater as well as CPU recognition for correct voltages etc.

DarkLord7854 · 12th Aug 2007, 22:09

So it's worth it? I only have an E6300 for now, waiting on the Q6600 to drop to it's intended price

Tim S · 12th Aug 2007, 22:10

If you're upgrading to a quad-core, I'd drop the new BIOS on personally (especially if you're looking for better OCing).

Woodstock · 13th Aug 2007, 00:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

we've just asked for a DFI LANParty P35 too

hmmm and then it could get lost in postage and end up at my house

samkiller42 · 13th Aug 2007, 03:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkLord7854

Well I have the very first generation board from eVGA (when they boards had the data corruption problems)

Thats what i have, i did'nt update when those problems were apparent, either im running on a time bomb bios, or im extremly lucky, i don't know.
Anyone got a link to the EVGA bios update at all?
If i update it, will it affect my raid setup? One reason why i have not updated.

Thanks for any info.

Sam

Bindibadgi · 13th Aug 2007, 08:48

Um, it shouldn't affect the RAID setup and if it does you should be able to go back in and re-initialise it.

NB: Should

Andreoid · 14th Aug 2007, 15:35

nice board,.. and for this one watercooler for BOTH pwms allready exsitst

alu+plexi
http://www.garageworks.de/bilder/hwluxx/kuehler.jpg

delrin + cu
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3196/imag0066xn4.jpg

Facies · 16th Aug 2007, 14:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andreoid

nice board,.. and for this one watercooler for BOTH pwms allready exsitst

alu+plexi
http://www.garageworks.de/bilder/hwluxx/kuehler.jpg

delrin + cu
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3196/imag0066xn4.jpg

hi there.. nice wb , can you tell me where i can buy then?
send pm if you need

Andreoid · 4th Sep 2007, 18:43

here are some more pictures of the new revision :

Delrin / Cu

Andreoid

12th Aug 2007, 15:57	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Lab Update: Nvidia nForce 680i SLI http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...rce_680i_sli/1 The latest P30 BIOS for Nvidia's nForce 680i SLI chipset claims to offer a whole host of performance and overclocking improvements, so does it give a new lease of life to an ageing chipset? __________________ 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)

12th Aug 2007, 21:08	#7
samkiller42 KEEP IT CLEAN! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Havant, Hampshire, England Posts: 3,188	Is there any difference with this update to the standard packaged bios im running? Oh, how difficult is it to update a bios? Thanks 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 Xbox Live: samkiller42¦PSN: samkiller42¦Bungie: samkiller42

12th Aug 2007, 22:00	#10
DarkLord7854 Web Developer Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: West Palm Beach, Florida Posts: 3,841	Well I have the very first generation board from eVGA (when they boards had the data corruption problems), switching to Quad eventually but the minor performance drop doesn't really seem worth "upgrading" (if you can call it that considering it's mostly a down-grade) only to have slightly better overclocking ability. __________________ Current Computer: eVGA 780i Motherboard \| Q6600 Core2Quad \| eVGA GTX260 896Mbs 216-core \| 2x Seagate 500Gbs \| 8Gbs OCZ Platinum DDR2 800 \| Creative XtremeGamer X-Fi \| Thermaltake Armor Case Custom WordPress, ZenCart, Joomla, vBulletin, etc installs and skinning, PM/E-Mail for a quote

12th Aug 2007, 22:05	#11
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,275	Depends how old your BIOS is I suppose. It's only a minor performance drop but the overclockability is far greater as well as CPU recognition for correct voltages etc. __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

12th Aug 2007, 22:09	#12
DarkLord7854 Web Developer Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: West Palm Beach, Florida Posts: 3,841	So it's worth it? I only have an E6300 for now, waiting on the Q6600 to drop to it's intended price __________________ Current Computer: eVGA 780i Motherboard \| Q6600 Core2Quad \| eVGA GTX260 896Mbs 216-core \| 2x Seagate 500Gbs \| 8Gbs OCZ Platinum DDR2 800 \| Creative XtremeGamer X-Fi \| Thermaltake Armor Case Custom WordPress, ZenCart, Joomla, vBulletin, etc installs and skinning, PM/E-Mail for a quote

12th Aug 2007, 17:48	#3
nphekted Modder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 50	How does its overclocking performance compare to P35 on the newer BIOS?

12th Aug 2007, 19:01	#4
Max Spain Minimodder Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 43	That is a disappointing bios "upgrade." I wouldn't be surprised if they just loosened the chipset's internal timings. When I read the description, I was hoping that they had added GTL adjustments, but this bios is just a way to inflate their mhz numbers to make ppl think 680i is a better overclocker than P35, even though performance is now worse A custom bios is a way better option.

12th Aug 2007, 22:10	#13
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	If you're upgrading to a quad-core, I'd drop the new BIOS on personally (especially if you're looking for better OCing). __________________ 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)

13th Aug 2007, 08:48	#16
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,275	Um, it shouldn't affect the RAID setup and if it does you should be able to go back in and re-initialise it. NB: Should __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

14th Aug 2007, 15:35	#17
Andreoid Minimodder Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Germany, Cologne Posts: 28	nice board,.. and for this one watercooler for BOTH pwms allready exsitst alu+plexi http://www.garageworks.de/bilder/hwluxx/kuehler.jpg delrin + cu http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3196/imag0066xn4.jpg

4th Sep 2007, 18:43	#19
Andreoid Minimodder Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Germany, Cologne Posts: 28	here are some more pictures of the new revision : Delrin / Cu Andreoid