EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW - bit-tech.net Forums

Bindibadgi · 22nd Jul 2008, 08:30

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

EVGA has gone For The Win with a board that's been upgraded from the nForce 750i SLI reference design. We put it through its paces to see if there really is Cheesecake at the end of the tunnel.

Cthippo · 22nd Jul 2008, 08:53

Link doesn't work

AlexB · 22nd Jul 2008, 09:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich

We had to use a pair of pliers to apply extra torque on the screwdriver to get them out!

You're just showing off how weak your geek-wrists are now!

RTT · 22nd Jul 2008, 09:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cthippo

Link doesn't work

fixt

naokaji · 22nd Jul 2008, 10:15

basically evga tried to make the best out of a piece of junk (750i and the most outdated sb ever).

the oc'ing isnt anything speical either since basically every p35 board can do those speeds as well or more.

nice review, but the product just doesnt cut it with the heavy competition in the mainboard market.

fathazza · 22nd Jul 2008, 17:45

is this the successor to the 650i? as its double the price!

Bojamijams · 22nd Jul 2008, 18:31

Which BIOS version was used for this board?

Also I want to say good review of this board. I own it and am not too happy with it. I hate the orientation of the NB heatsink and the fact it blows hot air on the card (like it'd be really hard to design a heatsink thats rotated 90degrees and is blowing the air towards the back of the case where there are perforated holes).

I also think its overpriced.

Reason why I'm asking about the BIOS is that the latest official bios is EZ1E however it introduced a huge hit in memory performance and this may be why its performing so badly in the tests. If you go back to SZ17 bios you will see much bigger improvements. However.. with the EZ17 there is a huge FSB hole in terms of overclocking with the E7200/E7300 as you cannot hit anything over 370Mhz FSB. SZ1E fixed this, but introduced the very slow mem controller issue. So its an ongoing problem.

Also, are you sure its x16/x8 in SLI? I thought it was x16/x16

Bojamijams · 22nd Jul 2008, 18:32

meant to say SZ1E sorry.

Bindibadgi · 22nd Jul 2008, 18:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bojamijams

Which BIOS version was used for this board?

Also I want to say good review of this board. I own it and am not too happy with it. I hate the orientation of the NB heatsink and the fact it blows hot air on the card (like it'd be really hard to design a heatsink thats rotated 90degrees and is blowing the air towards the back of the case where there are perforated holes).

I also think its overpriced.

Reason why I'm asking about the BIOS is that the latest official bios is EZ1E however it introduced a huge hit in memory performance and this may be why its performing so badly in the tests. If you go back to SZ17 bios you will see much bigger improvements. However.. with the EZ17 there is a huge FSB hole in terms of overclocking with the E7200/E7300 as you cannot hit anything over 370Mhz FSB. SZ1E fixed this, but introduced the very slow mem controller issue. So its an ongoing problem.

Also, are you sure its x16/x8 in SLI? I thought it was x16/x16

I thought it was x8/x8 but the Nvidia documentation says x16/x8, so I went with that.

It's good to know about the BIOS thing (at least for others), cheers.

Bojamijams · 22nd Jul 2008, 19:16

Another correction. Its actually x16/x16 in SLI. The performance hit you attribute when compared to the 780i is still based on the weaker memory controller with that bios version.

Here's the word from an evga tech

http://www.evga.com/forums/fb.asp?m=320592

Bindibadgi · 22nd Jul 2008, 19:22

Cheers.

ChaosDefinesOrder · 22nd Jul 2008, 21:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bojamijams

Another correction. Its actually x16/x16 in SLI. The performance hit you attribute when compared to the 780i is still based on the weaker memory controller with that bios version.

Here's the word from an evga tech

http://www.evga.com/forums/fb.asp?m=320592

That's good to know if it is indeed 2 slots of PCI-E 2.0 16x!

It does make the gaming graphics performance look suspicious, however, as one would expect them to be very similar...

Bindibadgi · 22nd Jul 2008, 21:23

low memory bandwidth and the fact that the NF200 chipset is forcing two x16 2.0 links into a single x16 (just like the 780i too). If you look at the memory copy speeds they are atrocious - this is particularly important to some games (so I've heard).

Bojamijams · 23rd Jul 2008, 00:51

Is it possible to retest this board with the SZ17 bios? It would give a better picture as to its peformance and i'm rather curious how my overpriced board performs with a proper bios.

Gunblade · 23rd Jul 2008, 03:51

How come the multi-gpu performance with Crysis is only a slight increase in FPS versus the single gpu performance chart?

I have the 750i cheesecake with a regular EVGA 8800GT and plan on getting another 8800GT to increase performance. While the 9800 is not an 8800GT. This seriously concerns me, I can't spend 150 bucks for just a few more measly frames! Crysis is the only game where I have a noticeable slow FPS and choppiness.

Sorry the board didn't turn out such a good review for you guys.

Back when I bought it I was faced with no board with features/specs I really liked (whats wrong with some on board firewire!) with just an intel chipset, I hate ASUS's non-existant support/website. And my brothers and friends Gigabyte boards were DOA or dying just months after they got them. SLI seemed like a win for me as well, not having to buy the super expensive single-graphics cards solution. I remember being pretty cheaper than any 780i board as well....not just 20 bucks.

tuaamin13 · 23rd Jul 2008, 04:05

Great review.

The only thing I'm disappointed in is that it's not a review for the 780i cheesecake. I saw "EVGA" and "cheesecake" on the mainpage and instantly thought "sweet, benchmarks on the 780i cheesecake!" Then again, you guys exist in the UK, so it'll be a while before you get that board.

I'd be really interested to see if the 780i cheesecake is just as win as the 750i.

Bindibadgi · 23rd Jul 2008, 07:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bojamijams

Is it possible to retest this board with the SZ17 bios? It would give a better picture as to its peformance and i'm rather curious how my overpriced board performs with a proper bios.

No, I just don't have time sorry. Otherwise I'd be here forever testing everyones BIOS' everytime a new one was released.

If you're buying a board based on warranty though - then EVGA is it, so that's a good decision. It's just a very rare one imo

Cupboard · 23rd Jul 2008, 18:08

Quick question - how many SATA cables does it come with? The review says 6 but the picutes show 4 ports and 4 cables. Is this just a little slip or is it some weird feature?

Bindibadgi · 23rd Jul 2008, 18:14

Four - sorry, fixed

Ricou · 26th Jul 2008, 20:33

Hello all,

FIrst, I'm sorry about my average engligh wirtting skiil, but I feel good to write an aditional review of this 750i board.

I own one of this board once first week of may 08 and I very amazed by it's desing. It look very well designed, solid and with a proper cooling assembly. So, I've lived some few issues with this board: The north bridge fan is loudy and lack cfm. I had to replace them with a 80mm zalman fan @ 40% of 3000 it's 3000rpm (because at 100%, this fan is very loudy!!) You can had a 60mm fan with a good cfm, but I consider that is very important to have a chipset fan on this NB. It run very hot. at 1.40v @ 1700mhz.

Then, I found this board to be an average overclocker because it's not that simple to reach sweet spot between the fsb spped and the ram speed. Eg: if I put a 1700fsb, my ballistix 1066 cas5 ram doesn't work at 1020mhz - need to put them at 920. This even if I ajust the voltage of the ram at 2.25 -2.3 volts. Aslo at 1800 fsb, 800 ram cas 4-3-3-12-2-3 (because at unlinked mode, the pc don't boot anymore and need clr cmos!) the pc does random reboot. I will looking to do the vdroop mod and to better cpu voltage monitoring with a low resistance Fluke multimeter, because I found this board very bad on the cpu voltage management. I feel this board to drop the voltage very easely when a load is suddently put on the cpu. I've read on EVGA forum that the voltages monitored by the bios or by cpu-z is not the reality then people suggest to apply vdroop mod to resolve this issue... or to try to stabilise the voltage. I found this issue to be a big weakness on this board when you have want to do a nice OC. However, the SLI work flawlessly at pci2.0 16x on my both 8800gts oc.

My last board was an Asus P5B and I run my c2d 6750 at 3.8ghz 1700fsb without big modification... just bios voltages ajustment. The P5B board layout was basic compared to the 750i cheesecake and cost-me a bit more half the price of the EVGA. So, I don't understand why evga doesn't put little more effort -$- on the voltage regulation of the memory and the cpu when OC is applied to satisafy every user and to just make this board more satisfactory and a more valuable one for the price.

So th econsummer must paid for the support and warranty - EVGA know this!

My conclusion:

Pro:

Work very well at standard clock.
It's layout design
Decent heatpipe cooling
DUAL SLI running at both 16x
POST code display
Good stability at normal speed and average oc.

CON:

Weak and loudy low CFM NB fan
Weird voltage balance between system critical parts - NB - CPU - MEM when OC applied
SATA ports at 90 deg and soldered on a not pratical location
Average OC result
Some person may have lived video corruption with this board and some GF8-GF9 video adapter, which I never lived.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

22nd Jul 2008, 08:30	#1
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,259	EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...-sli-FTW/1 EVGA has gone For The Win with a board that's been upgraded from the nForce 750i SLI reference design. We put it through its paces to see if there really is Cheesecake at the end of the tunnel. __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek! Last edited by Baz; 22nd Jul 2008 at 09:19.

22nd Jul 2008, 08:53	#2
Cthippo Can't mod my way out of a paper bag Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Bellingham, WA Posts: 4,462	Link doesn't work __________________ Notice: If we see you flaming we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate measures - The Bit-Tech Fire Brigade.

22nd Jul 2008, 17:45	#6
fathazza Freed on Probation Join Date: May 2002 Location: Gloucestershire Posts: 3,110	is this the successor to the 650i? as its double the price! __________________ I may be fat but at least I am not Ginger "The President is no longer a cross-eyed Texan warmonger, unelected, inarticulate, who epitomises the arrogance of American foreign policy" - Boris Johnson

22nd Jul 2008, 19:22	#11
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,259	Cheers. __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

22nd Jul 2008, 21:23	#13
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,259	low memory bandwidth and the fact that the NF200 chipset is forcing two x16 2.0 links into a single x16 (just like the 780i too). If you look at the memory copy speeds they are atrocious - this is particularly important to some games (so I've heard). __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

22nd Jul 2008, 18:31	#7
Bojamijams What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 4	Which BIOS version was used for this board? Also I want to say good review of this board. I own it and am not too happy with it. I hate the orientation of the NB heatsink and the fact it blows hot air on the card (like it'd be really hard to design a heatsink thats rotated 90degrees and is blowing the air towards the back of the case where there are perforated holes). I also think its overpriced. Reason why I'm asking about the BIOS is that the latest official bios is EZ1E however it introduced a huge hit in memory performance and this may be why its performing so badly in the tests. If you go back to SZ17 bios you will see much bigger improvements. However.. with the EZ17 there is a huge FSB hole in terms of overclocking with the E7200/E7300 as you cannot hit anything over 370Mhz FSB. SZ1E fixed this, but introduced the very slow mem controller issue. So its an ongoing problem. Also, are you sure its x16/x8 in SLI? I thought it was x16/x16

22nd Jul 2008, 18:32	#8
Bojamijams What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 4	meant to say SZ1E sorry.

22nd Jul 2008, 19:16	#10
Bojamijams What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 4	Another correction. Its actually x16/x16 in SLI. The performance hit you attribute when compared to the 780i is still based on the weaker memory controller with that bios version. Here's the word from an evga tech http://www.evga.com/forums/fb.asp?m=320592

23rd Jul 2008, 00:51	#14
Bojamijams What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 4	Is it possible to retest this board with the SZ17 bios? It would give a better picture as to its peformance and i'm rather curious how my overpriced board performs with a proper bios.

23rd Jul 2008, 03:51	#15
Gunblade The Frugal Chef Join Date: May 2005 Location: Woodinville, WA Posts: 85	How come the multi-gpu performance with Crysis is only a slight increase in FPS versus the single gpu performance chart? I have the 750i cheesecake with a regular EVGA 8800GT and plan on getting another 8800GT to increase performance. While the 9800 is not an 8800GT. This seriously concerns me, I can't spend 150 bucks for just a few more measly frames! Crysis is the only game where I have a noticeable slow FPS and choppiness. Sorry the board didn't turn out such a good review for you guys. Back when I bought it I was faced with no board with features/specs I really liked (whats wrong with some on board firewire!) with just an intel chipset, I hate ASUS's non-existant support/website. And my brothers and friends Gigabyte boards were DOA or dying just months after they got them. SLI seemed like a win for me as well, not having to buy the super expensive single-graphics cards solution. I remember being pretty cheaper than any 780i board as well....not just 20 bucks.

23rd Jul 2008, 04:05	#16
tuaamin13 Minimodder Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 32	Great review. The only thing I'm disappointed in is that it's not a review for the 780i cheesecake. I saw "EVGA" and "cheesecake" on the mainpage and instantly thought "sweet, benchmarks on the 780i cheesecake!" Then again, you guys exist in the UK, so it'll be a while before you get that board. I'd be really interested to see if the 780i cheesecake is just as win as the 750i.

23rd Jul 2008, 18:08	#18
Cupboard I'm not a modder. Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bury St Edmunds/Durham Uni Posts: 1,844	Quick question - how many SATA cables does it come with? The review says 6 but the picutes show 4 ports and 4 cables. Is this just a little slip or is it some weird feature? __________________ i7 920, 8800GTS 512, 6GB Corsair all in an Intel DX58SO; 3*320GB RAID5; CM Stacker Samsung Q45.

23rd Jul 2008, 18:14	#19
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,259	Four - sorry, fixed __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

26th Jul 2008, 20:33	#20
Ricou What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2	Hello all, FIrst, I'm sorry about my average engligh wirtting skiil, but I feel good to write an aditional review of this 750i board. I own one of this board once first week of may 08 and I very amazed by it's desing. It look very well designed, solid and with a proper cooling assembly. So, I've lived some few issues with this board: The north bridge fan is loudy and lack cfm. I had to replace them with a 80mm zalman fan @ 40% of 3000 it's 3000rpm (because at 100%, this fan is very loudy!!) You can had a 60mm fan with a good cfm, but I consider that is very important to have a chipset fan on this NB. It run very hot. at 1.40v @ 1700mhz. Then, I found this board to be an average overclocker because it's not that simple to reach sweet spot between the fsb spped and the ram speed. Eg: if I put a 1700fsb, my ballistix 1066 cas5 ram doesn't work at 1020mhz - need to put them at 920. This even if I ajust the voltage of the ram at 2.25 -2.3 volts. Aslo at 1800 fsb, 800 ram cas 4-3-3-12-2-3 (because at unlinked mode, the pc don't boot anymore and need clr cmos!) the pc does random reboot. I will looking to do the vdroop mod and to better cpu voltage monitoring with a low resistance Fluke multimeter, because I found this board very bad on the cpu voltage management. I feel this board to drop the voltage very easely when a load is suddently put on the cpu. I've read on EVGA forum that the voltages monitored by the bios or by cpu-z is not the reality then people suggest to apply vdroop mod to resolve this issue... or to try to stabilise the voltage. I found this issue to be a big weakness on this board when you have want to do a nice OC. However, the SLI work flawlessly at pci2.0 16x on my both 8800gts oc. My last board was an Asus P5B and I run my c2d 6750 at 3.8ghz 1700fsb without big modification... just bios voltages ajustment. The P5B board layout was basic compared to the 750i cheesecake and cost-me a bit more half the price of the EVGA. So, I don't understand why evga doesn't put little more effort -$- on the voltage regulation of the memory and the cpu when OC is applied to satisafy every user and to just make this board more satisfactory and a more valuable one for the price. So th econsummer must paid for the support and warranty - EVGA know this! My conclusion: Pro: Work very well at standard clock. It's layout design Decent heatpipe cooling DUAL SLI running at both 16x POST code display Good stability at normal speed and average oc. CON: Weak and loudy low CFM NB fan Weird voltage balance between system critical parts - NB - CPU - MEM when OC applied SATA ports at 90 deg and soldered on a not pratical location Average OC result Some person may have lived video corruption with this board and some GF8-GF9 video adapter, which I never lived. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------