[Review]XFX nForce 790i Ultra
Final thought
The Good: As NVIDIA’s top chipset, nForce 790i Ultra SLI have got lots of exciting features. It is first chipset of NV to support 1600MHz FSB, providing support to QX9770 and other bran new Intel 45nm processors. What’s more, it is the first NV chipset to support DDR3 memory. Last but not the least, it is the first mobo that suppots PCIe 2.0 natively. Not to mention 3-way SLI support, ESAm EPP 2.0 PWshortcut and so on, even we omit the SLI technology, some specs are still better than what X38/x48 can provide. From the test we can clearly see, the reference 790i Ultra SLI mobo can successfully unleash chipset’s power, make it a decent rival to Intel’s X38/X48 mobo. It also has great OCbility, with its 3-way SLI ability, it will become a one of the best gaming mobo.
The Bad:
But, as a flagship mobo, it’s still needs to be polished. For example, the compatibility issues of CPU cooler, BIOS overclock option issues, full of non solid capacitors, cheap on board buttons, an so on. It seems NVIDIA is good chipset decigner but not a good mobo decigner, compare to some first tirer board maker NV still have long way to go. We think the chipset worth the price, but the board do not worth 350USD, it is not Über enough to Übergamers. while price is similar, We believe these people would rather choose 790i ultra from ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and Foxconn rather than a reference one.
Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: nForce 790i Ultra SLI new Feature
Page 3: nForce 790i Ultra SLI new feature II
Page 4: nForce 790i Ultra SLI new features III
Page 5: A close look at the board’s key area
Page 6: The cooler
Page 7: Mobo details
Page 8: Chips
Page 9: Package and other stuffs
Page 10: CPU cooler compatibility Test
Page 11: Mobo BIOS Options－Basics
Page 12: Mobo BIOS Option －Overclocking
Page 13: Mobo BIOS options－Voltage adjusting
Page 14: Conclusion on BIOS Options
Page 15: Overclock test
Page 16: Performance test platform and remarks
Page 17: Performance Test
Page 18: Final thought
July 9th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Hi,
fist I would thank you for your great job!!!
but I have a question I hope you’ll answer me:
I’d like to buy this mobo with OCZ Flex II XLC 2 x 1 Go PC16000 and a E8500, is it a good choice to do a good overclock ?
Thanks