NVIDIA 680i: The Best Core 2 Chipset?
by Gary Key & Wesley Fink on November 8, 2006 4:45 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Final Words
Russian novelists used to be compensated by the weight of their manuscripts, which is one reason why Tolstoy's War and Peace is so incredibly long. If we weigh NVIDIA's launch by the reams of marketing information and public relations materials from the company, the nForce 600i product family is an impressive product release. We said something similar in our review of the launch of the nForce 500 chipset family just 6 short months ago, and then concluded that the release was more evolutionary than revolutionary. Is this a similar case of much ado about less than you first think?
There are many innovations, reintroductions, and refinements with the new NVIDIA 600i family chipsets, and this review would have been hundreds of pages long had we explored all of the features in detail. No matter the marketing spin or the positive light on innovation, the bottom line is the answer to the question we asked in the beginning of this article. Is the nForce 680i the best chipset for the Intel Core 2?
This time around our answer has to be a resounding YES. NVIDIA has finally got it right on the Intel platform and the 680i is definitely worthy of being called the Hard-Core Enthusiast chipset. We still have questions about why some Core 2 Duo processors overclock to 525 FSB and others can barely reach 450 FSB on this chipset, but we have seen similar behavior with the same CPUs on Intel P965 platforms. Since we were able to personally test an X6800 Extreme 4MB Cache chip at 2100 FSB (525 quad pumped), we lean toward NVIDIA's explanation that different processors are capable of different maximum FSB, regardless of their base overclocking capabilities.
We found one X6800 which maxed out at 1900 FSB, and another that reached 2100 FSB, even though both overclocked with the right combination of multiplier and FSB to around 4GHz. There was no easy answer of the Revision or Stepping to explain these differences. It was also interesting that every 2MB Cache chip we tested reached over 2000 FSB, with our two E6300 reaching 2100 FSB.
The point is we can't tell you, as much as we would like to, why some Core 2 processors reach above 2000 FSB and why others won't go beyond 1800 at any multiplier - no matter how low. We wish we could, and when we do find answers to the question of which processors will do the magic 2000+ we will share them with you.
While we can't answer the processor issue, we are confident that the seriously reworked 680i chipset can take you wherever you want to go as an Intel Core 2 enthusiast. If you want a fast system that does most of the thinking for you, you have only to buy a 680i and SLI certified components. You can let the hardware make all your decisions for you and overclock the video card and memory. This can happen even at stock speed, or you can also overclock the CPU. For those "wannabee" enthusiasts this will be very appealing.
Hard Core enthusiasts often want to do it all themselves, and you can also do this with the 680i. In our own benchmarking we were able to turn off all the automatic overclocks generated by the 680i and dial in our own choices. Using this approach, performance was the most satisfying we have yet found with a Core 2 processor.
NVIDIA has made dramatic improvements in overclocking abilities with 680i. They have effectively moved the new chipset from the embarrassment of mediocre overclocking that characterized the 590 chipset to the 680i evolving into the best overclocking platform you can buy for Intel. When you add to this the proven features like dual x16 SLI video, FirstPacket, dual Gigabit Ethernet with Teaming, HD audio, and the full MediaShield storage array with dual RAID 5, you have a solid product that stands out from the crowd. The added option to run a physics video card with SLI is just delicious icing on the cake.
NVIDIA should also be congratulated for keeping one very significant feature, namely IDE. Intel may have been trying to drive the market to SATA in the 965+ICH8 chipset by leaving out IDE. The problem, of course, is you simply can't find the SATA optical drives you are supposed to buy to use on the 965 boards. Instead manufacturers are forced to add a chipset to support IDE devices on their 965 boards. Thank you, NVIDIA, for avoiding this same pitfall.
The NVIDIA 680i is the chipset we would choose for our own purchase right now. It is the best chipset for the Core 2 platform that we have tested. If you don't need or want all the high end features, the 600i family also offers the lower priced 650i SLI and 650i Ultra aimed at those looking for a more economical motherboard. We still expect ATI to release RD600 in the next few weeks - at least in limited release. It will feature dual x16 CrossFire for Intel Core 2. We are looking forward to reviewing those boards, but it will take some truly revolutionary performance to top the NVIDIA 680i motherboards. If you got the clear message we like the 680i, you would be reading us correctly.
Russian novelists used to be compensated by the weight of their manuscripts, which is one reason why Tolstoy's War and Peace is so incredibly long. If we weigh NVIDIA's launch by the reams of marketing information and public relations materials from the company, the nForce 600i product family is an impressive product release. We said something similar in our review of the launch of the nForce 500 chipset family just 6 short months ago, and then concluded that the release was more evolutionary than revolutionary. Is this a similar case of much ado about less than you first think?
There are many innovations, reintroductions, and refinements with the new NVIDIA 600i family chipsets, and this review would have been hundreds of pages long had we explored all of the features in detail. No matter the marketing spin or the positive light on innovation, the bottom line is the answer to the question we asked in the beginning of this article. Is the nForce 680i the best chipset for the Intel Core 2?
This time around our answer has to be a resounding YES. NVIDIA has finally got it right on the Intel platform and the 680i is definitely worthy of being called the Hard-Core Enthusiast chipset. We still have questions about why some Core 2 Duo processors overclock to 525 FSB and others can barely reach 450 FSB on this chipset, but we have seen similar behavior with the same CPUs on Intel P965 platforms. Since we were able to personally test an X6800 Extreme 4MB Cache chip at 2100 FSB (525 quad pumped), we lean toward NVIDIA's explanation that different processors are capable of different maximum FSB, regardless of their base overclocking capabilities.
We found one X6800 which maxed out at 1900 FSB, and another that reached 2100 FSB, even though both overclocked with the right combination of multiplier and FSB to around 4GHz. There was no easy answer of the Revision or Stepping to explain these differences. It was also interesting that every 2MB Cache chip we tested reached over 2000 FSB, with our two E6300 reaching 2100 FSB.
The point is we can't tell you, as much as we would like to, why some Core 2 processors reach above 2000 FSB and why others won't go beyond 1800 at any multiplier - no matter how low. We wish we could, and when we do find answers to the question of which processors will do the magic 2000+ we will share them with you.
While we can't answer the processor issue, we are confident that the seriously reworked 680i chipset can take you wherever you want to go as an Intel Core 2 enthusiast. If you want a fast system that does most of the thinking for you, you have only to buy a 680i and SLI certified components. You can let the hardware make all your decisions for you and overclock the video card and memory. This can happen even at stock speed, or you can also overclock the CPU. For those "wannabee" enthusiasts this will be very appealing.
Hard Core enthusiasts often want to do it all themselves, and you can also do this with the 680i. In our own benchmarking we were able to turn off all the automatic overclocks generated by the 680i and dial in our own choices. Using this approach, performance was the most satisfying we have yet found with a Core 2 processor.
NVIDIA has made dramatic improvements in overclocking abilities with 680i. They have effectively moved the new chipset from the embarrassment of mediocre overclocking that characterized the 590 chipset to the 680i evolving into the best overclocking platform you can buy for Intel. When you add to this the proven features like dual x16 SLI video, FirstPacket, dual Gigabit Ethernet with Teaming, HD audio, and the full MediaShield storage array with dual RAID 5, you have a solid product that stands out from the crowd. The added option to run a physics video card with SLI is just delicious icing on the cake.
NVIDIA should also be congratulated for keeping one very significant feature, namely IDE. Intel may have been trying to drive the market to SATA in the 965+ICH8 chipset by leaving out IDE. The problem, of course, is you simply can't find the SATA optical drives you are supposed to buy to use on the 965 boards. Instead manufacturers are forced to add a chipset to support IDE devices on their 965 boards. Thank you, NVIDIA, for avoiding this same pitfall.
The NVIDIA 680i is the chipset we would choose for our own purchase right now. It is the best chipset for the Core 2 platform that we have tested. If you don't need or want all the high end features, the 600i family also offers the lower priced 650i SLI and 650i Ultra aimed at those looking for a more economical motherboard. We still expect ATI to release RD600 in the next few weeks - at least in limited release. It will feature dual x16 CrossFire for Intel Core 2. We are looking forward to reviewing those boards, but it will take some truly revolutionary performance to top the NVIDIA 680i motherboards. If you got the clear message we like the 680i, you would be reading us correctly.
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yyrkoon - Thursday, November 9, 2006 - link
From my little experience with an Asrock board that can use this program, it WILL adjust clock frequency on the fly, however I think that voltage changes need be done only by rebooting. Reguardless whether I'm remembering correctly, I'm fairly certain atleast one possible change needs to be done during, or after a reboot, could be thinking of clock multiplier maybe ?Pirks - Thursday, November 9, 2006 - link
that sucks. guess I'll have to wait till nVidia makes 100% nonreboot-OC mobo, or on-the-fly-OC mobo where you just click a couple of buttons in Windows and voila - your machine turns from quiet office machine to a Crysis fireball, and vice versa - I can dream, can't I? ;)ssiu - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
Since NVIDIA claims the 680i has better FSB overclock than the 650i's, and the 680i results are on par with the mainstream P965's, I am afraid that the 650i's would be significantly worse than the DS3s/P5Bs. In other words, I am afraid that the 650i's are not really a new competitive option for budget/mainstream overclockers.yyrkoon - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
I dont think any true enthusiast is going to be buying a mid range board(chipset) to begin with. If the Intel numbering shceme is anything like the AM2 numbering scheme, the 650i will probably have less availible PCI-E lanes as well, and would be a major factor in my personal decission in buying any such hardware, and I know I'm not alone ;)Jedi2155 - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
I don't think your definition of enthusiast is wholly correct but rather the Manufacturer idea of enthusiasist. I personally think many enthusiasists do indeed have a limited budget, and after seeing the pricing of Asus 680i board, I think mid-range is the way to go...hoping for a cheap < $250 680i board >_>.yyrkoon - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
Yeah, He wasnt talking about true enthusiasts though, I realize this after re-reading his post.One a side note, that if my board brand of choice suddenly went away (ABIT), I would seriously consider buying a Gigabyte board, but the DS3 doesnt seem to be making a lot of people happy in the stability category. What I'm trying to say here, is that perhaps the board MAY not OC as well, but that according to what I've read (reviews, forum posts, and A LOT of newegg user reviews), it couldnt do much worse than the Gigabyte board in this area.
The second question I'd be asking myself, is WHO THE HELL is EVGA . . . we all know they make Video cards (probably the best for customer support for nVidia products).
I'm definately interrested in the 680i chipset, but i think my brand of choice for MANY years now would remain the same, and that I'll be sticking with ABIT :)
Gary Key - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
1. The reference board is designed and engineered by NVIDIA. Foxconn manufactures the boards for the "launch" partners that include BFG and others. Asus, Abit, DFI, Gigabyte, and others will have their custom designed boards out in a few weeks.2. The Abit board is very interesting, here is pic of it - http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/2044/in932xmaxy...">Abit 680i - ;)
yyrkoon - Thursday, November 9, 2006 - link
Didnt even know there was one this close to release gary, lol thanks for the link. Judging by the 5 SATAII connectors, previously released ABIT boards, and what LOOKS like an eSATA connector on the back panel, I suppose this board will support eSATA, and possibly a SATA PM ?Stele - Friday, November 10, 2006 - link
That Abit 680i board looks very interesting indeed... if nothing else because it looks like it sports a digital PWM power supply circuitry similar to that used by DFI in the latter's LANParty UT NF590 SLI-M2R motherboard (the Pulse PA1315NL coupled inductor array is a dead giveaway, as it is designed for use only with Volterra's VT11x5M digital PWM circuitry).Unfortunately more information on such circuitry is proving very difficult to find (Volterra themselves restrict their product details and datasheets to design partners only) ... it'd be great to know how such a power circuit compares in performance and capabilities over the traditional PWM-MOSFET-based ones.
Curiously, the Abit 680i seems to have dropped the AudioMax daughter board.
yyrkoon, I'm guessing the 5th SATA II and the eSATA port are there courtesy of an SiI3132 controller - which is likely the little square IC under the upper heatpipe, just beside the audio connector block. As such, the usual capabilities and features of the said IC would apply, I think :)
yyrkoon - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
I'd just like ot point out that DualNet technology is NOT true NIC Teaming, or rather Link agrregation(802.11a/d I think).When I first heard about DualNet I was extremely excited, since I had been doing TONS of research on NIC bonding etc, but after doing some homework, I found that DuelNet only supports out going packets. It was my hope that you could link two of these boards via a regular GbE switch, and get instant 2GbE connections, but this is not the case(unless they've recently redone DualNet).
Now to the question: Since SATA port Multiplier HBAs require a specific SIL chip(s) on the device they communicate with (to give full speeds of a true RAID), what are the chances that nVidia boards will work with these devices ?
In the past, I've seen two AM2 boards that have a built in SIL chip with eSATA connectors on the board back panel (ABIT, and Asus), but onboard SIL 'chipsets' seem to be rather limited(as in only supporting PM support on two SATA connections). I'd personally REALLY like to see this technology standardized, so it doesnt matter WHAT SATA controller chipset you're using. I also think that once nVidia realizes that PM support onboard is a major plus, and once they implement it, they COULD be taken seriously by many Intel fans.
Also, some Intel chipset fans believe that Intel chipsets are best for a rock solid system (for the record, I'm not one of these people), I guess we'll see if nVidia will change thier minds.