NVIDIA 680i: The Best Core 2 Chipset?
by Gary Key & Wesley Fink on November 8, 2006 4:45 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
LinkBoost
One of the features unique to the nForce 590SLI and 680i SLI MCP is a system called LinkBoost. If a GeForce 7900 GTX or GeForce 8800 is detected on either MCP then LinkBoost will automatically increase the PCI Express and MCP HyperTransport (HT) bus speeds by 25%. This increases the bandwidth available to each PCI Express and HT bus link from 8GB/s to 10GB/s.
Since this technology increases the clock speed of the PCI Express bus by 25% to the x16 PCI Express graphics slots, NVIDIA requires certification of the video card for this program to work automatically. In this case, the 7900GTX and 8800 series are the only compatible cards offered, although you can manually set the bus speeds and achieve the same results depending upon your components. We feel this feature is worthwhile for those users who do not want to tune their BIOS and go through extensive test routines to find the best possible combination of settings.
In essence, NVIDIA is guaranteeing their chipset's PCI Express and HT interconnect links are qualified to perform up to 125% of their default speeds without issue. While LinkBoost is an interesting idea, the 25% increase in PCI Express x16 slots and HT bus speeds yielded virtually the same performance as our system without LinkBoost enabled in most cases.
Its actual implementation did not change our test scores in single video card testing but did provide a 1%~2% difference in SLI testing at resolutions under 1600x1200 in several game titles. The reason for the minimal increases at best is that the performance boost is being applied in areas that have minimal impact on system performance as the link to the CPU/Memory subsystem is left at stock speed thus negating the true benefits of this technology.
FirstPacket
As part of the overhaul of the networking features first introduced in the NVIDIA nForce 590SLI and now 680i SLI Series, FirstPacket is a packet prioritization technology that allows latency-sensitive applications and games to effectively share the upstream bandwidth of their broadband connection. Essentially this technology allows the user to set network data packets for applications and games that are more latency sensitive with a higher queue priority for outbound traffic only.
FirstPacket is embedded in the hardware and offers driver support that is specifically designed to reduce latency for networked games and other latency-sensitive traffic like Voice over IP (VoIP). When network traffic constrains a connection, latency is increased which in turn can result in dropped packets that would create a jitter and delay in VoIP connections or higher ping rates to the game server resulting in stutters and decreased game play abilities.
In the typical PC configuration, the operation system, network hardware, and driver software are unaware of latency issues and therefore are unable to reduce it. The standard interfaces that allow applications to send and receive data are basically identical to the OS in a typical system. This type of design results in latency-tolerant and large packet applications like FTP or Web browsers filling the outbound pipeline without regards to the needs of small packet and very latency-sensitive applications like games or VoIP applications.
FirstPacket operates by creating an additional transmit queue in the network driver. This queue is designed to provide expedited packet transmission for applications the user determines are latency-sensitive applications. The ability of the designated applications to get preferential access to the upstream bandwidth usually results in improved performance and lower ping rates. The FirstPacket setup and configuration is available through a revised Windows based driver control panel that is very easy to use.
In our LAN testing, we witnessed ping rate performance improvements of 22% to 36% during the streaming of video from our media server while playing Serious Sam II across three machines on our LAN. We noticed ping rate performance improvements of 14% to 33% while uploading files via BitTorrent and playing Battlefield 2 on varying servers.
The drawback at this time is that only outbound packets are prioritized so if you spend more time downloading than uploading the FirstPacket technology will have little impact on your computing experience. Worth mention is that nearly all broadband connections have a lot more downstream bandwidth than upstream bandwidth, so focusing on prioritizing outbound traffic does make sense. Also, the upload time for our test file increased by 41% with FirstPacket turned on but the overall gaming experience was significantly better. However, in NVIDIA's defense they cannot control the behavior or quality of service on other networked clients, so FirstPacket addresses the services NVIDIA can control - namely uploading.
One of the features unique to the nForce 590SLI and 680i SLI MCP is a system called LinkBoost. If a GeForce 7900 GTX or GeForce 8800 is detected on either MCP then LinkBoost will automatically increase the PCI Express and MCP HyperTransport (HT) bus speeds by 25%. This increases the bandwidth available to each PCI Express and HT bus link from 8GB/s to 10GB/s.
Since this technology increases the clock speed of the PCI Express bus by 25% to the x16 PCI Express graphics slots, NVIDIA requires certification of the video card for this program to work automatically. In this case, the 7900GTX and 8800 series are the only compatible cards offered, although you can manually set the bus speeds and achieve the same results depending upon your components. We feel this feature is worthwhile for those users who do not want to tune their BIOS and go through extensive test routines to find the best possible combination of settings.
In essence, NVIDIA is guaranteeing their chipset's PCI Express and HT interconnect links are qualified to perform up to 125% of their default speeds without issue. While LinkBoost is an interesting idea, the 25% increase in PCI Express x16 slots and HT bus speeds yielded virtually the same performance as our system without LinkBoost enabled in most cases.
Its actual implementation did not change our test scores in single video card testing but did provide a 1%~2% difference in SLI testing at resolutions under 1600x1200 in several game titles. The reason for the minimal increases at best is that the performance boost is being applied in areas that have minimal impact on system performance as the link to the CPU/Memory subsystem is left at stock speed thus negating the true benefits of this technology.
FirstPacket
As part of the overhaul of the networking features first introduced in the NVIDIA nForce 590SLI and now 680i SLI Series, FirstPacket is a packet prioritization technology that allows latency-sensitive applications and games to effectively share the upstream bandwidth of their broadband connection. Essentially this technology allows the user to set network data packets for applications and games that are more latency sensitive with a higher queue priority for outbound traffic only.
FirstPacket is embedded in the hardware and offers driver support that is specifically designed to reduce latency for networked games and other latency-sensitive traffic like Voice over IP (VoIP). When network traffic constrains a connection, latency is increased which in turn can result in dropped packets that would create a jitter and delay in VoIP connections or higher ping rates to the game server resulting in stutters and decreased game play abilities.
In the typical PC configuration, the operation system, network hardware, and driver software are unaware of latency issues and therefore are unable to reduce it. The standard interfaces that allow applications to send and receive data are basically identical to the OS in a typical system. This type of design results in latency-tolerant and large packet applications like FTP or Web browsers filling the outbound pipeline without regards to the needs of small packet and very latency-sensitive applications like games or VoIP applications.
FirstPacket operates by creating an additional transmit queue in the network driver. This queue is designed to provide expedited packet transmission for applications the user determines are latency-sensitive applications. The ability of the designated applications to get preferential access to the upstream bandwidth usually results in improved performance and lower ping rates. The FirstPacket setup and configuration is available through a revised Windows based driver control panel that is very easy to use.
In our LAN testing, we witnessed ping rate performance improvements of 22% to 36% during the streaming of video from our media server while playing Serious Sam II across three machines on our LAN. We noticed ping rate performance improvements of 14% to 33% while uploading files via BitTorrent and playing Battlefield 2 on varying servers.
The drawback at this time is that only outbound packets are prioritized so if you spend more time downloading than uploading the FirstPacket technology will have little impact on your computing experience. Worth mention is that nearly all broadband connections have a lot more downstream bandwidth than upstream bandwidth, so focusing on prioritizing outbound traffic does make sense. Also, the upload time for our test file increased by 41% with FirstPacket turned on but the overall gaming experience was significantly better. However, in NVIDIA's defense they cannot control the behavior or quality of service on other networked clients, so FirstPacket addresses the services NVIDIA can control - namely uploading.
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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.