NVIDIA's 790i Arrives: SLI Rides Again
by Kris Boughton on March 18, 2008 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
EVGA NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Board Layout and Features (Cont'd)
The four DDR3 DIMM slots have been moved slightly down the board in an effort to locate them as close as possible to the 790i SLI SPP, minimizing memory data and control signal trace lengths. Considerations such as these are crucial to the development of memory subsystems with enough signal transfer margin to support data transfer rates well in excess of standard DDR3 specifications. The use of DDR3 also removes the need for an array of onboard termination resistors and frees-up valuable board space for things like additional control transistors, improved copper pours for ground and power plane placement, extra bulk capacitance, and the freedom to more intelligently optimize signal routing wherever possible. If fact, much of the additional speed realized through the use of DDR3 over DDR2 is due to improvements in the interface specifications more than in actual modifications to the memory die architecture. High-speed data systems are especially susceptible to issues like crosstalk and inductive coupling between parallel data lines, which is one of the reasons why most interfaces are rapidly moving away from parallel buses in favor of low pin count serial connections.
Although not shown here, final-shipping retail boards will make use of two separate DIMM slot colors - grey and black. The two black slots, the second and farthest from the CPU socket, should be primary utilized when overclocking memory above 1800MHz. Above this frequency where it matters most, trace lengths have been carefully matched to some of the internal chipset latencies and timings associated with bank addressing in order to provide maximum signal margin. This translates to better memory overclocks, all without the need for excessive VDDQ voltages that are otherwise needed to force operation at these speeds.
All of the optional USB and 1394a expansion headers are now conveniently located along the bottom edge of the board, unlike past layouts that seem to scatter them to the wind. This also includes the POST status indicator, which was sometimes difficult to view on the 780i board depending on what cards were installed. The same momentary tactile switches for power and reset have also made a comeback, a feature we made extensive use of during our bench testing marathons. The locations of the fan headers also make a lot more sense now. One of the two fan headers grouped at the bottom of the 780i board near these switches has also made a move up the PCB to the back plane area. We really like this as it means we no longer have to decide between running the included chipset fan or a 120mm fan mounted at the back of our case.
Finally, we would be negligent not to mention the placement of an additional SATA port, seen just above the top PCIe x1 slot. This is perfect for those out there that either install a SATA-to-eSATA port adapter or want the ability to run a single deep-storage drive when a 6-disk RAID 5 array occupies every other SATA port hanging off the MCP. It's clear that NVIDIA has partnered well with EVGA and put a lot of thought into improving their latest product.
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ATWindsor - Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - link
I couldn't agree more, features is all well and good, but only if things works and are stable. No wonder people find it daunting to build a computer, even when you have done it several times you risk going into som "trap" with things not working the way it should, more focus on this in reviews please.AtW
theYipster - Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - link
I agree with Lopri in every regard. AT needs to stop masquerading these technical showcase articles as reviews. In addition to what Lopri already mentioned, I would add that AT failed to a) address the long standing concerns held throughout the enthusiast community over nForce product quality (regarding the paragraph on PWM design... very undwerwhelming considering that it doesn't offer support to its claim) and b) failed to provide a fair assessment of the value proposition these boards provide. The article states that the 790i provides a noticeable step up in performance over previous generations, and that owners of previous boards would find upgrading worthwhile. This is a bold claim, as such an upgrade would cost nearly $1000 (when factoring in new DDR3 RAM) and would not even include a new CPU or graphics card. Yes, the NB runs a bit cooler and can OC a bit farther, but how and why is that worth $1000, even to the enthusiast who can afford it easily? Lets also consider the grander scheme of things. What worth is it for someone who enjoys the latest and greatest to spend $350 on a board when Nehalem will change all the rules in less than a year. At least previous generations (as well as Intel's X38) provide some shelf life.In any case, Overclock3d.net has a very informative review of the Striker II Extreme which covers almost everything Lopri mentioned.
ssiu - Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - link
"The EVGA 790i Ultra also handled our QX9770 sample with relative ease. We were able to benchmark and play games without incident at 400MHz FSB, our mark of excellence when it comes to quad-core overclocking."That is a low standard of excellence for a high-end chip. The Q9300/Q9450 overclockers are going to cry.
greylica - Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - link
Mwahaha, some will say :" Now we can finnaly play crysis ! "
Well done, 66 fps...
n0nsense - Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - link
We can for a very long time.I do it with 1920x1200 at all Med + 4AA
I have the 680i (P5N32-E SLI) + E6300@2.8GHz (not the maximum, but lower fan speed = less noise) + 4GB OCZ ReaperX @ 800MHz 4-4-3-12 1T and single reference design 8800GT from ASUS at stock clock (the only modified sing, is stock cooler replaced with Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 which reduced card temp by 25C)
As you can see MB - year old, CPU 1.5 years old.
I can't tell you the exact fps, but it's completely smooth playing.
I expect next generation to bring same smooth play at all very high + all filterings for existing games.
BTW, where 9800x2 in SLI tests on this 790i ?
SpaceRanger - Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - link
When do you think nVidia will be putting out these boards for AMD CPU's. The only thing I see for AMD CPU's are boards that support CROSSFIRE, but not SLI.ap90033 - Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - link
It just costs to MUCH. I got 8 GIGS DDR2 800 an E8400 and a Single 8800GTS 512 meg, and I have the CPU Running at 3.6 (I am looking to try 3.8 maybe) and I can play any game maxed except Crysis. I can play it at high at 1024x768. I looked at SLI but its to danged expensive, I had 1220$ to spend and decided to get the most performance for the money. I wish they would quit going up in price on these motherboards, hey Nvidia, you do know I can get a GREAT Overclockers motherboard with good features (NO SLI OF COURSE) for $80 right? Why would I pay $250+ more for the board, another $200+ more for DDR3 Ram, and another $250 for another 8800GTS just so "some" games would run 15% faster? Are you nuts??? 10-15% but it costs like $800 MORE???? I think Ill save my $800 or so and use it on my next video card upgrade, my next CPU upgrade, and the next video card upgrade after that! LOLkrnmastersgt - Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - link
Because this isn't meant at the people that want the best price/performance, this is for the uber-high end user, the extreme benchmarker/extreme gamer, of course by your logic SLI and CrossFire are stupid wastes of money since the performance doesnt scale linearly, but this is meant for enthusiasts and therefore you shouldn't compare it with something like a P35 board.crimson117 - Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - link
As an example, I was helping configure a Dell for a home office user, non-gamer, no video editing, etc, but he was fairly well-off money-wise. While picking options, at one point I said something about some component being "plenty for most users" and he replied (in a nice way) "I'm not most users"; so we went with the upgraded version even though the price performance, especially for his usage pattern, didn't make fiscal sense.The moral is there are people out there who get satisfaction over having the absolute best no matter the price.
Relatedly, an experiment found that people perceive $90 wine as tasting better than $10 wine, even when it was secretly http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-9849949-39.html">the same exact wine.