NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI review - XFX - Page 16 - Conclusion

Conclusion

I don't think it's needed to make a long conclusion today. The best of the best got to be updated. Unless you are planning a Penryn based Core 2 processor or simply need a new PC there really is no real need to upgrade to 780i at all. Baseline performance is similar to the 680i just as much as the feature set is. But if the you are confronted with the actual choice, please do buy the 780i instead of the 680i.

With the 780i comes PCIe 2.0, that third x16 PCIe slot and most importantly that Penryn (new Intel 45nm CPUs) processor support. For those of you wanting such a processor absolutely wait for the nForce 700 series availability as the existing 600 series will not support the upcoming Yorkfield quad cores from Intel due to a required motherboard circuit change.

The 780i although not a huge update, is the stuff that will get you seriously excited. The feature set is awesome. The true success of this 680/780 series obviously lies in platform stability while overclocking. Sure you need to have the best gear like PSU, memory and processor yet once you have all your components right, it's the nForce platform that will steer your system to new heights. Yesterday I decided to remove the QX9770 processor and inserted the older Kentfield based Q6600 processor (B0 stepping), this is the 2400 MHz quad core processor based on 65nm technology. I got it towards 3.4 GHz within a minute... on a stock Intel air cooler. Experiences like these are the true reason why you should get the 780i. The QX9770 processor as used today will cost you 1400 USD. That, Q6600 processor you can pick up for 275 USD. Yet within that one minute .. it was running faster than that 1400 USD processor. So although I find the nForce 680/780 series to be rather expensive at 250 USD .. that is exactly where you need to seek your value.

Overclocking always remains component dependant though, if you purchase a bolder yield CPU, chances are you can't clock that high. But given Intel's policy on overclocking these days .. that's not really a worry. The competition between AMD and Intel brought overclocking accepted and closer to mainstream, we now see broad acceptation from the manufacturers. A massive overclock of your system equals ROI - a return of investment. What a great thing that is.

Now I've been thinking hard about what I'd like to see improved on future nForce products. It's not a whole lot, but admittedly .. three things came to mind which hopefully you'll allow me to address. First off DDR3 support. DDR3 clocks insanely good and you can achieve much higher memory bandwidth with it. nForce 790 will support DDR3 so that's on the short term loop already.

Other features I like to see are I/O related. SATA. We observe more and more devices making a move to SATA. Optical peripherals like DVD burners yet also HD-DVD and a recently purchased Bluy-ray drive I bought are also connected through SATA. This eliminates my two RAID5 configured HDD arrays and that just need change. So my first concern here is that we need more SATA connectivity on these mainboards. Six won't cut it anymore, I'm thinking ten even twelve SATA ports here.

Last observation & recommendation; placement of the SPP (Northbridge) cooler. The SPP especially when you overclock your PC will generate a serious amount of heat. The way the cooling is positioned is a bit weird, as all the heat is blown directly to the backside of the graphics card, this is not optimal. If the cooler was positioned 45 degrees clockwise the heat would be blown towards the read I/O panel where above it usually an exhaust fan is to be found.

Other then that I just have nothing remotely negative to say about 780i. Everything you can possibly need can be found on this mainboard. Next to all that tweaking madness you get to have DDR2 (SLI) Memory support up-to 1200 MHz, awesome BIOS tweak support, RAID features, MediaShield, Dual Gigabit Ethernet, ESA and full 3-way SLI. Yes, we'd almost forget to mention it. Do not forget that this is the best performing SLI mainboard available.

Right, it's time to wrap things up. XFX will offer you a full life-time warranty in the USA. In the EU however you are limited to a two year warranty, which compared to the US warranty really is a bit on the low side. The board will be introduced at roughly 275 USD / 199 EUR sales price. Despite the fact it is a lot of money for mainboard .. trust me when I say that it's worth it.

You do need to be a tweaker that loves to play games in the most extreme way, in that circumstance this board is worth every invested penny. Otherwise it's a misuse of the investment. And although being an updated 680i, the nForce 780i is a bloody dazzling platform, not a soul on this earth will deny that.

This is technology done at it's best, and in the near future we'll be using this mainboard as baseline test unit, and we only cherry pick the best hardware for our test systems. That's really the biggest compliment I can give any manufacturer out there.

Very impressive stuff NVIDIA, very impressive. For all this royal excellence and extremely nice bundle, we'd like to give XFX our "best hardware" award. Gear like this just friggin rocks.

More info: XFX technology