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680i dead, need replacement with SLI

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 4644
  • Start date Start date
D

Deleted member 4644

I have an 8800GT sli set up. I need a new mobo, I would like to avoid 680i if possible.

I need SLI, but don't need insane overclocking.
 
Does 780 have the same BULL SH** memory controller burn out issue?
 
Well, I think it has been pretty well documented here on AT and also on hardforum that the 680i is known to either 1) not work with a lot of ram sticks 2) kill itself (mem controller) 3) kill ram sticks.

If you need, I can find links... here is one, started by me, but it refers to the problem broadly: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1031988174
 
Unfortunately, it's too soon to tell whether or not the reference 780i boards (evga & xfx) will have the same northbridge issues as their predecessors. There is no official or confirmed cause as to the 680i's north bridge burn out problem, but the best speculation on the subject suggests that it's an issue with the power / voltage management design. Unlike other high end boards which are designed to be stressed by very high OCs, the 680i used a cheap 6-phase power design and questionable capacitors.

On the plus side, early reports have said that the 780i boards are a good bit easier to work with than their 680i counterparts (especially in the quad OC department.) However, they also use the same power design and mid-range capacitors, and the inclusion of the bridge chip may mean that reference 780i boards run hotter than their predecessors. Still, the heat sinks have been redesigned and they should do a better job than those on previous boards. (Note that while the power phase design is a likely culprit of NB failure, the fact that the heatsinks were often not mounted properly and/or that the TIM wasn't applied correctly by the manufacturer did not help the issue.)

The alternative to a reference 780i board is a Striker II Formula. Wile more expensive, it uses better electrical components (such as an 8 phase design and solid state caps) that have proven to be more reliable over the long term. While the original Striker had its shares of issues, and was generally recognized as a very temperamental board to OC, at least most of them lasted. Early reports (including one here at Anand) show that the Striker II solves many of the Striker's issues, which means that it could very well be the SLI board to get.

If I were getting an SLI board today, I would go with a Striker II Formula.
 
Originally posted by: Deleted member 4644
is 780 really the only option?
Click to expand...

750i is an option, the latest 650i from ASRock is an option also. If you are not into heavy overclocking then I personally like the 650i/750i solutions better. By the way, even at dual x8 compared to dual x16 on the 680i/780i boards, your 8800GTs will be just as fast. PCIe 2.0 and dual x16 does not make a difference with the 8800GTs in SLI up to 1920x1200 resolutions.
 
My mb is 650i and I wouldn't recommend it to anybody who wants to sli pcie v2 cards as it reverts to 8x on the slots when sli'd. So yes the 700 series is the only way to go if you want to sli and retain 16x on each slot in use.
 
Originally posted by: Gary Key
Originally posted by: Deleted member 4644
is 780 really the only option?
Click to expand...

750i is an option, the latest 650i from ASRock is an option also. If you are not into heavy overclocking then I personally like the 650i/750i solutions better. By the way, even at dual x8 compared to dual x16 on the 680i/780i boards, your 8800GTs will be just as fast. PCIe 2.0 and dual x16 does not make a difference with the 8800GTs in SLI up to 1920x1200 resolutions.
Click to expand...
Is it so under SLI? (SLI bridge playing a role?) Asking this because when I tested a single HD 3850 on a Bad Axe 2 I saw meaningful performance loss when used in x8 configuration.
 
Now, if you don't OC can you still have the burnout issue? Or is this an OCer only problem?

I was looking into SLI until I caught wind of the issues with the 680i chipset.

I've been eyeballing the Intel x38 chipset for the time being.
 
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