• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

EVGA 780i A1 vs MSI P7N

T

The Mailman

Senior member
Hey

I've been on the verge of buying the EVGA for a bit now and NEED to order it today. I just came across the MSI board in a benchmarking test I found and it's $75 less and has some better scores.

Which should I get? Am I reading something wrong here?

I don't care about the money much, I doubt I'll change my mobo for a while so I'd rather have the most stable SLI mobo I can buy right now.

What should I do?


- yes, I plan on overclocking (right now have Q6600)
- yes, I plan on using SLI
- have ddr2 800 ram
 
With solid state caps and a better PWM system, the P7N is a much better choice than the EVGA reference board if stability with SLI is your top concern, and it has already proven to be a very capable overclocker (especially for non-reference nForce boards.) The P7N has also shown to have far fewer issues out of the box than any of the ASUS boards. The minuses are that it still has some issues with 45nm chips (which should be resolved in future BIOS updates,) and that there is less information about it on the net (but the info that is there is growing every day.)

If you're going with a Q6600, I wholeheartidly recommend the P7N. It OCs as well as the reference boards (although not quite as easily,) yet offers improved components for what should result in superior long-term reliability. If you're pairing with a 45nm chip, I suggest you hold off for the moment until more benchmarks are posted.
 
Well I currently have the MSI P7N 780I and that gets my vote. I initially had a EVGA 780I but it died during the first post, I probably just got a bad one because a lot of people have had success with them. So I exchanged the EVGA for a P5N-T Deluxe and that worked great. Saw the MSI P7N Diamond and sold the ASUS P5N-T and bought the MSI.

The only problem I have with the MSI is the esata ports, Windows only recognizes a drive is connected if it turned on when the computer boots and is then recognized by the BIOS. Not sure but its controlled by the Jmicron.
 
so the P7N is literally the best board out there for a SLI setup?

is there anything coming out soon that I should know about?
 
Right now I would say it depends. With the current BIOS, you will likely have more success overclocking a 45nm chip with one of the two reference boards, although the P7N can get by Q6600 G0 up past 4.0ghz, while neither of my evga 680i A1 boards could. Also, the BIOS on the reference boards is bit easier to work with, particularly in the realm of setting voltages. However, the P7N comes with more features (like a fourth PCI-E x16 mechanical slot and ESATA.) Futhermore, the solid state caps and the advanced PWM system are a very big deal. These two things should allow the P7N to avoid the long-term reliability issues that plague the reference boards.

If you're going with a Conroe or Kentsfield CPU, I would recommend the P7N unqualified over the EVGA 780i. If you're going with an 45nm chip, such as the E8400, then wait a bit until a BIOS is released that improves the OC success rate with these chips.

Alternatively, 790i boards are on the horizon and early samples have hit some very impressive FSB overclocks. However, they will require DDR3 RAM which is nothing more than a waste of money until the technology settles down with Nehelem, and they are of course unproven in the market, as none have yet to be released.
 
looks like that settles it! thanks

im planning a second upgrade in spring (45nm, whatever new video cards are out), so i guess if theres a better board out there then, then ill get that, but from what you're telling me this + the Q6600 I'll have in there seems to be the only smart choice

this messageboard's just gonna have to help me get this thing OC'ing in a couple weeks ;-)
 
Mailman,

I encourage you to read and contribute to the P7N Thread on XtremeSystems. We've assembled a good deal of P7N Diamond information over there, and people are contributing info on their results every day. Be sure to post your experiences as well.

Thanks!
 
I almost ordered a p7n diamond however the loss of the use of the pci slot in sli turned me away from it. I ended up getting the asus striker 2 formula for myself and the evga 780i sli for my son and both boards work great for us. I've had good service from msi unfortunately my last msi mb a p6n sli plat appears to have been sacrificed by a dying enermax liberty 620 hence my evga purchase. I'm glad the new compusa is open in town so I can get good stuff at reasonable prices.
 
Originally posted by: The Mailman
what loss of use?
Click to expand...

When using SLI and using the two x16 blue PCIE slots you will not be able to use the only PCI slot because it is right below the second blue slot. I use SLI but I also don't have any use for the PCI slot. So if you have a PCI card that you have to use and want to use SLI, this board wouldn't work.

 
Originally posted by: The Mailman
couldnt you just use the 1st and 3rd slots and put the other in between?
Click to expand...

I read some where in a thread that someone used the first and third slot for SLI with no problems. Can't remember where at the moment. But the manual recommends the first two for SLI and of course all three for triple SLI. I know the SLI cable is long enough to use the first and third, but like I said I don't have any PCI cards so I used the first two. I put the included X-FI sound card in the second PCIE x1 slot.

 
The blue slots are gen 2 and the white is gen 1. I wanted to sli using the gen 2 slots for the most benefit and needed the pci slot open for my x-fi. The asus and evga allow for that but the msi did not. I really wanted an evga 780i ftw but it isn't available yet. Maybe I'll be able to step up that mb when it becomes available.
 
Mailman,

You can indeed use the top, blue PCI-E gen 2 slot and the white (third) PCI-E x16 gen 1 slot for two card SLI w/o issue or performance loss. Keep in mind that no graphics card today saturates a PCI-E 1.1 x16 bus, let a lone a 2.0 bus, so there is no absolutely zero benefit to running two cards in the two blue slots. MSI's manual states that SLI will not work w/o using the two blue slots, but it is well known that this is not true.

I successfully run dual GTXs with one in the blue slot and one in the white slot. With my Q6600 up to 3.6ghz, I hit 18,300 in 3DMark06 and every game I've tested that is known to make full use of SLI does so. I've also had zero problems with my PCI X-Fi and this board. The same can't be said for the evga 680i A1, where like many others I had to deal with hisses and pops until Creative got a decent driver out.

Puffnstuff,

If maximum PCI-E bandwidth is a top concern, you should look to an X38 or 790i board. The PCI-E bridge chip used in the 780i limits the full bandwidth available to the PCI-E 2.0 spec by 500 megs. Again, no card makes use of even the full PCI-E 1.1 bandwidth, so the extra bandwidth provided by PCI-E 2.0 is pretty much useless, and will likely remain so until Nehelem arrives.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top