Isn't this te 790i?

[lopri]

http://img441.imageshack.us/im...7geforce9800gx2dx5.jpg

It's from the Video forum as you can imagine. (SLI'ed 9800GX2) Since I have a 780i board, I immediately noticed the slight difference from the back I/O panel. eSATA port doesn't exist on 780i and neither does SPDIF out.

So from the looks of it, the 790i isn't much different from 780i other than the obvious. (DDR3 support) Not necessarily a bad thing because 680i/780i have a very good feature set and great layout. I just hope they dropped the troublesome MCP55, although I doubt it.

 

[krnmastersgt]

SPDIF is on the 780i, I don't what you're talking about, and I don't see the eSATA ports? Looks like a standard 780i to me except the locations are a bit fuddled around compared to mine.

Edit: After a bit more digging around and comparing, looks like the 790i, but keep in mind aside from the DDR3, there is also the different cooling system for the nb/sb. And possible absence of the nforce 200 chip?

 

[renethx]

It looks like the 790i reference board. Compare it with this picture

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/8434/index.html

The rear panel and the position of various components (capacitors, USB, IEEE 1394, front panel connectors in the bottom edge etc.) are identical.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Yeah I found about 5 reference board pics and therefore edited my post, looks like those ineffective heatpipes are gone and replaced with fans, wish I had those instead 😛

 

[lopri]

I meant Coaxial, not SPDIF. My mistake. But the board certainly looks different from my 780i. The location of 8-pin CPU power is different as well.

 

[n7]

I see little fans :thumbsdown:

Little fans are something i never want to see on my motherboards again 😛

 

[krnmastersgt]

Yeah, the 790i is worth stepping up for you, I have an XFX so I'm screwed in that sense ^^. I have no use for coax, although I do like the DDR3 and the new cooling system, the current heatpipes suck.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: n7
I see little fans :thumbsdown:

Little fans are something i never want to see on my motherboards again 😛

Ditto! Folks pushing their board to the absolute limit sometimes add fans to NB/chipset heatsinks to cool them; but for 99% of us the stock passive cooling is fine...and QUIET. My last 3 boards have had all passive chipset cooling; never going back.