XFX nForce 650i Ultra Motherboard $69.99 after $30 MIR

[R3LIC]

Haven't seen this posted yet.
Read a number of reviews on this board and the EVGA one (both identical)
Seems to be a very good perfromer for little $$.
May need additional chipset cooling though if you want a fairly high OC.

Bjorn3d review of XFX model
Anandtech review of EVGA model
Hardocp review of EVGA model


Available at ZipZoomFly with Free Shipping

Available at Newegg (+$6.61 shipping)


I was leaning towards a P35 based board for my new build, but I think I'm going to pick one of these up.

If you haven't dealt with XFX before, they are quite good when it comes to customer service.
I had a 7900GT that went bad after about a year.
I told them it was artifacting during game play and they gave me a RMA # the same day.
They replaced it with a 7950GT rather quickly.

Edit: Back in stock at ZZF

 

[Pwntcomputer]

2nd XFX on customer service. SO far they have been kick a**

 

[Bad Dude]

This board would be perfect for me to try if it had another 2 more SATA ports. I got 5 HDs and a DVD burner using SATA ports.

 

[Ricochet]

Sounds like an excellent board. I'll wait a few more days to see if ZZF will get restocked.

 

[Schadenfroh]

A word of warning about the nforce chipset in general (I can attest to it for I am an nforce 3 owner), do not expect any legacy driver support from nvidia once a new nforce chipset is available. Read a few of the threads about it here:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index...57b27790d&showforum=34

 

[Ring]

Just what I was looking for. Now to find a deal on a decent video card. Thanks OP.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

2.1Vdimm will limit the use of some overclock RAMs. The power section is a little weak and cannot provide more than 2.1Vdimm so don't hold out for a BIOS update. The 650i runs HOT and requires a little more Vcore to achieve the same core speed as the P965/P35 boards. I think we will see this board on sale for $60 or lower within a month. That's when I will pick one up for long-term testing. My 1st sample had some issues with the LAN and USB port. You'll definitely need to add a fan to the NB, plus a small heat sink to the SB. Don't run as is if you plan to overclock above 300MHz with this board. The extreme heat will quickly take down the board within a year.

 

[videopho]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
2.1Vdimm will limit the use of some overclock RAMs. The power section is a little weak and cannot provide more than 2.1Vdimm so don't hold out for a BIOS update. The 650i runs HOT and requires a little more Vcore to achieve the same core speed as the P965/P35 boards. I think we will see this board on sale for $60 or lower within a month. That's when I will pick one up for long-term testing. My 1st sample had some issues with the LAN and USB port. You'll definitely need to add a fan to the NB, plus a small heat sink to the SB. Don't run as is if you plan to overclock above 300MHz with this board. The extreme heat will quickly take down the board within a year.

I made a mistake buying this mobo from eVGA unknowing the mobo only supports 2.1v max on vdim.
One great thing though is that eVGA now allows its buyes to do a step-up which I'm in the process of doing to get the 680i myself.
Other than that the 650i is a good mobo for the money, imo.

 

[Budarow]

AT's review also seems to confirm you opinion.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: videopho

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
2.1Vdimm will limit the use of some overclock RAMs. The power section is a little weak and cannot provide more than 2.1Vdimm so don't hold out for a BIOS update. The 650i runs HOT and requires a little more Vcore to achieve the same core speed as the P965/P35 boards. I think we will see this board on sale for $60 or lower within a month. That's when I will pick one up for long-term testing. My 1st sample had some issues with the LAN and USB port. You'll definitely need to add a fan to the NB, plus a small heat sink to the SB. Don't run as is if you plan to overclock above 300MHz with this board. The extreme heat will quickly take down the board within a year.

I made a mistake buying this mobo from eVGA unknowing the mobo only supports 2.1v max on vdim.
One great thing though is that eVGA now allows its buyes to do a step-up which I'm in the process of doing to get the 680i myself.
Other than that the 650i is a good mobo for the money, imo.

How much extra $ for the basic 680i?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Budarow
AT's review also seems to confirm you opinion.

I agree that the board is nice, but the sample provided to AT for testing uses ALL Japanese caps. Current shipped boards come with Samxon caps (cheaper). This concerns me as there are a few caps on the board that are HOT to the touch.

Noobs will probably read the article and think that the board can cruise at 500MHz 24/7 as is. There is a serious overheating issue with the NB and SB (no heatsink) above 300MHz FSB. One must take steps to reduce this heat or the board will die prematurely. Early warning signs include cold boot warning screen, USB and LAN problems.

Scan the EVGA forum for more info. I'd engage, but only under $60 (-$10 for SB heat sink and NB cooler).

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=74376&mpage=1&key=&