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- Date:
- Friday , February 01, 2008
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
EVGA nForce 780i SLI
The EVGA 780i SLI packs a lot of nice features under the hood, including support for the current mainstream DDR2 memory technology, and SLI using 2 or 3 NVIDIA graphics cards. Is it enough to compete with the latest Intel DDR3 board though?
Introduction
EVGA is a well known entity in the graphics market, but a relative newcomer in the motherboard area. However, they have been able to translate their quality and performance wins in the graphics area to the motherboard delivery process almost flawlessly. Their newest Intel based product is a definite design win for them.
The EVGA nForce 780i SLI is the newest in EVGA’s Intel motherboard lineup. The board is designed by NVIDIA using the NVIDIA nForce 780 SLI chipset, which supports all released Intel LGA 775 processors, DDR2 memory operating in Dual Channel mode up to 800MHz officially, and dual or triple card SLI graphics mode when the board is used in conjunction with matching NVIDIA based graphics cards.
EVGA made the nForce 780i SLI board as a feature complete solution, requiring an Intel LGA 775 processor, DDR2 memory, a video card, drives, and a PSU for a working system. The following ports are integrated in to the nForce 780i SLI: 1 ATA-133 IDE port and 6 SATA II ports (RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 5 capable) on the 780i SLI SPP controller; 10 USB 2.0 capable ports (6 in rear panel, and 2 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 2 IEEE 1394 capable ports (1 in rear panel, and 1 onboard header); 2 x NVIDIA GigE Ethernet ports in the rear panel; Realtek 8-channel HD audio codec featuring an S/PDIF optical output port; and PS/2 keyboard and mouse port support in the rear panel.
Main Specifications Overview:
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
Packaging
EVGA used a sci-fi style theme for the nForce 780i SLI’s box art, featuring an artistic rendering of the board in the head of a robot. The supported technologies, including CPU and memory, are clearly marked on the box front as well. The following in packaged in with the board: ATA-133 and floppy rounded cables; SATA drive and dual ended power cables; the rear panel shield; rear brackets for USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, and serial (COM) ports; dual port and tri-port SLI connectors; and the normal complement of manuals and drivers discs.
Board Layout
EVGA did a phenomenal job with the nForce 780i SLI board layout, with no real overly tight areas on the board. While the board revision is located nowhere that I could find on the board, the serial number is on a white sticker in between the CPU socket and DIMM slots. EVGA chose to use capacitors manufactured by Rubycon (Japan) and SAMXON (China).
The CPU socket area is free of obstructions, with low profile power components in use so as to not interfere with CPU cooler surface mating. EVGA went with the standard LGA775 cooler hold-down strategy with the board. The NVIDIA 780i SLI MCP Northbridge is located to the left of the CPU socket, covered by a massive copper heat sink assembly. This cooler acts as a heat dissipation point for the board’s heat pipe, with the Northbridge situated in the middle of the heat pipe system. Directly above the CPU is one end of the heat pipe loop in the form of a tall thin finned copper heat sink. The Northbridge fan header, as well as the 8-pin ATX12V power connector, is located to the left and right of this sink. The 4-pin CPU fan header is located to the lower right of the CPU socket.
The include DDR2 memory slots are situated directly below the CPU socket and Northbridge chipset. The heat pipe interface connecting the Northbridge and Southbridge chipsets run along the board’s surface, preventing interference between it and the memory or video card slots. The memory slots themselves are arranged in a 2-by-2 bi-colored configuration, with Dual Channel memory mode enabled when memory modules are placed in like colored slots. Directly below the DIMM slots are 4 of the Southbridge controlled SATA 2 ports, the chassis fan 2 header, the ATA-133 IDE port, and the 24-pin ATX power connector.
The NVIDIA 780i SLI SPP Southbridge chipset is located directly below the secondary PCI Express x16 slot. The Southbridge is cooled by a low profile copper cooler, connected to the Northbridge assembly via a low profile heat pipe run. Two of the Southbridge controlled SATA 2 ports, as well as the floppy port are located directly below the chipset. Notice that these SATA 2 and floppy ports sit parallel to the plane of the board. To the left of the Southbridge chipset are a 2 digit diagnostic LED display, the 2 onboard USB 2.0 headers, and the CMOS battery. The diagnostic LED can be used during system POST in order to troubleshoot system initialization related issues. An onboard fan header and the serial port header are located in the lower left corner of the board, with the front panel header, the chassis intrusion header, and the CMOS reset jumper above them along the left edge of the board.
The nForce 780i SLI comes with a total of 3 PCI Express x16 slots, 1 PCI Express x1 slots, and 2 PCI slots. Along the outside edge of PCI slot 2 are 2 fan headers, onboard power and reset buttons, an onboard speaker, and the onboard audio headers. The IEEE 1394 header is the orange colored header in between PCI slot 1 and the tertiary PCI Express x16 slot.
The board’s rear panel assembly included the following: PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports; 1 IEEE 1394 port; 6 USB 2.0 ports; 2 NVIDIA GigE Ethernet ports; and 6 analogue audio and S/PDIF optical output audio ports.