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- Date:
- Tuesday , February 19, 2008
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
XFX nForce 780i SLI
XFX’s motherboard based on the newly introduced NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI chipset appears to have enough power to hold its own against the current batch of Intel chipset based boards. Can this DDR2 solution really stand against Intel’s DDR3 based onslaught?
Introduction
XFX is known for its high performance and quality video card products. The company is less well known for its motherboards, since it has jumped in to the motherboard market in the recent past with NVIDIA’s help.
The XFX nForce 780i SLI is latest release to join XFX’s Intel line of motherboards. The board itself uses the NVIDIA nForce 780 SLI chipset, boasting support for all current Intel LGA 775 processors, DDR2 memory operating in Dual Channel mode up to 800MHz officially, and dual or triple card SLI graphics mode using matched NVIDA graphics cards only.
The nForce 780i SLI board is a feature complete solution, meaning that it only requires a minimal number of components for a fully operational system: an Intel LGA 775 processor, DDR2 memory, a video card, drives, and a PSU. XFX integrated the following ports 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
XFX chose to use an artistic rendering of their corporate logo to grace the front of the nForce 780i SLI’s box, with the support CPU and memory technologies clearly shown as well. XFX chose to bundle in the following components with the nForce 780i SLI: ATA-133 and floppy rounded cables; SATA drive and dual ended power cables; the rear panel shield; rear brackets for USB 2.0, and IEEE 1394 ports; dual port and tri-port SLI connectors; and the normal complement of manuals and drivers discs.
Board Layout
XFX’s layout and design of the nForce 780i SLI is clean and well thought out, with no real tight spots anywhere on the board. Unfortunately, neither the serial number nor the board revision are shown anywhere obvious on the board. For the board’s capacitors, XFX chose to use power components from the following manufacturers: Rubycon (Japan) and SAMXON (China).
XFX implemented the area surrounding the CPU socket exquisitely, using low profile components that did not impair CPU cooler placement during the board test runs. The CPU cooler hold down mechanism is based on the LGA775 standard 4-hole implementation. The board’s Northbridge chipset is located to the left of the CPU, covered by an actively cooled large thin-finned copper heat sink. The sink sits in the middle of the onboard heat pipe cooling mechanism, acting as the one of the main heat dissipation areas. Above the CPU is one end of the heat pipe in the form of a large thin-finned heat sink, sitting atop the CPU power circuitry. The Northbridge fan header is to the left of this heat sink assembly, while the 8-pin ATX12V power connector is to its right. The 4-pin CPU fan header is located to the lower right of the CPU socket, along the board’s edge.
The 4 onboard DDR2 memory slots are located directly below the CPU socket and Northbridge chipset, arranged in a bi-colored 2-by-2 configuration. Dual Channel memory mode is activated by placing DIMM modules in like colored slots across the 2 sets. Notice that the heat pipe interconnect between the Northbridge and Southbridge passes to the upper left of the DIMM slots, laid out along the board’s surface to minimize component contention. Directly below the lower set of DIMM slots are 4 of the 6 onboard SATA2 ports, the ATA-133 IDE port, the chassis_fan_2 header, and the 24-pin ATX power connector.
The board’s Southbridge chipset is located directly below the secondary PCI Express x16 slot, covered by a low profile copper cooler which acts as an end of the heat pipe cooler. To the left of the Southbridge are the 2 onboard USB 2.0 headers, the CMOS battery, and the onboard diagnostic LED. This LED can be used during system POST in order to troubleshoot system initialization related issues. The floppy port and 2 of the onboard SATA2 ports are located directly below the chipset, along the bottom edge of the board. An onboard fan header and the serial port header are located in the board’s lower left corner, with the multi-colored front panel header, the chassis intrusion header, the CMOS reset jumper, and 2 additional fan headers located above them along the board’s left most edge.
The nForce 780i SLI board ships with a total of 3 PCI Express x16 ports, 1 PCI Express x1 port, and 2 PCI ports. The onboard power and reset buttons, as well as the onboard speaker, and onboard audio headers are located along the out edge of PCI port 2. The onboard IEEE 1394 header, colored orange, is located between the primary PCI and tertiary PCI Express x15 ports.
The XFX nForce 780i SLI board’s rear panel contains the following integrated ports: 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.
NVIDIA nTune
XFX chose to bundle the NVIDIA nTune performance suite for Windows base overclocking and board setting manipulation. The nTune version included with the board and shown is 6.00.00.
The Device Settings link, located under the Performance header, opens to the Device Settings page. This page contains a series of menus for configuring the voltage and clock speed settings for most onboard devices. The menus are divided in to the following logical groupings: CPU, Motherboard, Memory, and GPU.
The View System Information link displays a system information page containing a read-only view of most system settings. The Profile Policies link opens to the Profile Policies page. This page allows for setup of rules to control system performance settings based on system events occurring, such as monitored temperature threshold or program startup.
The Update your System BIOS link located under the System Update heading allows for windows based updating of your system BIOS. Similarly, the Update your System Drivers link allows for automated system driver updated on a pre-scheduled basis.
The NVIDIA System Monitor application is included in with the nTune suite, providing real-time status on voltage and speed settings, divided in to logical groups. The monitored device groups include the following: CPU, GPU, system memory, mainboard specific settings, and storage devices. The applet itself launches as a full screen application, with the app transparency controlled via the horizontal slider bar located just above the Windows Taskbar.