Decent well priced SLI motherboard

conzy

Is there one?

There have been so many horror stories about the 650 / 680 boards, lots of bugs and fsb topping out at 400mhz....


The 780 boards look a lot better but seem to be crazy prices...

So is there a decent SLI capable board in the 120-180 euro region?!

Thanks

Sqaull20

I have a Gigabyte 650i, got if for €85 a few months back and its an awesome board, have tried two cpus on it and it overclocks very well ( E2160 @ 3.20ghz and Q6700 @ 3.40ghz stable, which is pretty much the same as my other gigabyte board p31 ds3l..

Its only €67 now in someplaces..

TonyM.

http://www.evga.com/articles/401.asp


Evga 750i Sli 1600fsb and supports ddr2 $250 list,
looks good its on my short list.

http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1766_3.html

TerrorFirmer

Thinking of getting this myself. Nice and cheap...

Have the ds3p crossfire at the moment, great board but...went Nvidia after Crossfire went wrong.

conzy

The evga looks good but $250 will translate to around 200 euro here

The gigabyte looks too cheap Any reviews? Specifically overclocking tests?

TonyM.

conzymaher wrote: »

The evga looks good but $250 will translate to around 200 euro here

The gigabyte looks too cheap Any reviews? Specifically overclocking tests?

That was the list price from Evga it will be selling well under €150.00

Msi have two versions one at €114.00 or bundled with a zalman cooler at €135.00 but the fsb is 1333 the Evga version is 1600fsb

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=343970

There are some great reviews its a cut down version of the 790i using ddr2.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=346013

Sqaull20

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Thinking of getting this myself. Nice and cheap...

Have the ds3p crossfire at the moment, great board but...went Nvidia after Crossfire went wrong.

Thats the board I have, have had it for 5 months and love it...

conzy

Looks good Tony, saw a good review on XS, it does 500mhz fsb easy \o/

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=184096

If it ends up being 150 euro or so it will be great

TerrorFirmer

The above table pretty much sums up the whole story. With the prices and offerings from each of the 3, it is a no-brainer which one to pick. On the same price level as the ASUS, the Gigabyte beats it with better overclocking in FSB and PWM, and way better voltage options in BIOS. For USD$10 more buying the Gigabyte over Abit, you get better overclocking in FSB and PWM, and better voltage options in BIOS. There is no consideration when one is looking for a 650i SLI board - The Gigabyte is the choice!.....The performance of the board is so close to it's competitors, the hairline less than 1% difference will not be noticable. The overclocking on this 650i board puts even many of the 680i boards to shame...

Compared to the Abit Fatality board and the Asus p5n-e

http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/Gigabyte_GA-N650SLI-DS4_650i_SLI_Review/4939-1.html

conzy

Another contender

Chosen

Why not a 680i LT which is far better with quad and fsb-wise generally?
Can't really go wrong at €80 tbqfh

conzy

But aren't they renowned for dodgyness?

The EVGA 750i looks really good and its only $189 on newegg so hopefully we will get it for around 150 euro in Europe

The guy that reviewed it on XS got 470mhz fsb with a Quad an over 520 with an E8500

Its worth the small premium over an Intel board imo because I can choose 8800gts and add a second one later for > 9800GX2 performance

Chosen

conzymaher wrote: »

Its worth the small premium over an Intel board

That's what I used to say, when I tested 3 nForce based boards, before I ended up RMAing all 3 of them and going back to Intel chipsets.
Yes, they look good, yes SLI option is always nice, yes features are right there. But how much is your peace of mind worth? I am talking about random BSODs, the dreaded CPU init issues, the dead memory controllers after 2 months...

And to set the record straight: 780i is 680i with a slightly different southbridge; nothing improved, nothing changed.

conzy

Still as buggy as ever?

Explains why 95% of the people on XS have Intel boards

TonyM.

Just as the x48 is the x38 you just pay more for it.
If we all ran our boards at stock they would last forever given the amount of abuse they get we should be gratefull they work at all.

Chosen

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=729916

conzy

Good price and a decent Chipset cooler, any reviews?

TerrorFirmer

Well I bought the Gigabyte 650i. Now hope there's a market for my old p35 ds3p