bit-tech Shopping: eVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 Motherboard

• Intel Core 2 Duo
• Intel Core 2 Extreme
• Intel Core 2 Quad
• Intel Pentium Extreme Edition

• Audio - Bass/Center Audio Out Jack
• Audio - Line In (1/8" Mini)
• Audio - Line Out (1/8" Mini)
• Audio - Line Out (RCA Phono)
• Audio - Microphone In (1/8" Mini)
• Audio - Optical (S/PDIF)
• Audio - Rear Surround Audio Out Jack
• Audio - Side Surround Audio Out Jack
• Ethernet - RJ45 Twisted-Pair (XBaseT)
• IEEE 1394 - 6 pin Powered
• Keyboard - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2)
• Mouse - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2)
• USB - Universal Serial Bus 2.0

• IDE - ATA/EIDE/ATAPI 40 pin
• IEEE 1394a
• Serial ATA - 7 pin
• Serial RS-232
• USB 2.0

• IDE (Ultra ATA 133) Controller
• RAID Controller
• SATA 3Gbps (Serial ATA II)

Rating: 10

Time with product: 20 Days

Strengths: Overclocking and tweaking is great on this board.

Weaknesses: None so far

Summary: This board is great. It was my first build from scratch and I had no problems with the board assembly or boot. I like that the board is DDR2 which gives much better price to performance right now. I also choose this board for the wide varaity of options available for overclocking and tweeking the settings for the components.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 3 Weeks

Strengths: The board comes with so many options I cannot fill all the connectors. The board fired up with no hesitation and has performed flawlessly since my initial build. Does it all!

Weaknesses: None.

Summary: This is as upgrade machine and has worked perfectly. I want to recommend this board to anyone who has high standards and does not require the latest / greatest (DDR3). I have purchased my second EVGA 780i board to replace a system that recently died. It will be nice to have two machines on par for test work and then one for production applications. Great board.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2

Strengths: Triple SLI, Plenty of Intel CPU support, supports ddr1200

Weaknesses: None so far.

Summary: Board booted right up and made sure I had the latest bios. Plenty of SATA connectors. Supports DDR1200. No over clocking but runs smoothly as a standard use non gaming machine at this point. 1st EVGA Motherboard owned and like it overall so far.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2 Weeks

Strengths: Comes with everything you could possibly need, overclocks easily, easy to install and set up, PCI Express 2.0...too many others to list

Weaknesses: No eSata, not DDR3 (but who cares right now), no WiFi

Summary: This was my first ever PC build and this board made it easy! User's Manual explained many things and helped identify what to plug into where. I used this board with an Antec P182 case, a Q6600 CPU, a Coolermaster Real Pro Power 750w PSU, G. Skill pc8000 Ram 4gb (2x2gb)and an EVGA 8800GTS (g92) with Vista Ultimate 64-Bit. Everything went perfectly! Not a single problem installing and setting BIOS it even recognized my SATA DVD drive. EVGA has great support and there is a tutorial floating around the forums that explains how to overclock your system. I love this board and my new system and wouldn't hesitate purchasing any of their products.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 2 Days

Strengths: good looks, nice packaging, available updates, good suport forum, ddr2, Firewire 400, SLI, RAID, rounded ATA cable, optional extra rear USB ports

Weaknesses: no rear eSATA, no Firewire 800, no solid state resistors, only six internal SATA, only two internal usb headers, dramatic vdroop, limited original owner 30-day registration for lifetime warranty

Summary: Even with the specifications for the EVGA 780i FTW out, I couldn't wait for it to be released as I needed a board for my new build. The 780i board works great normally; but the vdroop is dramatic and generates much less voltage than you specify in the bios, and I haven't had enough time to play with the settings to run a stable overclock. The amount of support for this product, as well as any EVGA product, is immense, and I am sure someone will be able to recommend proper settings. There is also a vdroop mod (pencil mod) that can be done to stabilize the voltage, but I don't think I'll be doing it to my own board, as I'm not looking for extreme overclocking. That being said, the bios is relatively user friendly and can accommodate most individuals' needs when working with raid and enhanced performance. In summary, the EVGA 780i is a board with many features and ports; but as with any computer part, decide what features you require and then choose a component that suites your needs. When the FTW is released, I'll just have to reevaluate whether it's really necessary for the extra SATA ports, or whether I can wait for yet another newer release. For now I think that this board serves its purposes quite well.