bit-tech Shopping: XFX nForce 790i 3-Way SLI Motherboard

Intel Socket T LGA775, nForce 790i Ultra SLI, ATX, 8GB DDR3, 1600MHz FSB

From XFX ? a high-performance Socket 775 motherboard built to harness the spectacular graphics power of SLI technology and deliver it to your system. The XFX nForce 790 Ultra SLI motherboard is designed for Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, and Pentium Dual Core processors with FSB up to 1600MHz. Based on the NVIDIA nForce 790i MCP chipset, this powerful ATX platform supports DDR3 single or dual-channel memory up to 8GB, PCI-E x16 2.0 and 1.0, SATA 3Gb/s, RAID 0, 1 0+5 & JBOD, USB 2.0, 8-channel HD audio, and Gigabit LAN. This versatile platform is SLI 3-way and 2-way ready and features NVIDIA MediaShield Storage, NVIDA System Tools, and NVIDIA DualNet Technology. Perfect for that mind-bending gaming system you?ve always wanted, and a must buy for extreme multimedia enthusiasts.

bit-tech Review

"We realise this board is for the enthusiast who has oodles of money to spare but we still think this motherboard is just too expensive. It doesn't offer compulsive features that has made me go "Wow, maybe I should seriously look into selling a kidney". It's about the same price as the original Asus Striker Extreme, however that was at the right place at the right time with a chipset that was "revolutionary" and, at that point, an investment.

However, when we look deeper it's not exactly Nvidia and XFX's fault – they needed a DDR3 chipset to compete against Intel’s flagship X48 chipset, and they have no other time to push it: DDR2 is old hat, DDR3 is still too expensive and if they wait any longer there will be no life left in Core 2 socket LGA775 products. But then again,DDR3-based X48 boards are £160 around and nForce 790i Ultra SLI boards start at £225 – it still feels like they have hidden behind the "It's Enthusiast!!111oneoene" argument because they've blown "value" out of a cannon and it's landed so far away they can't find it again. Why should Nvidia bother to find it? It can get away with it though because it has the aces in hand with SLI.

Anyone with more money than sense looking to spend as much as possible will probably get themselves an Asus Striker II Extreme or Foxconn Black Ops because of the brand and more comprehensive BIOSs. I know I'd want a board to have everything; even the kitchen sink or an e-peen extension for that kind of cash. However, for the rest of us true "enthusiasts" – we'll not be swinging our John Thomas at trade shows or at LAN parties (unless you naturally roll in a general thrusting motion, in which case, fair play), and we'll make far more sensible purchasing choices elsewhere." - 28th April 2008

Read the full XFX Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI review