*** Official NVidia nForce 680i Thread ***

[lopri]

I would still recommend it but not for everyone. And it's still the only practical platform if you actually intend to run SLI.

 

[Beelziboss]

Originally posted by: lopri
I would still recommend it but not for everyone. And it's still the only practical platform if you actually intend to run SLI.

Well i do intend to run SLi...and I like that it supports full SLi, but I dunno..I saw pics of the Thermal paste under the NB and SB and that scared me off. That kind of mistake says alot to me.

 

[AdamK47]

I recently got an eVGA 680i for my X6800 CPU. I have one problem. My mouse jumps all over the place when the CPU is at load. Does anyone know of a fix for this for people using PS2 mouse/keyboard combinations?

Edit: I found this page useful. The solution they have is to use the mouse as USB. I've already done that. Oh well.

 

[lopri]

It isn't just a 'mouse' problem. The board is extremely sensitive to various signals, timings, voltages, etc. You'll need to give more details about your system. I would first try moving around slots/connectors. If your sound card is in the first PCI slot, try it in the second one, or vice versa. Try different SATA ports as well as different USB ports. Disable ports/controllers that you're not using. If those doesn't work, try lowering HyperTransport multipliers. Then try different voltages for SPP/MCP/SPP-MCP.

Above examples MIGHT solve the problem, but it CAN also mess up things that used to work. Like I said, the board is very picky and the BIOS isn't too stable. Be very careful and do not blame me if something goes wrong.

 

[AdamK47]

Originally posted by: lopri
It isn't just a 'mouse' problem. The board is extremely sensitive to various signals, timings, voltages, etc. You'll need to give more details about your system. I would first try moving around slots/connectors. If your sound card is in the first PCI slot, try it in the second one, or vice versa. Try different SATA ports as well as different USB ports. Disable ports/controllers that you're not using. If those doesn't work, try lowering HyperTransport multipliers. Then try different voltages for SPP/MCP/SPP-MCP.

Above examples MIGHT solve the problem, but it CAN also mess up things that used to work. Like I said, the board is very picky and the BIOS isn't too stable. Be very careful and do not blame me if something goes wrong.

My current system configuration is linked in my sig. As far as it not being just a 'mouse' problem, could you link me to other sources of information discussing the issue? Either that or guide me in the direction to where you read about it. I read this thread and I only saw that people were having the problem and did not have a solid fix for it (just a workaround by using USB). Thanks.

 

[The Sauce]

If I were going to build a 4300 based system and planned on overclocking, is 680i the way to go, or would I be better off with an Intel based chipset board? (Don't care about SLI.)

 

[Skott]

If you are talking about maiximum overclock potential and using the 4300 or 4400 I would say a 965 or 650i mobo. Cheaper typically than the 680i mobos and some are far more stable. Mobos availble right now for maximum OC I'd say either the DS3 or P5B D or E version. The new Commando mobo also looks very promising. I think it just hit the stores but not sure. If it did seriously look into it.

 

[Tony Eveready]

Hi, I'm new here... just ordered one of these.

I'm wondering if I should just ship it back, a few things.

I ordered this ram:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145590

With the Evga version of this board, the 122-CK-NF68-AR model and an E6600 core 2 duo CPU.


I am looking to overclock later, but not at first. I realize the thing is sensitive to voltage and ram timings, but is it worth the trouble? Do you guys honestly think this will stabilize with a future bios release?

I also have one IDE drive I want to use with it, yet I see you say don't install the IDE controller drivers... what?

If I can keep this board, are there any things I should know out of the box? Like will everything work at stock settings or do I need to change anything and screw with it for days on end to find stability?

I'm pretty confused because I ordered this based on the great reviews it got then I found this thread through a thread deep on the back pages of the HardOCP forum. Kinda disappointed.


Also, what is this I hear about the south bridge(or north bridge) heatsink being bent or having too much paste? Jesus.

 

[lopri]

Tony:

Mild overclocking isn't likely to cause any problem. Problem comes with high overclocking and memory/disk configuration. What you need to install at initial setup is the SM Bus drivers and Ethernet drivers. NV IDE drivers are optional - if you opt to NOT install it, Windows will take care of it with its own drivers. Most times, Windows native IDE drivers are far more reliable. NV IDE drivers, when working correctly, can improve performance a bit but it's really nothing to write home about. In short, the risk is bigger than the potential gain when it comes to NV IDE drivers. That's why many here recommend against them.

Most board manufacturers use cheap thermal interface material for their boards, so it's not a big deal. The thing is, however, that the NB/SB on this board (NF680i) get way hotter than anything out there. The use of the 'Optional Fan' is a must. If you're not comfortable with the high temps, you can always swap the stock HSF with something like HR-05(-SLI)

Everything will work out of the box, except the command rate (under Memory Settings) which often sets itself to 1T. Manually changing it to 2T will solve the problem. Modest OC and comfortable memory timings also are quite easy and safe as long as you don't attempt RAID configuration.

 

[Tony Eveready]

Are there SM Bus drivers and ethernet drivers for Vista?

 

[lopri]

I don't think so. At least not officially yet. (Can't find any drivers for Vista @nvidia.com) But if you have a copy for Vista, why not just try it? It will take ~20 mins and the OS might have the drivers already. Give it a shot.

 

[lopri]

Throughout this thread, I feel like I've been overly critical about this board so I'd like to say some nice things about this board for the folks who're eying on it. This board is for you if you:

1. Are looking for a solidly-built (high quality components), best-in-class feature set, best layout (by far, except the front-panel jumpers) board
2. Are looking to SLI with Intel CPUs
3. Are not crazy about aggressive memory frequencies / timings, OR
4. Are into tweaking aggressive FSB/memory configuration AND are patient
5. Are not into RAID (which is nearly useless on desktop) and are not planning to hook up 6 hard disks and 2 SATA DVD-ROMs.
6. Value on-going service from EVGA/NVIDIA. (EVGA's customer service is far and away better than any other motherboard company's)

Note #3 and #4 are mutually exclusive. With this board, you can set it and forget it - on the condition that you're not being too greedy. On a stark contrast, you can try to tweak the hell out of the board with many options that are not available on Intel chipsets - but it'll require lots of patience and effort on your part.

For the set-it-and-forget-it folks, I'd recommend no more stressful configuration than 400FSB / DDR2-800 (4-4-4-2T) / 3 hard disks (No RAID) . You will not likely experience critical symptoms with a configuration equal to / lower than that. For E6600, that means 3.20GHz (8x400) / 3.60GHz (9x400) with DDR2-800 (4-4-4-2T). It may be ever so slightly slower than 975X, but you get lots of features and an option for SLI. The performance difference will not be noticeable at all and if anything, it'll actually feel snappier than 975X due to the fast disk controller in MCP.

Most of the time the trouble begins when you try more stressful configuration than above exampled. Admittedly, it's one of the initial attractiveness of this chipset, but with the current state of BIOS, it's wise to be not overly excited with all those possibilities. As a return of being modest with the overclocking and configuration, you get a high quality board with the best layout ever designed, as well as SLI which none of the Intel chipsets support at this time. Or if you are really into tweaking and have the resource (be it time or energy), the board will reward you with better performance than 975X in the end. It's tiny, but a reward regardless.

 

[AdamK47]

Originally posted by: lopri
Throughout this thread, I feel like I've been overly critical about this board so I'd like to say some nice things about this board for the folks who're eying on it. This board is for you if you:

1. Are looking for a solidly-built (high quality components), best-in-class feature set, best layout (by far, except the front-panel jumpers) board
2. Are looking to SLI with Intel CPUs
3. Are not crazy about aggressive memory frequencies / timings, OR
4. Are into tweaking aggressive FSB/memory configuration AND are patient
5. Are not into RAID (which is nearly useless on desktop) and are not planning to hook up 6 hard disks and 2 SATA DVD-ROMs.
6. Value on-going service from EVGA/NVIDIA. (EVGA's customer service is far and away better than any other motherboard company's)

Note #3 and #4 are mutually exclusive. With this board, you can set it and forget it - on the condition that you're not being too greedy. On a stark contrast, you can try to tweak the hell out of the board with many options that are not available on Intel chipsets - but it'll require lots of patience and effort on your part.

For the set-it-and-forget-it folks, I'd recommend no more stressful configuration than 400FSB / DDR2-800 (4-4-4-2T) / 3 hard disks (No RAID) . You will not likely experience critical symptoms with a configuration equal to / lower than that. For E6600, that means 3.20GHz (8x400) / 3.60GHz (9x400) with DDR2-800 (4-4-4-2T). It may be ever so slightly slower than 975X, but you get lots of features and an option for SLI. The performance difference will not be noticeable at all and if anything, it'll actually feel snappier than 975X due to the fast disk controller in MCP.

Most of the time the trouble begins when you try more stressful configuration than above exampled. Admittedly, it's one of the initial attractiveness of this chipset, but with the current state of BIOS, it's wise to be not overly excited with all those possibilities. As a return of being modest with the overclocking and configuration, you get a high quality board with the best layout ever designed, as well as SLI which none of the Intel chipsets support at this time. Or if you are really into tweaking and have the resource (be it time or energy), the board will reward you with better performance than 975X in the end. It's tiny, but a reward regardless.

What's wrong with RAID on this board? I've been using it since I bought it.

 

[Tony Eveready]

Well I got everything installed yesterday, CPU temp was 51C in Vista, all stock settings. So today I take the default thermal goop that comes with it off, apply AS5 which I'm very comfortable with doing, a nice thin layer on the HSF,idle temps are now 46?? I

haven't put the NB fan on yet(going to tonight when I find a microscopic gnome screwdriver) but would it even bring down this ridiculous CPU idle temp for an E6600 at stock? I've reseated this thing I don't know how many times, made sure the pins are going through to the bottom of the motherboard quite securely, even pressed down on the HSF while the PC was on to see if there was a temp change and nothing.

Maybe the grease is getting acclimated or something, I'm not sure but I'm pretty pissed off.

edit: temp was gathered with speedfan.
edit2: thanks for all your help lopri, you contribute a lot to these forums I've noticed

 

[Tony Eveready]

idling at 52C now. this is so irritating and depressing. I've already devoted over half my weekend to doing this relatively minor upgrade, considering I'm not even overclocking.

:suicide:

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: AdamK47
What's wrong with RAID on this board? I've been using it since I bought it.

There is a known issue with RAID on this board. I'm confident that I can reproduce the problems but if you haven't encountered a problem, keep your usage pattern.

 

[lopri]

that is indeed a high temp for a non-overclocked E6600. Have you tried reading temps via CoreTemp or Everest?

 

[AdamK47]

Originally posted by: lopri

Originally posted by: AdamK47
What's wrong with RAID on this board? I've been using it since I bought it.

There is a known issue with RAID on this board. I'm confident that I can reproduce the problems but if you haven't encountered a problem, keep your usage pattern.

I've heard that there was a problem where the RAID drives would disconnect and reconnect at random, but that was solved with a BIOS update. As soon as I got my eVGA 680i I updated to BIOS version 24.

 

[Tony Eveready]

yeah coretemp reads 51/50. I reapplied the AS5 today and I still get virtually no change, could there be something in the bios I need to change? This is confusing as hell, I know for a fact that the thing is sitting pretty and connecting with the CPU.

 

[Tony Eveready]

doesnt seem to go over 59/60 at load though, so there's only a 9C or so diff between idle and load, is that weird for this processor?


should I just get a TUniq 120? (does it work with a Lian Li PC60? i think it does, just checking)

 

[lopri]

I think the problem lies in your case airflow. I don't think Tuniq is necessary for stock E6600. Remember these heavy HSFs are quite stressful to motherboards. (Unless motherboards sit flat) Is your case Lian-Li PC60? Try leaving the case open in an open space. If it lowers the idle temp, then you know what's wrong.

 

[Fellbeast]

I just built mine on Saturday with a full tower case, and an Arctic Freezer 7 Pro cooler. Running around 34 - 36 idle to 46 - 48 load.

Are your fans all running? For some reason the smartfan in bios doesn't work and you need to turn them all on to manual, but you probably would have noticed this already, so I'm not sure what it could be if not that.

What is your vcore set to? My default was loaded at 1.28.

 

[Tony Eveready]

Originally posted by: Fellbeast
I just built mine on Saturday with a full tower case, and an Arctic Freezer 7 Pro cooler. Running around 34 - 36 idle to 46 - 48 load.

Are your fans all running? For some reason the smartfan in bios doesn't work and you need to turn them all on to manual, but you probably would have noticed this already, so I'm not sure what it could be if not that.

What is your vcore set to? My default was loaded at 1.28.

default, and I ordered a thermaltake armor and tuniq 120 so i can overclock. might as well push my components to the max while they are under warranty to see what they can handle.

 

[Otasi]

I just got the QX6700. And after installing it on my BFG 680i board, i begin to suffer random restart. I thought it was a power supply issue, since i originally had a 650w PSU. So I upgraded to a 1000w PSU, but still same issue. I even tried updating the bios, and setting the memory voltage from 1.8 (default) to 2.0v...Nothing works...

When I say random restart, i mean random. I could be doing nothing, or I could be surfing the internet, or running orthos, or prime95, or playing a game. It could be 5 minutes after windoes starts, or it might not restart at all until the next day or two..but eventually it'll restart.

I even tried reinstalling a fresh copy of XP on test HDD, but instead of restarting it would randomly BSOD or freeze up. I'm all out of ideas, I'm not OCing or anything.

I ran memtest and PC-Check and it found nothing wrong. The only error I see from Memtest is when i set it to check (BIOS-All) test under option 3. Not sure what that does but it gives nothing but errors. So I wasn't sure if it was testing memory or something else. Maybe memtest doesn't support 680i?? But default memtest passed without any errors. PC-CHeck passed too, which checks for CPU, motherboard, HDD, memory, stress test, the works..And orthos and prime95 ran fine for a good 1 or so...Please HELP!!!

Oh, also, it works perfectly normal if I turn off 2 of the cores. And yes I've tried using different core setups IE Core 0 with Core 3 only. Also it core temp averages around 49-55C...

 

[bfdd]

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