Stable 680i ??

[TrickyChicken]

Have read a ton, but still lost as to what I should do.

Wanting to build a new box, and would like to go 680i, but i need it to be reasonably stable. Not really much of an overclocker, but might want to at some point in the future. So I guess what I am looking for is some thoughts about whether or not this setup will be stable enuff without any overclocking ?

Not going to run dual sli at first, unless i find out one 8800gtx cant drive a 30" very well.
Plan on having 300-500 gig sata drive for windows/apps and my current 600gig raid1.

here is a list of what i was thinking of purchasing.
LIAN LI PC-V1200Bplus II
EVGA 122-CK-NF68-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX
eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB
SILVERSTONE SST-ST60F ATX 600W - i know ill need more power for a second card when i get one
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000)

thanks for your thoughts...

 

[Skrips]

Well, im in the same boat as you, honestly. There is a deplorable lack of stable, reliable 680i boards right now. Asus isn't helping, on account of the whole P5N32-E mess. Now the P5n32-E Plus model, which WAS supposed to be a revision of the older board, now appears to be falsely labeled as a 680i board. Abit just released the IN9 32x-Max, which according to all user reports, seems to be working very well for most situations aside from some RAM timing problems. Also, Gigabyte is getting ready to release their 680i solution, which should be out in under 3 weeks. Their board, the GA-N680SLI-DQ6, looks feature packed, but many people are skeptical as to wether or not its just going to be a feature filled POS with things you don't need, and stuff you need absent (like a fixed and stable 680i setup).

However, this should not deter you from owning a 680i board. From eeverything I have read, it seems to be random as to wether or not your board will work. I, myself, plan on taking a chance, even though the price is big for that kind of gamble. If it doesnt work, oh well, at least I tried. But if it does work, I will have a killer rig on my hands, that will chew up anything I throw at it

Helpful links:

Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6
Abit IN9 32X-Max @ xtremesystems.org

Personally, I think I am going to order my Abit board later today, and see what happens. Unlike alot of the other boards, they happen to be available here at NewEgg, for $349. Here's for hoping it works

 

[StrangerThanFiction]

I don't think stability or ease of use is a standout feature of any currently available 680i board. Possibly future bios upgrades or upcoming boards will change that but for maximim stability you might be better off with an older SLI board. The newest 680i from Abit sounds less glitchy than the others, but that might only be because of the big problems haven't been found yet.

 

[Fenriss]

my EVGA 680i is very stable. upgraded to the latest bio after installing XP pro when i set up the system 3 weeks ago. i'm a gamer (prefer quiet so i don't OC) and the system is solid running stock speeds.
are people still reporting problems after flashing to the latest BIOS?

 

[TrickyChicken]

Originally posted by: StrangerThanFiction
you might be better off with an older SLI board. The newest 680i from Abit sounds less glitchy than the others, but that might only be because of the big problems haven't been found yet.

By older do you mean the 590i boards ? What was the most popular 590i board ?

 

[StrangerThanFiction]

Originally posted by: TrickyChicken
By older do you mean the 590i boards ? What was the most popular 590i board ?

Something like that, at least if normal SLI is important. Other people could probably give you a more informed recommendation about particular good stable boards, as I have managed to put off replacing my main system for over five years. I have been obsessively reading everything I can find about the 680is for about two months, though.

Part of the reason I haven't bought anything, yet, is because all of the 680is seem to be a bit flaky. The chipset seems to be unusually sensitive to tiny variations introduced during manufacturing. Some boards are fine but other are not. Some of the biggest problems got fixed for the EVGA boards and other reference design mobos, when Nvidia tweaked the bios, which is when they broke the news about the manufacturing issues. Some people never had any problems to begin with, though. They may have just gotten boards without the critical variations that produced the problems. you can read more about that here: http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTI0NywxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

The ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium looked good to me at one time. Some people on the Xtremesystems forum were urging me to get a ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe (Intel chipset) and used hacked drivers for SLI, but that seemed a little too complicated.

I am probably going to order the Abit board in a few days, but I would not claim I was selecting that board because it was the most sensible choice

 

[Agent11]

Abit always gets my vote, even if bios updates take time they have a really good community on their forums.

The In932x MAX looks very good in my opinion, also it does not have the SLI noise issue.. Read up on it, some interesting threads out there.
I would recommend a large top feeding fan for any 680i, the northbridge and pwms get pretty hot otherwise.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I will be getting an Asus P5N32-E SLI mobo (although which version, who knows), simply because it is the one mobo I have direct confirmation that an Areca ARC-1220 RAID controller works in the other PCIe 16X slots... I can deal with not overclocking (although it would be nice. hehe) if I get that RAID card & a C2D SLI mobo working together.

 

[TrickyChicken]

I guess I will have to do some more reading on the Abit board. The only thing I dont like about it is the lack of PCI slots. I have a Firewire2 card that I need to use.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: TrickyChicken
I guess I will have to do some more reading on the Abit board. The only thing I dont like about it is the lack of PCI slots. I have a Firewire2 card that I need to use.

it's no different from the reference 680i in that regard - both have 2.

 

[Shimmishim]

Hopefully the bios support will be better for the IN9 than the AW9D max which had HORRIBLE bios support.

Other than that, the IN9 looks like a solid board.

When DFI releases theres, it'll be nice as well.

The Asus Striker Extreme is probably hands down the best one at the moment but too expensive and hard to find.

As for the Asus P5N32-E SLI + and non + models...

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=131452&highlight=p5n32

It has some good information.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: Shimmishim
The Asus Striker Extreme is probably hands down the best one at the moment

& yet it's also known as the Strikeout ...
& the decided lack of availability looks suspicious to me - hardware revision perhaps?

 

[NeoRecon]

I think it is a supply and demand thing. They are out there for a price...and vendors are getting them in...they just sell out right away.

I'm shopping for one for a few more days and then if I can't find one (Striker Extreme) then I'm going to get the ABIT board.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: NeoRecon
I think it is a supply and demand thing. They are out there for a price...and vendors are getting them in...they just sell out right away..

they've been out of stock in the UK for weeks & apparently the rest of Europe is the same ...

 

[Whirlwind]

The mobo in my sig has been rock solid, however i am holding off on any overclocking until a nice bios comes out.

So I am just running everything at stock, but I have not had one issue with this board.
I just hope it stays that way, lol. I am using the original bios.

i am also not sure about SLI, because I have not heard if it does this OK.

I hope it does, because that is in the future of this board.

If anybody has this board and is running SLI, could you please post how it is doing.

 

[Mavtech]

Originally posted by: whirlwind
The mobo in my sig has been rock solid, however i am holding off on any overclocking until a nice bios comes out.

So I am just running everything at stock, but I have not had one issue with this board.
I just hope it stays that way, lol. I am using the original bios.

i am also not sure about SLI, because I have not heard if it does this OK.

I hope it does, because that is in the future of this board.

If anybody has this board and is running SLI, could you please post how it is doing.

I am perfectly stable on my Asus P5N32-E at 3.0 GHZ and 800 MHZ on the Ram. Great board so far. I've had it for about 3 months. The only issue I had was some crashes in Company of Heroes. I think it was either the NB or my 8800GTX overheating. Ever since I opened the case and put another 120 mm fan blowing in, there have been no more crashes.

 

[tuteja1986]

I would wait untill Gigabyte release its 680i board this month because its feature wise it blows the Asus Striker edition out of water and engineering wise it delomish any board on the market.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: tuteja1986
I would wait untill Gigabyte release its 680i board this month because its feature wise it blows the Asus Striker edition out of water and engineering wise it delomish any board on the market.

Any links or other info?? Namely is it following the reference design with the damned caps on the back near the CPU mounts?

 

[tuteja1986]

*Quad Gigabit LAN
*Quad Bios
*Using Realtek ALC88DD which beats ADI 1988B easy
*10 Sata 3GB with Quad estate instead of 6 Sata 3GBs + 2 E-stata that Striker has
*3PCI slot instead 2 PCI striker has
* Covered Good Quality Choke instead unprotected like asus does
* PCIE 12V power connect for more juice
* SMD capacitor instead of DIP capacitor Asus uses

 

[Chunkee]

Originally posted by: tuteja1986
*Quad Gigabit LAN
*Quad Bios
*Using Realtek ALC88DD which beats ADI 1988B easy
*10 Sata 3GB with Quad estate instead of 6 Sata 3GBs + 2 E-stata that Striker has
*3PCI slot instead 2 PCI striker has
* Covered Good Quality Choke instead unprotected like asus does
* PCIE 12V power connect for more juice
* SMD capacitor instead of DIP capacitor Asus uses

why would you need quad LAN?


JC

 

[Heidfirst]

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/News/Motherboard/News_List.aspx?NewsID=1314