Where Are The Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6 Motherboards?

[TheBeagle]

Good Evening Everyone.

Thanks for the kind words from everyone. I figured that we might as well go (in writing) to the "horse's mouth" for the best available answer to the growing concern about the EOL stuff. As I said earlier, I really don't fault any of the contributors concerning this matter. In fact, I've wondered whether or not at least a bit of this might have even been some intentional misinformation planted by a Gigabyte competitor, and then fed to one of our colleagues on this Forum. I'm damn sure that there are some other manufacturers that are more than just a bit jealous of the wonderful reviews, etc that this board has received, not to mention the total sellout of this product around the world in about 4 weeks. In the cut throat world of computers, I've grown to know that most anything is possible, and some things are probable. This might just be one of those unfortunate situations.

Anyway, I conversed with Gary today, and he will be attempting to check this out directly with Gigabyte (Taiwan) this evening. He has regular séances with those folks to discuss a myriad of issues, and he'll likely have a chance to address it. So I'm sure he will fill us in on what he finds out about the matter.

In the meantime, I hope that most of you can see the true worth of having a central clearing point for info about this board. This very important posting site can solve problems and resolve issues (real or rumors). As far as converting this Thread into an Official GA-N680SLI-DQ6 Forum, I have no objections to that transformation, but it's not up to me. That would be a decision of the Forum Administrators, etc. I'm sure Gary might have some input into that matter as well. As far as I am personally concerned, I didn't start this Thread for any ego trip. I have tried very hard to be a good contributor and to carefully listen to what others have had to say as well. Therefore, if anyone wants to solicit the Forum Administrators to convert this Thread to a sticky Official Forum on the board, go for it! Best regards to all. TheBeagle

 

[dlbetz]

Then I vote for sticky!!! I think it will be great for everyone.... Cant wait to hear what Gary has to say..

 

[Bayard]

Cool! And here I thought we're going to be left with no further support from gigabyte. Sooo... I'm seeing these absolutely great deals on rams on slickdeals these days. I'm kinda debating on if I should switch to a new brand of ram or stick with what I have. How's your experience so far with your particular type of ram so far? I have the OCZ platinum rev 2.2 2x1 gig DDR2 rams (PC6400) rams. I'm currently running my cpu at 3.42 gig with no problema dn has it up to 3.6 with no problem.... think it's a good idea to get the ocz 8800s?

 

[TheBeagle]

Hello Everyone.

In a very brief communication with Gary today, he confirmed that the absence of GA-N680SLI-DQ6 boards is merely a case of a very limited supply of high quality 680i chipsets. I'm sure Gary will fill us in on all the salient details when he gets a chance to make a posting. Relax - There is NO EOL on this board!

Thank you Lord! TheBeagle

 

[Smitty1705]

It was bothering me so much I called Giga AGAIN and was able to get in touch with a tech who actually called a supervisor and asked him about stock levels. They both laughed about the rumors of this board getting killed off. He said it was again just a spully issue and they didn't expect this board to take off like it did. They said they should be out again by the middle/end of this month! I asked the tech if this board will support the 1333 Bearlake procs also and he said they were not sure yet but it MIGHT be possible via a Bios update or they would put out another revison of the board if that did not work.

I was actually considering the GA-P34-DQ6 if I could not get the 680i board again and he said that one would ALSO be out around May 21st but would NOT do SLI like this board.

Just more tidbits...

I'm die'n waiting for the second round...

Smitty

 

[Gary Key]

NewEgg is scheduled to have the boards available again this Friday or Monday. They are due in on Thursday but you never know about timing in customs. New BIOS hopefully next week.

 

[dlbetz]

Thanks Gary! Any coments on the new Bios comming out?

 

[Smitty1705]

Oh man that's good news... Thanks Gary!

 

[TheBeagle]

Oh Ye Of Little Faith!

 

[Smitty1705]

If anyone notices these up for sale on NewEgg or Zipzoomfly etc can you post it up here in case some of us miss it? I will be looking at the sites also and will post (after i order mine)... HA HA!

Smitty

 

[Gary Key]

Trying for early next week for the final F4, will post it once we get it from engineering.

 

[imported_alcuin]

Originally posted by: Gary Key8. Not worth the premium the e-tailors are charging and neither are the other boards at first launch. Best I can tell is that MSRP is now $279, waiting on Gigabyte to confirm, they were trying to hit a $250 street price originally.

Hi Gary,
Could you please ask your Gigabyte contacts as to what the MSRP was finally designated at? I understand there's currently a board/chipset shortage, but man the price gouging is pretty ridiculous. GamePC lists it for $430, and one Canadian dealer on ebay lists for $400US. Thank you very much.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I am having MAJOR problems with Tuniq Tower and this motherboard!!!! I can't get it to work no matter what in my case so far. I have even removed the Crazy Cool 2 backplate and am trying to use the Tuniq's backplate.

My problem is this, I have a Lian-Li PC-201B case, which I thought had plenty of room, but no, the motherboard fits about as tight as it gets, and thus there is no room for any over-hang of the heatsink/fan over the top (well in this case, bottom) of the motherboard. No big deal I thought, I can just install the heatsink sideways and have it will fit, although it doesn't do the best for the overall case air-flow as now the heatsink fan will be pointing at the bottom of the video card...

Anyway after dry fitting the heatsink in there without using a cpu (just the cover thing), everything looked fine. However, once I put in the CPU itself, put some MX-1 on it and put the TT on, I saw that I was not full contact with the cpu's top. Instead, part of the heatsink was resting on one of the voltage regulators (I think that is what it is, has "R40" silk screened on it, there are 2 just above the CPU socket). So in this direction, the base of the heatsink is too big to fit without hitting other components, and in the other direction, the fin area is to wide to fit due to the case!!!! AHHH!!!! I am going to have to figure out what to do. I will probably break out the dremmel and sand off the edge of the heatsink where it hits the voltage regulators. This is insane, it is just 1-2mm to high!!!

I also now have to figure out how to clean off MX-1 thermal compound as I applied it, but can't obviously have the heatsink on the cpu at this point. Anyone have ideas?

Again, it really sucks that I can't use the Tuniq Tower so the fan points horizontally, as that would allow the rear intake fan to double up the fan in the heatsink, they almost line up too in that direction, just that it doesn't fit that way.

 

[eklock2000]

Can you take a pic? That cooler is big and the case looks kinda tight. Without a pic, you've got to write a book to explain the conflict a little better. Can you trim a hole in the plate between the mobo area and the power supply area? I know this approach sucks, but it sounds better/easier that trimming up your cooler.

 

[Corporate Thug]

http://www.xpcgear.com/gan680sli.html

best price at the moment

 

[TheBeagle]

Hello Everyone.

It looks like ZipZoomFly.com has them back in their inventory listing again, but on back order status. That's consistent with what Gary expected above. However, it would be good for anyone who wants one to get on their back order automatic notification list. Look here: GA-N680SLI-DQ6 @ ZipZoomFly
Enjoy. TheBeagle

 

[imported_alcuin]

Listed back in stock on ClubIT.
http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A4830702#

 

[Smitty1705]

Thanks for posting those up! I have never used XPC Gear to buy anything, how are they?

I just got the motherboard from XPC Gear, and the rest from New Egg.. I'm SO excited! Thanks to everyone on their suggestions!

Picked up the Giga N680sli board
Evga 8800 GTX
4 gig of the Crucial 8500 memory
E6600 C2D
and a few other tid bits but that's the main stuff. =)

Smitty

 

[Fallen Kell]

Originally posted by: eklock2000
Can you take a pic? That cooler is big and the case looks kinda tight. Without a pic, you've got to write a book to explain the conflict a little better. Can you trim a hole in the plate between the mobo area and the power supply area? I know this approach sucks, but it sounds better/easier that trimming up your cooler.

I thought about that. For now what I am going to do is try trimming the base of the heatsink a bit. It is only about 1mm that I need to take off. I will see tonight how it goes. Another option is to get a Sycthe Infinity, as I believe if I install it on its short axis it will fit. However, this means the fan(s) will be blowing through the heatsink on the small sides as well... I don't know. No matter what I wind up doing I will be screwing with the air-flow of the case.

 

[Smitty1705]

Just an FYI - The ones at XPC Gear are NOT in stock, it's in fine print. I had to call and cancel my order with them. They have NO ETA when they will get a batch..

 

[eklock2000]

To all,

I had a super good experience with ClubIT about a month ago when ordering this board. The day I ordered, I called over there, got a real person quickly and was told that they had plenty of boards in stock. I paid a little extra for shipping and rec'd. the board in two days. Well packaged, etc.

Computer Power User Mag had a great (albeit brief) review on our Board...

http://www.computerpoweruser.com/editor...&guid=D32D563B4BC945A6BE46F1658012B88F

To FallenKell,

Page 20 of this thread has got some pics of the Zalman 9700 cooler on my Board. It does hang off the edge of the Board a bit though. I think any of the big coolers are going to do this. As far as which way the fan blows, that's not so critical IMO if you've got an exhaust fan out the back anyways. Good luck with the grinding...let us know how it goes.

EK2K

 

[Smitty1705]

I just got mine through Clubit and they DID have them in stock!
Has anyone had any experience with purchasing or returns with them?

Thanks

Smitty

 

[eklock2000]

See my post above...ClubIT was awesome! As of 10am this morning PST, they have 6 left in-stock per their sales rep. Better Hurry!

 

[MraK]

For anyone whos been looking for the board, this is where i got my board before it went out of stock and i just checked now and its back in stock so hurry! lol

the service was great when i got it back in early March and i only waited for about a week for it to arrive in Priority Mail, i would go for UPS for faster delivery but i had the patience to wait

the website is Mwave.com and the board is $339.00
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA23663

 

[TheBeagle]

Good Morning Everyone.

Well, these last series of posts certainly seem to knock the crap out of the rumors of EOL for this board. Hope everyone enjoys their new toys and posts their findings and specs on this Thread. The Final F4 BIOS should be appearing shortly, maybe this coming week. Have a nice weekend. TheBeagle