EVGA nForce 680i SLI - Review - Great Overclocker, Needs lots of work tho'

Reviews for EVGA nForce 680i SLI

EVGA nForce 680i SLI

Newest Review: ... CS is from Germany, so you'll have to ship to them for RMA's and there is no EAR (EVGA Advanced RMA). Early last year ('08) EVGA of... more

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Great Overclocker, Needs lots of work tho' (EVGA nForce 680i SLI)

Member Name: TaintedShirt

Product:	EVGA nForce 680i SLI
Date:	14/05/09 (15 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Overclocker, Warranty on A1 model, EVGA forums, Customer Service for US users

Disadvantages: Customer Service outside the US, compatibility with newer processors,

This board was top end just over 2 years ago. As such it was aimed at the enthusiast who was willing to put some work in to setting up their system.
Specifications are listed above, so I'll give you a shakedown on the realities of the board. I'll list the cons first, you'll see why at the end.

Con's
No e-SATA
Memory controller is suspect, RAM shouldn't be run above 2.1v. Make sure you check the EVGA website for a list of suitable RAM.
Should replace the TIM on both north and south bridges as well as the mosfets.
Reliability of recent batches of EVGA 680i's had been suspect.
If you don't live in the US then customer service (CS) is sketchy. European CS is from Germany, so you'll have to ship to them for RMA's and there is no EAR (EVGA Advanced RMA). Early last year ('08) EVGA offered an amazing step up deal from the 680i to the 780i. Took over 4 months of waiting for Europeans, a lot dropped out.
Board numbers are limited. If you have to rma you will not get a new board back, only a reconditioned one.
Be careful with the processor you choose, doesn't support the newer Q9's

Pro's
Great overclocking.
Most connections you'll need, except the e-SATA mentioned above.
If you live in the US, then EVGA customer service is amazing.
Warranty is lifetime in US and 10 years in UK if you get the A1 model and register within 30 days on the EVGA website.
As I mention above, if you rma you will not get a new board back. As numbers are severely limited it is not unknown for users to get a 780i back instead. (Not saying it will happen to you but it may, it is all down to stock levels when you rma). Very, very nice as this supports the newer Q9's processors.

The majority of the work that you will have to put in to get a stable system using this board has already been done by others, guides and tutorials are on the EVGA forums. These are actually very good with lots of pictures so you know what to expect.
The forums are very active and usually very friendly and helpful, with mainly users helping other users but EVGA CS are present and help out frequently.

If you want to put the work in and learn a lot then maybe pick this. So if you are willing to put the work in you could have a great board but... recent reliability issues evident on the forums would make me slightly anxious. The 780i also had issues when it was first released, especially the infamous instant FF, but it seems to have settled down now. I'd check that board before making a final decision.