Novi nVidijin čipset nForce 680i LT SLI popunjava prostor između najmoćnijeg modela nForce 680i SLI i manje opremljenog modela nForce 650i SLI koji je namijenjen mainstream segmentu tržišta. Ipak, na EVGA-inoj ploči baziranoj na nForce 680i LT SLI čipsetu nismo našli sve mogućnosti koje prema nVidijinim specifikacijama nudi ovaj čipset. Stvari koje nedostaju su treći PCI-E utor za grafičku karticu te dodatni gigabitni LAN kontroler. Ipak, niti ostali proizvođači koji rabe ploče dizajnirane od strane nVidije ne nude spomenute mogućnosti tako da njihovo izuzeće zapravo nVidijina krivica. Čak i bez ovih dodataka, EVGA nForce 680i LT SLI je prilično dobro opremljena matična ploča, a za one kojima ponuđeno nije dovoljno uvijek postoji opcija kupovine skuplje ploče bazirane nForce 680i SLI čipsetu.

Ako zanemarimo sitne probleme s layoutom, glavne zamjerke koje imamo na ovu EVGA-inu ploču odnose se na probleme s BIOS-om. Maksimalni overclock od 465 MHz za FSB je prilično dobar, no u procesu dostizanja ovog maksimuma naletjeli smo na "rupu" u FSB-u između 405 i 460 MHz. Postavljanjem takta FSB-a negdje između navedenih vrijednosti rezultiralo bi instantnom nestabilnošću zbog koje se nisu dizali Windowsi. Još jedna problematična karakteristika kad je riječ o overclockanju je snažan undervolt napona procesora, oko 0.05 volta, barem ako je za vjerovati vrijednostima koje prijavljuje BIOS. U cijeloj priči tješi nas ipak to da je EVGA poznata po odličnoj podršci korisnicima tako da bi ovi problemi uz malo sreće mogli biti popravljeni s nekom budućom revizijom BIOS-a (mi smo koristili reviziju P3).

Kad je riječ o performansama, imali smo slična iskustva kao s prethodnom testiranom pločom (MSI P6N SLI Platinum) koja je bazirana na čipsetu iz iste porodice (nForce 650i SLI). U WinRAR-u i SPECviewperf 9.03 paketu performanse ploča baziranih na novim čipsetima su osjetno niže u odnosu na našu referentnu ploču baziranu na Intel P965 čipsetu. U ostalim testovima razlike su minimalne.

Ploča koju smo imali prilike testirati u imenu nosi i dodatak A1 što znači da se radi o skupljem modelu koji dolazi s punom opremom i doživotnim jamstvom (potrebno je se registrirati na EVGA-inim službenim stranicama). Ploča još uvijek nije dostupna u Hrvatskim trgovinama, no u SAD-u joj je maloprodajna cijena 195 USD što je 45 USD niže od cijene EVGA-ine nForce 680i SLI A1 ploče. S obzirom na performanse i mogućnosti koje smo imali prilike provjeriti, smatramo da bi cijena ploče trebala biti niža kako bi se adekvatno nosila sa skupljim modelima ploča s Intel P965 čipsetom. Glavna prednost ploča baziranih na nVidijinom čipsetu ostaje podrška za SLI budući da ovu tehnologiju ne podržava niti jedan drugi proizvođač čipseta.

Conclusion

New NVIDIA’s chipset fills the gap between most expensive and feature packed model nForce 680i SLI and much cheaper nForce 650i SLI which is designed for mainstream market. Sadly, first nForce 680i LT SLI board we had pleasure of testing, EVGA nForce 680i LT SLI A1, didn’t have all features of nForce 680i LT SLI chipset, at least according to information available from NVIDIA official website. Things that are missing are third PCI-E GFX slot and secondary gigabit LAN controller. Still, after a short search on Internet, we came to conclusion that absence of these features is actually NVIDIA’s fault because same features are missing on all other NF 680i LT SLI motherboards which are designed by NVIDIA but sold under a different brand. Truth to say, most users won’t miss these features so EVGA nForce 680i LT SLI is actually pretty good equipped motherboard. If you are aiming for more, there is always an option of buying more expensive nForce 680i SLI based board.

If we disregard small problems with layout, major problems we encountered with EVGA’s motherboard are related to its BIOS. Maximum FSB overclock of 465 MHz is pretty good but we managed to encounter FSB "hole" between 405 and 460 MHz while trying to achieve highest stable frequency. Setting FSB clock somewhere between mentioned values would result in instant instability and failure to boot Windows. One more problem we encountered is rather powerful undervolt (0.05 volts) of CPU voltage, at least according to values reported by motherboard BIOS. Saving grace in the whole story is the fact that EVGA support is really excellent so with a bit of luck we can expect correction of mentioned problems by some future revision of BIOS.

Regarding performance, we actually didn’t encounter many suprises – speed of EVGA board was on par with performance of MSI P6N SLI Platinum which is based on nForce 650i SLI chipset. In WinRAR and SPECviewperf 9.03 package performance of nForce boards are considerably lower in comparison to our reference motherboard based on Intel P965 chipset. Other applications we used for testing reported minimal differences between two motherboards.

Motherboard we had opportunity to test has A1 suffix in its name which in EVGA nomenclature means that particular motherboard is shipped with full package of equipment and that it has life time warranty (users needs to register on EVGA website to take advantage of extended warranty period). EVGA nForce 680i LT SLI A1 is not yet available in croatian computer stores, but in USA its retail price is 195 USD which is 45 USD lower than price of EVGA nForce 680i SLI A1 motherboard. Considering the performance and features we had opportunity to test and see, we think that EVGA’s motherboard should be a bit cheaper to compete more adequately with better equipped Intel P965 based motherboards. In contrast to other solutions on the market, support for SLI multi-GPU technology (and to a lesser degree SLI Ready memory ) still remains predominant selling point for nForce 680i series based motherboards.