XFX Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI

Stability

We first tested a single 9800 GTX and E8500 dual-core processor with the BIOS set to its default timings and memory set to SPD. We tested by looping 3DMark and Prime95 on all cores and the board sailed through this test remaining stable and responsive 24 hours later. We then tried three-way SLI, a QX9770 and setting the memory to its EPP 2.0 speeds. Everything else was left to its default settings.

As usual we first ran Prime95 on all cores first and it seemed to hold up well for 20-30 minutes, then we added 3DMark which promptly caused it to fail within 10 minutes. Prime95 continued to run in the background and the system didn't lock up or BSOD, but we couldn't get any 3D applications to run stably.

With three-way SLI and EPP 2.0 being two of Nvidia’s leading technologies, we'd be right to expect this to work. In Nvidia's own words it states:

Developed as an extension to the traditional JEDEC standard Serial Presence Detect (SPD) found on today’s high performance DIMMS, EPP simplifies the overclocking of memory DIMMs, while at the same time ensuring platform and component compatibility. The benefits for the beginner include a good introduction to tweaking and guaranteed success with their first over clock.

I think "significantly frustrated" would be an understatement if I had parted with my own cash for some DDR3 with EPP 2.0 and an XFX nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard. I would assume that I’d get "platform and component compatibility", but the reality would have been quite different because we couldn’t get this configuration to run any games.

Conclusions

I'd be lying if this review hadn't given us a lot of headaches and after spending a lot of time talking to Nvidia about the potential of the nForce 790i Ultra SLI in the run up to its launch—specifically how it was "designed for tweaking and overclocking" and the extreme enthusiast—it doesn't really apply. While there were some absolutely fantastic moments with this board, in the entire time we've spent with it, it has whittled down to a basic disappointment.

The memory tweaking wasn't as good as we'd hoped and the separate 2D/3D timings, coupled with the shallow stability curve made it a frustrating hassle to work with. Both the Crucial Ballistix and Corsair Dominator are clearly not the limiting factor – we've at least run the Corsair faster on other boards. The latest P04 BIOS helped slightly – we could now run lower than CAS-8, but it didn't improve the 3D stability with enhanced memory timings—something we feel is really needed.

Comparatively, the Gigabyte X48T-DQ6 was a dream to work with – it was easy to optimise because the stability cut off was very sharp, and we could keep the same low 2D and 3D memory timings of 7-6-6-18-1T at 1,600MHz and 6-6-6-15-1T at 1,333MHz.

The DDR2-based XFX nForce 780i SLI was also easy to optimise and we found that 3-3-3-9-18tRFC-1T was fine for everything we threw at it. Then again, the DDR2 ICs are far more mature and the BIOS understanding is much better at this point in time.

It's worth remembering that despite this "unoptimised" latency the XFX nForce 790i Ultra SLI had to suffer in 3D apps, it was still pretty damn fast. It also performed better in the more hardcore games – Crysis and World in Conflict tax a system more than Call of Duty 4 and Enemy Territory ever would, so by that rational we'd argue that as more advanced games are continually released the DDR3 systems like the XFX nForce 790i Ultra SLI will become more suited. HOWEVER, these games won't be released tomorrow, or even next month, but over the next year or two. Of all the games we’ve tested here, Call of Duty 4 is by far the most popular and the XFX 790i performance nosedived in that title.

All in all, we’re full of "yes but, no but" statements at the moment, but ultimately there's no real compelling argument to spend the significant amount of extra money on the nForce 790i Ultra SLI.

QX9770 versus E8500: Does quad-core matter in games?

No. If you were buying the XFX nForce 790i Ultra SLI to use a single graphics card (you'd be nuts) then it doesn't matter – there's virtually no performance difference in games. However if you are using the board to its full potential and running three-way SLI then the extra cores do result in a higher frame rate.

The sensible choice would be to overclock the nuts off a Q6600 or Q9450 and avoid the expensive QX9770, but this still generally goes against Nvidia's whole "you don't need cores, you need GPUs" argument when in actual fact it seems both need each other more than they would like to admit. Intel sells more quad-cores because they are generally being paired with gaming machines and gamers, while Nvidia gets more performance from a quad-core when people use more of its GPUs at once.

We're not just going to sit here and completely poo-poo the benefit of multi-core for the single card user though; we know that it performs significantly better if an application needs lots of threads or if you're often very heavily multitasking because more cores gives you more breathing room. However there are also considerable benefits to just using a faster clocked dual-core.

Three-way SLI: nForce 790i Ultra SLI versus nForce 780i SLI – does high speed DDR3 matter?

Again, yes and no. With three-way SLI, the performance difference in the more intensive games certainly benefits from the newer platform, however for the more popular Call of Duty 4 there's very little in the way of a difference. In single card applications, only one out of four games really benefits from DDR3 and in general productivity we'd doubt you'd ever tell two systems apart.

nForce 790i Ultra SLI: Is it a better gaming platform?

If you're aiming to spend lots of cash in buying a super-high end system with a quad-core processor, DDR3 memory and three-way SLI, then yes it does... a bit. You can increase your framerate a little, but for £1249.19 (Q6700, three GeForce 9800 GTXs and 2GB Corsair Dominator DDR3) I'd expect to lose control of my bowels on a regular basis too. Right now, even if you were to buy the same quad-core and three-way SLI graphics cards, but instead buy 4GB (or even 8GB) of DDR2, with the XFX nForce 780i SLI you'd save £379.91.

That £380 buys you a few more frames in very intensive and future games, but it doesn't make much of a difference in most of the current crop of popular games. By the time these "intensive future games" get here we'll likely be looking at far, far cheaper DDR3 prices and Nehalem as well. Would you really invest so much in a socket with only a year’s life span? Who will buy it? The nForce 790i Ultra SLI offers very little value retention.

If you wanted 4GB of DDR3 you'd then be spending twice as much money as the XFX nForce 780i SLI/4GB DDR2 combination, but you'd also benefit from finding 2x2GB sticks because the nForce 790i Ultra SLI is optimised for two DIMMs and not four.

Final Thoughts

We realise this board is for the enthusiast who has oodles of money to spare but we still think this motherboard is just too expensive. It doesn't offer compulsive features that has made me go "Wow, maybe I should seriously look into selling a kidney". It's about the same price as the original Asus Striker Extreme, however that was at the right place at the right time with a chipset that was "revolutionary" and, at that point, an investment.

However, when we look deeper it's not exactly Nvidia and XFX's fault – they needed a DDR3 chipset to compete against Intel’s flagship X48 chipset, and they have no other time to push it: DDR2 is old hat, DDR3 is still too expensive and if they wait any longer there will be no life left in Core 2 socket LGA775 products. But then again,DDR3-based X48 boards are £160 around and nForce 790i Ultra SLI boards start at £225 – it still feels like they have hidden behind the "It's Enthusiast!!111oneoene" argument because they've blown "value" out of a cannon and it's landed so far away they can't find it again. Why should Nvidia bother to find it? It can get away with it though because it has the aces in hand with SLI.

Anyone with more money than sense looking to spend as much as possible will probably get themselves an Asus Striker II Extreme or Foxconn Black Ops because of the brand and more comprehensive BIOSs. I know I'd want a board to have everything; even the kitchen sink or an e-peen extension for that kind of cash. However, for the rest of us true "enthusiasts" – we'll not be swinging our John Thomas at trade shows or at LAN parties (unless you naturally roll in a general thrusting motion, in which case, fair play), and we'll make far more sensible purchasing choices elsewhere.

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• Features
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• Value
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• 4/10

• Overall
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• 6/10

What do these scores mean?