EVGA nForce 650i Ultra

Manufacturer: EVGA
UK Price (as reviewed):[/b] £61.86
US Price (as Reviewed):[/b] $123.46

There are two EVGA nForce 650i Ultra boards out on sale at the moment: the A1 and T1. The T1 which is currently shipping is a slightly newer version with a marginally revised PCB, although it contains the same features. The T1 also has a slightly different box art, all in green, whereas the A1 is in white. EVGA assures us that the performance and features are the same with both.

EVGA nForce 650i Ultra

• Support for LGA775 Intel Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo, including 1333/1066/800MHz FSB and 45nm processors;
  
• Nvidia nForce 650i Ultra northbridge;
  
• Nvidia nForce 430-N-A3 southbridge;
  
• Supports up to 8GB of dual channel DDR2 800MHz, using four 240-pin, 1.8V DDR2 DIMMs;
  
• One PCI Express x16 slot;
  
• Two PCI Express x1 slots;
  
• Three 32-bit v2.3 Master PCI bus slots (support 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface);
  
• One IDE port;
  
• Four SATA 3Gbps ports supporting RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 or JBOD with MediaShield Storage Technology;
  
• Realtek ALC885 High-Definition audio codec supporting 7.1 channel surround sound up to 32-bit/192KHz;
  
• One Gigabit Ethernet provided by the Marvell 88E111-NNC1 PHY controller which includes FirstPacket Technology;
  
• Nvidia nTune Utility.

The box looks distinctly EVGA and tells you exactly what you're getting inside without being overloaded with information. The contents and motherboard are held in securely as well, so it shouldn't arrive damaged, and you can take it all out in such a way that allows you to put it back in again. There are countless times when we've got a motherboard and not been able to get everything back in the box again after taking it out.

In the Box

• One black rounded IDE cable;
  
• One single ended, black rounded floppy cable;
  
• Two Molex to four SATA power adapters with black cables;
  
• Four black SATA cables;
  
• RS232 Serial PCI bracket;
  
• Four USB 2.0 port PCI bracket;
  
• Mainboard manual, quick installation guide and driver CD.

In the box you get everything you need basically, which, for an inexpensive mainstream board is fantastic. You get a complete complement of SATA cables and the USB ports come on a single PCI bracket to save space. There's even an additional serial port PCI bracket should you need it. In comparison, the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R and even the more expensive MSI P35 Platinum didn't offer as much as this.

Everything is coloured entirely in black, which frankly looks superb - even the individual power cables in the Molex to SATA power adapters are coloured black. Speaking of which, the adapter uses just two Molex plugs for four SATA hard drives, saving you a couple of Molex plugs for other things. Quite a few mainstream PSUs only have just two or three Molexes per cable, so it saves you wiring two down your cases creating additional mess.

The fold out quick installation guide is exactly what it says it is, and highlights what you need to do in a step-by-step guide. It even has warranty and support information on the back just in case you get to the end and the board still isn't working. The manual isn't in colour, but it still offers a clear guide with many pictures on everything to do with the board and BIOS. It even includes a detailed layout photo like we do on the next page.

Kudos to EVGA on a superb supporting package considering the board is so inexpensive.