Inno3D nForce 680i SLI

Inno3D’s nForce 680i SLI mobo is designed for gamers looking to run SLI in conjunction with one of Intel’s Core 2 processors and is based around NVIDIA’s nForce 680i SLI reference motherboard.

Innovision is renowned in the graphics card business for its association with NVIDIA, so building a motherboard to complement the graphics cards it sells seems like a wise idea. The company doesn't mess around with fancy product names, merely putting its name to the reference board design. So what does the company offer that differentiates itself from the rest of the market? We took a look to see if Inno3D has made a package that is a worthwhile investment.

Overview

• Support for Intel Core 2 Quad, Duo, Pentium 4 EE, and Pentium D and Pentium 4 processors;
  
• NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI SPP/MCP;
  
• Support for up to 8GB dual channel DDR2 533/667/800MHz with support for SLI EPP memory up to 1200MHz;
  
• Triple PCI-Express x16 slots, (electrically two x16, one x8);
  
• Two PCI-Express x1 slots and two legacy PCI slots;
  
• 10 USB 2.0 ports;
  
• Six SATA 2 ports with RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 and JBOD with NCQ;
  
• Two Marvell 88E1118 Gigabit Ethernet LAN controllers;
  
• IEEE 1394a Firewire support for two ports;
  
• Realtek ALC885 8 channel HD audio with jack sensing and S/PDIF output.

Box Contents

• Six red SATA cables;
  
• SLI connector;
  
• Metal I/O shield;
  
• Floppy cable;
  
• Yellow IDE cable;
  
• Three molex to six SATA hard disk connectors;
  
• Single six pin Firewire PCI backplate;
  
• Two USB 2.0 ports PCI backplate;
  
• Manuals and Driver CD disc.

There are only two extra USB ports included in the package and four supported on the board. The extra Firewire port could have been included on the PCI bracket with the USB ports on it, since there is plenty of room. It would also help the cause by saving a PCI slot. However, there are six USB ports on the rear I/O already, and many cases have two more ports at the front with supplied cables it means most people will be able to use all the supplied ports.

The manual is even a generic NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI booklet with new cover artwork designed by the company. Inno3D is one of NVIDIA’s add-in graphics card partners and as is typical with early retail graphics cards, the company simply rebrands the reference design with its own packaging and artwork – this is essentially what the company has done here. This isn't necessarily bad thing: why change a working formula?