Does anyone have a realworld feel as to whether there is a significant difference in the performance of the nForce 590 SLI and nForce4 SLI x16 Chip sets? Is one significnatly better than the other?I realize that the new nForce 6801i SLI chip sets are probably superior and speculate upon that option, but am a little apprehensive of their implementation at this early date (and their price for that matter).Boards currently under consideration are Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe (SLI x16 chip set), P5N-E SLI and P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP (590 SLI chip sets). I like the separation of slots on these boards, and particularly the dual IDE/PATA connectors on the first two. No, I am not stuck on Asus and am open to all good options.Any other advice relative to the choice of chip sets for LGA775 Intel compatible motherboards would be appreciated (Core 2 duo implementation).Thank you:RTH

You want to avoid either of those two boards if you are planning on overclocking that Core 2 DuoI am assuming that SLI is important to you, so you are limited in choice (unless you want crossfire)SLI OptionsNforce4 SLINforce 590 SLI Both terrible overclockers with the new Intel CPU's. Only consider buying if you want stock speeds or very mild overclocksNforce 680i SLIGreat overclocking board, can be picky with memory. Has had issues with SATA controller wiping data. Now fixed in new BIOS revision. Feature packed and with 2 onboard IDE channels. Also runs SLI at 2 x16Nforce 650i SLIThe new kid on the block. As the 680i but with fewer features. Great overclocker. 500FSB easily obtained. Only 2 x 8 SLI mode and only one ethernet port, plus other stripped down features. All in all, it's a 680i killer, as the price tag of ~$160 makes it a great deal, offering 90% of the 680i but at $100 less. Can still be picky with memory as it's bigger brother is. 965 chipsets also had this problem in early BIOS revisions.See this link:http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2894Crossfire Options: (975X and 965 Express Chipsets)Intel Bad Axe 2 (975X) - Great, stable overclcocker. Board of choice for many serious overclockers right now. Downside is it's VERY expensive. MSI P965 Platinum - Poor overclocker, still fairly expensive for mainstream board. Terrible JMicron IDE controller and only one IDE channel. Is not part of the chipset and without correct driver installation at start of install can lead to major problems down the road. Not such a concern if you only have IDE optical drives and no IDE hard drives. All P965 chipsets are driven down the 3rd party IDE channel route. Intel in it's wisdom abandoned IDE support on the 965 chipset.I think DFI also have a crossfire ready LGA775 mobo as well. Don't know too much about that one right now, other than that it's based on the ATi / AMD RD600 chipset.

Hello gjharrall:Thank you kindly for the information. You have given me some more to chew on relative to ideas. The more I hear, the slower and more careful I think I will be in making a choice of upgrade components.I may just try to be patient and hold off until the current hassle concerning the 680i SLI and 650i SLI boards calms down a bit. I was aware of it, but really didn't realize that the 650i's were available yet. This certainly sounds like the way to go in order to get all the best features (although I doubt I will ever implement all of them). I hope a revised BIOS is in the works that cures all of the ills (Or that the latest current revision is the answer).The only two 680i SLI boards I have researched thus far relative to specs and replies are the EVGA 122-CK-NF-68-AR and the ASUS Striker Extreme. I see comments relative to what you talk about. The EVGA seems to have addressed these with new Bios. Don't know about the ASUS board yet though, and at its price tag, they sure better.Concerning SLI: If multiple monitors are negated with this feature, it is NOT very important to me, unless that is remedied and it really makes a significant difference in performance for FSX (Which I have seen debated on some posts). Therefore, if you have some motherboard recommendations without SLI, they certainly might be applicable. While I am at it, does Crossfire have the same limitation concerning multiple monitors as SLI?From what I have read, I have already pretty well ruled out the P965 chip.I will take a peek at the 975X offerings. Thanks for warning me of the price tag.Regards:RTH

RTH,For a single slot GPU solution at a reasonable price, I probably would have recommended the ASUS P5B or the Gigabyte DS3, but as both of these use the Intel 965 chipset you are probably not interested.FWIW, the 965 chipset is very, very good. It's just let down by Intel's crazy choice of dropping IDE support. I have a P965 board, and its fine except for the JMicron controller which runs the single IDE channel. As I only have an optical IDE drive it's not such a big deal to me.Both of the boards I mentioned above have great overclocking potential and both are well priced at around ~$130-$160This really only leaves the 975X offerings which are typically $220+If money is no object, I would get the Intel Bad Axe 2. Fantastic board from all accounts (and you get Crossfire support).If I was in your position right now, I would get the 650i board from ASUS. You know the support will be good from ASUS and Nvidia and any problems will be ironed out sooner rather than later. Add to that the SLI support (should you need it) and the attractive $160 price tag PLUS full support for 2 IDE channels on chip, it's a great all round package.Oh and Crossfire suffers the same limitations for multi monitor as far as I am aware. Regards,Glenn

>>The only two 680i SLI boards I have researched thus far>relative to specs and replies are the EVGA 122-CK-NF-68-AR and>the ASUS Striker Extreme. I see comments relative to what you>talk about. The EVGA seems to have addressed these with new>Bios. Don't know about the ASUS board yet though, and at its>price tag, they sure better.>I am also in shopping mode. Note that there are 2 ASUS 680i boards,the Striker Extreme and the P5N32-E SLI. The P5N32 (no E) is the 650i board.I have been following various boards, and the SATA problem to best of my knowledge has only been reported on the reference board design, which EVGA used but not ASUS. I have seen no reported problems in this area with the ASUS, which people have had in at least limited numbers since about early December.scott s..

Any thoughts on the DFI Infinity 975X board? I'm not planning to SLI. It seems to get the best most consistent reviews on Newegg, and it's only $165. And the DFI website lists compatible ram.How do you connect a DVD drive if there is no IDE port? There is an IDE/PATA connector on this board.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

975X chipset includes 2 x IDE channels as part of the package so no problem there.It's only the 965 chipset that doesn't come with IDE support, hence why mobo makers are supplying boards with 3rd party IDE solutions from JMicron and the like.

Hello Scott:Thanks for the input. I didn't realize just how many ASUS P5N32 boards there were. It does concern me a little as to the number of reviews that are not favorable for ASUS. I have had several and been very pleased with them.NewEgg may have the model no. incorrect, I don't know, but they do show the 650i board as including an "E" (see link below). In fact, I see they use the same number for several models, only changing the chipset designation. I haven't cross checked with the ASUS site yet.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813131142I think I am beginning to home in on this board. I do note that it is x8 for SLI, but I seriously doubt I will go down that road anyway, particularly if the multi-monitor issue is not resolved in the future.Again, thanks for the information.RTH

The 650i is the P5N-E SLIGlenn