NVIDIA's 790i Arrives: SLI Rides Again
by Kris Boughton on March 18, 2008 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
EVGA NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Board Layout and Features
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EVGA's NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard is vaguely reminiscent of their 780i-based product. The first thing you may notice is the size and location of the chipset cooler. Because the 790i SLI SPP now includes native PCIe 2.0 support, the nForce 200 sub-processor included with the 780i SLI SPP is no longer present; removal of this chip provides just enough extra room to move the SPP up and out of the way of an additional PCIe x1 slot seen closest to the backplane. Unfortunately, the added PCIe slot is non-functional when all three x16 lanes are populated with cards. Although the nForce 790i MCP provides up to 60 PCIe 1.x and 2.0 lanes between the SPP and MCP, link configurations rules do not allow for anything more than the cards needed to run 3-way SLI. Those that wish to run their favorite discrete sound card may find themselves out of luck depending on how they fill their expansion slots.
Microprocessor load current profiles have changed to the point that the use of single-phase regulators is no longer a viable option. Nowadays, designing a cost-effective, thermally-sound, and efficient voltage regulator module (VRM) capable of supporting stable, high-speed CPU operations has become a challenge that can only be accomplished through the use of multi-phase converters. However, the consensus amongst most users seems to be that a greater phase count generally results in better, cleaner power delivery - a fallacy which some industry leaders, motherboard vendors, and technical marketing managers are all too willing to promote.
If fact, we submit to you that it's much easier (and cheaper) to slap a few more power delivery phases on a motherboard than it is to create an actual high-performance solution. The quality of a particular power delivery system is primarily dependent on the overall robustness of the design. Design considerations include proper power and ground plane placement; effective signal routing and decoupling measures; selection, location and rated capacity of correctly matched components; and the overall adherence to sound engineering principles. Because of this, the proper design and implementation of a well-developed 5-phase solution can often outperform a lesser 8-phase solution.
The EVGA 790i also uses a true 6-phase PWM controller, where many other boards may make use of 4-phase controllers designed in such a way as to appear to be native 8-phase solutions. Supply-side capacitance has been significantly increased and the main +12V input capacitance has gone way up from only 470uF to 2000uF. This helps overclocking as some cheaper PSUs have higher allowable tolerances when it comes to input current ripple. We say this knowing full well that beyond a certain point additional capacitance matters very little. Often times larger capacitors are used in order to take advantage of their lower equivalent series resistance (ESR), a specification that has a great deal to do with how quickly the capacitor can react to sudden load changes and provide current precisely when needed.
| Motherboard PWM Comparison | ||||
| Intel Spec |
780i | 790i | Notes | |
| Loadline (mohm) | 1 +/- 0.1 | 0.93 | 1.01 | Higher loadline values create more droop |
| Max Icc (A) | 125 | 165 | 220 | High current output supports higher overclocks |
| Max Overvoltage (V) | 1.6 | 1.8 | 2.0 | Higher voltages allow for extreme overclocking |
| Output Ripple (mV) | 10p-p | 9p-p | 6p-p | Less peak-to-peak ripple means "cleaner" power and more stable overclocks |
| Thermal Drift (mV) | +/- 4 | +/- 3 | +/- 2 | Tighter tolerances means that the circuit is less susceptible to variations in component temperatures |
| Phase Jitter (ns) | no spec | 390 | 180 | Less jitter means smoother, more stable power delivery |
| Efficiency | 75% | 82.4% | 83.6% | Higher efficiency allows for cooler components at higher currents and less energy used by the system |
We have listed a few of the more important PWM specifications in order to compare the differences between the 780i and 790i processor power systems. These are just a couple of the more measurable improvements made to ensure ample processor power delivery under even the most demanding situations and to help minimize the detrimental effects of supply-line switching noise and de-stabilizing output ripple. Overclocking places tremendous demands on the power delivery system and without this strong foundation, even your best efforts are sure to fail (particularly in the case of long-term overclocking).
NVIDIA also recognized the need for a more capable power subsystem cooling solution due to the tremendous current draw of 45nm CPUs experienced during aggressive overclocking. The heatpipe has been extended to encompass both sets of MOSFET banks, including an extra segment of fins used to close the circle and provide additional surface area for maximum heat dissipation. The heatsink assembly is made entirely of aluminum, except for the steel casing used to hold it together, and the included fan can be used to provide active cooling when pushing the board to its absolute limits. The fan speed can also be manually adjusted in the BIOS if you find the whine at full-speed to be a little over the top.
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jiulemoigt - Thursday, March 20, 2008 - link
I would have thought that with that much gpu power you would have tested AA, or better than medium settings? Seems like the article was slanted to favor the new quad sli which should be giving you all max settings yet looks like 6 fps is what you get...FITCamaro - Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - link
It's pretty sad how motherboard prices have ballooned in the past 2 years. You used to pay $200 tops for a motherboard. Now we're getting models routinely at $250, $350, and now even $350.Now days your motherboard can cost more than both your CPU and memory combined.
halcyon - Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - link
nVidia is of course trying to milk the heat seekers and first adopters, who will pay anything for a few micro fps more.But prices like this will mean that the whole series will sell a few thousand boards worldwide. And manufacturers will be burned (those that got on board to start with, not too many btw).
I think nVidia is in the rope when it comes to the mobo business and it's starting to show.
Products are problematic, late, overpriced and offer very little benefit to the majority of users aren't going to sell very well.
If nVidia wants to stay in the mobo business, they need to make a product that:
- can compete with Intel's cheap/fast chipset (currently P35)
- uses much less energy (P35 is much more energy efficient than anything from nVidia)
- just works (more debugging/testing, not everybody wants to be a hardcore tweaker)
- is priced lower than Intel (let's face it, when did nVidia make a chipset that was more compatible/more reliable than an Intel counterpart? If they are worse, they need to cost less, not more)
I don't see this day happening anytime soon, hence I see the future of nvidia mobo chipset business as quite bleak.
Restroom - Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - link
Okay, perhaps I'm just far enough out of the loop now to have missed out on the part where anyone bothers benching anything at medium quality when the products being compared don't differ on supported capabilities (a new pixel shader implementation, for example) which would be evident only when the game's cranked up all the way.Maybe for the sake of this particularly evil app it makes sense to even out test methodology by paring things out to Medium so bigger charts can be compiled in future without totally excluding less-capable hardware. Maybe.
What I really don't understand is why we have independent resolution setups; testing for scaling (which in Crysis' case seems to be, obtusely, limited by the software much more than the hardware) rather than testing a more meaningful component-integration/observed-capability hypothesis. This is a motherboard we're testing (at least that's what EVGA would say if you asked) and it really hoses things up when you have to look at not only so many combinations of vastly different components and setups, but try also to divine meaning from this wild-hair test of resolution scaling thrown in the mix.
I realize I'm not being real coherent, so I'll wrap it with a simpler question: We don't buy these sorts of components so we can willingly make a compromise between pretty and fast, so why bother telling us how much of a compromise we'd be making and totally neglect to tell us what it'll be like when we inevitably crank the quality all the way up and see if we can still play it?
quanta - Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - link
Too bad it doesn't include performance results of the I/O component, particularly Networking. It seems people are avoiding it like plague even since the nForce4 ActiveArmor bug.poohbear - Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - link
$350-$400 just for a mobo!?!?!? are they on crack?!!?!? this is the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard since 1000wt psus. c'mon for the love of god, i bought my top of the line DFI expert for $180 a few months after release, what could possible justify $350-$400 for a mobo?Tell me they're gonna make a non sli version for the rest of us?
lopri - Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - link
I do understand that folks who will purchase a board based on 790i has SLI as a priority, but AT as of late tends to get marveled at advancing technology at the cost of basic functionality of such. How come all the relevant features are not tested for normal usage?Disk controller test? RAID test? Do SATA device and PATA device get along? How about the new eSATA? Is it functional and performing as expected? (It's a new revision MCP55 according to the review)
How about Blu-Ray playback, whether the ROM is SATA or PATA? Is there any issue?
The review mentions that when 3-way SLI is employed the other PCIe slots render useless. That's fine but how about when one or two video cards are used? In that case all PCIe slots function normally?
Memory overclocking is nice and all that, but is the board handling DIMMs of various flavors without a trouble? Do the board handle 4 sticks of DIMM as well as it does 2? How about 2GB sticks? Well, one could argue that this is a moot point since DDR3 is expensive but then the whole thing is. I think it is appropriate since the review went on in length to detail the technical aspects of DIMM slots as well as the new memory controller.
And there is the issue of power regulation. Better power delivery for overclocking is nice, but only if the board has mastered the basics. Are the fan headers working as they should, be it from a normal boot or wake-up from sleep? All the power-related features (S1/S3/EIST, etc.) that have been problematic on NV chipsets, especially under SLI - are they fixed?
Talking about the fan, there is no mention of thermal characteristics of the chipset and also lacking is how loud/efficient the default fan is. (as well as RPM control) NV chipsets are infamous and I don't think the reviewer isn't aware of this. So it only leaves readers an impression that the review chose not to mention it.
Also missing is the chipset's power consumption figure, network performance, compatibility with various add-in cards.. The list goes on and on and on. The chipset having the same south bridge from 680i/780i can't be an excuse. That south bridge lived through even more chipsets as we understand.
Then there are the charts. Different GPUs, different NUMBER of GPUs, different chipsets, and CPU frequencies all over (overclocked, of course, and I don't see the point of it) - mix them up and we are presented with un-readable mess. It's no wonder that there looks to be erroneous data. (On page 12, X48/8800GTX is consistently slower than 790i/8800GTX by 30~40% with the same CPUs. Does that make sense? If so, should't there be some kind of explanation?)
From this review, users can hardly draw a conclusion on the performance of the chipset, let alone everything else. It'd make a interesting introduction on a new tech, but at the same time a misleading introduction on an upcoming product to actual users. (I thought this was a 'Review', not a 'Study'. If I'm mistaken please let me know.) This has been a trend in AT motherboard review as of late and I for one am somewhat disappointed because I cannot seem to obtain the information that's meaningful for actual usage. Working together with hardware manufacturer is important, but end-user perspective should be the priority No. 1, IMHO.
saivarnos - Tuesday, March 25, 2008 - link
I to agree with the points made above. I am a technically savy person but finding articles of worth on AT has become increasingly difficult - for the layperson and the technically adept. What happened to the good old days of articles titled and delivered like "Price And Performance, 10 motherboards that are fighting for your money!" and then proceeded to deliver on that title. It used to be in the not so distant past that when I came to this site and just a couple others I would have a chipset and motherboard purchase decision made within about an hour of scanning articles, if I wanted the extra technical specifications and the like I could read them, if not I could leave them, now they appear integral to the articles posted here an actually detract from instead of adding value to the article. AT I love you guys, but GO BACK TO YOUR ROOTS!skinflickBOB - Sunday, March 23, 2008 - link
I guess you deserve your money back Lopri, anyone would think it costs you money to click the mouse button and come over to read somebodies review. NOT!It's essentially a free site for us readers.. Oh yeah, I know it pays the site for us to click, but you just sound like someone who is eternally ungrateful for anything other than what you do yourself.
laters
Bob
seamusmc - Thursday, March 20, 2008 - link
I'm another that agrees with Lopri.Please review more of the features the board provides. I'm particularly interested in disk and RAID performance, areas the NVidia chipsets have always been lackluster in.