Introduction

I’m a platform guy. I like the pieces of my gaming and business machines to come from the same company whenever possible. That’s one proverbial neck to wring when something goes wrong. Even more important is the research and development that goes on under one vendor’s roof. You expect that when Intel designs a chipset for its processors, the two are tested extensively together. The same goes for AMD and its processors, core logic, and graphics cards. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from writing for the channel it’s that there’s real value in selling platforms centering on components all validated together.

We’ve already lauded the Phenom/790FX combo for its enthusiast allure and Intel’s Core 2 Quad/X48 is shaping up to be a formidable high-end solution as well. Now NVIDIA is looking to reassert itself in the chipset arena—a market the company once dominated. Granted, NVIDIA doesn’t have the CPUs it’d need for a conventional platform play. It does have chipsets, motherboards designed in-house, and a full line of GPUs to attract enthusiasts who share my platform affinity, though.

It was only a few short months ago that NVIDIA was making this very same move with its 780i chipset for Intel’s Core 2 processors. The 780i wasn’t a bad chipset, to be sure. However, it was a bit of a mash-up, combining an older nForce 570 SLI MCP and an “optimized” SPP (plus an add-on nForce 200 companion chip for PCI Express 2.0 support). The result wasn’t necessarily elegant. It did get the job done. Unfortunately, the core logic seems destined for a short life.

ASUS sent us its Striker II Formula, based on NVIDIA’s 780i. And while the board uses more copper than a bathroom remodeling project (and still runs hot), it’s one of the best looking motherboards we’ve seen. The 780i proved to be a moderate overclocker. We were able to get ASUS’ Striker board stable with a 1750 MHz front side bus, yielding a 1 GHz overclock on our Core 2 Duo E8500.

Meet the 790i

Now it’s the 790i’s time to shine. If you bought a 780i board in the last couple of months, it’s already getting replaced by a chipset with built-in PCI Express 2.0 connectivity, DDR3 support, and an official 1600 MHz FSB setting. Of course, there’s also 3-Way SLI to talk about, in addition to compliance with NVIDIA’s ESA architecture.

LGA775 Enthusiast North Bridges
	Intel X48	Intel P35	NVIDIA 790i Ultra SLI	NVIDIA 790i SLI	NVIDIA 780i SLI
Memory Support	DDR2 (800)/DDR3 (1600)	DDR2 (800)/DDR3 (1333)	DDR3 (2000)	DDR3 (1333)	DDR2 (1200)
Front Side Bus Speeds	1600/1333/1066/800	1333/1066/800	1600/1333/1066	1600/1333/1066	1333/1066/800
Multi-GPU	CrossFire	CrossFire	Quad/3-Way SLI	Quad/3-Way SLI	3-Way SLI
PCI Express	32 lanes, PCIe 2.0	16 lanes, PCIe 1.1	32 lanes, PCIe 2.0	32 lanes, PCIe 2.0	32 lanes, PCIe 2.0

Should you fret over the quick replacement? Nah. The 780i’s DDR2 slots make it a cost-effective choice even today. DDR3 is still quite pricey and the 780i’s sanctioned 1333 MHz front side bus is, for the most part, top-of-the-line. You get 3-Way SLI and support for the latest 45nm Penryn-family chips. There’s still every reason to feel good about buying a 780i board—especially if you were in the market for NVIDIA’s multi-card rendering technology and are now merrily cruising along with a double- or triple-barreled GPU configuration.

With all of that said, there’s a new sheriff in town, so step aside junior…err, 780i.