Nvidia is back, with a vendetta to pay
11.10.06 - 11:24pm
In the past Nvidia has always struggled to compete with Intel chipsets in regards to chipset performance and overclocking. With the launch of the Core 2 Duo processor line and the shoddily created Nforce 5 chipset for Intel processors Nvidia seemed to seal their fate for the future on Intel chips. The Nforce 5 chipset was essentially a spruced up Nforce 4 and it offered pathetic overclocking capabilities with most boards topping out with a meager 25% overclock. Compared to Intel’s 975x and 965P chipsets pushing pasted 80% average overclocks, Nvidia looked to be down for the count. However just in the nick of time, Nvidia has released the 680i chipset with phenomenal results.
Everyone and their brother has been eyeing the release of the RD600 chipset from ATi as the board to crush all boards. With the pathetic performance of the Nforce 5 with Conroe Nvidia had been passed over and forgotten. This has completely changed in the course of a week as the NDA over the 680i chipset was lifted and owners of 680 boards along with 8800GTX video cards began reporting their results. This lethal combination of Nvidia hardware with the latest and greatest of Intel processors has proven to be quite the cocktail for success. Unlike the measly 25% overclocks that the Nforce 5 was pulling, the Nforce 6 is pulling out 75%+ overclocks with engineering sample kentsfield processors(pre-production quad-core chips)! The best part of the Nforce 6 series boards which really make the deal so sweet is the ability to independently clock the memory and FSB allowing for users to push their processors to the brink while maintaining stability with their ram clocks.
Just to help show how much this round of Nvidia hardware is kicking butt, here is a thread from xtremesystems where K|ngp|n has once again crushed the 3DMark world records. If you remember back where I managed to push out a measly 7K in 3D06, well scroll down and see what he did with his SLI 8800GTX’s, it makes my card look like an onboard video chip. Nvidia and K|ngp|n have been collaborating together a bit as they also have a mini advertising clip over at Nvidia.com. I believe it is rather hilarious but I also do these activities as a hobby.
Once again bright times are before us, quadcore processors, independent memory and FSB overclocking, and killer graphics cards are back in style. Just as I finish up my venture into 3D overclocking a whole new world opens and crushes my dreams. Looks like it is time to start saving up again for another killer machine. Perhaps I should look into some sponsorships, “Will overclock for chips”. I hope everyone has a good weekend, I’ll be in the process of finishing up my benching workstation complete with phase cooler and possibly some overclocking results.
Relevant Links
Fugger review 680i with QX6700 ES and X6800 ES
That clip was awesome!
I think I’ve found my next computer… i680 chipset, 8800GTX card by XFX and Core 2 Duo processor. Oh yeah.
hey guys can u help me something i cant find whers the speaker/kcp wire to connect in the motherboard ???
Speakers themselves don’t plug into the motherboard but whatever sound-input into the console for your speakers should have a 1/8″ audio jack which matches up with the green audio jack on the backside of the 680i motherboard. Don’t really know what you were exactly asking as I’ve never heard of a kcp wire, feel free to elaborate.