Nick Race27 February 2008, 10:15 PM
Nvidia’s 680i motherboard chipset has had a good effect on the PC motherboard market.
Competing closely with the Intel 975 chipset, the 680i added overclocking functionality and the all-important SLI configuration for video cards that can only be had on an Nvidia chipset.
The problem is, the 680i is a very expensive chip. Prices for 680i- based motherboards easily hit $500, while 975 boards can be had for $100 less. The 965, mid-range chipset for Intel processors was $100 less again, and that’s a huge disparity — if you don’t require SLI. Nvidia has launched a less expensive version of the 680i, the LT model, but really couldn’t compete at the budget level. But now, the 650i and 650i Ultra models, which offer most of the performance of the premium chipset, have been outed. The main difference is that 650i Ultra only supports a single x16 PCI Express lane for graphics cards, completely ruling out an SLI setup on the lower-cost board. The 650i plain version can run SLI with two cards only using eight PCI Express lanes each — compared to the 680i, two x16 lanes.
The 650i Ultra doesn’t offer SLI at all, using a single x16 slot for single cards only. Both 650i models also cut the SLI-Ready Memory/EPP functionality. This automatic memory overclocking system is integral to the 680i’s performance leadership, but adds loads to the price of the RAM you need to take advantage of it.
The performance of the budget chipset is there, and if you don’t intend on using SLI, or overclocking dramatically, there’s no reason not to choose the 650i Ultra over its more expensive counterparts.