NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard Roundup

FiringSquad takes a look at five popular nForce 680i SLI motherboards, the ASUS Striker, ASUS P5N32-E SLI, ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus, Gigabyte N680SLI-DQ6 and abit IN9 32X-MAX:

The ASUS Striker prevailed as king of all Intel boards with the best performance and overclocking numbers. It also features an LCD for debugging and power/reset buttons for the ultimate tweakers. Despite these features, the Striker Extreme is still too much money. If you’re on a tight budget or want the best bang for the buck, we’d suggest you look elsewhere. The same goes for the Gigabyte N680SLI-DQ6. It overclocked great and had the most features of the boards tested. However, its only average performance coupled with it’s the chance of a high cost makes it only good for the enthusiasts and tweakers.

The other two ASUS boards, the P5N32-E SLI and Plus are the best value of the boards tested. The Plus overclocked great, passing 500MHz FSB. The two boards also performed on par with the more expensive options, since all ASUS boards are built on the Striker PCB. If you don’t need eSATA, the bright blue LEDs or debugging LCD, you might as well opt for one of the cheaper ASUS 680i boards.

The abit IN9 32X-MAX is a great board when you look at it by itself. It overclocks relatively well, has a wifi card and antenna, and onboard debugging options. However, when you bring in other boards, the IN9 32X-MAX doesn’t really stand out. Its hefty $330 price makes it the worst price/performance/features option of any 680i board.

FiringSquad