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NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Performance Review

By Zachary Chan - 18 Mar 2008

Test Setup

Test Setup

In order to benchmark the nForce 790i Ultra SLI in its native environment, we had to make use of an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770. This is to ensure that we can properly test the board at FSB 1600 with high-speed DDR3-1600 memory. As we have yet to receive a proper Intel X48 motherboard for a direct comparison (our last Intel X48 review, the Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 was a DDR2-only motherboard), we will use an Intel X38 board for comparison. Considering the X48 is basically the X38 with official FSB 1600 support, the scores you see here should be directly comparable.

NVIDIA reference nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard.

We also decided to benchmark the nForce 790i Ultra SLI with the Crucial BalistiX DDR3-2000 memory using its EPP 2.0 settings (who wouldn't). This is then compared against the regular setup to see just how well performance scales as we reach such high speeds. You will be in for some surprises.

There you have it folks. 2000MHz DDR3 memory. Doesn't that make you want more?

NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Reference Motherboard

  • Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 processor (3.20GHz, 1600MHz FSB)
  • 2 x 1GB Patriot Viper DDR3-1600 @ 7-7-7-20-1T
  • 2 x 1GB Crucial BalistiX DDR3-2000 @ 9-9-9-28-2T (EPP 2.0 profile)
  • Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 200GB SATA hard disk drive (one single NTFS partition)
  • MSI GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB - with ForceWare 162.18 drivers
  • NVIDIA nForce 9.64 driver package for nForce 790i SLI
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (and DirectX 9.0c)

Gigabyte GA-X38T-DQ6 (Intel X38)

  • Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 processor (3.20GHz, 1600MHz FSB)
  • 2 x 1GB Patriot Viper DDR3-1600 @ 7-7-7-20-1T
  • Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 200GB SATA hard disk drive (one single NTFS partition)
  • MSI GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB - with ForceWare 162.18 drivers
  • Intel INF 8.3.1.1013 and AHCI 7.5.0.1017 driver set
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (and DirectX 9.0c)


Benchmarks

The following benchmarks will be used to determine the performance of the nForce 790i Ultra SLI chipset:-

  • BAPco SYSmark 2004
  • Futuremark PCMark05
  • SPECviewperf 9.0
  • AquaMark3
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