780i from 680i upgrade question

[PkL728]

Will I be able to use all of the parts that I have in my 680i in the 780i? I'm pretty sure I can, I just wanted to double check. Also, the 780i would supposively allow for higher OC's right?

[gvblake22]

The 780i chipset supports everything the 680i does (and more), so you should be fine.
As for overclock potential, no one will be able to tell you anything is for sure. I wouldn't expect any more out of your 780 board than your 680, so if you do get more then it is just icing on the cake.

[Quakindude]

I sent my 680i into EVGA this past Saturday. I'm hoping to have the 780i at the end of the week, but it will be more like Monday or Tuesday next week.

Everything you have on your 680i will transfer right over to the 780i, no problem.

I researched this throughly before I made the decision to do the upgrade. Everyone I've seen is reporting excellent over clocking results with the 780i, particularly the Q6600 guys like me. On my 680i, I could get a 2.9GHz overclock for everyday use, but much beyond that was a crap shoot. I tried my Q6600 in a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L and hit 3.2GHz easily, Stress Prime stable for 12 hours. The only issues of note with the 780i are some stock heatsink issues....I'll post a step-by-step for this forum once I get my board, and this chipset doesn't like OCZ ram very much. I don't think it's an OCZ issue so much as a 780i issue, but if you don't have OCZ ram, it's a moot point.

Me personally, I don't see why anyone with a 680i wouldn't take advantage of the EVGA step up program. For just $89 + Shipping, you get a brand new board, never used before, that is obviously doing a lot better with Intel CPU's. When the 680i came out, I was enamored of it and still am. It is the best SLI solution out there and by far, one of Nvidia's best chipsets. But compared to Intel chipsets, of course there's no SLI available with Intel, the Intel chipsets overclock higher and are more stable. RAID is implemented much better on Intel chipsets.

I'm thinking now though, and don't get me wrong, the 680i is no slouch, that Nvidia's 780i may finally really give the Intel chipsets a run for their money. I'll let you know how well mine does.

If you have the EVGA board and are considering entering the queue for the $89 upgrade, I'd go ahead and get in there. It takes about a month to 6 weeks from the time you enter until you get the email to send your board in. During that time if the 780i totally craps out, and I don't think it will, you can always cancel.

If you have a non-EVGA 680i, or a 680i revision not included in the upgrade program, I'd be hard pressed to switch to 780i at this point. Unless you can out right sell your 680i for a good price, it would be hard to justify stepping up at this point from a financial perspective.

[PkL728]

Is there anywhere where I can see the physical dimensions of the board? I just wanted to make sure it will fit in my case correctly if I decide to do so. I have a TT Shark.

[Quakindude]

Originally Posted by PkL728

Is there anywhere where I can see the physical dimensions of the board? I just wanted to make sure it will fit in my case correctly if I decide to do so. I have a TT Shark.

It's an ATX mobo. Same size dimensions as the 680i IIRC. I'll look it up though just to make sure.

Yep, same size. 12.0"x9.6" on both boards.

[screwballl]

as long as your 780i also has DDR2 then everything should transfer over fine.
the board dimensions should be the same but you may want to look at the manufacturers website to find out for sure.

[Quakindude]

Yes, the 780i uses DDR2 only. And the dimensions are the same.

[da0s44]

I have been battling this question time and time again in my head. The thing I do not like concerning the XFX or eVGA boards are the components used in making them. 6 phase power, iron chokes, and cheap caps does not convince me to spend $300 on a board.

I would much rather go the Asus Striker II Formula route and pay the extra 50 bucks for quality components. Then again you have the whole heat issue, whether or not BIOS updates will be current considering the new 790i. Too many if's for me personally. I think I am going to stick with Intel on this one and go for the Rampage Formula.

[One4yu2c]

Originally Posted by da0s44

I have been battling this question time and time again in my head. The thing I do not like concerning the XFX or eVGA boards are the components used in making them. 6 phase power, iron chokes, and cheap caps does not convince me to spend $300 on a board.

At this year's CES, EVGA told us they were coming out with their own motherboard iteration (as opposed to rebranded reference designs), the 780i FTW, which should include an 8-phase power design and all solid caps. No ETA.

Of course, there's the P35 and X38 chipsets to choose from, for those that don't need SLI.

[da0s44]

Originally Posted by One4yu2c

At this year's CES, EVGA told us they were coming out with their own motherboard iteration (as opposed to rebranded reference designs), the 780i FTW, which should include an 8-phase power design and all solid caps. No ETA.

Of course, there's the P35 and X38 chipsets to choose from, for those that don't need SLI.

Well thats good to know. Atleast it will justify the cost and hopefully allow substantial overclocks.