Comparing Nvidia & Intel Chipsets..

[woof]

Which Nvidia chipset for the intel cpus is in the competitive/same segment as the 975x chipset..???

in other words: Which nvidia chipset matches or performs very closely or very similar to the 975x??

 

[dasickninja]

If you want to compare a NVIDIA chipset to the 975X, look no further than the 680i. Other than that, the rest of the nForce chipsets for 775 completely and totally suck.

 

[woof]

lol that was very straight forward

so are you saying the 680i is better in performnce (not features) than the 975x or that its close to it?

and what about the 650i and 590i compared to the 975x (performance wise, not by the features).. where do they fall.. as in what level: same as the 975x, just below it, better than it.. u know.. elaborate lol ..give me some reasons lol.. so i can understand why..

thanks..

 

[jsc]

When I started shoppping for components for new system, I did a lot of research. As far as performance is concerned, the benchmarks from the tech sites indicate that the 965, 975X, and 680i boards are all very, very close together. Some tests indicate that the 975X may have a tiny edge.

The modern chipsets are very efficient at moving data between the processor, memory, and busses. It is not like the Pentium II days when the i440BX chipset dominated.

With performance so close, your decision should come down to features and price. If you do not plan to do any serious overclocking - for instance past 3GHz with an E6400 or E6600, any of the boards tested here work nicely. An E6600 should be able to reach 3 GHz with the stock voltage settings and the boxed heat sink - fan. Look at price, features, and something commonly overlooked - board layout.

One of the limiting considerations for overclocking is how fast you can overclock the frontside bus. That, the internal multiplier - except for the X6800, and the limit of the processor core will determine how fast you can go. With air cooling, the core limit seems to be past 3.6 GHz. (At what I call reasonable temperature and voltage limits, my system starts getting unstable at 3.7 Ghz. Not bad for a $300 CPU.) A lot of motherboards struggle to reach 400 MHz.

If you like to tinker, the only way to go is 680i. I can only speak for the eVGA 680i, but practically everything is adjustable.

If you are also planning to use an upper end video card, do not skimp on the power supply.

 

[jsc]

JumpingJack posted while I was composing my reply.

There are reports that the EVGA board corrupts SATA drives and has issues with SATA raid arrays, I have not seen reports of problems on the Asus board.

He is correct. There were reports of problems with some of the eVGA boards. I may have gotten lucky. I have not had any problems with mine so far. I have fans pulling outside air over the hard drives and I am not running RAID. eVGA says that a BIOS upgrade should fix the problems.

Although I am quite satisfied with mine, I would suggest that anyone interested in a 680i board avoid eVGA for awhile.

 

[woof]

yea thats why im asking for help.. so i could work out the best mobo according to performance to cost ratio..


(im only going for a ASUS mobo), see the problem is - 680i is the most expensive, second is the 590i, third is the 975x, and the lowest is the 650i

if i buy the 590i because its capable of sli (which i dont need now, but maybe in the future) and its expensive than the 975x, and if the 590i is close enough to be at a performance with the 975x, then 590i would be what i prefer.. as its feature loaded and has sli.. but it maybe be vise-versa!.. i may go for the 975x because it is 1st of all cheaper, and maybe has a big difference in performance than the 590, since it may not be close enough in performance with the 975x, since the 680i is at competition with 975x, which would make the 975x better!

but then i may go for the 650i as it is the cheapest, and is in the 6series where as 509i is expensive and is in the 5series, i will go for the 650i if it is close enough with performance with the 975x.. and the 650i would be my best overall choice..

you see where im going with this..lol. I really cant make a choice because i dont know the performance of chipsets to compare with the prices that i have , to get the best price to performance ratio..

i really need your help..

 

[zjohnr]

Although I am quite satisfied with mine, I would suggest that anyone interested in a 680i board avoid eVGA for awhile.

My understanding was that both Nvidia and eVGA feel that the data corruption problems were fixed a month ago with a BIOS update. That's based on this article/interview over on HardOCP: NVIDIA nForce 680i Solutions

I don't know what the current status is though.

-john

 

[zjohnr]

see the problem is - 680i is the most expensive, second is the 590i, third is the 975x, and the lowest is the 650i

Why no mention of the P965 in your list? Just curious.

-john

 

[dasickninja]

In my opinion, the P965 is still the best idea for most overclockers because of the high FSB cap, ease of use, abundance, and relatively cheap price.

 

[BaldEagle]

yea thats why im asking for help.. so i could work out the best mobo according to performance to cost ratio..


(im only going for a ASUS mobo), see the problem is - 680i is the most expensive, second is the 590i, third is the 975x, and the lowest is the 650i

if i buy the 590i because its capable of sli (which i dont need now, but maybe in the future) and its expensive than the 975x, and if the 590i is close enough to be at a performance with the 975x, then 590i would be what i prefer.. as its feature loaded and has sli.. but it maybe be vise-versa!.. i may go for the 975x because it is 1st of all cheaper, and maybe has a big difference in performance than the 590, since it may not be close enough in performance with the 975x, since the 680i is at competition with 975x, which would make the 975x better!

but then i may go for the 650i as it is the cheapest, and is in the 6series where as 509i is expensive and is in the 5series, i will go for the 650i if it is close enough with performance with the 975x.. and the 650i would be my best overall choice..

you see where im going with this..lol. I really cant make a choice because i dont know the performance of chipsets to compare with the prices that i have , to get the best price to performance ratio..

i really need your help..

The 590i used to be the top Nvidia solution but now its the step down from the 680i and barely better than the 650i.

Which board you want depends on what you want to do. If you want to clock this thing up till you can boil the water in your water cooler then a 680i is the Nvidia ticket (yes the 965's will clock higher don't bother he said NVIDIA). If you want a moderate over clock on air and reuse your old IDE drives then you want the 650i.

 

[srgess]

If you plan to use SLI option go with Nvidia, if you plan to crossfire go with 975x but atm the best bet would be the 680i and a 8800gtx and add an other one in the future and you will be set for a long time.

 

[dasickninja]

Wait a cotton picking minute. Why is P965 not in the equation?

 

[-silencer-]

Wait a cotton picking minute. Why is P965 not in the equation?

Excellent question. The P965 is a newer chipset than the 975X.. and it overclocks very well. I wouldn't even consider the 975X with the P965 available..

 

[woof]

I know that the 965 chipset is newer and has a better southbridge than the 975x, but when i researched through intel's and other sites, i found that the 975x was qualified as a "performance" chipset (so was the 955x but it didnt support beyond Pentium D!), where as the 965 does support beyond C2D but was placed in the high-end of the "Mainstream" segment. Even though the 965 is newer and has much more features than the 975x, as my research proved that the 965 is in the mainstream segment maybe because its north bridge's architecture is not good as that of the 975x's to be included in the performance segment..

AND then again.. i Could be wrong..!

So if you guys thing i am wrong (which i have a very strong feeling that you guys are going to say that i am) please explain why, so that i could update myself and consider a reason to buy a 965 mobo

 

[woof]

srgess -

thats my problem i dont have a big enough budget to cover the vga and mobo u mentioned, thats y i have to consider the next best (opportunity cost).. by buying a mobo with a moderate pricing that i could cover in my budget, with close enough performance to that of a performance intel chipset(975x)..

and im going for a 7600gt vga, and dont think i can afford to sli, so im most probably will go for a 975x, since 1st its cheap, 2nd its a performance chipset,

but then again, if the 590i or 650i is better or (if not) but close enough and has a small marginal difference in performance compared to that of the 975x, i might as well go for the 650i, since 1st its the cheapest out of them all, 2nd its better than the 590i chipset, and 3rd it supports sli which would be of use in the future, ..

my budget cant cover any vga above the one i mentioned, cant cover a cpu above e6400, and cant cover a mobo with a price tag such as the 680i.. (i rather go for the 975x than the 680i, since the 975x is cheaper, and is at the competitive performance segment with the 975x)

.. help!

BaldEagle - im not planning or going to overclock, and second im not up for boiling the water in the cooling system lol ..(1st if i could afford a water cooling system ) - and please dont suggest me to buy a proper cooling system (water or air), and buy a cheaper c2d instead, oc that to a high speed! ..like i said im not up for overclocking please. (and i can only run on air cooling system, of which i already have an Asus Star Ice)

please feel free to advice and help, on considering the situation that i have mentioned above.. thank you

 

[woof]

i reviewed through the information about the nforce chipsets for Intel platforms, and in each series theres 3 segments: enthusiast, performance, mainstream..

but at a consumer's point of view, i cannot tell how the actual performance of the nforce chipsets would be unless i tried them out (example: compare each enthusiast chipset in each series, which i dont think i will be able to do), but the only way i can know the difference in performance is if i can relate it to that of my experience with Intel's chipsets; and this would help me choose nforce chipsets if i can compare it with that of Intel's.
By finding out which of the other brand's chipsets corresponds to that of nforce i will be able to figure out the best cost to performance ratio for my behalf. But this cannot be done due to the fact that theres an enthusiast chipset in each nforce series, and i cant tell which is similar/corresponds to that of Intel's,
example i know that the 975x of Intel's chipset is of enthusiast/performance segment but i dont know which of the nforce chipsets would be of competition with the 975x, thus making me unable to choose a nforce chipset which is competitive to the 975x..

i would like to compare and decide between Nvidia's chipsets and that of Intel's. So please tell me which of the chipsets from Nvidia is at the competitive segment of Intel's chipsets 975x,955x, and 965?

example: nforce xxi chipset is at the competitive performance of Intel's xx chipset etc..

Thanks,

 

[BaldEagle]

Intended Intel performance 975,965,955
Intended Nvidia performance is 680, 650, 640 The 640 hasn't shown up yet and the 590 is a holdover nforce 4 premium board

You may be reading that the 975 is the "Premium" line of Intel but Performance wise the top drawer over clockers are the 680i and the 965's, the next step down is the 975's and the 650is, the 650i is relatively new but has a few overclock benchmarks surpassing some of the 590's. The 955 are clearly entrenched in last place and the 590's are a generation back. There is supposed to be a 640i that comes in last place with the 955's but it isn't out yet.

Intel actual performance is 965, 975, 955
Nvidia actual performance is 680,650,590

 

[woof]

i inquired with Nvidia and they replied that: the 680i corresponds to 975x,
the 650i with 955x,
the 650i ultra with the 965

In Nvidia's term, Ultra means "Mainstream"..

according to Nvidia: 680i - enthusiast
650i - Performance
650i ultra - mainstream

Well finally with everything cleared out .. i have come to conclude that im buying the 975x since its up with the 680i, its cheaper than the 680i too and since Sli isnt worth it! (better VGA instead is equal to an affordable sli combo -the combo which is more costly!)

the 590i is nothing anymore since the release of the nforce 6 series..

650i is the cheapest out of the 975x,680i,590i, and it has better performance than the 590i, but unlike the rest of the chipsets mentioned the only con is that its features arent abundant, it has everything but not as much..

overall i actually prefer the 650i since its a performance chipset and supports everything thats the latest,not to mention supports sli, and is the cheapest and best choice when considering performance/cost ratio; but i can fit the 975x in my budget and might as well go for the 975x since it has a better performing chipset..

Thank you to everyone who helped me out, and thought that i was a pain
i learned a lot.. and wouldn't have come to a decision if it wasn't for you people in Tom's forum..

and as always feel free to correct or to keep me up-to-date..

 

[woof]

......

 

[woof]

i know that the southbridge of the P965 is better than that of the 975 because of the amount of features, but im asking performance wise how is the P965 better than the P975 and in what way (im mean intel has stated the 965 as a highend mainstream, and the 975 as the performance?


how is the stock e6300 c2d in performance compared to amd am2 x2's? almost all c2d out perform x2's so where do u think the 6300 would fall.. wud b better than 4600+ or 4400+?

 

[BaldEagle]

i know that the southbridge of the P965 is better than that of the 975 because of the amount of features, but im asking performance wise how is the P965 better than the P975 and in what way (im mean intel has stated the 965 as a highend mainstream, and the 975 as the performance?


how is the stock e6300 c2d in performance compared to amd am2 x2's? almost all c2d out perform x2's so where do u think the 6300 would fall.. wud b better than 4600+ or 4400+?

Whan overclocking the Core2Duo the 965 chipset is able to achieve higher FSB speeds which means higher overclocks. The 975 chipsets are newer and have more features SATA ports, firewire, digital voltage regulators, etc..

There aren't a lot of benchmarks on the E6300 but it should fall just behind the X2 4600+ for PC Mark 2005