XFX nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard Review

Final Thoughts And Conclusion

So, is this a board that you should consider using in your system? Lets think about it a bit.

Performance on this board was great. The bulk of our testing showed that the performance was very close to what we have gotten with our Intel Express chipset based boards. Once we look at more recent gaming results like FEAR and Crysis, we see that the XFX 790i Ultra absolutely dominates compared to the boards we tested it against in this review.

Layout on the board was really good. There is a lot packed onto the board, so there are a few areas that might be a little tight. But after the initial setup, that should not even be an issue. The LED diagnostic is always a nice feature to have, and so are the power and reset buttons on the board. The heatsink seems to do a great job. It did get warm during use, but we never ran into any issues during our testing. The only issue that MIGHT come up is the size of the heatsink around the CPU socket. It could possibly be a hindrance to larger CPU coolers.

Setup of the board was the easiest we have had in a long time. Everything just worked! No troubleshooting, no BIOS issues… nothing at all that kept us from setting up and using the boards as quickly as we possibly could.

The bundle that comes with the board is great! XFX has included everything you need and more for setup and use of the board. I love the way they actually packaged everything as well. Very first class!

Overclocking of the XFX 790i Ultra was very good as well. Any enthusiast would be glad to have a board that reaches the levels that this board did. Hopefully with a bit of maturity and BIOS tweaks, we will be able to see even more performance squeezed out of this board.

Price of the board is going to be a killer for many people. The board certainly commands a hefty price tag. A quick look online puts the lowest price for this board at $349 plus shipping. That is a heavy price to pay for anyone. The price will obviously come down in the near future, but for now, if you have to have a 790i board, you will have to mortgage the house or auction off your firstborn. This is not XFX alone, though. Every 790i Ultra board out there is priced at this range. In fact, this board is priced $100 lower than the $449 Asus Striker II Extreme motherboard.

Legit Bottom Line: This is a great board to look at if you are looking for a great overclocker with the newest nVidia chipset. You will pay a hefty price for it, but you are buying a board that works right out of the box as well as anything else you could get.