The nForce 790i Ultra SLI seems to be an ok update to the nForce 780i chipset, adding true PCI Express Generation 2 capability to NVIDIA motherboards for the first time, DDR3 support and native support for FSB 1600MHz Intel CPUs. From a performance perspective this board disappoints as it only edges the nForce 780i by a small percentage in most of the motherboard tests we tried with it with one or two tests being slower than the 780i motherboard. The tests were confirmed on two motherboards, one from EVGA, one from XFX, using two 320MB 8800GTS cards from EVGA, the same drivers, the same CPU. Perhaps a Yorkfield CPU and DDR3-2000 might nudge performance into the stratosphere but from this perspective, the nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard is a bit of a disappointment.

On the other hand, this board is an excellent overclocker. With an E8500 the CPU was able to overclock to a stable 4.5GHz, which is pretty darn good. One of the main reasons to buy a nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard is SLI compatibility, as that is only available on NVIDIA motherboards (unless you’re buying an Intel Skulltrail), but I would not suggest buying it for Tri-SLI. 8800 Ultras are expensive at $639 on Pricewatch and 8800GTXs are nearly so at $539. At those price points it might be better to buy two 9800GX2s and Quad-SLI them than buy three cards for nearly the same price.

If you want the fastest most powerful single card graphics platform at the moment it is the 9800GX2. NVIDIA has not approved Quad SLI tests as of yet and it’ll be an interesting comparison to see how it fares against the ATI 3870X2 Quadfire solutions. In any event, read the reviews on the web look at all the data before making a purchasing decision and spend your money wisely as I always say, don’t just take my word for it.

Speaking of the 9800GX2, the XFX version of the card is the fastest video card I have ever tested. At the $599 that NVIDIA is targeting the card, it better be. Unfortunately, the price difference between the 3870X2 and the 9800GX2 and two 9600GTs or 8800GTs are just too big to warrant more than a passing recommendation to the most obsessed gamer with the 24” or 30” LCD monitor that wants to game at 1920x1200 or higher (2560x1600). The 9600GT is available online for $139 after MIR today, making two of them ½ as expensive as a 9800GX2, costing less power from the PSU, and probably delivering near equivalent performance in most cases. The 8800GT 512MB is available online for $200, making two of them an attractive option compared to the 9800GX2 which costs $200+ more and requires a new PSU. The HD3870X2 is available online for less than $450, making it another cost effective choice.