You've used EVGA's video cards for running down your in-game enemies, now add their mobo to your arsenal. Their nForce 750i SLI-based board is designed to keep you ahead of the curve for a long time to come. It can handle LGA 775 based CPUs from the Pentium 4 through the new Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Quad. And you can jam up to 8GB of dual channel DDR2 1066 memory to run the front side bus at full speed.
There's no on-board video to draw power since EVGA and nVIDIA knew that you'd just install your own video card anyway. The dual PCIe x16 support SLI mode and a bridge are included. They didn't waste space with back panel connectors you'll never use. The LPT and COM ports have been replaced by 6 USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire and an optical S/PDIF port. Plus there is the Gigabit Ethernet and 7.1 channel audio ports.
It is the little things that show that this is truly an enthusiast's board. On the side of the board are power, reset and CMOS reset buttons so you can build and tweak the system before you mount it in the case. The LED display will show POST codes to help you diagnose any problems. The caps are all solid state for better efficiency and longer life. Take your game to the top, EVGA can help.
NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI MCPThe NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI media and communications processor (MCP) delivers unbelievable overclocking and unparalleled gaming performance with PCI Express 2.0 support and cutting-edge features including NVIDIA SLI technology, NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet, FirstPacket and MediaShield. The NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ensures maximum PC performance with future-proofing features for the demands of tomorrow.
Intel Core 2 Processor SupportThe EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 supports the next-generation LGA 775 Intel Core 2 processors including the Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Extreme series. With Intel's brand-new Core micro-architecture, the Intel Core 2 processors are considered some of the most powerful and energy-efficient CPUs in the world.
NVIDIA SLI TechnologyNVIDIA SLI (Scalable Link Interface) Technology allows two graphics cards to run in parallel for twice the performance of a single card configuration. The nForce 750i SLI MCP automatically increases bandwidth when select SLI Certified memory modules are detected for unparalleled memory performance.
PCI Express 2.0 InterfaceThe PCI Express 2.0 interface doubles the bandwidth of PCI Express x16 for an ultra-high data rate of up to 16 GB/s in both data transfer directions. The PCI Express 2.0 provides backward compatibility with PCI Express x16 (PCI-E 1.0), so you can upgrade the graphics of your existing system with the EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1.
Gigabit Ethernet ConnectivityThe EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 features a fast Gigabit network interface for high-speed LAN connections at up to 1000Mbps data transfer rates with advanced security features to ward off malicious attacks. Gigabit LAN is ideal for supercharged seamless streaming of Internet audio and video content.
NVIDIA MediaShield TechnologyThe MediaShield Storage supports both SATA and RAID. The revolutionary Serial ATA interface provides scalable performance for storage devices. SATA technology enables easy-to-install, high-performance and low-power hard drives. Four 3Gb/s SATA ports support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 and RAID 5 for better performance and data security.
Pros: I stressed out a lot about my mobo selection before coming to this one. Even then, I heard so many horror stories about dead boards and video corruption and broken parts. So, when I got the board, I handled it like it could explode at the smallest bump. Lucky for me, this mobo did something I've never seen a new mobo do... it booted up successfully the first time I turned it on! With a bit of BIOS tinkering to get it to recognize my drives, I was up and installing windows shortly after assembly. I think it deserves extra mention that this motherboard is PRETTY! Typically, I've dealt with mobos that you want to hide under all your other parts, but expecially with the heatsinks and paint job, it just plain looks good while it works.
Cons: The supplied NB fan didn't seem to fit properly against the heatsink, nor did it have any place nearby on the board to plug it in. I couldn't find any documentation saying how to do it properly with the motherboard, but it seemed to be optional and it's running fine (not overclocked) without it. The only other problem I had was with the single ATA port, but since most people have SATA drives, I'm probably just behind the times, and setting up a master/slave hard drive and DVD drive works fine as long as I don't want any extras.
Overall Review: I heard a lot about a "video corruption error" with this board. However, I haven't noticed anything of the sort. It always seemed odd to me that the motherboard would have anything to do with video playback specifically. The first few times I used it, Windows Media Player did crash on me, but that seemed to be a software issue, especially because it did it without any video. Switching to winamp or other more reliable programs allows me to watch and listen to media as much as I want, no bios flashing necessary. Mobo is running a 3.0GHz E8400 processor, GeForce 9600 GT 512MB video card, 550W SLI Rosewill PSU, and 2X2GB DDR2 800 memory from OCZ.