EVGA 790i FTW

Conclusion

It was a brave move by EVGA to launch this board so close to the enthusiast release of Nehalem, knowing that SLI is no longer going to be limited to NVIDIA chipsets. In order to stand any chance of real success, the 790i FTW needed to come out of the blocks firing on all 12 cylinders. Instead, the current BIOS releases give you something that randomly misfires on a simple reboot and quite often ends up running on three cylinders.

Here's the lowdown. If you bench LN2 and change boards quicker than you change your underwear, be prepared to skip a change or two as you'll need to put in some extra time to get some benchmarks with the board in its current state. Such a sacrifice may be worthwhile too, as the FTW currently holds a few Futuremark world records, so there's a chance your perseverance may pay off, especially if you hard mod the board as others have done.

If SLI is "must have" status for you and you're thinking of using the 790i FTW in an everyday overclocked system, we'd advise you to go with the mature 790i Ultra instead. This is especially the case if you have a locked multiplier CPU that needs FSB overhead to overclock to a moderate or extreme degree. Everyday systems demand a board and BIOS that is stable under load and predictable on a daily basis, and we feel there are other boards out there that are far more accomplished in this regard.

While we're on the subject of dual graphics card use, we see no reason to overlook the "lesser" 750i chipset boards either. The 750i can do everything most of us need, with the added advantage of a lower price in comparison to the $300+ the FTW variant will currently cost you.

That leaves the 790i FTW with its final ace of triple SLI in full x16 glory, which is no doubt a powerful proposition. Mind you, those inclined for such expenditure are probably waiting to see what Nehalem can do, thus closing another potential sales angle for the 790i FTW.

For now, we know EVGA are working hard to resolve ongoing issues, and they have often proven themselves to be worth the price of admission by providing excellent long-term support on products. However, we still feel you'd be best advised not to take a leap of faith on the 790i FTW until they've got the basics right.