Tom's Hardware > All Reviews > Components > Motherboards > Seven 650i SLI Motherboards Compared

BIOS And Overclocking

04:28 - Friday 25 May 2007 by Thomas Soderstrom

CPU VCore looks exceptional for low budget overclocking, and the DIMM voltage is even adequate at 2.20V using the tested BIOS version. A relatively small CPU FSB voltage range is the only real hindrance towards skyward speed selection.

BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking)
FSB Frequency	100 - 625MHz (1 MHz)
Clock Multiplier Adjustment	Yes
DRAM Frequency	400-1400 MHz Data Rate
PCIe Clock	100-131 MHz (1 MHz)
CPU Vcore	0.85000 - 1.60000 Volts (0.00625 Volts)
CPU FSB Voltage	1.20 - 1.40 Volts (0.05 Volts)
Northbridge (SPP)	1.20 - 1.50 Volts (0.05 Volts)
DRAM Voltage	1.85 - 2.20 Volts (0.05 Volts)
CAS Latency Range
tCAS: 1-6; tRCD: 1-7; tRP: 1-7; tRAS: 1-31; Command Rate: 1T/2T

The NF650iSLIT-A pushed 3450MHz at 1.50V from an E6700 sample known to reach 3460MHz at the same voltage in competing products, using BIOS 07/03/07 which lacked any multiplier adjustment needed to test higher bus speeds. A later BIOS version was found to contain a working multiplier setting but reduced the DIMM voltage limit to 1.95V, making the earlier version preferable for performance testing.

Accessories

Accessories
Documentation & Software	Quick Setup Guide Motherboard Manual Motherboard Driver CD
Hardware	1x 80-conductor Ultra ATA cable 1x SATA Data Cable 1x I/O Panel Shield 1x SLI Bridge 1x SLI Bridge Clamp

A very bare or barely there accessory kit includes only one Serial ATA and one Ultra ATA cable in addition to required SLI bridge/Clamp and I/O shield, but the NF650iSLIT-A justifies its missing accessories and features with an economical Web price of around £70 / €100.