Engineered
for Enthusiasts. Engineered for Overclocking.
NVIDIA nForce® 680i SLI™ media and communications processors (MCPs) deliver
the tools and performance that PC enthusiasts demand. When combined with two
NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards, you get innovative NVIDIA® SLI™ technology for
enhanced system performance. With select SLI-Ready memory you get automatic
access to special memory performance. Be ready for system overclocking and greater
data throughput.
Extreme Overclocking
Unleash the underlying hardware. With comprehensive overclocking tools to push
the limits on front side bus (FSB) speed and support for higher memory speeds,
the NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI MCPs were designed for overclocking.
Designed for NVIDIA SLI Technology NVIDIA® SLI™ technology is a revolutionary platform innovation that allows
users to intelligently scale graphics performance by combining multiple NVIDIA
graphics solutions in a single system with an NVIDIA nForce SLI MCP.
NVIDIA MediaShield Storage NVIDIA MediaShield™ Storage offers a suite of features that safeguards your
most important digital media assets. These safeguards are always reliable, scalable,
and accessible which includes RAID and SATA drive support.
Networking with NVIDIA nForce NVIDIA networking delivers the highest network throughput at the lowest
CPU utilization. The manageable and stable NVIDIA networking solution results
in better networking management and a lower total cost of ownership. Only NVIDIA
integrates this level of networking features to allow you to take full advantage
of the latest video technologies.
Take advantage of this great offer! Buy this motherboard in a bundle with the
Ultra Grid ATX Mid-Tower Case with a 700 Watt Power Supply!
This Bundle Includes
Ultra Grid ATX Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB, Audio Ports
and Ultra XVS-Series 700-Watt Power Supply
The Ultra Grid features an impressive exterior design, implementing a
stealth black finish and a cool mesh front bezel. The side of the front
bezel supports audio input/output jacks as well as two USB ports.The door
conceals all but one drive bay, but opening the magnetically latched front
door exposes all four 5.25" bays and two 3.5" bays.
- Side Panel
Type: Clear
- Special Features; Tool-Free Drive Bays
- Power Supply: 700 Watt
EVGA nForce 680i SLI NVIDIA Socket 775 ATX Motherboard
NVIDIA nForce® 680i SLI™ media and communications processors
(MCPs) deliver the tools and performance that PC enthusiasts demand. When
combined with two NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards, you get innovative NVIDIA®
SLI™ technology for enhanced system performance.
- Chipset:
NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI
- Front Side Bus: 1333MHz
- Processor Interface: Socket 775
Constructed of high grade Steel, this case provides a solid foundation
for your PC.
High Gloss Liquid Gloss Finish will give your computer
the sleek design you have been looking for.
With a 120mm intake fan in the front, and a 120mm exhaust
fan in the rear, this case provides excellent airflow throughout your
case.
With this tool-less drive system it's simple. Slide
the drive in, align the holes, twist the lock, and your done. No tools,
no screws, no hassle!
Easy access front ports, featuring USB and Audio will allow you
to quickly connect external devices, headphones, or even a microphone.
The swing out bezel hides all unwanted drive bays and
conceals the 120mm intake fan. However, the top drive bay can be accessed
without opening the door, allowing the user to install the most used
drive for easy access.
Keep the temperature of your CPU down by bringing cool
air directly from the outside onto the CPU.
Includes a 700 Watt XVS Modular Power Supply to accommodate all your power needs. Featuring a fully modular cabling technology and Flex Force Technology.
(Motherboard)
Socket
This motherboard features a Socket 775 design.
The Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) style socket makes it easy to install and
upgrade your processor.
Chipset
The nForce 680i SLI motherboard is based on the NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI
Northbridge chipset and the NVIDIA MCP Southbridge chipset. It supports
Intel Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Duo, Pentium Extreme Edition
and Pentium LGA775 Processors, with Hyper-Threading Technology and 1333MHz
Front Side Bus support.
Memory
Expansion
The nForce 680i SLI provides 4 DIMM sockets using Dual Channel 240-pin DDR2
with a total capacity of up to 4GB-32bit (8GB-64bit). You can install DDR
533/667/800/1200(SLI-Ready) MHz Memory.
PCI
Express Support
The nForce 680i SLI fully supports PCI Express, the latest I/O interconnect
technology that speeds up the PCI bus. PCI Express features point-to-point
serial interconnections between devices and allows higher clockspeeds by
carrying data in packets. This high-speed interface is software compatible
with existing PCI specifications.
IDE
The nForce 680i SLI includes built in IDE facilities that support Ultra
ATA 66/100/133.
Audio
The nForce 680i SLI comes with an AC'97 audio codec which supports high
quality 8-channel audio.
Serial
ATA RAID Support
The nForce 680i SLI supports the Serial ATA technology through the Serial
ATA interfaces. Doubles bus bandwidth which provides blazingly high disk
performance, up to 3.0Gb/s, with RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and JBOD solutions.
Assembling Barebones Computer Kits & Computer Cases
Remember when assembling one of our money-saving Barebone Computer Kits, or
installing your existing computer components into a new computer case, you
may have to modify the case to fit your components - This Is Normal!
Cases are designed to hold and accommodate a wide variety of motherboards,
interface cards, connectors, and other components. Because of this,
the case manufacturer designs their cases with easily removable panels to
allow these components to properly fit in the case. All you need to do
is punch them out with a screw driver or fold them over with a pair of
pliers to snap out the metal piece for your exact components. In this
way, you save the cost of assembling your computer, and have the
satisfaction of building your own workstation.
PLEASE NOTE:
Carefully read all documentation BEFORE you start to assemble your Barebones
Kit or add components to a Computer Case. Some components need to be
assembled in a specific order. Also place the components in the case
temporarily to confirm any modifications (punch outs) that need to be made
to fit that component.
Important Info About Barebones
Computer Kits
Our money-saving Barebone Computer Kits gives you the opportunity to build
or upgrade your perfect computer at an affordable cost, by installing key
components yourself. Most components included in our Barebones Kits,
including power supplies, are not pre-assembled (mounted and connected in
the case). With Barebones Kits, where we include a case and a separate power
supply, the case specifications may not indicate the presence of an attached
power supply (simply because it is a separate component). This is also
because you must install the included power supply yourself.
Know Your BIOS! With today's rapid pace of
design advancement, new product updates come fast and furious. This is
especially true of board-level products, like Motherboards, Video Cards, GPU
Processor Cards, and other main edge connector products. The good news is
that manufacturers have designed in the ability to easily update your
product BIOS, which is sometimes important for full compatibility. So before
installing or combining components, it is always a good idea to check your
product's current BIOS revision against the manufacturer's website, to
determine if an update is needed, or advisable. The manufacturer's
documentation will guide you through this process if it is necessary.
However, remember that most products are designed to be plug-n-play out of
the box!
But
What Is BIOS?
Most electronic devices,
from computers to MP3 players have software embedded in their hardware.
These are programs that tell the device how it will function - from basic to
advanced functions - so that it knows how to start, and perform the most
simple and complex tasks it was designed for. We call this software the BIOS
(sometimes also called Firmware). In computer jargon, BIOS stands for "Basic
Input/Output System", but in reality, there is very little "basic" about it.
In your computer's motherboard for example, it tells your computer how to:
start up; communicate with hardware components, such as hard drives and
video; how to move data in and out of memory; and even talk to your USB
connected devices. Without your BIOS, your device is JOOL (just out of
luck!).
Keep in mind that changing a PC's BIOS
settings incorrectly can cause the PC to malfunction. If this happens, a
BIOS reset is usually available, and will need to be performed to return the
BIOS to the default "factory settings." This is usually activated by a
jumper on the motherboard. [Warning: always read
your motherboard or system manual thoroughly, before upgrading your BIOS, or
making BIOS setting changes!] Though normally, most incorrect
settings should have no negative affect on your PC, but please follow each
step explicitly since some can.
Remember: It is recommended that you reboot
after each individual BIOS setting change to ensure that your system
functions normally. If you make numerous changes before rebooting, and your
system will no longer boot, you won't know which change is responsible for
the failure.
Updating Your BIOS
Before you consider updating your BIOS, be sure you need to - not every
update will be needed or even benefit you. Also be sure you are up to
the technical challenges you will face. Changing the version of BIOS
stored in your computer or motherboard is not the kind of activity
recommended for novice users. To perform this successfully, you need
to be comfortable and familiar with your BIOS settings, and be able to
download and apply the BIOS Update without issue. For this reason, it
is best to let professional computer technicians do this work for you, if or
when it is needed. However, if you know what you are doing, it is a
fairly easy task.
Before Updating BIOS, consider the
following:
The reasons for updating your BIOS -
frequently, updating is unnecessary
Identifying your BIOS chip - if
replacing is the approach required
Replacing your BIOS chip - this requires
significant care, and can void your warranty
Locating your latest BIOS version -
required for any update
Flashing your BIOS - make sure you have
a UPS!
Live update - great for minor or quick
updates - again a UPS is vital - a partial update can make your system
inoperative
Configuring your new BIOS settings -
read the manual! twice for good measure!
Heat Sinks - Many Shapes & Sizes!
A heat sink (or heatsink) is an object that absorbs and dissipates heat from
another object using thermal contact (either direct or radiant). Heat sinks
are used in a wide range of applications wherever efficient heat dissipation
is required; including for CPUs, Memory, Video Cards, and more.
Heat Sink Shapes Change!
Many products come with a Heat Sink, and some with a combination Heat Sink
and Fan. Keep in mind though, that manufacturers are constantly
improving the design of their cooling components, thus the shape and design
of the heat sink or heat sink & fan can change on any product at any time.
PLEASE NOTE:
Cooling Components Can Change At Any Time, And Do Not
Affect The Performance Or Specifications Of The Product.
How Do Heat Sinks Work?
Heat sinks function by transferring high temperature thermal energy (heat)
from one object (such as a CPU chip) to a second object (such as the Heat
Sink), which has a lower temperature, with a much greater heat capacity.
This rapid transfer of heat quickly balances the temperature of both
devices, lowering the temperature of the first. This is what makes a
heat sink a cooling device. Since room temperature is usually cooler than
the hot device, the Heat Sink helps cool the device, lowering its temp to
closer to room temperature.
The most common design of a heat sink is a metal device with many fins or
vanes. The high thermal conductivity of the metal combined with the large
surface area of the fins does the work to rapidly transfer heat to the
surrounding, cooler, air. This cools the heat sink and whatever it is in
contact with. Some Heat Sinks use the metal alone for cooling, some
use fluids (just like you car radiator) and a thermal interface material
(such as thermal gel) to ensure maximum heat transfer to the heat sink.
Adding a fan dramatically improves air flow, and improves the heat transfer
even more.
Remember The
Thermal Paste!
Remember that when you are adding a Heat Sink, you MUST USE
thermally conductive Gel or Paste, to form a good thermal contact between
the Heat Sink and the Device. Failing to use this will result in
reduced cooling, and possible failure and damage to the device!
To learn more about how to keep your PC Very Cool, view our
Guide To PC Cooling»
Stay Grounded
Static Electricity is generally harmless to humans, but a harmless static shock can harm your PC, or even kill components. Remember, to always ground yourself before touch the sensitive components of your PC. You can do this by touching a metal door frame, a bathroom faucet, or the screw to a ground light switch. But the best way is to use a proper ground strap when working on the inside of your computer. Here are some great tips to keep the electricity from shocking your system into submission.
. Click Here To Learn More
»
Even The Best Hard Drives Die.
Do You Back Up?
Businesses of all sizes
are witnessing an explosion in the volume of data they hold. Whether it is
the result of the Internet, email, or increasingly heavy and media-rich
application software, there is a massive growth in the volume of data all
around. Conservative estimates place data growth at approximately 80% per
year. Data is increasingly being recognized as one of the real assets of a
company, and losing this data would cause severe damage to any organization.
Data loss can be very costly, particularly for
organizations in the small and medium business (SMB) market where the
difference between survival and closure can rest on the ability to recover
from a disaster. At the very least, critical data loss will have a financial
impact on companies of all sizes:
Data type
Time to re-create 20 MB
Cost
Sales and marketing
19 days
$17,000
Accounting
21 days
$19,000
Engineering
42 days
$98,000
The financial impact on a company is a combination
of loss of business, low productivity, legal action, and the cost of
re-creating data. A study showed that the cost of re-creating just 20 MB of
data can be extensive!
Your best solution, is an external drive as a
backup. You can have multiple drives, and it is much easier restore
from a portable external drive, as opposed to CDs or DVDs.
Why Do I Have
Less Drive Space?
Your hard drive may show less space than the published specifications due to
a number of reasons.
The way size is calculated and
displayed.
Any "Partitions" on the disk will
change the total in a specific partition.
Hidden files and folders decrease
available space.
Compression increases the apparent
size, but not the physical size.
Drives larger than the OS or Drivers
natively supports.
First, the definition of a megabytes
(or gigabytes) is a unit of data storage capacity measured in 1,048,576
bytes (or 1024KB). The larger the numbers, the more apparent the size
difference will be when listing the size as megabytes (or gigabytes) versus
bytes. Actually, both numbers are correct. The noticeable difference is due
to the 1024KB definition of a megabyte. This is why a 95.3GB hard drive can
also be listed as having 102 billion bytes of total space. Just think
of it as "round off" In the screen shot at right: The first number is the total number of bytes,
the second number is based on the number of megabytes or gigabytes.
Second, some computers have a
non-DOS hard drive partition that is used for features such as Save to Disk,
Hibernation, or Recovery. This partition is not normally reported by the
operating system, although it can be viewed using a disk partition utility.
This is very common on desktops and laptops. NOTE: Partition information will be created or
formatted automatically during initial system setup and a system recovery.
Third, by default, all system files
are hidden and cannot be seen. This may adversely affect the reporting of
available hard drive space. You can set your Folder Options so you view
system and hidden files and folders, but do be careful as changes to system
files can adversely affect your system.
Fourth, if you turn on Compression
for a drive, it will increase reported free space and used space, but since
compression is based upon the actual contents, this number is not fixed, but
will change as files are added or changed.
Fifth, older operating systems did
not support some of today's larger drives, so the total space reported may
be much smaller than the drive specifications.
It is also worth noting that bad sectors
are corrected by your operating system and can change the total drive space,
free space, or used space as well.
So as long as a drive is reporting a value
approximately close to the specification value, you can be comfortable that
you received the right drive and that you are getting to correct data
storage. Of course, tuning of your drive's partitions and options can
yield optimal values, but this is not something for the average user to
explore.
Got Enough
Memory? Bet You'll Need More!
Windows Vista and today's software
applications make much greater demands on your system's memory. Adding
peripherals, like webcams, USB hard drives, and complex Internet pages, all
take memory. Watching DVD movies, or watching videos on the web, or
playing PC based games demand increased memory. So take full
advantage of your system's potential, your operating system's enhancement
and entertainment capabilities, and your software's productivity by expanding
your system memory!
The best time to
add more memory is when you buy your system! Get the memory that's
right for your computer, whether laptop, desktop, or All-In-One.
Click Here for our Memory Upgrade Options. »
Shared
Memory? Or Where Did My Memory Go?
Your computer uses memory to run your
Operating System, applications, peripherals, and to generate and display
graphics on your computer monitor. Video memory is a form of RAM, and is
either built into your motherboard; or on a graphics card (video card).
Depending on the motherboard's configuration, and that of the video card (if
separate or built-in to the motherboard), your computer may have to draw on
its own RAM memory to meet its video memory needs. This creates shared
memory, where your computer’s RAM will be shared between its own Processor
(CPU) and its graphics chip.
The result is that some systems will have
shared memory, some will not. If you have 2GB (for example) of system
memory installed, you may notice that your system reports significantly less
memory. This is because your system is using shared memory for your
video.
What can you do about this?
You can actually configure this shared memory through your computer’s BIOS
settings. However, this is a setting best left alone, since it is
typically optimized for display performance, and making changes may impact
display resolutions, and other video capabilities.
The simplest solution is usually to either:
increase your system memory; or to upgrade the video hardware. By
upgrading to a new video card with built-in video memory, then turning off
shared memory, you will free your system to use it's maximum potential
memory, and provide your system with much more robust video features.
How Much
Memory Do You Really Have?
When you look at the specifications for a computer, it will display the
installed memory, and typically the maximum memory that can be installed.
However, while these are real values, they represent a potential useable
memory depending upon the installed operating system, and other factors. The actual useable memory may be different
(lower) from these values.
The reason is simply that a computer may have a limitation in the operating
system (such as Windows 32 bit versions), or configured to use shared memory,
which reduces the amount of RAM that is available to the CPU by using
some of it for other purposes, such as for video memory. In some
cases, you can control the maximum useable memory through system settings,
by upgrading from a 32 bit to a 64 bit version of Windows XP or Vista, or by upgrading to a video card that has internal onboard video memory.
But always
remember, that the amount of memory that your system reports, is not always
the amount of actual installed memory. For example, if you have 4GB
installed, 32 bit versions of Windows will typically report 3.2GB due to a
limitation of Windows itself. Also note that different Windows
programs report available and maximum memory differently, which can be
confusing. If you find that you need more
memory, we suggest expanding your system memory, since this is the most
effective performance increase, and the one that is easiest to perform .
Advanced PC Build-It-Yourself Guide
Not too long ago one had to be eligible for the Genius IQ Club (Mensa)
in order to build a computer. That is no longer the case. Today’s computer
manufacturers have made it much easier for the enterprising do-it-yourselfer
to create a great system.
Click Here To Learn More »
Advanced PC Build-It-Yourself Guide
Not too long ago one had to be eligible for the Genius IQ Club (Mensa)
in order to build a computer. That is no longer the case. Today’s computer
manufacturers have made it much easier for the enterprising do-it-yourselfer
to create a great system.
Click Here To Learn More »
PC Building Tools Checklist
You're eager to get started on your system building or maintenance project,
but before you do it's good to get your tools in order. Here's a handy
checklist of tools you should have before you get started.
Click Here To Learn More »
Got Tools?
Do you need the perfect tools to build and maintain your PC?
Take a look at our selection of PC building, maintenance, networking, and
other tools and complete toolkits!
Click Here For Tools »
Having
Issues With Your PC?
Here Are Some Common Problems And Solutions!
Of course, there a thousand little things can go wrong with an average
PC. But many problems are common, and have common solutions.
Click Here to
Learn More »
Limited Warranty: A full text version of the limited warranty
may be obtained by mailing a self addressed, stamped envelope to the
address below and requesting the warranty for item number:
E145-2009 GRID
TigerDirect.ca
Warranty Information
55 East Beaver Creek Rd. Unit G
Richmond Hill, ON
Canada, L4B 1E5
Need help browsing our website? Call 1-800-800-8300 
Items with this icon have an additional discounted price. Please click the icon for more information.
Engineered
for Enthusiasts.
Form Factor:
Know Your BIOS!
Why Do I Have
Less Drive Space?
