XFX 650i Ultra Socket 775 Motherboard
Conclusion
Published: 5th June 2007 | Source: XFX | Price: |
The XFX 650i Ultra motherboard is a lower-end nVidia-based board that does pretty well for the money you pay for it.
I was a little disappointed with the stability testing, but hopefully XFX will sort this out with another BIOS update, as they did with the slight hitch I met with the overclocking BIOS. Apart from our over-the-top stability test I wouldn't imagine a normal user finding a problem with stability as I have run the board 24/7 folding@home for the last two weeks, no problems.
The features are a little basic on the board but they do what you need of a motherboard with 4 SATA ports, a selection of PCI and PCI-e x 1 ports and space for one graphics card. Perhaps the worse thing to put off enthusiasts is the green PCB, although this is individual preference.
For £75ish you get a decent board with some good features from a trusted manufacturer, pretty good in my book.
Overclocking-wise the XFX 650i Ultra does pretty well. Although it did not attain a very high FSB, 3700MHz Max OC with the voltage adjustments as limited as they are is pretty nice.
Which brings me onto the biggest bug-bear of the board - voltage adjustments. I think XFX need to take a look at their BIOS options and add some more voltage, especially to the DDR2 options. 2.1v is fine for lower-spec RAM but any of the PC8500 would need something more juicy and this board does not provide it.
Having said all that, the price is right and the features are pretty nice, the XFX 650i Ultra gets a "Value for Money Award".
Pro's
+ Great price
+ Decent overclocking
+ Good performance
+ Not a bad layout
Con's
- Ugly green PCB
- Very basic cooling
- Picky when overclocking at high FSB
- Very low voltage adjustment (especially memory)
Thanks to XFX for providing the review sample
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Most Recent Comments
Thats pretty cool, i went for evga 680i though, by the way your link to the forums on the review is dead.
When you review stuff do you just get given it to test?
Did you get my pm?
Thanks
Rob
When you review stuff do you just get given it to test?
Did you get my pm?
Thanks
Rob
cool review, i didnt expect that board to do so well tbh 
Nice review, glad you pointed out the green! My 15quid Epox board is green 
Cool review
I find it wierd that people are talking about mobo's (or hardware in general) when they mention 'colour schemes' etc
Reminds me of this thread
Not like the old days
I find it wierd that people are talking about mobo's (or hardware in general) when they mention 'colour schemes' etc
Reminds me of this thread
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='XMS'
Agreed! it won't be long before we have colour coded processors, ram and graphics cards that match up with the relevant slots on the motherboard (or are Gigabyte already doing this with their technicoloured mobo's) :P
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='equk'
Not like the old days |
it's the same 650i Ultra nVidia reference mobo as eVga (& no doubt others) also provide.
bit surprised that it isn't significantly cheaper than a 650i SLI solution though.
bit surprised that it isn't significantly cheaper than a 650i SLI solution though.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='BUFF'
it's the same 650i Ultra nVidia reference mobo as eVga (& no doubt others) also provide.
bit surprised that it isn't significantly cheaper than a 650i SLI solution though. |
Not a BAD mobo, just nothing special
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