ECS NF650iSLIT-A Motherboard

While INTEL continues to release quality chipset after quality chipset (And now their G33 and G35 chipsets are already showing up for pre-order at various retailers around the web), those who favor the NVIDIA silicon and the benefits they offer (SLI anyone?) are fairly limited. Those wanting to match a Core 2 Duo processor with SLI were forced to toss down premium money on high end 680i motherboards, or settle for the older NVIDIA 570 or 590 SLI mobos, which, while no slouches, don't feature 1333FSB support or other newer features found on NVIDIA's 680i chipset. Enter the NVIDIA 650i chipsets.

Hoping to capitalize on the success of their PN2-SLI2+ built around NVIDIA's immensely popular 680i silicon, ECS is back, this time with the budget minded ECS NF650iSLIT-A motherboard utilizing NVIDIA's entry level 650i SLI chipset. With many of the same features found on their premium offering, can the ECS NF650iSLIT-A attract a whole new audience with its equally impressive price tag?

The Bundle

I was a little shocked at what the ECS NF650iSLIT-A shipped with. Granted, this is a budget oriented package, so any expectations of an extravagant bundle should be checked at the door, but I did expect to see a little more than what ECS put together. A user manual, quick install guide, SLI handout, driver disk, SLI bridge, I/O cover, and single SATA and IDE cables make up the contents. No  PCI bracket for additional USB ports, and how about throwing in enough SATA cables to utilize all four SATA ports, or at least a secondary hard drive? Oh well.

The 650i chipset is currently divided into two different offerings, the nForce 650i SLI and the nForce 650i Ultra. The 650i SLI offers SLI capabilities in the form of two PCI-E x16 slots, which actually operate at x8 while in SLI mode (some boards are limited to x8 while using a single card as well). By comparison, the 680i operates at the full x16 in SLI. The 650i Ultra, on the other hand, offers a single PCI-E x16 that runs at x16.

Other feature differences that make the 650i chipset more budget minded are single Gigabit Ethernet, only four SATA 3.0GB/s ports, eight USB 2.0 ports and the lack of NVIDIA specific features like Linkboost Technology, Dual Net, and First Packet Technology (as there is but a single Gigabit Ethernet port).

While the specs lack that extra 'oomph' when compared to its bigger brother, or INTEL's mainstream choice, the P965 chipset, the price point of the 650i part should make it extremely attractive to those who can live without the luxurious, and luxuriously priced, 680i motherboards.

At first glance the ECS NF650iSLIT-A looks like most other ECs boards of the past two years. Featuring a purple PCB with a clean layout, and with everything clearly marked, the NF650iSLIT-A seems the ideal board for first time or inexperienced system builders.

Almost immediately you'll notice the use of an active cooling solution on the board's Northbridge. Although it isn't exactly extreme cooling, the full aluminum heatsink and 40mm fan should allow for decent overclocking potential. The MCP51 Southbridge uses a simple aluminum passive block.

The ECS NF650iSLIT-A supports INTEL's newest processors, along with a 1333FSB, which should broaden its appeal beyond those looking for the cheapest possible build (Penryn support should be a drop-n-go affair). The area around the CPU socket is well spaced, with plenty of room for any cooling solution you might use, including oversized units.