Conclusions
Nvidia's nForce 680i SLI is more than just a chipset refresh with a new north bridge; it also includes a retail motherboard design, production-quality BIOS, and polished tweaking software. Combining those elements with core logic that's already loaded with integrated peripherals yields an incredibly potent platform for PC enthusiasts. More importantly, though, producing this reference design for its partners ensures that Nvidia's vision of an enthusiast-oriented motherboard makes it to market with as little meddling as possible.

Of course, not all of Nvidia's partners will be using its reference design as-is. Abit, Asus, DFI, Gigabyte, and MSI will be coming out with their own boards, and that should ensure plenty of diversity in the market. Matching the reference board's layout and BIOS will be a tall order, though. There's also no telling how long it will take original designs to reach shelves. EVGA's 122-CK-NF68 will be available starting today, and Nvidia expects it to sell for around the same price as boards based on Intel's 975X Express chipset.

If you're looking for a high-end motherboard for an SLI setup or extreme overclocking, the 122-CK-NF68 is one of the best boards around. It's not perfect, of course—we'd like to see lower power consumption, an onboard audio solution with proper EAX support, a better retention mechanism for the optional chipset fan, and everything necessary for eSATA connectivity in the box—but it comes awfully close.

A lot of what makes the 122-CK-NF68 such an appealing board is directly tied to the nForce 680i SLI chipset. Nvidia has taken a proven south bridge chip packed with dual hardware-accelerated Gigabit Ethernet controllers, six Serial ATA RAID ports, and more than enough PCI Express connectivity, and added a new north bridge with plenty of overclocking potential and a redesigned memory controller that's very fast indeed. That's a great core logic foundation for any enthusiast-oriented motherboard.

In the end, Nvidia has effectively launched two flavors of the nForce 680i SLI. The first is a complete reference platform that's perfect for picky enthusiasts and serious overclockers, while the second is a capable chipset due to be implemented in original designs from leading motherboard makers. Choice is a very good thing.