BIOS options galore
Nvidia intends the nForce 790i SLI Ultra to be the ultimate Core 2 overclocking platform, so it's endowed the BIOS with a full complement of tweaking options.

Effective front-side bus speeds are available up to a dizzying 2800MHz, nicely complementing a maximum effective memory speed of 2500MHz. The BIOS lets users lock down the PCI Express clock between 100 and 200MHz, complete with independent control over PCIe links stemming from the chipset's north and south bridge components. One can set arbitrary interconnect reference clocks and multipliers, as well, preventing front-side bus or memory overclocking from messing with the HyperTransport link.

In the voltage department, the BIOS can scale the CPU core voltage between 0.5125V and 2V in ultra-fine 0.00625V increments. DRAM voltages are supported up to 2.275V, as well, and users are free to manipulate front-side bus and chipset voltages. The BIOS is even capable of automatically adjusting voltages in response to user-set system and memory bus speeds. In fact, Nvidia recommends that overclockers first give the BIOS a shot at adjusting voltages on its own before they get theirs hands dirty with manual settings.

A full suite of memory timing options make an appearance in BIOS, too. If you're running EPP 2.0-compatible modules, the BIOS will automatically set the correct timings and memory bus speed. In fact, the BIOS was smart enough to detect and set the 1.9V memory voltage called for by our EPP 2.0 DDR3-2000 DIMMs.

The good times keep rolling when we move to fan control, where the 790i SLI BIOS offers automatic temperature-based fan speed control for the processor and chassis fan headers. Here, users can set not only high and low temperature thresholds, but also the fan speeds that correspond to each. Arbitrary fan speed control is also available for three additional onboard fan headers.

Old-school enthusiasts love having all of a motherboard's overclocking and tweaking options consolidated in the BIOS, but for those who want to fiddle from within the comforting confines of Windows, Nvidia's latest nForce System Tools software does the trick. This handy collection of applications provides BIOS and driver update functionality alongside a healthy selection of tweaking, overclocking, and hardware monitoring options. The latest System Tools revisions are also fully ESA-aware, allowing users to monitor and control components that comply with the Enthusiast System Architecture spec.

ESA is a whole other topic unto itself, and you can read more about it in our initial take on the specification and subsequent first look at components and software in action.

Specifics on specifications
If you prefer your motherboard specifications lovingly distilled into a single chart, we've whipped up one below. Note that apart from an auxiliary JMicron controller, Realtek codec, and Firewire chip, all the board's integrated peripherals are fed by the chipset.