XFX nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard - NVIDIA nForce 790i, Socket 775, ATX, Audio, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, Dual Gigabit LAN, S/PDIF, USB 2.0, Firewire, eSATA, RAID

There are three primary reasons why gamers around the world make XFX their brand of choice. First, there is XFX’s unmatched performance, utilizing NVIDIA and AMD's-based processing units, which consistently outperforms the competition at every level. Second is XFX’s impressive product quality, which includes XFX’s Double Lifetime Protection, a warranty that is unmatched in the industry. And third is XFX’s “For Gamers By Gamers” approach to its product research and development.

XFX dares to go where the competition would like to, but can’t. That’s because, at XFX, we don’t just create great digital video components—we build all-out, mind-blowing, performance-crushing, competition-obliterating video cards and motherboards. And, not only are they amazing, you don’t have to live on dry noodles and peanut butter to afford them.

XFX is a division of PINE Technology Holdings Limited, a leading manufacturer and marketer of innovative solutions for the worldwide gaming technologies market. Founded in 1989, PINE designs, develops, manufactures and distributes high-performance video graphics technology and computer peripherals. The company’s dedicated research and development team are continually pushing the limits to meet the demands of the ever-growing and performance-driven community. Headquartered in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong SAR), PINE has more than 1,000 employees worldwide with 16 offices around the globe. PINE also maintains four state-of-the-art research and development facilities in the Asia Pacific region and two factories in Mainland China.

Know Your BIOS!

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!

For more information about BIOS: 

• Example Desktop Motherboard BIOS Setting Glossary

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 .

Click Here for our Memory Upgrade Options »

PCI Express 2.0 - High End Graphics Have Arrived
PCI Express Base 2.0 specification doubles the interconnect bit rate from 2.5 GT/s to 5 GT/s in a seamless and compatible manner. The performance boost to 5 GT/s is by far the most important feature of the PCI Express 2.0 specifications. It effectively increases the aggregate bandwidth of a 16-lane link to approximately 16 GB/s. The higher bandwidth will allow product designers to implement narrower interconnect links to achieve high performance while reducing cost.

A number of optimizations and improvements have been made to the protocol and software layers of the PCI Express architecture in the PCI Express Base 2.0 specification. These include:

• Dynamic link speed management – to control the speed at which the link is operating
• Link bandwidth notification – to notify software (operating system, device drivers, etc) of changes in link speed and width
• Capability structure expansion – to expand the control registers to better manage devices, slots and the interconnect
• Access control services – optional controls to manage peer-peer transactions
• Completion timeout control – to define a required disable mechanism plus related optional enhancements
• Function-level reset – optional mechanism to reset functions within a device
• Power limit redefinition – to redefine slot power limit values to accommodate devices that consume higher power

SLI MCPs | Motherboards
To enable NVIDIA SLI technology in your PC, you'll need an SLI-Ready certified motherboard with an nForce SLI MCP and two physical PCI Express x16 slots. NVIDIA motherboard partners offer nForce SLI motherboards for both AMD and Intel CPUs.

What is SLI Technology?
NVIDIA® SLI™ technology is a revolutionary platform innovation that allows you to intelligently scale graphics performance by combining multiple NVIDIA graphics solutions in a single system with an NVIDIA nForce® SLI media and communications processor (MCP).

How Does SLI Technology Work?
Using proprietary software algorithms and dedicated scalability logic in each NVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU) and MCP, NVIDIA SLI technology delivers up to twice the performance of a single graphics solution.

Note:

• The NVIDIA SLI connector is not used with some mainstream graphics cards.
  
• 3-way SLI motherboards must have 3 PCI-E x16 slots.