XFX makes motherboards? Why yes, yes they do! OCC has published a new review of the XFX 680i LT SLI Motherboard. This board features Quad core support,1333 fsb, 800Mhz DDR2,2 x16x PCI-E slots for SLI configurations. This board is promoted towards high end PC users and gamers that want performance on a budget, not as a hardcore enthusiast board. That distinction falls to the 680i SLI model. The 680iLT chipset has been called the "lite" chipset because it is supposedly a stripped down lower cost version of the 680 chipset. Does that translate into lower performance?

One of the words that comes to mind after a review of this kind, is 'parity'. The fact that this board is Nvidia's reference design, does not detract from the fact that it stacked up well against one of the heavy hitters in the 680i playing field. Performance is pretty even across the board at stock clock speeds. While ratcheting up the clock speeds, I was able to push the memory speed to 576FSB without extreme volts. My CPU on the other hand, is one of the voltage hungry ones. It needs plenty of core voltage to really push the clock speeds and I was able to manage an 850MHz overclock to end up at 3500MHz on the CPU speed. This was the maximum I could achieve with the available vcore, minus the droop. These speeds fall close to what is easily achievable without extreme voltages and is usable on a day-to-day basis.

Without all the bells and whistles that some of the deluxe and full-featured boards out today have, this board is still a good performer. Who needs onboard switches and LEDs, when you can get the same performance without all of the extra items? Sure they are nice, but when it comes down to it, do you really need them? With the ability to get a good and stable overclock with no problems, this board is one you should take a look at when the time comes to make your next purchase. The slogan on the box says it all: Play Hard!