So what is the idea behind this stripped [down] mainboard. Well... the nForce 680i LT SLI motherboard offers the exactly the same performance as the nForce 680i SLI mainboard. Pretty much it boils down to the same gaming experince for less money; which by itself obviously is really good.

Courtesy of NVIDIA Key features that differentiate the 680i LT SLI motherboard include:

• Full 680i SLI performance
• Two full-bandwidth, 16-lane PCIe links supporting SLI -- for under $200
• Best-in-class overclocking
• 1333MHz Front Side Bus support
• SLI-Ready Memory support up to 800MHz (using EPP memory modules)
• 6 SATA connectors (eSATA-ready)
• Firewire 1394a (1 read, 1 onboard)

What is it that you lose over the original 680i SLI mainboard then? As explained on the first page of this review  already; the 3rd graphics/physics PCIe slot; POST code LED; SLI-Ready memory up to 1200 MHz; a couple of BIOS tweaking features; you lose the second Gbit NIC; the micro-switches for power on/off +  reset and; the lovely black PCB colour. Also you'll have to forfeit on the passive cooling as both the MCP and SPP chip will now have a cheaper active cooler on top of it; which creates sound.

Much like the original 680i SLI board, the 680i LT SLI mainboard was designed by NVIDIA themselves. You'll can still have/use features like NVIDIA nTune and MediaShield.  Last but not least you can expect to see nForce 680i LT SLI "Designed by NVIDIA" motherboards from partners EVGA and XFX at launch followed by other board partners later on. The EVGA part number is 122-CK-NF67 and the XFX part number is MB-N680-ILT.

Right that being said... let's move onward and discuss features into a little more detail. Below you can find a large diagram showing you the differences in-between the three current series 600 nForce mainboards.

The eVGA Bundle

Today's test product in fact although designed and engineered by NVIDIA comes from eVGA. Both XFX and eVGA will be launch partners for NVIDIA with this product. In the box yee shall find:

• nFORCE 680i LT SLI mainboard
• Driver CD
• Manual
• Floppy and IDE cables colored in black - High Quality I must add
• Serial ATA connectors x6
• Molex to SATA power connectors
• FireWire bracket
• USB bracket (4xUSB)
• SLI bridge

The board is well packaged in a plastic tray. Furthermore I have nothing else to add other then everything you need to get connected is in there. Let's move onwards to the next page and talk about this boards primary features.