Feature wise the nVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition chipset is quite similar to the AMD version. The nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition chipset is split up into the traditional Northbridge/Southbridge configuration with the nForce 590 SLI MCP handling the brunt of the workload. The nVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition SPP connects to the processor via a 533/800/1066 MHz FSB. The SPP Northbridge supports a single PCI Express x16 slot for the primary videocard and the Northbridge also houses nVIDIA's Dual Channel DDR2 memory controller which also supports SLI-Ready memory (EPP).

The nVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition MCP as mentioned earlier is the busier of the two and supports another PCI Express x16 slot for a secondary videocard, One PCI Express x8 connector (for nVIDIA's upcoming Physics accelerator perhaps), four PCI Express x1 slots, five regular 32 bit PCI slots, dual Gigabit MACs with nVIDIA's DualNet technology, a 7.1 channel High Definition Intel Azalia audio controller, six Serial ATA II slots and one IDE channel which supports two devices.

nVidia nForce 500 Series Feature Breakdown nVidia nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition CPU Socket 775 nVida SLI Support Yes, (2 x16) nVidia LinkBoost No nVidia FirstPacket Yes nVidia DualNet Yes Native Gigabit Ethernet 2 Teaming Yes TCP/IP Acceleration Yes nVidia MediaShield Storage Yes SATA/IDE HDD 6/2 SATA Speed 3Gb/s RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 nVidia nTune Utility Yes PCI Express Lanes 48 lanes USB Ports 10 PCI Slots 5 Audio High Definition Audio (Azalia)

nForce 590 SLI Assorted Technologies

nVIDIA has upgraded the integrated audio solution to include Intel's High Definition Audio Azalia standard. With Serial ATA going the way it is, there is only one IDE channels integrated now. To balance out storage requirements, the number of Serial ATA II (3Gbps) ports has been increased to six. Continuing on the hard drive front, nVIDIA's Serial ATA II channels adhere to the Serial ATA 2.0 spec and support RAID mode 0, 1, 0+1 and 5.

nVIDIA DualNet technology looks very interesting, and what it does is basically give the user greater control over network processes. All high end and mainstream nVIDIA chipsets will now by default support two Gigabit connections. Users can combine the two connections for more bandwidth, and there is hardware TCP/IP Acceleration which lowers CPU utilization. Another very cool feature is nVIDIA's FirstPacket Technology which allows you to prioritize network traffic. So for example, if you are a gamer that tends to do multiple things while you're online, you can prioritize your game traffic so that ping times are not affected by the other processes going on in the background.

On the memory front, the nVidia 590 SLI chipset introduces something called the Enhanced Performance Profiles or EPP. This is an open memory standard put forth by Corsair and nVIDIA which takes over where JEDEC's SPD leaves off. As the Enhanced Performance Profiles description implies, it adds performance profiles to the memory SPD in addition to the conservative compatibility settings already programmed in.

EPP compliant memory is dubbed "SLI Ready" memory on nVidia platforms (great marketing on nVIDIA's part) and allows the system to dynamically tighten up memory timings and increase voltages for better performance with no fuss. Whether you're a novice or experienced computer user, the benefits of EPP are immediate. Corsair is the initial memory manufacturer out the door with this new technology but others are already following suit.

Finally nVIDIA has greatly upgraded its nTune software which allow users more control over their systems. Realistically with nTune, there is no longer a need to go into the BIOS to adjust settings, now you can do everything within WindowsXP!

One thing to note is that the nVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition chipset does not support LinkBoost. If you remember back to the AMD version, LinkBoost increases the HyperTransport/PCI Express bandwidth 25% when GeForce 7900GTX and higher videocards are installed. Tests have shown that this boost does nil for modern technology, which may be one of the reasons nVIDIA dropped it from the Intel Edition of the nForce 590 SLI.

Overclocking is next!