Abit IP35-E Review (500MHz FSB board)...$90 @ NewEgg + $6.61 ship

[Password]

I have 2 ATA Hard Drives and 2 IDE DVD writers that I want to connect to the IP35-E. Would it be better to buy a PCI IDE adaptor card or SATA to IDE adator cable?

2 more questions:

1) Will the MB recognize a PCI IDE card with the HD attached on the initial install?

2) Can the MB recognize a slave drive attached to a SATA to IDE adaptor cable?

TIA

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Get an IDE to SATA adapter for each optical drive. They max out at DMA mode 2 so you'll never see any bottleneck.

KISS. Attach the master HDD to the onboard IDE connector.

Connect 1st HDD as Master. Connect 1st Optical drive as slave. Set 1st Optical drive as 1st boot in BIOS. Format the 1st HDD and install windows. Remove 1st optical drive and replace with 2nd HDD. Put both optical drives on IDE to SATA adapters. I do not see any advantage with burning data on the fly. For the highest quality burns, always save data to HDD, then burn data from HDD to media.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
I've had friends with bad TI image files using the incremental approach. TI works well for some but not for others. I suspect your problem is with the TI software, and not the limitation of the JMicron device. HDTune's throughput graph should quickly show any performance anomaly. BING has been 100% reliable for us since 2001. Not much has changed in the software except for additional support of USB, etc.

Hdtune ide results:
link

Hdtune sata2 results:
link

Looks like good throughput, altho cpu usage is high (not sure if that's accurate tho, taskmanager didn't seem to show cpu usage that high.)

Aside from throughput I get occassional choking on initial hdd writes, eg. where the mouse briefly freezes. I've since installed a sata2 drive to boot from and those brief stalls have gone away.

Speaking of TrueImage, and my defense of it, it doesn't recognize SATA during cd bootup on this board. :frown:

 

[Password]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Get an IDE to SATA adapter for each optical drive. They max out at DMA mode 2 so you'll never see any bottleneck.

KISS. Attach the master HDD to the onboard IDE connector.

Connect 1st HDD as Master. Connect 1st Optical drive as slave. Set 1st Optical drive as 1st boot in BIOS. Format the 1st HDD and install windows. Remove 1st optical drive and replace with 2nd HDD. Put both optical drives on IDE to SATA adapters. I do not see any advantage with burning data on the fly. For the highest quality burns, always save data to HDD, then burn data from HDD to media.

Just what I wanted to know. Thank you....

 

[bretto]

Does anyone know if the IP35-E supports DDR2 1066 or only 800?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

No issue with Crucial DDR2 1066. Should also work with many other overclocking RAMs. You may need to use 1.8V RAM to manually set Vdimm in BIOS to 2.1 since some overclocking RAMs will not boot at 1.8 default voltage.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Password

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Get an IDE to SATA adapter for each optical drive. They max out at DMA mode 2 so you'll never see any bottleneck.

KISS. Attach the master HDD to the onboard IDE connector.

Connect 1st HDD as Master. Connect 1st Optical drive as slave. Set 1st Optical drive as 1st boot in BIOS. Format the 1st HDD and install windows. Remove 1st optical drive and replace with 2nd HDD. Put both optical drives on IDE to SATA adapters. I do not see any advantage with burning data on the fly. For the highest quality burns, always save data to HDD, then burn data from HDD to media.

Just what I wanted to know. Thank you....

No problemo. Good luck with the build. Note that the MB will double post when cold. 100% normal.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: jjsole

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
I've had friends with bad TI image files using the incremental approach. TI works well for some but not for others. I suspect your problem is with the TI software, and not the limitation of the JMicron device. HDTune's throughput graph should quickly show any performance anomaly. BING has been 100% reliable for us since 2001. Not much has changed in the software except for additional support of USB, etc.

Hdtune ide results:
link

Hdtune sata2 results:
link

Looks like good throughput, altho cpu usage is high (not sure if that's accurate tho, taskmanager didn't seem to show cpu usage that high.)

Aside from throughput I get occassional choking on initial hdd writes, eg. where the mouse briefly freezes. I've since installed a sata2 drive to boot from and those brief stalls have gone away.

Speaking of TrueImage, and my defense of it, it doesn't recognize SATA during cd bootup on this board. :frown:

Those numbers may be a little low. My 250 Seagate 7200.8 starts at 66MB/s. Your 500 Seagate 7200.10 should run a little faster. Something is capping the speed of that HDD during the first 80% of the total capacity (horizontal line).

I've used BING since 2001. Not a single failure. I continue to evaluate new imaging proggies, but BING is still the undisputed KING in my book. I'll gladly trade convenience for an ultra reliable application. This program is fully functional for the first 30 day. No need to install anything.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: bretto
Does anyone know if the IP35-E supports DDR2 1066 or only 800?

officially only upto DDR2 800 because that's the highest DDR2 that Intel support (because it's the highest JEDEC spec. for DDR2 too) on P35.
Of course what is officially supported & what actually runs are 2 different things

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Heidfirst

Originally posted by: bretto
Does anyone know if the IP35-E supports DDR2 1066 or only 800?

officially only upto DDR2 800 because that's the highest DDR2 that Intel support (because it's the highest JEDEC spec. for DDR2 too) on P35.
Of course what is officially supported & what actually runs are 2 different things

I have a pair of single-side 512 x 2 DDR2 800 Kingston ValueRAM capable of 602MHz at 2.1V/5-5-5-18-2T on this board. These are my new reference RAMs.

 

[Miramonti]

n/m

 

[Kupe]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: jjsole

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
I've had friends with bad TI image files using the incremental approach. TI works well for some but not for others. I suspect your problem is with the TI software, and not the limitation of the JMicron device. HDTune's throughput graph should quickly show any performance anomaly. BING has been 100% reliable for us since 2001. Not much has changed in the software except for additional support of USB, etc.

Hdtune ide results:
link

Hdtune sata2 results:
link

Looks like good throughput, altho cpu usage is high (not sure if that's accurate tho, taskmanager didn't seem to show cpu usage that high.)

Aside from throughput I get occassional choking on initial hdd writes, eg. where the mouse briefly freezes. I've since installed a sata2 drive to boot from and those brief stalls have gone away.

Speaking of TrueImage, and my defense of it, it doesn't recognize SATA during cd bootup on this board. :frown:

Those numbers may be a little low. My 250 Seagate 7200.8 starts at 66MB/s. Your 500 Seagate 7200.10 should run a little faster. Something is capping the speed of that HDD during the first 80% of the total capacity (horizontal line).

I've used BING since 2001. Not a single failure. I continue to evaluate new imaging proggies, but BING is still the undisputed KING in my book. I'll gladly trade convenience for an ultra reliable application. This program is fully functional for the first 30 day. No need to install anything.

The numbers are indeed low. It's strange that your speed seems capped at 55MB/sec until 80%. If you look at my HDTune results with a 320GB 7200.10, it also starts dropping below 55MB at 80%, but it's a constant downward slope until that point.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com...93299_53186e4e0a_o.jpg

Make sure you take the jumper off that limits you to SATA I speeds. Of course, that should really only limit your burst rate, not your transfer rates since they don't get anywhere near 150 MB/sec anyway. Strange.

 

[Gepidae]

Realized I cant get the e6750 afterall since my 14 day return has expired =(. If I can get the freaking cooler to go onto the mobo w/o snapping it in half Ill try out your idea serpent

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Kupe

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: jjsole

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
I've had friends with bad TI image files using the incremental approach. TI works well for some but not for others. I suspect your problem is with the TI software, and not the limitation of the JMicron device. HDTune's throughput graph should quickly show any performance anomaly. BING has been 100% reliable for us since 2001. Not much has changed in the software except for additional support of USB, etc.

Hdtune ide results:
link

Hdtune sata2 results:
link

Looks like good throughput, altho cpu usage is high (not sure if that's accurate tho, taskmanager didn't seem to show cpu usage that high.)

Aside from throughput I get occassional choking on initial hdd writes, eg. where the mouse briefly freezes. I've since installed a sata2 drive to boot from and those brief stalls have gone away.

Speaking of TrueImage, and my defense of it, it doesn't recognize SATA during cd bootup on this board. :frown:

Those numbers may be a little low. My 250 Seagate 7200.8 starts at 66MB/s. Your 500 Seagate 7200.10 should run a little faster. Something is capping the speed of that HDD during the first 80% of the total capacity (horizontal line).

I've used BING since 2001. Not a single failure. I continue to evaluate new imaging proggies, but BING is still the undisputed KING in my book. I'll gladly trade convenience for an ultra reliable application. This program is fully functional for the first 30 day. No need to install anything.

The numbers are indeed low. It's strange that your speed seems capped at 55MB/sec until 80%. If you look at my HDTune results with a 320GB 7200.10, it also starts dropping below 55MB at 80%, but it's a constant downward slope until that point.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com...93299_53186e4e0a_o.jpg

Make sure you take the jumper off that limits you to SATA I speeds. Of course, that should really only limit your burst rate, not your transfer rates since they don't get anywhere near 150 MB/sec anyway. Strange.

Probably a bad cable or software glitch. Try a few other SATA ports or remove the driver from device manager.

 

[Gepidae]

O and if anyone is interested in buying my chip and dont care for max oc please let me know =)

 

[JCGhz]

Great to see this much interest in Abit .. I was a big fan during the BX board days and just before.

Im going with the pro version of this board.. Bye bye buggy 680SLI

 

[SerpentRoyal]

You'll never regret that decision. Be aware that the maximum throughput of the Pro's 1394 is only 14.4MB/s. USB 2.0 is fine at 30.0MB/s.

It takes a few quarters for new leaderships to fix this boat. Competition is good for the consumers.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

IP35-E is back @ MWAVE. $72 AR. I'm waiting for $60 before engaging my 2nd board. PM me if you want to unload your used IP35-E for $65.

 

[SilentAssassin]

Is there a way to get the light on my optical mouse to turn off when I shut down the computer? It's connected through the ps/2 port and it stays on all the time. I didn't find anything in the bios to fix it so far. I'm gonna try taking off the adapter and plugging the mouse in through the usb port instead and see if that makes a difference.

 

[kea]

Great thread, thanks SerpentRoyal.
I've got a few questions about fan control. You said the board can only control the cpu and system fans, and the other 2 fans can't be controlled. Does it mean they can't be controlled by the hardware, but it can be done by software (speedfan?), or that they can't be controlled at all and will be running at 100% no matter what?
Also, it seems the nb is passively cooled. So, I guess the system fan header can be used for any user mounted case fan. Right?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

No issue with my Logi optical USB mouse (built in 2000). Could be a setting in BIOS (power options) to turn-off the mouse.

 

[WolfLover]

Originally posted by: kea
I've got a few questions about fan control. You said the board can only control the cpu and system fans, and the other 2 fans can't be controlled. Does it mean they can't be controlled by the hardware, but it can be done by software (speedfan?), or that they can't be controlled at all and will be running at 100% no matter what?

The 2 aux fans cannot be controlled at all and will run at 100%.

Also, it seems the nb is passively cooled. So, I guess the system fan header can be used for any user mounted case fan. Right?

Yes, the system fan header can be used to power one or more case fans. In my setup I run 3 case fans from the system header with custom wiring.

 

[WolfLover]

I would like to share a chart that I made for my IP35 / 6420 system showing the minimum VCore voltages needed for stability (at least 15 minutes each of small FFTs and large FFTs using ORTHOS in XP). All other voltages except VDimm were at their lowest settings. The G.Skill memory timings were set to 4-4-4-10. The ambient temperature was 20C +/-0.3C and C1E and EIST were disabled in BIOS during the tests. Perhaps this chart will be helpful to someone OCing a similar system.

| --- Speed --- | ------------ VCore ---------- | - VDimm - | - TCore - |
FSB --- CPU --- --- BIOS --- Idle --- Load --- -------------- --- Load
425 --- 3400 --- --- 1.39 --- 1.36 --- 1.32 --- ---- 2.10 ---- --- 50C
430 --- 3440 --- --- 1.41 --- 1.38 --- 1.34 --- ---- 2.10 ---- --- 51C
435 --- 3480 --- --- 1.43 --- 1.40 --- 1.36 --- ---- 2.10 ---- --- 53C
440 --- 3520 --- --- 1.45 --- 1.42 --- 1.38 --- ---- 2.10 ---- --- 55C
445 --- 3560 --- --- 1.47 --- 1.44 --- 1.40 --- ---- 2.10 ---- --- 57C
450 --- 3600 --- --- 1.51 --- 1.48 --- 1.44 --- ---- 2.20 ---- --- 59C

From this you can see that each 5MHz increment in FSB required a 0.02V bump in CPU voltage, VDroop is consistently 0.04V, and the load temp increased by ~2C for each step. VDimm could have been lower at the start but needed to be set at 2.20V to hit 450 FSB. I did not try any higher FSB speeds as maximum OC is not my goal. I have settled on 440 FSB for daily use and with Enhanced Intel Speedstep (EIST) enabled in BIOS and Mimimal Power Management set in XP - VCore drops to 1.26V during idle and light CPU usage. As I type this ambient is 22C and core temps are ~30C. FYI, I am using a trial version of Sensors View to monitor temps, fan speeds, and voltages - its readings are consistent with abit EQ, Core Temp, and Speedfan.

 

[bryanW1995]

THAT is why I am disappointed in my e6750. I am at 1.56 in bios and 1.52 after vdroop and I am not stable for more than 2.5 hrs running small ffts. I'm seriously thinking that I'll just steal my cousin's e6600 and give him my e6750.

 

[Kupe]

I had to be at 1.55 in BIOS and around 1.51 after vdroop on my e6600 to be stable at 3.6ghz and 400Mhz FSB. The AC freezer 7 pro kept me below 56C at all times too. I'm just sticking with 3Ghz because I'm sort of paranoid about running at voltages that high. I don't even seem to see any improvements at 3.6 Ghz in current games at the resolutions I run at right now anyway.