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

[Ballatician]

i used to idle at ~23C CPU, 28C System and 30C PWM but lately I've been idling around 28C CPU, 35C System, and 38C PWM. This is with an e6750, everything stock.

Should I be worried about this sudden change? I even dusted out the inside and cleaned my case to make sure its not dust and still the idle temp is higher than usual. I may even reseat the cpu.... I'm still using bios v11 but if 15 plays nice then I might consider using that.

 

[Spike]

Anyone have any advice on upping the voltage? My e8400 @ 3.7 (9x411) is not orthos stable but is game stable (at least it has not crashed yet). I would like to get it stable but for some reason I cannot get the cpu voltage to increase. I have gone up 5 intervals on cpu volts but AbitEQ and the BIOS always say the volts are the same 1.12 stock.

Any ideas on how to increase my voltage? Or is the bios/abit eq reading the voltages wrong? CPU-Z had issues detecting the cpu speed (told me it was running at 2.6) so I uninstalled it a while back, before I even attempted to overclock.

Thanks!

 

[watek]

Originally posted by: Ballatician
i used to idle at ~23C CPU, 28C System and 30C PWM but lately I've been idling around 28C CPU, 35C System, and 38C PWM. This is with an e6750, everything stock.

Should I be worried about this sudden change? I even dusted out the inside and cleaned my case to make sure its not dust and still the idle temp is higher than usual. I may even reseat the cpu.... I'm still using bios v11 but if 15 plays nice then I might consider using that.

No that's fine. If you're using the Abit fan control, it defaults to use 80% on the fan when it reaches 50C, throttles to 50% on idle.

 

[watek]

Originally posted by: Spike
Anyone have any advice on upping the voltage? My e8400 @ 3.7 (9x411) is not orthos stable but is game stable (at least it has not crashed yet). I would like to get it stable but for some reason I cannot get the cpu voltage to increase. I have gone up 5 intervals on cpu volts but AbitEQ and the BIOS always say the volts are the same 1.12 stock.

Any ideas on how to increase my voltage? Or is the bios/abit eq reading the voltages wrong? CPU-Z had issues detecting the cpu speed (told me it was running at 2.6) so I uninstalled it a while back, before I even attempted to overclock.

Thanks!

All C1E and speedstep is off?

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: rvr2k3
Can anyone help me put. I lost my IP35-E installation disc and would like an iso copy.

When I used the drivers from the abit website for the intel chipset, my USB hub in the back is not being recognized. Please PM if you can help me out. Thanks.

Did you get that took care of?
If not, PM me.

Originally posted by: hokiealumnus

Unfortunately, Serpent has been banned from AT, FYI.

What happened & when?

Originally posted by: hokiealumnus

If you can tolerate the double-booting, v.12final. If not, IMO, v.13beta01. I'm not a fan of v.14 & v.15 due to a couple bugs, though if you're running an E8400 I think you have to use v.14. Not positive about that though.

What kind of bugs?
I'm running bios v.doubleboot (hehehe). What's the advantages to the other bios' besides fixing the double boot issue (assuming one's running an e2xxx or an e6xxx)?
Also, if one doesn't have a floppy, how does one flash the bios?

 

[hokiealumnus]

Originally posted by: Tullphan

Originally posted by: hokiealumnus

Unfortunately, Serpent has been banned from AT, FYI.

What happened & when?

Well, if you asked him, he would say he made too many AT advertisers angry from trashing their products (OCZ) and/or refuting their claims (Corsair I believe). If you ask AT it's because he was banned in the past for reasons similar under the name Furballi. That's the gist. Regardless, it's AT's choice who is allowed on their forums so for me, that book is closed regardless. They don't want you, they own the forums so you disappear. Can't argue with that!

EDIT - Forgot when...I think some time in early January

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: Tullphan

...

Also, if one doesn't have a floppy, how does one flash the bios?

I flashed mine using a creative 128mb muvo (any usb flash drive would work). You just have to re-format it using some freeware and set it as the first hdd in the boot order. Google for the proper method...

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: watek

Originally posted by: Spike
Anyone have any advice on upping the voltage? My e8400 @ 3.7 (9x411) is not orthos stable but is game stable (at least it has not crashed yet). I would like to get it stable but for some reason I cannot get the cpu voltage to increase. I have gone up 5 intervals on cpu volts but AbitEQ and the BIOS always say the volts are the same 1.12 stock.

Any ideas on how to increase my voltage? Or is the bios/abit eq reading the voltages wrong? CPU-Z had issues detecting the cpu speed (told me it was running at 2.6) so I uninstalled it a while back, before I even attempted to overclock.

Thanks!

All C1E and speedstep is off?

Um... what are those? And since I have no idea what they are I assume thats my problem.

 

[brencat]

Originally posted by: Spike

Originally posted by: watek
All C1E and speedstep is off?

Um... what are those? And since I have no idea what they are I assume thats my problem.

Within bios, they can be found under:
Advanced Bios Features --> CPU Feature --> Press Enter

They are power saving features. C1E lowers your multiplier from its base of 9x when the chip is not under load , while EIST lowers FSB & vcore. Both should be disabled during OC testing.

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: brencat

Originally posted by: Spike

Originally posted by: watek
All C1E and speedstep is off?

Um... what are those? And since I have no idea what they are I assume thats my problem.

Within bios, they can be found under:
Advanced Bios Features --> CPU Feature --> Press Enter

They are power saving features. C1E lowers your multiplier from its base of 9x when the chip is not under load , while EIST lowers FSB & vcore. Both should be disabled during OC testing.

Well, I disabled both and tried to up my voltage and again, no dice only this time I could not boot into windows at all, it went right to a blue screen! It continued to do this until I re-enabled C1E and EIST... any ideas why those caused the system to suddenly get so unstable?

And I'm still dumbfounded as to why upping my cpu core voltage won't increase the actual volts. Is there another voltage setting I need to do?

 

[watek]

Hmm, that's strange. I say hold on tight until Abit releases another bios update, which should be very soon. Should of some updates for the newer cpu's.

 

[brencat]

Originally posted by: Spike
Well, I disabled both and tried to up my voltage and again, no dice only this time I could not boot into windows at all, it went right to a blue screen! It continued to do this until I re-enabled C1E and EIST... any ideas why those caused the system to suddenly get so unstable?

And I'm still dumbfounded as to why upping my cpu core voltage won't increase the actual volts. Is there another voltage setting I need to do?

Did you ever use anything other than the default 9x multiplier while you had C1E and EIST enabled?

You have all 4 RAM slots filled with 2gb sticks -- you may need to bump DDR voltage and vMCH a tad. Try to boot with only 1 stick of RAM & C1E/EIST disabled. Manually set FSB: DRAM ratio to 1:1, timings to 5-5-5-15, and command rate to 2T rather than leaving them on Auto.

Lastly, given your CPU, I recommend either Bios 14, 14 Beta 05, or 15.

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: brencat

Originally posted by: Spike
Well, I disabled both and tried to up my voltage and again, no dice only this time I could not boot into windows at all, it went right to a blue screen! It continued to do this until I re-enabled C1E and EIST... any ideas why those caused the system to suddenly get so unstable?

And I'm still dumbfounded as to why upping my cpu core voltage won't increase the actual volts. Is there another voltage setting I need to do?

Did you ever use anything other than the default 9x multiplier while you had C1E and EIST enabled?

You have all 4 RAM slots filled with 2gb sticks -- you may need to bump DDR voltage and vMCH a tad. Try to boot with only 1 stick of RAM & C1E/EIST disabled. Manually set FSB: DRAM ratio to 1:1, timings to 5-5-5-15, and command rate to 2T rather than leaving them on Auto.

Lastly, given your CPU, I recommend either Bios 14, 14 Beta 05, or 15.

No, I have never used anything other than 9x for the multi

I bumped my vMCH up one notch when I first started to tweak as I heard that was recommended with 4 slots, and I am running the ram at 1.9 even though it's 1.8v ram. Timings right now with 4 sticks are 5-5-5-15 2T all on auto, 9x411.

And I am running bios 15....

I'll try using just one stick later this week when I have time to mess with it again and see if that helps. Basically right now my machine is "normal use" stable but I can't make it more than 5-10 min into orthos before getting an error. I have only had a single in game crash and that was a bug with Crysis.

I'll let you guys know what happens when I make the other changes

 

[hrbngr]

hokiealum...

these are similar modules from newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231122 they are $90 vs $115 per 4gb set, so if i got the cheaper memory, what processor might be a good fit?

also, i read a bit in other motherboard/cpu posts that ppl found the CPUs w/multipliers in the 10-12x range to be easier to get to the 3.4-3.6ghz point. Now, I can do that w/the E6750, but wouldn't i be pushing my FSB that much higher w/the 8x multi?

I guess what I am asking is what is the ideal/recommended FSB speed regardless of the CPU multiplier for this mobo. Next, if I am running a Big Typhoon cooler, what is the good max speed I can expect to reach running a Core2 cpu, then once I know the FSB limitation and the Max speed, shouldn't I determine the CPU w/the highest multiplier at that FSB speed for my CPU choice--then pick memory that can run at that FSB speed?

 

[hokiealumnus]

Originally posted by: hrbngr
hokiealum...

these are similar modules from newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231122 they are $90 vs $115 per 4gb set, so if i got the cheaper memory, what processor might be a good fit?

also, i read a bit in other motherboard/cpu posts that ppl found the CPUs w/multipliers in the 10-12x range to be easier to get to the 3.4-3.6ghz point. Now, I can do that w/the E6750, but wouldn't i be pushing my FSB that much higher w/the 8x multi?

I guess what I am asking is what is the ideal/recommended FSB speed regardless of the CPU multiplier for this mobo. Next, if I am running a Big Typhoon cooler, what is the good max speed I can expect to reach running a Core2 cpu, then once I know the FSB limitation and the Max speed, shouldn't I determine the CPU w/the highest multiplier at that FSB speed for my CPU choice--then pick memory that can run at that FSB speed?

That RAM is fine but you won't be able to OC as far as you could with the DDR2-1000. Basically, you can run up to a 500MHz FSB with a 1:1 ratio and not be OC'ing your memory. That's 4.0GHz with the 8x multi on your E6750. It just gives you more head room.

The RAM you linked to should be fine up to what you can get the E6750 to on air. Just bear in mind anything over an FSB of 400 will be overclocking them. It's not a big deal and they should handle it just fine. However, you could always use the 1:1.2 ratio and push your RAM further, which would necessitate the DDR2-1000 RAM. It's up to you whether you want to spend the cash; since the difference is only $25, I'd go for it personally.

Re: Multipliers - it's not that a 10x or 12x CPU can OC easier; it just puts less of a strain on your MB. Consider the E6850 vs. the E6750. Say you were trying to get 4GHz on both of them (not really feasible on air). To obtain that with the 8x multi of the E6750 you'd need an FSB of 500. The E6850 (with a 9x multi) would only need an FSB of 445.

It scales down as well. You're looking for 3.6 out of your chip. That'll take an FSB of 450 w/ the E6750, but only 400 with the E6850. The price difference between those two chips is atrocious and I'm not recommending you get an E6850. Just pointing out why people say it's beneficial to have higher multipliers.

How far you can get with a Big Typhoon depends on how much airflow you have to it (I cut a giant hole in the side of my case to direct room-temp air straight to it) and whether or not you upgrade the fan. The stock fan is whisper quiet but isn't very effective. I saw at least a 5c drop from just putting a strong fan on there. It's no longer quiet though! You may want to lap the BT. Mine was far from perfect and it can't hurt.

Whew...now that was a mouth full. Please, ask clarifying questions; I'm sure I said lots of stuff that could be confusing. Kind-of in a hurry but wanted to reply. Let me know if you need something cleared up.

 

[Tullphan]

Crap, my SATA1 connector on the mb came off.
I had someone w/better eyes than mine try to line it up w/those tiny pins & put it back on.
I guess i'll see if it works here in a day or so. If not, I hope I can get a replacement.

 

[MadScientist]

Originally posted by: Tullphan
Crap, my SATA1 connector on the mb came off.
I had someone w/better eyes than mine try to line it up w/those tiny pins & put it back on.
I guess i'll see if it works here in a day or so. If not, I hope I can get a replacement.

This is one of the big cons of this board. Poor QC on the soldering of the SATA connectors. One of mine is loose, but still working.

 

[MadScientist]

On the subject of flashing your bios, why do it it if don't have to. If your computer is running fine there is no need to flash your bios to a newer version unless you, i.e., upgrade to a new CPU and it needs the support of a newer bios. Even if you flash in DOS there's still a chance if you don't do it correctly you will toast your bios chip.

On the double boot issue I agree with Yellowbeard's resonse in the Abit forum to Thirdeye's post:
ok i upgraded to v15 but i seem to still be getting the double boot anybody else have this problem???? please help.

"Double boot is not a "problem" per se, it is a characteristic. It's not just going to go away with a bios update."

Some claim bios 14 or 15 has solved the double boot. Have they? I tried both and it still double boots when you completely power down and then back up. And those of us that overclock know that bios 14 is FUBARed because it sets your CPU back to stock when you power down and back up.

So I'm back to bios 12, which works great for my system, and staying there unless I have a good reason to flash to a newer bios.

Q6600 GO stepping @ 3.4 Ghz
Gigabyte 8800GT
4 x 1 GB Crucial Ballistix PC6400
Vista Ultimate 64
2 x Maxtor 300 GB SATA HDs
Samsung SH-S203B SATA DVD Burner
Corsair 620W PSU
Cooler Master Hyper TX2 HS/fan
Antec 900 case

 

[hokiealumnus]

FWIW, IMO, the SATA ports are more of a problem with this RoHS compliant lead-free solder they have to use. If it was good old fashioned, polluting lead solder, they'd hold better. Of course, you need to choose between environment and SATA ports.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: MadScientistI tried both and it still double boots when you completely power down and then back up.

If by completely powering down you mean incl. removing standby power then it (& afaik all P35 chipset mobos with the possible exception of the IP35 Pro where uGuru handles some things) will double boot on the first boot after restoring power as the chipset sets the strap - it's part of the P35 (& 965 & X38 etc.) makeup & as Yellowbeard said can be considered a characteristic.

 

[MadScientist]

Originally posted by: Heidfirst

Originally posted by: MadScientistI tried both and it still double boots when you completely power down and then back up.

If by completely powering down you mean incl. removing standby power then it (& afaik all P35 chipset mobos with the possible exception of the IP35 Pro where uGuru handles some things) will double boot on the first boot after restoring power as the chipset sets the strap - it's part of the P35 (& 965 & X38 etc.) makeup & as Yellowbeard said can be considered a characteristic.

Yes, removing standby power. Isn't that what "completely" means.

Originally posted by: hokiealumnus
FWIW, IMO, the SATA ports are more of a problem with this RoHS compliant lead-free solder they have to use. If it was good old fashioned, polluting lead solder, they'd hold better. Of course, you need to choose between environment and SATA ports.

This is no excuse for SATA ports falling off. Don't other MB manufacturers have to use the same solder. I've never had problems with loose SATA ports on the Asus, Gigabyte, or Epox MBs I've owned.

 

[hokiealumnus]

I wasn't trying to make an excuse for a port falling off. The ones I've seen before were along the lines of "I pulled <too hard> on my SATA cable trying to disconnect it and the port came off with it." That's user error, not a manufacturing problem. If you pull hard on something with small solder joints, yes, it will come with the cable.

 

[Replay]

$60 after a $30 rebate once again, plus about $6 shipping, at Newegg.

 

[hrbngr]

hokiealumnus,

thanks for the detailed reply. Ok, so I want to shoot for about 3.6ghz on a E6750 (saving about $85 over a E6850), and I would be targeting a FSB of 450mhz to match the 1:1 FSB to Memory ratio, correct? Now, the one factor I need to consider is if the more expensive memory would make this an easier target to reach if I want to run 4x2gb modules to get to 8gb total system memory--or if I want to go for a higher memory ratio of say 1:1.2, does the more expensive memory make sense then?

For the Big Typhoon, are there any panaflo/Scythe/Pabst fans that generate sufficient airflow to reach 3.6+? Honestly, I dont mind paying good money for a better fan as I have dropped $30+ in the past on the Pabst ones.

PS. Oh, one last thing, you mentioned staying away from E8400s in a previous post, is that more to do w/the chip itself, or how it works w/this motherboard? I am curious as I have read about some ppl attaining >4ghz on air w/that chip.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: MadScientist
Yes, removing standby power. Isn't that what "completely" means.

Just confirming, no need to get shirty about it ...
Anyway in that case afaik all P35s (with exception of IP35 Pro as noted) will double boot initially.

This is no excuse for SATA ports falling off. Don't other MB manufacturers have to use the same solder. I've never had problems with loose SATA ports on the Asus, Gigabyte, or Epox MBs I've owned.

But how old were those mobos?
Lead free solder has only relatively recently been required due to European RoHS legislation (China also implemented something similar I believe).