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

[aiya24]

i read on abit forums that they are in the works of a beta bios that address the double-POST issue and should be in the next bios release.

 

[chiew]

thanks for the info guys

also, does abit have a way to flash the bios through windows? unfortunately i dont have a floppy drive...

 

[SerpentRoyal]

You need to invest in a floppy if you're serious about PC computing. You don't see a nerd without a calculator or a ruler, right? All new MB come with a floppy cable.

 

[Blacklash]

A while ago I invested in a cheap stick of ram. Like so:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820161066

That way I can boot and adjust the voltage on motherboards that start @ 1.8v. Some performance ram that needs higher voltage will still boot if you do so with one stick installed.

Usually I'll set 2.0v on the cheap stick, switch to the performance, then run it up where it needs to be.

Remember if you do buy a cheap stick get PC6400 ram because I believe that is the lowest P35 supports.

I am going to be testing Mushkin 996523 Micron D sticks in this mobo because it's what I have had for sometime. I bought them back when I was using much more expensive i975x and P965 motherboards.

 

[Blacklash]

Say SR,

Does this motherboard have problems with Western Digital Raptors? Someone on another forum said it did and that is precisely what I own.

 

[AlucardX]

Originally posted by: Blacklash
Say SR,

Does this motherboard have problems with Western Digital Raptors? Someone on another forum said it did and that is precisely what I own.

I have a Raptor 74gb on the first SATA port on the IP35.

It works perfectly.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Blacklash
A while ago I invested in a cheap stick of ram. Like so:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820161066

That way I can boot and adjust the voltage on motherboards that start @ 1.8v. Some performance ram that needs higher voltage will still boot if you do so with one stick installed.

Usually I'll set 2.0v on the cheap stick, switch to the performance, then run it up where it needs to be.

Remember if you do buy a cheap stick get PC6400 ram because I believe that is the lowest P35 supports.

I am going to be testing Mushkin 996523 Micron D sticks in this mobo because it's what I have had for sometime. I bought them back when I was using much more expensive i975x and P965 motherboards.

This board works well with DDR2 667 from HP. They are around $22 AR. The rebate is 100% reliable with 4-5 weeks turn-around time. Bump Vdimm to 2.0 and you should be cruising at 400MHz. I avoid all 2.0-2.2V sticks. You're still taking a small risk with Crucial Ballistix. High quality 1.8V DDR2 800 should be able to hit 450MHz with 2.1V, period.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Blacklash
Say SR,

Does this motherboard have problems with Western Digital Raptors? Someone on another forum said it did and that is precisely what I own.

Have seen issues with Raptors and P35 boards. I suppose this would also apply to IP35 series. Don't know for sure until you hit that power switch.

I would zero format the drive before use if it contains old data.

 

[Blacklash]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: Blacklash
Say SR,

Does this motherboard have problems with Western Digital Raptors? Someone on another forum said it did and that is precisely what I own.

Have seen issues with Raptors and P35 boards. I suppose this would also apply to IP35 series. Don't know for sure until you hit that power switch.

I would zero format the drive before use if it contains old data.

Interesting. I will know for sure soon and yes I never do a 'dirty install' with a new mobo. HD will get a full format and a clean OS install.

 

[Blacklash]

I am using the Micron D Mushkins (2x1Gb) because it's what I bought awhile back. I've had them up to DDR2 1100 4-4-4-8 on P965. They will also do DDR2 800 3-3-3-4 with the voltage bumped up. If I stick to 5-5-5-15 I can use drastically lower voltage.

If I had it to do over I probably would have saved some money and bought cheaper sticks. Still I can't complain.

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: Blacklash
A while ago I invested in a cheap stick of ram. Like so:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820161066

That way I can boot and adjust the voltage on motherboards that start @ 1.8v. Some performance ram that needs higher voltage will still boot if you do so with one stick installed.

Usually I'll set 2.0v on the cheap stick, switch to the performance, then run it up where it needs to be.

Remember if you do buy a cheap stick get PC6400 ram because I believe that is the lowest P35 supports.

I am going to be testing Mushkin 996523 Micron D sticks in this mobo because it's what I have had for sometime. I bought them back when I was using much more expensive i975x and P965 motherboards.

This board works well with DDR2 667 from HP. They are around $22 AR. The rebate is 100% reliable with 4-5 weeks turn-around time. Bump Vdimm to 2.0 and you should be cruising at 400MHz. I avoid all 2.0-2.2V sticks. You're still taking a small risk with Crucial Ballistix. High quality 1.8V DDR2 800 should be able to hit 450MHz with 2.1V, period.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Excellent oveclock, but you probably had to fork over big bucks for those modules? I normall stick with high quality value stuffs from Kingston or Crucial. 550 to 600MHz with 5-5-4-9-2T and 2.1Vdimm. My slowest stick is stable @ 480MHz with 2.1V and 4-4-4-12-2T. I prefer to keep RAM speed under 490MHz.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...?p=2398886#post2398886

 

[chiew]

is it possible to use a USB-linked floppy drive? i have one of those

 

[bretto]

My board is alive! The problem was my crappy psu. I got a corsair 520 and everything is working great. I'm running my e4400 at 2.8ghz on my first overclock attempt and am in the process of pushing it a little further.

EDIT: Now at 3.2ghz.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: chiew
is it possible to use a USB-linked floppy drive? i have one of those

Not sure. You may need to set it as 1st boot in BIOS. Most IP35-E should come with the latest 11 BIOS.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: bretto
My board is alive! The problem was my crappy psu. I got a corsair 520 and everything is working great. I'm running my e4400 at 2.8ghz on my first overclock attempt and am in the process of pushing it a little further.

EDIT: Now at 3.2ghz.

Good deal. I think some value builders jump in on this $70 board thinking that they can boot with a no-name PSU. Those who bought the IP35 Pro tend to be a little more savvy PC enthusiasts.

There may be compatibility issue which certain Antec PSUs. That said, if you have a quality 350 watter, then you should be able to load windows. Board works fine with Antec SP 350, Antec Earthwatts 430/500, Ultra V 400, Ultra V 500, Ultra X-Finity 500, and Ultra X-Finity 600.

Welcome to the 3.2GHz E4x00 club! A decent E4x00 will be able to hit 3.5GHz with default VTT, VNB, and VSB.

 

[Blacklash]

It arrived and I just got it up and running. I am not prime stable. Still fiddling with voltages and tweaking. I did run the CPU test in 3dmark06 though:

http://m1.freeshare.us/171fs932145.jpg

I'll run the complete test and others later.

This board has zero issues with WD Raptors of the 74GB variety. I've got two connected.

I am probably going to need to redo my paste and HSF. There is too much variation between my core temps.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Nice to know that the Raptors are happy with IP35-E. I'm very much interested in the PWM temp under load.

I like to use a X pattern when I secure the CPU heat sink. A little bit at a time to achieve even contact. A deviation of 2C is normal.

Stick with 9x multi. You shouldn't need to modify VTT, VNB, and VSB unless your FSB is north of 400MHz. Keep memory divider at 1:1 to take the RAM out of the overclocking equation.

 

[Blacklash]

What's odd is core temp is showing core 0 and 3 4-5C higher than 1 and 2. Guess I will need to redo it.

Anyway here's my first official run @ 06 I tried before I left the house. It's untweaked with a single GTX @ 659|2040 and the Q6600 doing 3.7:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=2884106

9x multi works great. I may move to water cooling. 3.7 is a lot on air with 1.52v.

How much thermal paste did you use SR? I have been back and forth between very little to a medium amount.

I'd be glad to give you the PWM temps under load if you would suggest a program to measure them. The E doesn't have Uguru.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Someone gave me a big tub of AS5 so that's what I'll be using for the next few years. Easiest way is to put a glob of AS5 about the size of 1/2 a Q-tip (end that goes into your ears) at the middle of the CPU. Center the CPU cooler directly on top of the AS5. Apply VERY FIRM DOWNWARD pressure on the CPU base to squeeze out the AS5 compound. It's a good idea if you put the MB on a flat surface for support. Secure the CPU cooler by tightening the four nuts in an X pattern.

You can install AbitEQ directly from the CD if you want to monitor the PWM. Note that AbitEQ may interfere with the fan speed control. Therefore, your should run Orthos for 2 minutes to get the fan up to speed, then launch AbitEQ. Don't know if a newer version is available at Abit Global website.

There's also a utility on this CD to flash BIOS in windows. I prefer the floppy disc method.

Only bump VTT, VNB, and VSB up ONE notch if you encounter instability. All my settings were at default until I hit 450MHz FSB.

4-5C would be within the +/- 2C fluctuation. The key is your peak core temp under load. Limit this value to 75C max when you run Orthos Large mode. 1/2 hour of Orthos is good enough for me. No need for you to burn up the chip. You can always lower the FSB by 2 or 3MHz down the road if you encounter instability. Be sure to run Memtest86 test #5 for one hour or 45 loops to test your memory.

 

[Blacklash]

Luckily my board came with BIOS 11 on it. Thanks for all the tips.

About the "double" start others have mentioned. This was happening before I installed my OS. After that I could restart with no issues. Now I get a "double start" from a cold boot or if I make drastic changes in my BIOS. With restarts it does not occur except as I qualified.

One thing I do love about this board is it properly initializes my GTX when I restart, or that is I don't have to turn my monitor on and off to get a signal. My BX2 did not do this nor did many of the other 200+ usd mobos I've tried.

I also love the voltage options. They are off the charts. You can go way higher than I would dare with things like CPU, Ram and NB. In addition it has a lot of low level memory settings available straight from the BIOS.

My early opinion is it is fast and stable.

Btw just a general note, a Thermalright Ultra Extreme clears the high NB heatsink just fine. I have one of those with a pair of Sharkoon "golfball" fans in push pull on it now.

I did check the BIOS before I read your post and it said my PWM was @ 47C. Of course that was idle. I'll check load later tonight or tomorrow and report back.

One thing that is new to me is the GTL setting. How critical is this to an OC? I believe I can vary it between 61-67.

I don't have fan monitoring on because I control all my fans from a Sunbeam rheobus. I can tell by their sound approximately where they are in speed. My GTX has a Thermalright HR-01 Plus on it and I also control its Panaflo fan in the manner I've specified.

Oh yes! I did have one scare. When I failed at an OC the motherboard kept attempting to restart. I got tired of the loop and turned off the PSU for ten secs. In the past that has usually reset a failed attempt to my last good settings with other motherboards.

Well the E acted like it was dead until I turned it off and removed a stick of ram. I've also found moving a single stick of ram around on the board to another slot will bring it back to life from "playing dead". So if you get the mobo and you kill the power then turn it back on and nothing happens, or it seems dead; remove your ram down to one stick. If it happens with one stick while you are experimenting with your OC move that one stick to another slot.

That and the double start are the only odd behaviors I have encountered with the board.

I got the E because it was so cheap and I wanted to toy with a P35 until I switch to X38 and Penryn down the line. So far, I like it a lot. If Penryn and X38 don't beat what I have now well, I may just keep my setup as is.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

I keep GTL at 65%. This is not a very critical parameter. 47C PWM in BIOS is about right for a Quad. I'm seeing 41C with my E4300 @ 3.46GHz. You'll probably see 60C or so PWM under Orthos. This would be consistent with my thermal calculation.

Another tip for rebooting to BIOS if you went too far. Use the reset button to restart the board. After about 5 reset cycles, you'll be able to hit DELETE key on MB to access the BIOS. The FSB will drop down to default value.

 

[Blacklash]

heh, weeeeee!

http://m1.freeshare.us/172fs329132.jpg

I doubt it will prove stable and it was sweet to boot it. As far as overclocking Quad goes this little 70usd mobo owns my BX2. If I want to hold the above I'll need to move to water cooling.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

All stock voltages except for Vcore? Solid engineering principles beat bells and whistles, again.

 

[bretto]

Apparently my PSU wasn't my problem. My board went back to not booting. It was running fine for 2 days with xp installed then all the sudden went back to what it had been doing and won't boot at all. What could be messed up that it only sometimes boots? I'm tired of messing with all these issues so I think I will just RMA it and hope the next board won't have these problems.

 

[Jagercola]

Ok guys, I'm overclocking a Q6600 B3 with a TT120-Ultra and IP35-E motherboard. Now I've been overclocking since the days of Athlon XP's and never seen this issue before. When ever I manually change the CPU Vcore in the bios to say 1.35, it remains at 1.22-1.24 in the bios and 1.26 in the latest beta CPU-Z. Same thing when I change the Vcore to 1.45 in the bios. Now, all the other voltages I can control on the IP35-E change in the monitoring whenever I change their settings. It's just the Vcore holding me back since it doesn't seem to be changing. I figured out the hard way my Q6600 can do 3.0ghz on stock volts even though I thought I was giving it more. I want to hit 3.2ghz, but need to be able to change the vcore. Should I reflash the bios? I'm running 1.1, but maybe my board has a bum copy. Other stuff in my system is 4gb of HP DDR2 and a Antec 850W PS.

Thanks!

Fix: Took battery out and loaded the optimal defaults, then it worked. Guess it is good practice to do this on new boards.