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

[hokiealumnus]

Speedfan 4.33 reports core temperatures 15c low. Download the beta of 4.34 where that issue has been resolved.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: timtodd
Dang, I drink coffee.

Would it help to lap the HS and is it not to difficult?

An interesting link on lapping and modding the BT:
http://www.overclock.net/amd-a...r-thermaltake-big.html

The BT's base is reasonably flat. Lapping may net 2-3C. The easiest mod is to replace the stock fan with a medium speed 120 x 38mm Panaflo. Higher static pressure will allow more air to flow across the fins. The additional air flow will significantly improve cooling at NB and PWM.

 

[daywiss]

is there a good tutorial or explanation on how to use this motherboards fan controls? i am really considering getting it, but im not sure on how exactly u regulate the speeds of the case fans with the board?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Massium
Just wanted to say thanks for all the great information going on in this thread. I actually changed some of my component selection based on the feedback going on here. The build went nearly flawless. I did not update the bios - the dual boot doesn't bother me yet...

According to speedfan 4.33 I am at 20C idle and 26C during gaming. These seem too low but I haven't re-checked them with coretemp yet. Still have some cables to clean up then will try to overclock a bit in the near future...

Only thing not in the picture below is a 80mm fan I added to bring in air under the video card (runs @ 62C during load).

IP35-E build

Parts List:
C2D E6750
IP35-E (of course)
Big Typhoon (w/ AS5)
4GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
Radeon HD2900PRO 512MB
Seagate Barracuda - 500MB - 16MB cache
Old Sony IDE DVD-RW (my only carry over part)
Case - Rosewill R5604 (excellent budget case)
Windows Vista 64bit Home Premium OEM

Thanks for sharing. I see you didn't have any problem with the 620. I've seen quite a few confirmed reports about Antec Trio and Corsair 520/620 not playing nice with some Asus and Abit boards. Either no light/no fan, or light + fan but no POST. Some say that the problem can be fixed when you disconnect the floppy. Well there are people without floppy and still no boot.

My current advice is to stay away from ANTEC TRIO and CORSAIR 520/620 if you plan to use IP35-E/IP35/IP35 Pro. There is no need to play Russian Roulette when there are many quality PSUs out there for $50 or less. Antec Earthwatts 430 is currently $30 AR at NewEgg. Earthwatts 500 was $50 out-the-door at Frys' B&M.

http://forum.abit-usa.com/show...6ec8e25c30bda&t=129727

 

[hokiealumnus]

Originally posted by: daywiss
is there a good tutorial or explanation on how to use this motherboards fan controls? i am really considering getting it, but im not sure on how exactly u regulate the speeds of the case fans with the board?

You can control them via setting BIOS controls and let it do so automatically or you can disable BIOS control and use Speedfan. The IP35-E only has control for two of the four fan headers, the CPU fan & SYS fan. The other two headers are AUX headers and are read-only (you can see RPM in Speedfan, you just can't do anything about it).

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: daywiss
is there a good tutorial or explanation on how to use this motherboards fan controls? i am really considering getting it, but im not sure on how exactly u regulate the speeds of the case fans with the board?

Repost from another user:

Originally Posted by aiya
first off, if your using a fan with a 4pin header then leave the setting "CPU FAN Type" at default (4pin) otherwise change it to 3pin.

FanEQ Target Temp is just that, what temp do you want the fan to start kicking in, ie. i set mine to 45C.

FanEQ Temp. Tolerance is range around the Target Temp, ie. mine is set to 5C. so within 5C of 45C, the fan will start to spin faster and once temp reaches 45C, fan will be spinning its max depend on the Start Control setting.

FanEQ Start Control is what % of the fan you want it to spin at when it reaches the Target Temp, ie. mine is set to 100%

Note that only the CPU and SYSTEM fan headers have automatic fan control. The other two fan headers run at full speed (+12VDC) all the time. You can also wire two fans in parallel and connect them to a single CPU or SYSTEM fan header. IP35-E has a very robust output at the fan header. Therefore, the board can easily supply 1A of output current to drive two fans.

Finally, when you set the fan speed control in BIOS to 3-pin mode, the motherboard will also control the speed of a 2-wire fan if connected to the CPU or SYSTEM fan header. The board does not need an rpm signal 3rd wire to adjust the output voltage. This is a very nice feature.

FanEQ Stop Control is what % of the fan you want it to spin when its out of the Tolerance range, ie. min is set to 60%. so when you setting idle, your fans are spinning slower = less noise.

 

[Massium]

Originally posted by: hokiealumnus
Speedfan 4.33 reports core temperatures 15c low. Download the beta of 4.34 where that issue has been resolved.

Crap, well I thought that was a quad core only problem... So now my temps seem too high for using a BT??? 35C when just sitting in windows sounds too high to me.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Check with coretemp 0.95.4. Idle temp should be under 45C in 80F room.

 

[hokiealumnus]

It's actually a problem concerning the stepping of the new C2Ds & C2Qs. Only the 85c Tjunction chips (B2 stepping) read correctly in 4.33. All others have the 100c Tjunction and read 15c too low. The author worked on (successfully) getting the new version to identify the stepping and adjust itself accordingly, negating the need for offsetting the temps in the config. And that's more than you ever wanted to know!

EDIT - This post is in reference to the Core0 & Core1 temps, NOT the CPU temp. (Thanks Serpent)

 

[SerpentRoyal]

My E4300 is an L2 stepping with 100C Tjunction. Speedfan 4.33 shows a CPU temp that is in line with coretemp. DO NOT use CORE1 and CORE0. Running WXP Pro SP1.

 

[rbk123]

35C at idle is an excellent temperature; means you have plenty of room to keep OC'ing.

Anyone know if the 13 bios which fixes the double boot is slower than the 11 bios?

 

[rodrigu3]

so what should I do if I want to see my real temperatures?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: rbk123
35C at idle is an excellent temperature; means you have plenty of room to keep OC'ing.

Anyone know if the 13 bios which fixes the double boot is slower than the 11 bios?

13 is a tad slower. Speed drop amounts to a loss of 100-150MHz core speed. No speed drop between 11 and 12.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: rodrigu3
so what should I do if I want to see my real temperatures?

Download CoreTemp 0.95.4. Speedfan 4.33 should also display the CPU, PWM, and SYSTEM temps. You'll want to ignore CORE0 and CORE1 since these may be off by 15C.

 

[RFV]

I'm looking at building a new rig on a budget, I'm thinking Abit IP35-E + Core 2 Duo E4500. For cooling I already have a Tuniq 120, and for memory I bought 2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500's when the price dropped ridiculously low. So if I put all those components together, what kind of overclock can I expect from the E4500.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Speedfan 4.33's Core0 & Core1 temps may be off by 15c. If you have a B2 stepping chip, it will be correct. All other C2D/C2Qs will be 15c too low. Speedfan 4.34 beta fixes this issue. If you prefer 4.33, you can set a +15c offset for your Cores.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Originally posted by: RFV
I'm looking at building a new rig on a budget, I'm thinking Abit IP35-E + Core 2 Duo E4500. For cooling I already have a Tuniq 120, and for memory I bought 2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500's when the price dropped ridiculously low. So if I put all those components together, what kind of overclock can I expect from the E4500.

Depends on how far you want to push your voltage really. Check out the E2xxx and E4xxx overclock thread to get some idea....and to post your results!

If you haven't bought it already, the E2xxx chips seem to be comparable in overclocking capabilities but with a 1M instead of 2M cache for a good bit less money. The jury is out on how much of a difference the extra cache makes. There are people in both camps on that one and both are adamant about their positions, that's for sure. Anyway...just FYI.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

E4400 and E4500 are the same CPU. Go with the lower cost item. As for speed, you can scan the link below...2.8 to 3.6 range with 3.2GHz average. Actually, the average for E21x0 and E4xx0 should be around 3.2GHz,since these are based on the same CPU architechture. The E4xx0 will run hotter due to 2x cache. This may limit your maximum overclock unless you're on water.

Crucial B is generally okay, but be aware that you may have boot issue at 1.8Vdimm default. Try one stick of RAM if you cannot POST. These RAMs are needed only when you want to overclock a low-multi CPU (7x or 8x). With 9x or higher multi CPU, it's best to stick with high quality 1.8V DDR2 667 or 800 RAMs.

Finally, I would avoid all Antec PSUs except for the Earthwatts line, and the Corsair 520/620 if was looking for a PSU to run this board. Antec Earthwatts 380 is only $20 AR and should work well with a moderately-rated GPU and two HDDs. $30 will get you Earthwatts 430. If you plan to upgrade to a quad and a high-end GPU, then I'd go with the Earthwatts 500. 430 is the best deal at this time due to free shipping.

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2099932&enterthread=y

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...ion=earthwatts&x=0&y=0

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: hokiealumnus

Originally posted by: RFV
I'm looking at building a new rig on a budget, I'm thinking Abit IP35-E + Core 2 Duo E4500. For cooling I already have a Tuniq 120, and for memory I bought 2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500's when the price dropped ridiculously low. So if I put all those components together, what kind of overclock can I expect from the E4500.

Depends on how far you want to push your voltage really. Check out the E2xxx and E4xxx overclock thread to get some idea....and to post your results!

If you haven't bought it already, the E2xxx chips seem to be comparable in overclocking capabilities but with a 1M instead of 2M cache for a good bit less money. The jury is out on how much of a difference the extra cache makes. There are people in both camps on that one and both are adamant about their positions, that's for sure. Anyway...just FYI.

The speed penalty of 1M vs 2M cache is 200MHz core speed. There is no free lunch. However, if you can get your E21x0 north of 3.2GHz, then the major gaming bottleneck will be the GPU. Core speed rules with many other tasks.

I couldn't tell any difference between 3.6GHz and 3.0GHz E4300 with my daily applications. My main rig is an ECS KN1 939 with 146 Opteron @ 2.97GHz. Beware of any claim that an E21x0 is vastly inferior to an E6xx0 at the same core speed.

 

[RFV]

yup, I did read that some people were having problems with Abit P35 boards + Corsair PSU combinations over on Hexus forum. (others said they had no problems whatsoever). The Ballistix I got at a knockdown price & can only hope it boots @ 1.8V, last thing I want to do is spend money on a cheap stick of ram just to boot the rig. I also see that Intel have introduced the E4600 Allendale (2.4GHz), for roughly the same money as the E4500 so will probably get one or the other from those two. I know the E2xxx's are renowned overclockers but I think they run hot when pushed and my budget can just about make the price of an E4xxx. Thanks for the Input!

 

[SerpentRoyal]

E21x0 should run cooler cause they have 1/2 cache. Some reports of hot E2160 outside of the US. Could be a bum batch destined for 3rd world countries (bad contact between CPU core and heat spreader). US always get 1st quality.

I personally would not spend more than $100 for E4x00. Intel has raised the average selling price of E4x00 over the last few months.

 

[RFV]

unfortunately In my part of the world (the UK) $100 won't buy an E4xxx

E4300 = £72.00 or $147.00 US

E4500 = £75.00 or $153.00 US

E4600 = £85.00 or $174.00 US

 

[SerpentRoyal]

I understand your concern about currency exchange. US $ is worthless thanks to the Fed Charmain Bernanke. He's trying to bail-out home owners who have no business buying real estate and the stock market full of MOMO stocks like AMZN, GOOG, and APPL. Meanwhile, the US printing press is running 24/7. More rate cut to come next week!

Eat, drink, be merry...for we shall die tomorrow. It's going to get very ugly when this house of cards collapses.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Throw more money into the system! With any luck we can be at $2:$1 US:Canada by the end of the Year! :|

/end rant

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: hokiealumnus
Throw more money into the system! With any luck we can be at $2:$1 US:Canada by the end of the Year! :|

/end rant

US currency is ~30% lower today vs the Euro. Therefore, the DOW may be at an all-time high, but the true value of the index is 30% lower.

They claim that there is little inflation if you don't factor food and transportation. Guess we are the living dead!

Why vote to raise tax when the Fed can keep the printing press running 24/7? You can fool some Americans but not the rest of the free world.