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

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Massium
I'm going to flash to the v14 bios this weekend. Do I need to reset everything to default before doing this? All I have changed is RAM voltage/timing and some fan pin / fan speed settings.

I don't remember seeing this information anywhere in this thread... Thanks.

Reset BIOS and load Optimized Default. Reboot to BIOS a 2nd time and set memory voltage and timing to specs. Drop memory divider to 1:1. Save BIOS. Shut down AV, FW, and all non-essential applications running in the background. Restart PC. Confirm that these applications are OFF. Launch the BIOS update software in windows. Copy BIOS to HDD. Update BIOS. Be sure to change BIOS name to *.BIN if needed.

 

[rbk123]

How fast is the 14 BIOS compared to 11 and 12? Is it slower like 13 is?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

14 is slower than 12 by 0.3% with 1M and 32M SP. Kingston N5 1.8V DDR2 800 ValueRAM is at 485MHz speed with 5-4-4-11-2T timing (2.0Vdimm). Core speed is 3.49GHz.

 

[DusterAZ]

I am very happy with this G.Skill memory on this board:

http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16820231098

I have not had any problems at all. Currently running the memory at 400Mhz, 1.8v, 4-4-4-12. Stock is 5-5-5-15.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Quality DDR2 800 RAMs should be able to hit 400MHz/4-4-4-12-2T with 1.8Vdimm. Sub-standard RAMs are re-labeled as 2.0-2.2V DDR2 800 modules. These may not POST with JEDEC 1.8V default.

 

[hrbngr]

Ok,
the only CPUs that I have found under $100 are the E2140 and E2160, are you talking about one that is on sale or rebate? Of those two options, the E2160 appears to have the better multiplier to get over 3Ghz, so that is the one I am leaning towards at the moment.

Oh, one more thing, am I looking to buy a regular Thermaltake Big Typhoon cooler, or the Big Typhoon VX ?

 

[DusterAZ]

The E2180 is also under $100, currently $89.99 on newegg. Only $7 more than the E2160.

 

[hrbngr]

oh,

I just found that, was there a reason u chose the 2180 over the 2160/2140? Is the multiplier a good match for the DDR2 memory this mobo uses?

 

[DusterAZ]

Yeah, just the higher multiplier, 10x, so you can easily start at 300 FSB and work your way up. You can use DDR2 667 or 800, the memory speed doesn't make a significant performance difference.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: hrbngr
Ok,
the only CPUs that I have found under $100 are the E2140 and E2160, are you talking about one that is on sale or rebate? Of those two options, the E2160 appears to have the better multiplier to get over 3Ghz, so that is the one I am leaning towards at the moment.

Oh, one more thing, am I looking to buy a regular Thermaltake Big Typhoon cooler, or the Big Typhoon VX ?

Regular BT will be fine. E2140 is only $60. You should be able to hit 3.2GHz with 400MHz RAM if you have an okay CPU and MB.

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...t_key=y&keyword1=e2140

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Check out this strange review...http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3157&p=4

Quote from article:
We had a hard choice to make in this category with the abit IP35-E and Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L offering very stiff competition; in fact all three of these boards are worthy of Editors' Choice awards. We are going to recommend the MSI board based upon it having a better feature set that includes the ICH9R Southbridge and the Marvell 88SE6111 chipset for a total of five internal SATA ports and two eSATA ports. Armed with the latest BIOS, the overclocking capabilities of this board are excellent, and you get CrossFire capability.


Here's my take:

P35 Neo2-FR is $100 after rebate. Abit has an equivalent in the form of IP35 for $95 after rebate. IP35 is identical to IP35-E, plus six SATA ports, 1394a, heat pipe cooling, and ICH9R for on-board RAID. LAN port sits on PCI-E. IP35 and IP35-E share the basic power module section found in the IP35 Pro. Their on-board CPU and fan headers can also control the speed of a 2-wire fan. The stock 11 BIOS is stable and can easily hit 490MHz FSB with a capable CPU.

I'll make it easy for the editor to pick the winner. Let's compare the P35 Neo2-FR against the two Abit boards. Abit IP35-E has been selling for $65 to $70 after rebate since September 2007. It's 30% cheaper than the MSI because it doesn't come with RAID and eSATA. Board has four SATA ports instead of five on the MSI. Abit IP35 adds RAID, 1394, and six SATA ports. IP35 lacks eSATA, but it's $5 cheaper than the P35 Neo2-FR.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/vie...a=BA23928&RSKU=BA23928

 

[SerpentRoyal]

$60 AR @ NewEgg as of 11:30 am EST. $6.61 ship.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...16813127031&Tpk=ip35-e

 

[GundamF91]

If there's free shipping that takes the cake!

Good deal on a quality board. Now that I have a Foxconn P35A for $50, I'm still seriously thinking about this deal.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: GundamF91
If there's free shipping that takes the cake!

Good deal on a quality board. Now that I have a Foxconn P35A for $50, I'm still seriously thinking about this deal.

Could happen with the Egg. Course I would think that this deal may go OOS before you see FREE ship. Tax only with a few states.

 

[TungFree]

Update:

I just received the Kingston rams, they check out 100% good in dual channel.

however after again removing the CMoss cap on pins 2 and 3 and putting it on pin 1&2 or whatever pin numbers they were on I did the other 2 and after 30 minutes returned them to the first two pins. It still does not recognize, either the IDE CD transport nor the formated ( but not zero filled) hard drive nor the Raptor. Only the Sata DVD shows up. So to be sure I will wait for the hard drive, I bought at Zipzoomfly, but it is a Sata 500 gig one. Hopefully it will show up. the Sata is showing up in Bios, but the IDE are not showing up in bios.

Question, why did you warn me tot to flash the bios #14 when one of the posters said he had the same problem I did, and it was fixed by bios# 14?

I have not yet sent in for the $20 rebate, because it may void my ability to have zipzoomfly accept it back if it is faulty, but December 1st is the deadline by which I have to mail it to Abit for the rebate. If I flash the bios is it returnable?

when would you flash the Bios? and would it be 14 or 12?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

You can flash to 14 but I doubt that it will fix the IDE channel issue.

1. Make sure the IDE cable is good and is fully seated in MB. Try another IDE cable. Test MB outside the case.
2. Make sure the IDE device is connected to the end of the IDE cable and set as MASTER. Zero fill IDE HDD if it contains old data. DO NOT CONNECT any other HDD or optical drive to the MB.
3. Disconnect power from PSU. Hit power switch to discharge caps. Remove battery. Clear CMOS jumper. Wait 1/2 hour before replacing battery and CMOS jumper.
4. Short the two power pins on the MB to start system.
5. Hit DELETE key on keyboard to access BIOS. Confirm that IDE device is detected in BIOS. If no detection, then load Optimized Default in BIOS. Hit F10 to save. Reboot about five to seven times. Go back to BIOS by hitting DELETE key. If IDE device is not seen in BIOS, then RMA the board.

The stock 11 BIOS should work. List the model of all your IDE drives.

 

[jonmcc33]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
$60 AR @ NewEgg as of 11:30 am EST. $6.61 ship.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...16813127031&Tpk=ip35-e

That's where I got mine from but it was a $20 MIR at the time.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Cheapest price since the $40 rebate and $20 Paypal promo in August. I paid $55 plus tax and ship at that time.

 

[TungFree]

SerpentRoyal: You can flash to 14 but I doubt that it will fix the IDE channel issue.

1. Make sure the IDE cable is good and is fully seated in MB. Try another IDE cable. Test MB outside the case.
2. Make sure the IDE device is connected to the end of the IDE cable and set as MASTER. Zero fill IDE HDD if it contains old data. DO NOT CONNECT any other HDD or optical drive to the MB.
3. Disconnect power from PSU. Hit power switch to discharge caps. Remove battery. Clear CMOS jumper. Wait 1/2 hour before replacing battery and CMOS jumper.
4. Short the two power pins on the MB to start system.
5. Hit DELETE key on keyboard to access BIOS. Confirm that IDE device is detected in BIOS. If no detection, then load Optimized Default in BIOS. Hit F10 to save. Reboot about five to seven times. Go back to BIOS by hitting DELETE key. If IDE device is not seen in BIOS, then RMA the board.

The stock 11 BIOS should work. List the model of all your IDE drives.

This post below is an answer to my questions which you SerpentRoyal replied to, sukhoi37 saw it and he posted an answer to it see below

Originally posted by: TungFree
I tried IDE Hard drives
in my predsent bios It only shows Sata 1-4 not any IDE.
None of the IDE are being detected either
The Sata DVD is being detected.
when I first booted up it was searching IDE and did not find. Now it does not search.
I downloaded bios # 12 from Abit and will try to learn how to flash it.
I also downloaded the flash utility. But I do not know what to do with them, and in what order.
I have no floppies so I will need to burn a CD? could you walk me through it with a CD and order of flashing?



Do you have an IDE optical drive? Pull power from PSU. Connect only mouse, keyboard, and one IDE device to the MB (end of new IDE cable). Set this IDE device as MASTER. If IDE device is a HDD, then zero format the HDD before use. Remove CMOS battery and clear CMOS. Wait 1/2 hour before replacing battery and CMOS jumper. Restart PC and enter BIOS. IDE device should show up in BIOS.

What confuses me about you saying you doubt that #14 will work is the below experience of sukhoi37on the 11/18/2007 07:27 PM. in this thread Mind you, I do not know him, he has only 5 posts and joined on January 2005 so he is not likely to comment again on this...

sukhoi37: TungFree, I got the same problem last week.
Solved it after i flashed it with the new 14 bios.

-------------------------
|| Intel C2Q Q6600 with Xigmatek HDT-S1283 ||
|| Abit IP35-E ||
|| Crucial Ballistix DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz 2GB ||
|| MSI 8800GT OCED@700/2000mhz || LG 196TQ ||
|| WD740D Raptor || Samsung SATA2 160GB ||
|| Silverstone ST50F || CM 690 ||
|| Philips PSC805 || AE Aego M2 ||
|| Logitech G5 ||

I mean no disrespect and only wonder why that result was possible? Note he has a Raptor and a Q6600 too.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

That's why I asked about the model number of your IDE drives. I've never had to update the BIOS to detect Seagate, Maxtor, WD, and Samsung IDE drives. The other person may have BIOS corruption. Flashing any BIOS should fix his problem. Again, you can do the same with your MB.

Again, the Raptor may or may not work with all P35 boards. 11, 12, and 14 are fine with IP35-E.

 

[felix45]

Intel® Core? 2 Duo PROCESSOR E6750
& ABIT IP35-E MOTHERBOARD


ok so fry's is having this deal tommorow and it is $200 for both of them. should I get it or no? it seems like a great deal but this will be my first computer to ever build with my own stuff. (I've done it at school before but never had to buy any of the stuff so I wasn't worried about it...heh)


also any graphics card or ram recomendations? fry's is also selling DDR2 PC5300
MEMORY ram for $5 after rebate and it seems like a good deal so I was gonna get some if I decided to go for the motherboard.


just tell me what you guys think, I was thinking maybe I'd build a compy over my xmas break. everything I ready about the processor and motherboard was pretty good so I was thinking I should buy now and build it while I have time. it was either now or over the summer but I was thinking black friday will have better deals then may/june of 08 will heh...

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: felix45
Intel® Core? 2 Duo PROCESSOR E6750
& ABIT IP35-E MOTHERBOARD


ok so fry's is having this deal tommorow and it is $200 for both of them. should I get it or no? it seems like a great deal but this will be my first computer to ever build with my own stuff. (I've done it at school before but never had to buy any of the stuff so I wasn't worried about it...heh)


also any graphics card or ram recomendations? fry's is also selling DDR2 PC5300
MEMORY ram for $5 after rebate and it seems like a good deal so I was gonna get some if I decided to go for the motherboard.


just tell me what you guys think, I was thinking maybe I'd build a compy over my xmas break. everything I ready about the processor and motherboard was pretty good so I was thinking I should buy now and build it while I have time. it was either now or over the summer but I was thinking black friday will have better deals then may/june of 08 will heh...

I'd get the $60 IP35-E deal at NewEgg and the $60 E2140 CPU @ Micro Center (hot deals forum). The Crucial DDR2 667 RAM @ Fry's will run well, but you need two sticks for dual channel. The 6200 PCI-E @ Fry's is sufficient for light gaming.

 

[felix45]

ok thanks for the info I think I'll do that. good thing I didn't go all in at fry's

 

[SerpentRoyal]

http://microcenter.com/single_...tml?product_id=0266759

 

[TungFree]

That's why I asked about the model number of your IDE drives. I've never had to update the BIOS to detect Seagate, Maxtor, WD, and Samsung IDE drives. The other person may have BIOS corruption. Flashing any BIOS should fix his problem. Again, you can do the same with your MB.

the drive I have is 160 gig Maxtor Diamond plus 9
ata 133 HDD

the other preson had:

|| Intel C2Q Q6600 with Xigmatek HDT-S1283 ||
|| Abit IP35-E ||
|| Crucial Ballistix DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz 2GB ||
|| MSI 8800GT OCED@700/2000mhz || LG 196TQ ||
|| WD740D Raptor || Samsung SATA2 160GB ||
|| Silverstone ST50F || CM 690 ||
|| Philips PSC805 || AE Aego M2 ||
|| Logitech G5 ||

And I assume now the Raptor he said was working with version 14 flashed. I am not sure what version Bios he started with. He has no profile on anandtech and all I could do is leave a PM he is unlikely to read having been here 5 times in 2 years. he had 5 posts 4 before this one.