http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813127031
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/vie...a=BA23929&RSKU=BA23929
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/spechr/rebates/ba23929d.pdf
Comes will all Japanese capacitors and low-profile solid caps at the CPU power regulation circuit. The IP35-E uses the same PWM RT8802A IC as the top-of-the-line IP35 Pro. There was no buzzing or ringing from the board's power circuit during Orthos and S&M's test sessions. Blue board with blue southbridge, northbridge, and MOSFET passive heat sinks. RAM slots are color-coded (white/black) for dual channel operation. Plenty of clearance around CPU area, although I had to trim 1/4" from the Big Typhoon's top bracket to clear the northbridge heat sink.
There's a molex plug to provide additional juice to the video card. Make sure that the proper 12V rail is connected to this molex plug to avoid overloading a 12V in a multi-rail PSU. The 24 pin power plug is located at the middle front of the board, just above the PATA connector. The floppy connector is positioned at the bottom front, next to the front panel header (with speaker output). There are 4 USB jacks at the back, plus four USB 2.0 port headers to the left of the front panel header for a total of 12 possible USB ports. The 8-pin/4-pin power plug is located just above the MOSFET heat sink. Use the lower 4-pin plug if the PSU lacks an 8-pin plug. Starting from the bottom rear, we have three PCI slots, one PCIE x1 slot, one open slot to provide clearance for a larger PCIE graphic card, one PCIE x 16 slot, and one PCIE x1 slot.
Abit includes a S/PDIF output and a rear panel optical out. Audio is 7.1 channel HD audio by Realtek. This board employs a single Gigabit LAN port using the Marvell 88E8056 PCI Express chip, which should yield a slight improvement in throughput speed vs the IP35 Pro. The big brother Abit IP35 Pro's Gigabit LAN is connected thru the PCI bus, not PCIE! As a result, the maximum throughput will probably be lowered by about 35% with higher CPU load. This should not affect real-world performance because the bottleneck is still the 50MB/s write speed of the HDD. USB 2.0 performance is on par with the best boards; 31.7MB/s continuous write throughput (via external USB hard drive).
This is a 4-phase P35/ICH9 board will full support of 1333MHz FSB, capable of keeping up with the 8-phase Asus P5B Deluxe. One JMicro JMB368 PATA port on the PCI-E, 4 SATA 3Gb/s ports just above the floppy connector in a 2 x 2 layout. One LED for power, one LED for standby. No 1394. No RAID.
Installation is straightforward with WXP Pro SP1. No need to hit F6 for special drivers. Vista auto detects all drivers except for the Intel INF chipset utility. The shipped 11 BIOS (5/24/07) is very stable. To return to the previous stable setting, disconnect power to the board, re-apply power, and hit DELETE to access BIOS.
This board overclocks a little better than the Asus P5B Deluxe...at least with my E4300. Only need to bump up Vcore, Vdimm, and change memory divider to 1:1.25 (Kingston DDR2 800 ValueRam @ 477MHz 5-4-4-12-2T 1.95Vdimm). Chip is stable at 3.58GHz (398x9) with 1.505Vcore. Vcore in CPUz is 0.02V lower than BIOS. Vdroop is 0.02V. No FSB hole between 200 and 425MHz. My 800MHz FSB chip would not boot above 425MHz FSB with lower multiplier, but I'm sure that this board is capable of driving the E63xx chip to at least 480MHz FSB.
CPU and SYSTEM fan headers incorporate speedfan control with 2-pin, 3-pin, or 4-pin fan. Other two fan headers run at +12VDC. The sophisticated FanEQ will accept a target temperature, tolerance, and start/stop control from 30% to 100% of rated fan speed. Thanks to the MOSFET-driven fan header, my 2-pin 120 x 38 mm Panaflo ramps up/down smoothly with this ABIT fan control system. SB and MOSFET heat sinks run cool. NB is warm under full-load, but not as hot as the Abit IB9.
The six memory divider settings provide adequate fine tuning of the memory speed. Owners of ValueRAM will appreciate the 1:1, 1:1.20, and 1:1.125 memory dividers, starting as low as 200MHz FSB. C1E and EIST speedstep works well. The BIOS permits manual adjustment of Vcore, Vdimm, CPU VTT, Vnorthbridge, Vsouthbridge, CPU GTLREF, PCIE frequency, CAS, RAS# to CAS #, RAS # precharge, precharge delay, refresh cycle time, write recovery time, write to read delay, act to act time, and read to precharge.
Boot time under WXP Pro SP1 with one 7200 rpm PATA Seagate 7200.8 and 2GB RAM is a speedy 26 seconds (power ON to first appearance of desktop). Haven't discovered any major fault with this board after several days of testing.
Finally, let's take a look at power consumption. The power measurement was taken with a calibrated ammeter connected in series to the AC line. The test rig includes Windows XP Pro SP1, one EVGA 7100GS PCIe video card, one 80GB WD HDD, 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 ValueRAM (1.95Vdimm), one E4300 at 3.44GHz (1.465Vcore), one floppy drive, one Microsoft 4000 keyboard, and one Logitech optical mouse. The power supply is an Antec SP350. To obtain the approximate true load of these components, simply multiply these numbers by 0.73 (average efficiency of the Antec PSU).
C1E/EIST ON:
-Idle...121 watts
-Load (orthos Large test)...262 watts
C1E/EIST OFF:
-Idle...134 watts
-Load (orthos Large test)...262 watts
This same setup with an Asus P5B deluxe yields the following numbers...
C1E/EIST ON:
-Idle...160 watts
-Load (orthos Large test)...305 watts
C1E/EIST OFF:
-Idle...160 watts
-Load (orthos Large test)...305 watts
I suspect the 16 to 32% increase in power consumption is due to the Asus' 8-phase power circuit, plus on-board bells and whistles. CPUz shows a drop in multiplier and Vcore when iding, but the actual current draw at the AC line did not decrease. C1E/EIST were enabled in Asus' latest 1101 BIOS.
I don't have a good E63xx for evaluation, but based on my experience with this E4300, I believe that Abit has put out a highly overclockable board at a very attractive price. This board is the Intel evil-twin of EVGA/XFX's 650i Ultra. The Nvidia boards have RAIDs, but are populated with lower-quality capacitors. Abit's fan management system is one of the best in the business. Now Intel has a low-cost solution to compete with Nvidia.
UPDATE 07-07-07
Managed to overclock an E6320 to 3.415GHz (488MHz FSB x 7 multi) with 1.51Vcore. NB, SB, and VTT were bumped up one notch to 1.29, 1.55, and 1.2375 respectively. Memory divider @ 1:1 with 5-4-4-9-2T timing. Again, there was no FSB hole between 266 and 488MHz.
Speedfan and CoreTemp 0.95 report 53C under Orthos Large mode (75F ambient). S&M shows 68C with 85C TJunction. The same program reports 100C TJunction on my E4300, which may explain why I'm seeing an additional 14C under load with the 4300. 1M Super Pi time of 14.860 seconds. CPU will boot into Windows at 494MHz FSB x 6 multi and run 1M Super Pi, but the system is not stable at this level of overclock. Memtest is OK.
This Abit IP35-E board has a minimum useable FSB frequency of 488MHz with a slight bump in NB, SB, and VTT. I suspect +500MHz FSB is possible with a better chip. My E6320 sample appears to have a 495MHz FSB wall. This board earns a 10 for value, 10 for stability, 9.5 for overclock capability, and 9 for general performance (minus 1 point for the double post issue).
http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...1&posted=1#post2314971
UPDATE 8-18-07
Another forum user was able to hit 500MHz FSB with E6550.
http://www.navig8r.net/pics/e6550.jpg
I've seen reports about the Abit IP35 Pro's inability to remain stable with four sticks of RAM north of 510MHz. Fortunately, the Abit IP35-E has no problem running four sticks of Kingston DDR2 800 "N5 OEM" up to 564MHz (DDR2 1128 with 1:1.50 memory divider). Timing is set at 5-5-5-15-2T with 2.1Vdimm. System is Orthos and Memtest86 stable.
UPDATE 8-24-07
Review pitting the Abit IP35-E against the high and mid-range P35 boards. IP35-E had no problem keeping up with the ASUS P5K Deluxe or the Gigabyte P35-DQ6. Again, no big surprise with all boards falling within a tight deviation of +/- 2%. This is the 3rd best overclocking board, 7MHz (2%) below P5K Deluxe and 3MHz (1%) below IP35 Pro.
Bottomline, it boils down to features and price. At $70 AR, Abit IP35-E remains the undisputed KING in value and performance.
http://www.techspot.com/articl...5-motherboard-roundup/
UPDATE 9-04-07
There's a new BIOS for IP35-E/IP35
-Fixed double post during cold boot but only if standby power to MB is not interrupted. If you disconnect the PSU from the wall, then board will double post at the next restart.
-Added FP Audio selector...HD audio/AC97
-Added more RAM timing options (as low as 3, plus 1T/2T)
-Fixed CPU temp (+1 to +3C higher than Coretemp)
To switch to latest Beta BIOS, download from link below and also the official 11 BIOS from the Abit global website. Copy all five files from official 11 BIOS to floppy. Rename Beta BIOS to M630A_11.BIN and replace it with the 11 BIOS on floppy. You should also edit the ABITFAE.BAT file to include the WB switch.
Command should look like this>>> AWDFLASH.EXE %1 /py /sn /wb /cd /cp /cc
http://www.abit.com.cn/bios/IP35-E/M630A_13.zip
UPDATE 9-15-07
Another new BIOS for IP35-E/IP35
-Added more RAM timing options (as low as 1, plus 1T/2T)
-Added S1 suspend mode
-Fixed CPU temp to reflect true core temperature
-Fixed Super Pi speed issue of previous Beta BIOS (above)
It appears that the double post patch and the FP Audio selector menu were omitted from the Beta BIOS. No double post during restart. The system will double post after the PC is shut down.
http://file.abit.com.tw/pub/download/bios/ip35/
UPDATE 9-26-07
X38 isn't going to yield any improvement in system performance when coupled with DDR2 RAMs. Therefore, P35 should remain the preferred overclocking platform for those wishing to stick with DDR2 modules. Note that board will also support the new 45nm quad-core Peryn CPUs. Below is a quick summary of my overclock settings:
-CPU...E4300 with L2 stepping built on 1/18/2007
-PSU...Ultra V 400/500, Ultra X-Finity 500/600, Enermax EG495P-VE
-RAM...4 x Kingston "N5" 1.8V DDR2 800 ValueRAM, 4 x HP/Crucial 1.8V DDR2 667 (always use 1.8V JEDEC 667 or 800 RAMs from Crucial or Kingston for best compatibility)
-CPU cooler...Big Typhoon with one 120 x 38 mm medium speed Panaflo and one 80 mm low speed Panaflo to cool RAMs
-C1E and EIST enabled
-9x default CPU multiplier
-388MHz FSB (3.49GHz core speed)
-1:1.25 memory divider with 1GB x 2 Kingston N5 1.8V DDR2 800 ValueRAM (485MHz RAM speed)
-1.465Vcore (1.46 idle and 1.42 Orthos Large load per Speedfan)
-2.00Vdimm
-5-4-4-11-2T timing
-Default VTT
-Default NB voltage
-Default SB voltage
-GTLREF 67%
UPDATE 9-28-07
Installation and overclocking tips...
I would recommend flashing to 14 BIOS (link at the bottom of this post) although the default 11 BIOS is fine for overclocking.
1. Assemble only CPU/CPU cooler, GPU, mouse, keyboard, RAMs, and boot HDD on non-conductive surface. Zero fill HDD if it contains old data. Use Master/Slave jumper if two devices are connected to IDE. For best compatibility, use JEDEC compliance 1.8V DDR2 667 or 800 RAMs from well-known vendors such as Crucial or Kingston.
2. Disconnect power from PSU and hit power switch on motherboard to discharge caps. Reset CMOS.
3. Boot into BIOS and manually adjust RAM voltage and timing per the mfr's specs. Change USB keyboard and mouse support from OS to BIOS. Change memory divider to 1:1 (FSB speed = RAM speed). Set optical drive (name of drive near the bottom of the list) as 1st boot, HDD as 2nd boot, and disable boot support for ALL OTHER DEVICES. Hit F10 to save BIOS.
4. Install OS. No need to hit F6 to load special drivers. Upon completion, load Intel chipset, sound, and LAN drivers from CD. Make an image file of this partition if you have DriveImage, Ghost, BING, or TI for safe-keeping.
5. Go into BIOS and change Vcore to 1.465 (dual core) or 1.400 (quad core).
6. Increase FSB by 5MHz. Hit F10 to save BIOS and boot into windows. Launch CPUz to verify the new FSB speed, and RAM speed. FSB speed should be the same as RAM speed. Also confirm RAM timing. Make sure that FSB speed is within the rated speed of your RAM. Run Memtest86 test #5 for 50 loops as required to check for RAM stability.
7. Boot back to BIOS and repeat step #6 until you can no longer boot into windows. You may need to bump VTT, NB, and SB up one notch if FSB is above 430MHz, or if you have inferior RAMs. Restart the PC about 5 times and you should be able to hit DELETE key on keyboard to access BIOS. Enter the previous bootable FSB setting. Save BIOS and boot into windows.
8. Run Memtest per step #6 to check RAM. If okay, then run Orthos Large mode for one hour. If you cannot pass Memtest or Orthos, then drop FSB by 3 MHz and retest. You may want to add more RAM voltage to overclock the memory. Quality 1.8V modules should be able to absorb 2.0-2.1V. Watch the peak CPU temperature as reported by Coretemp 0.95.4 or S&M V1.90. 60C max for 85C Tjunction chip, and 75C max for 100C Tjunction chip. You need to lower Vcore and FSB if your temp exceeds the maximum safe limit. Load voltage is 0.04-0.05V lower than BIOS for dual core, and 0.07-0.10V lower for quad core. I use Speedfan or Abit EQ to V1111 to check Vcore.
9. Once you've achieved stability with Orthos and Memtest, use the memory divider to overclock the memory. Do this only if you have high-performance RAMs.
UPDATE 10-16-07
Overclocking a quad north of 3.2GHz will elevate the temperature at the CPU, MOSFET, North Bridge (NB), and South Bridge (SB) heat sinks. A heat pipe cooler is useless without cold air flowing over the fins (active cooling).
The down-draft Big Typhoon provides a solid platform for my active cooling solution at the MOSFET, NB, SB, GPU, and RAM slots.
1. cooling fan...purchase one 92mm fan used in Zalman 7000 CPU cooler and two fan fixing screws from Zalman USA.
2. fan bracket...I use 0.06" thick aluminum cut to 3.50" x 0.50". Drill three holes. Two to secure the 92mm Zalman fan to the bracket. The third hole is used to affix the bracket to one of the four 120mm Big Typhoon fan retaining screws. Remove the fan's grille.
Position the 92mm Zalman fan above the NB. This fan puts out enough air flow to cool the NB, MOSFETs, GPU, SB, and RAM at 2700 rpm (full speed). It idles around 1600 rpm (virtually inaudible under normal use). Let the SYSTEM FAN header auto adjust the fan speed based on 50C CPU temp (12 BIOS).
http://forum.abit-usa.com/atta...tid=20538&d=1194759483
UPDATE 10-25-07
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. 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 380, 400, and 500 (80+ efficiency) are compatible with this board. You can find the 500 at Staples. All built by Seasonic with a single +12VDC rail (marketed as dual rail). My sample comes with one Nippon Chemi-con as the main filter cap. I've seen these priced between $20 and $50 after rebate. 380 should be sufficient for a basic rig without high-end GPU.
http://forum.abit-usa.com/show...6ec8e25c30bda&t=129727
Update 11-03-07
13 BIOS for IP35-E/IP-35 with DOUBLE POST patch
-Fixed double post during cold boot but only if standby power to MB is not interrupted. If you disconnect the PSU from the wall, then board will double post at the next restart.
-Added FP Audio selector...HD audio/AC97
-Added more RAM timing options (as low as 3, plus 1T/2T)
-Fixed CPU temp (+1 to +3C higher than Coretemp)
-IEEE1394 performance improvement (claimed)
-Added FP-Audio function
-Added Wolfdale/Yorkfield processor support
You should also edit the ABITFAE.BAT file to include the WB switch.
Command should look like this>>> AWDFLASH.EXE %1 /py /sn /wb /cd /cp /cc
NOTE: 13 BIOS is slower than 11 and 12. My 1M SP time went from 16.250 to 16.610 with 13 BIOS. 32M SP went from 15m 6s to 15m 42s.
http://file.abit.com.tw/pub/download/bios/ip35/
UPDATE 11-10-2007
-Resolves double Post as long as PSU is not disconnected from AC outlet.
-SP time is just a hair slower than 12 BIOS. This deficit amounts to about 8MHz core speed.
-Adds HD audio support.
-USB keyboard works after BIOS reset since the default setting has changed from OS to BIOS.
-Includes 1:1.60 memory divider.
14 BIOS appears to be a revised version of the slower 13 BIOS.
http://www.abit.com.cn/bios/IP35-E/M630A_14.BIN
UPDATE 12-04-07
Official 1.4 release from Abit. Been testing it for 1/2 day. No problem.
http://file.abit.com.tw/pub/download/bios/ip35/
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/vie...a=BA23929&RSKU=BA23929
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/spechr/rebates/ba23929d.pdf
Comes will all Japanese capacitors and low-profile solid caps at the CPU power regulation circuit. The IP35-E uses the same PWM RT8802A IC as the top-of-the-line IP35 Pro. There was no buzzing or ringing from the board's power circuit during Orthos and S&M's test sessions. Blue board with blue southbridge, northbridge, and MOSFET passive heat sinks. RAM slots are color-coded (white/black) for dual channel operation. Plenty of clearance around CPU area, although I had to trim 1/4" from the Big Typhoon's top bracket to clear the northbridge heat sink.
There's a molex plug to provide additional juice to the video card. Make sure that the proper 12V rail is connected to this molex plug to avoid overloading a 12V in a multi-rail PSU. The 24 pin power plug is located at the middle front of the board, just above the PATA connector. The floppy connector is positioned at the bottom front, next to the front panel header (with speaker output). There are 4 USB jacks at the back, plus four USB 2.0 port headers to the left of the front panel header for a total of 12 possible USB ports. The 8-pin/4-pin power plug is located just above the MOSFET heat sink. Use the lower 4-pin plug if the PSU lacks an 8-pin plug. Starting from the bottom rear, we have three PCI slots, one PCIE x1 slot, one open slot to provide clearance for a larger PCIE graphic card, one PCIE x 16 slot, and one PCIE x1 slot.
Abit includes a S/PDIF output and a rear panel optical out. Audio is 7.1 channel HD audio by Realtek. This board employs a single Gigabit LAN port using the Marvell 88E8056 PCI Express chip, which should yield a slight improvement in throughput speed vs the IP35 Pro. The big brother Abit IP35 Pro's Gigabit LAN is connected thru the PCI bus, not PCIE! As a result, the maximum throughput will probably be lowered by about 35% with higher CPU load. This should not affect real-world performance because the bottleneck is still the 50MB/s write speed of the HDD. USB 2.0 performance is on par with the best boards; 31.7MB/s continuous write throughput (via external USB hard drive).
This is a 4-phase P35/ICH9 board will full support of 1333MHz FSB, capable of keeping up with the 8-phase Asus P5B Deluxe. One JMicro JMB368 PATA port on the PCI-E, 4 SATA 3Gb/s ports just above the floppy connector in a 2 x 2 layout. One LED for power, one LED for standby. No 1394. No RAID.
Installation is straightforward with WXP Pro SP1. No need to hit F6 for special drivers. Vista auto detects all drivers except for the Intel INF chipset utility. The shipped 11 BIOS (5/24/07) is very stable. To return to the previous stable setting, disconnect power to the board, re-apply power, and hit DELETE to access BIOS.
This board overclocks a little better than the Asus P5B Deluxe...at least with my E4300. Only need to bump up Vcore, Vdimm, and change memory divider to 1:1.25 (Kingston DDR2 800 ValueRam @ 477MHz 5-4-4-12-2T 1.95Vdimm). Chip is stable at 3.58GHz (398x9) with 1.505Vcore. Vcore in CPUz is 0.02V lower than BIOS. Vdroop is 0.02V. No FSB hole between 200 and 425MHz. My 800MHz FSB chip would not boot above 425MHz FSB with lower multiplier, but I'm sure that this board is capable of driving the E63xx chip to at least 480MHz FSB.
CPU and SYSTEM fan headers incorporate speedfan control with 2-pin, 3-pin, or 4-pin fan. Other two fan headers run at +12VDC. The sophisticated FanEQ will accept a target temperature, tolerance, and start/stop control from 30% to 100% of rated fan speed. Thanks to the MOSFET-driven fan header, my 2-pin 120 x 38 mm Panaflo ramps up/down smoothly with this ABIT fan control system. SB and MOSFET heat sinks run cool. NB is warm under full-load, but not as hot as the Abit IB9.
The six memory divider settings provide adequate fine tuning of the memory speed. Owners of ValueRAM will appreciate the 1:1, 1:1.20, and 1:1.125 memory dividers, starting as low as 200MHz FSB. C1E and EIST speedstep works well. The BIOS permits manual adjustment of Vcore, Vdimm, CPU VTT, Vnorthbridge, Vsouthbridge, CPU GTLREF, PCIE frequency, CAS, RAS# to CAS #, RAS # precharge, precharge delay, refresh cycle time, write recovery time, write to read delay, act to act time, and read to precharge.
Boot time under WXP Pro SP1 with one 7200 rpm PATA Seagate 7200.8 and 2GB RAM is a speedy 26 seconds (power ON to first appearance of desktop). Haven't discovered any major fault with this board after several days of testing.
Finally, let's take a look at power consumption. The power measurement was taken with a calibrated ammeter connected in series to the AC line. The test rig includes Windows XP Pro SP1, one EVGA 7100GS PCIe video card, one 80GB WD HDD, 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 ValueRAM (1.95Vdimm), one E4300 at 3.44GHz (1.465Vcore), one floppy drive, one Microsoft 4000 keyboard, and one Logitech optical mouse. The power supply is an Antec SP350. To obtain the approximate true load of these components, simply multiply these numbers by 0.73 (average efficiency of the Antec PSU).
C1E/EIST ON:
-Idle...121 watts
-Load (orthos Large test)...262 watts
C1E/EIST OFF:
-Idle...134 watts
-Load (orthos Large test)...262 watts
This same setup with an Asus P5B deluxe yields the following numbers...
C1E/EIST ON:
-Idle...160 watts
-Load (orthos Large test)...305 watts
C1E/EIST OFF:
-Idle...160 watts
-Load (orthos Large test)...305 watts
I suspect the 16 to 32% increase in power consumption is due to the Asus' 8-phase power circuit, plus on-board bells and whistles. CPUz shows a drop in multiplier and Vcore when iding, but the actual current draw at the AC line did not decrease. C1E/EIST were enabled in Asus' latest 1101 BIOS.
I don't have a good E63xx for evaluation, but based on my experience with this E4300, I believe that Abit has put out a highly overclockable board at a very attractive price. This board is the Intel evil-twin of EVGA/XFX's 650i Ultra. The Nvidia boards have RAIDs, but are populated with lower-quality capacitors. Abit's fan management system is one of the best in the business. Now Intel has a low-cost solution to compete with Nvidia.
UPDATE 07-07-07
Managed to overclock an E6320 to 3.415GHz (488MHz FSB x 7 multi) with 1.51Vcore. NB, SB, and VTT were bumped up one notch to 1.29, 1.55, and 1.2375 respectively. Memory divider @ 1:1 with 5-4-4-9-2T timing. Again, there was no FSB hole between 266 and 488MHz.
Speedfan and CoreTemp 0.95 report 53C under Orthos Large mode (75F ambient). S&M shows 68C with 85C TJunction. The same program reports 100C TJunction on my E4300, which may explain why I'm seeing an additional 14C under load with the 4300. 1M Super Pi time of 14.860 seconds. CPU will boot into Windows at 494MHz FSB x 6 multi and run 1M Super Pi, but the system is not stable at this level of overclock. Memtest is OK.
This Abit IP35-E board has a minimum useable FSB frequency of 488MHz with a slight bump in NB, SB, and VTT. I suspect +500MHz FSB is possible with a better chip. My E6320 sample appears to have a 495MHz FSB wall. This board earns a 10 for value, 10 for stability, 9.5 for overclock capability, and 9 for general performance (minus 1 point for the double post issue).
http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...1&posted=1#post2314971
UPDATE 8-18-07
Another forum user was able to hit 500MHz FSB with E6550.
http://www.navig8r.net/pics/e6550.jpg
I've seen reports about the Abit IP35 Pro's inability to remain stable with four sticks of RAM north of 510MHz. Fortunately, the Abit IP35-E has no problem running four sticks of Kingston DDR2 800 "N5 OEM" up to 564MHz (DDR2 1128 with 1:1.50 memory divider). Timing is set at 5-5-5-15-2T with 2.1Vdimm. System is Orthos and Memtest86 stable.
UPDATE 8-24-07
Review pitting the Abit IP35-E against the high and mid-range P35 boards. IP35-E had no problem keeping up with the ASUS P5K Deluxe or the Gigabyte P35-DQ6. Again, no big surprise with all boards falling within a tight deviation of +/- 2%. This is the 3rd best overclocking board, 7MHz (2%) below P5K Deluxe and 3MHz (1%) below IP35 Pro.
Bottomline, it boils down to features and price. At $70 AR, Abit IP35-E remains the undisputed KING in value and performance.
http://www.techspot.com/articl...5-motherboard-roundup/
UPDATE 9-04-07
There's a new BIOS for IP35-E/IP35
-Fixed double post during cold boot but only if standby power to MB is not interrupted. If you disconnect the PSU from the wall, then board will double post at the next restart.
-Added FP Audio selector...HD audio/AC97
-Added more RAM timing options (as low as 3, plus 1T/2T)
-Fixed CPU temp (+1 to +3C higher than Coretemp)
To switch to latest Beta BIOS, download from link below and also the official 11 BIOS from the Abit global website. Copy all five files from official 11 BIOS to floppy. Rename Beta BIOS to M630A_11.BIN and replace it with the 11 BIOS on floppy. You should also edit the ABITFAE.BAT file to include the WB switch.
Command should look like this>>> AWDFLASH.EXE %1 /py /sn /wb /cd /cp /cc
http://www.abit.com.cn/bios/IP35-E/M630A_13.zip
UPDATE 9-15-07
Another new BIOS for IP35-E/IP35
-Added more RAM timing options (as low as 1, plus 1T/2T)
-Added S1 suspend mode
-Fixed CPU temp to reflect true core temperature
-Fixed Super Pi speed issue of previous Beta BIOS (above)
It appears that the double post patch and the FP Audio selector menu were omitted from the Beta BIOS. No double post during restart. The system will double post after the PC is shut down.
http://file.abit.com.tw/pub/download/bios/ip35/
UPDATE 9-26-07
X38 isn't going to yield any improvement in system performance when coupled with DDR2 RAMs. Therefore, P35 should remain the preferred overclocking platform for those wishing to stick with DDR2 modules. Note that board will also support the new 45nm quad-core Peryn CPUs. Below is a quick summary of my overclock settings:
-CPU...E4300 with L2 stepping built on 1/18/2007
-PSU...Ultra V 400/500, Ultra X-Finity 500/600, Enermax EG495P-VE
-RAM...4 x Kingston "N5" 1.8V DDR2 800 ValueRAM, 4 x HP/Crucial 1.8V DDR2 667 (always use 1.8V JEDEC 667 or 800 RAMs from Crucial or Kingston for best compatibility)
-CPU cooler...Big Typhoon with one 120 x 38 mm medium speed Panaflo and one 80 mm low speed Panaflo to cool RAMs
-C1E and EIST enabled
-9x default CPU multiplier
-388MHz FSB (3.49GHz core speed)
-1:1.25 memory divider with 1GB x 2 Kingston N5 1.8V DDR2 800 ValueRAM (485MHz RAM speed)
-1.465Vcore (1.46 idle and 1.42 Orthos Large load per Speedfan)
-2.00Vdimm
-5-4-4-11-2T timing
-Default VTT
-Default NB voltage
-Default SB voltage
-GTLREF 67%
UPDATE 9-28-07
Installation and overclocking tips...
I would recommend flashing to 14 BIOS (link at the bottom of this post) although the default 11 BIOS is fine for overclocking.
1. Assemble only CPU/CPU cooler, GPU, mouse, keyboard, RAMs, and boot HDD on non-conductive surface. Zero fill HDD if it contains old data. Use Master/Slave jumper if two devices are connected to IDE. For best compatibility, use JEDEC compliance 1.8V DDR2 667 or 800 RAMs from well-known vendors such as Crucial or Kingston.
2. Disconnect power from PSU and hit power switch on motherboard to discharge caps. Reset CMOS.
3. Boot into BIOS and manually adjust RAM voltage and timing per the mfr's specs. Change USB keyboard and mouse support from OS to BIOS. Change memory divider to 1:1 (FSB speed = RAM speed). Set optical drive (name of drive near the bottom of the list) as 1st boot, HDD as 2nd boot, and disable boot support for ALL OTHER DEVICES. Hit F10 to save BIOS.
4. Install OS. No need to hit F6 to load special drivers. Upon completion, load Intel chipset, sound, and LAN drivers from CD. Make an image file of this partition if you have DriveImage, Ghost, BING, or TI for safe-keeping.
5. Go into BIOS and change Vcore to 1.465 (dual core) or 1.400 (quad core).
6. Increase FSB by 5MHz. Hit F10 to save BIOS and boot into windows. Launch CPUz to verify the new FSB speed, and RAM speed. FSB speed should be the same as RAM speed. Also confirm RAM timing. Make sure that FSB speed is within the rated speed of your RAM. Run Memtest86 test #5 for 50 loops as required to check for RAM stability.
7. Boot back to BIOS and repeat step #6 until you can no longer boot into windows. You may need to bump VTT, NB, and SB up one notch if FSB is above 430MHz, or if you have inferior RAMs. Restart the PC about 5 times and you should be able to hit DELETE key on keyboard to access BIOS. Enter the previous bootable FSB setting. Save BIOS and boot into windows.
8. Run Memtest per step #6 to check RAM. If okay, then run Orthos Large mode for one hour. If you cannot pass Memtest or Orthos, then drop FSB by 3 MHz and retest. You may want to add more RAM voltage to overclock the memory. Quality 1.8V modules should be able to absorb 2.0-2.1V. Watch the peak CPU temperature as reported by Coretemp 0.95.4 or S&M V1.90. 60C max for 85C Tjunction chip, and 75C max for 100C Tjunction chip. You need to lower Vcore and FSB if your temp exceeds the maximum safe limit. Load voltage is 0.04-0.05V lower than BIOS for dual core, and 0.07-0.10V lower for quad core. I use Speedfan or Abit EQ to V1111 to check Vcore.
9. Once you've achieved stability with Orthos and Memtest, use the memory divider to overclock the memory. Do this only if you have high-performance RAMs.
UPDATE 10-16-07
Overclocking a quad north of 3.2GHz will elevate the temperature at the CPU, MOSFET, North Bridge (NB), and South Bridge (SB) heat sinks. A heat pipe cooler is useless without cold air flowing over the fins (active cooling).
The down-draft Big Typhoon provides a solid platform for my active cooling solution at the MOSFET, NB, SB, GPU, and RAM slots.
1. cooling fan...purchase one 92mm fan used in Zalman 7000 CPU cooler and two fan fixing screws from Zalman USA.
2. fan bracket...I use 0.06" thick aluminum cut to 3.50" x 0.50". Drill three holes. Two to secure the 92mm Zalman fan to the bracket. The third hole is used to affix the bracket to one of the four 120mm Big Typhoon fan retaining screws. Remove the fan's grille.
Position the 92mm Zalman fan above the NB. This fan puts out enough air flow to cool the NB, MOSFETs, GPU, SB, and RAM at 2700 rpm (full speed). It idles around 1600 rpm (virtually inaudible under normal use). Let the SYSTEM FAN header auto adjust the fan speed based on 50C CPU temp (12 BIOS).
http://forum.abit-usa.com/atta...tid=20538&d=1194759483
UPDATE 10-25-07
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. 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 380, 400, and 500 (80+ efficiency) are compatible with this board. You can find the 500 at Staples. All built by Seasonic with a single +12VDC rail (marketed as dual rail). My sample comes with one Nippon Chemi-con as the main filter cap. I've seen these priced between $20 and $50 after rebate. 380 should be sufficient for a basic rig without high-end GPU.
http://forum.abit-usa.com/show...6ec8e25c30bda&t=129727
Update 11-03-07
13 BIOS for IP35-E/IP-35 with DOUBLE POST patch
-Fixed double post during cold boot but only if standby power to MB is not interrupted. If you disconnect the PSU from the wall, then board will double post at the next restart.
-Added FP Audio selector...HD audio/AC97
-Added more RAM timing options (as low as 3, plus 1T/2T)
-Fixed CPU temp (+1 to +3C higher than Coretemp)
-IEEE1394 performance improvement (claimed)
-Added FP-Audio function
-Added Wolfdale/Yorkfield processor support
You should also edit the ABITFAE.BAT file to include the WB switch.
Command should look like this>>> AWDFLASH.EXE %1 /py /sn /wb /cd /cp /cc
NOTE: 13 BIOS is slower than 11 and 12. My 1M SP time went from 16.250 to 16.610 with 13 BIOS. 32M SP went from 15m 6s to 15m 42s.
http://file.abit.com.tw/pub/download/bios/ip35/
UPDATE 11-10-2007
-Resolves double Post as long as PSU is not disconnected from AC outlet.
-SP time is just a hair slower than 12 BIOS. This deficit amounts to about 8MHz core speed.
-Adds HD audio support.
-USB keyboard works after BIOS reset since the default setting has changed from OS to BIOS.
-Includes 1:1.60 memory divider.
14 BIOS appears to be a revised version of the slower 13 BIOS.
http://www.abit.com.cn/bios/IP35-E/M630A_14.BIN
UPDATE 12-04-07
Official 1.4 release from Abit. Been testing it for 1/2 day. No problem.
http://file.abit.com.tw/pub/download/bios/ip35/