IP35 Pro ABIT IS BACK!

[mgutz]

I received goodies today. Everything but memory from NewEgg, memory from MWave ($125 per 2GB no stinking rebate and shipped as fast as the egg) :

Abit IP35 Pro
C2D e6420 (L711A420)
Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 4x1GB
Tuniq Tower

I assembled everything together and only changed [three things set FSB=425, DDRV to 2.0, Vcore=1.350]. That's 3.4Ghz 8x425 if you're too lazy to do the math. I've been running Vista x64 for the last couple of hours (will do proper CPU-Z and Orthos this weekend). This board rocks! I'm an Abit fan again after swearing them off when I bought the Abit AW8-Max.

The Tuniq rocks. I didn't think anything could beat my Ninja but wow 28C-39C on Orthos blend after 15min at 3.4Ghz, are you kidding me? And the AS5 hasn't even cured yet. I have the Tuniq exhausting air up towards the top exhaust fan instead of the back since heat rises anyway. Not sure if it makes a difference but makese sense to me and leaves more breathing room over the northbridge and more air space between the video card. This is a great configuration with the P182 since the PSU is at the bottom of the case.

I think I'll be able to hit that magic 3.6 if not better with this combo. I also have an e6300 which is why I bought the DDR2-1066 Ballistix so I'll be testing that this weekend with high FSB. I'm only testing with 2x1GB right now. Going to 4x1GB this weekend. 4GB on my DS3 resulted in lower overclocking so I didn't want to get discouraged. I hope this board fairs better. At last no cold boot problems like I have with my DS3. GREAT first impression so far.

I'll start with some cons:

- Firewire connector is in the rear beneath the pci-e video slot. It's the only cable I can't neatly hide in my Antec P182 case
- SATA connectors are on the edge of the board. Connectors are parallel to the board not perpendicular. Great for P182 since there is opening close to the headers. Could be problematic for tight cases.
- Couldn't find fuction key to select which boot device to use. Hate having to set this up in the BIOS (DS3 was F12 i think)
- Kill PS2, IDE and FDC connectors already!
- Tuniq sink touches 2 capacitors
- cheezy uGuru interface, not that i use it. can't anyone just use plain windows controls? make it simple like Everest


Pros:
too many to list
- mini reset and power buttons on the MB, external CMOS reset in IO panel
- NB and SB at 3.4 Ghz are warm but not hot (unlike DS3 which is painfully hot at 3.0Ghz)
- voltages galore in BIOS
- great layout except 1394 connector (lots of room between video card and monster tuniq)
- 2x eSata (a MUST for me), Firewire
- 4 Aux Fan Headers, Sys Fan, CPU Fan (all controllable through BIOS)

I returned an ASUS P5k Deluxe about a month ago since it didn't overclock an e4300 any better than my DS3 3.3. Must be the CPU. I can't compare apples to oranges since I have not tried Ocing the e4300 with the Abit. I'll just say I'm very happy with this board and it's $40 cheaper. ABIT is back!

 

[renethx]

Another con:

- Both of the Gb LAN (RTL8110SC) are on the PCI bus, that is 30-40% slower than a PCI Express Gb LAN.

 

[newschool]

mgutz, I already have an P182, are you sayin that the only wire managin "problem" with this case and mb is the firewire? Because this board has a unusual CPU power cable and MB power cable disposition too.

 

[mgutz]

I have a Corsair HX520W and the 8-pin cpu connector is exactly the right length when it comes from behind the motherboard tray through the slot at the top adjacent the top fan. The MB power header is located next to the cable management opening near the mid drive cage so run the cable behind the motherboard tray and up that opening. Very tidy. This is with a Corsair HX520 but I'm sure the Antec 550 TrueWatts and 350 EarthWatts that I have which have long cables would work too. I'll take a pic tomorrow of the tidy motherboard area and all the ugly wires behind the tray. I have almost all cables behind the tray.

 

[mgutz]

> Both of the Gb LAN (RTL8110SC) are on the PCI bus, that is 30-40% slower than a PCI Express Gb LAN.

Hmmm wasn't aware of that. Definitely a con if the performance hit is that severe. I don't do a lot of LAN transfers but that is bad. I'll test LAN transfers of some huge VMWare images I have.

 

[renethx]

There are several NTttcp Ethernet throughput tests including RTL8110SC.

• Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi Edition (Marvell PCIe = 88E8056, Realtek PCI = RTL8110SC)
  
• Alaplapok Core 2 Duo alá - 2. rész

The Tech Report did a similar test, but not including RTL8110SC:

• Intel's P35 Express chipset

But AnandTech gave a contradictory result:

• Intel P965: The Double Mint Twins Gone Wild

where RTL8110SC is referred to as "PCI-E" (this is wrong).

 

[mgutz]

e6420 @ 3.4Ghz not orthos blend stable at 1.35 vCore. Stopped at just over an hour. Bumping vCore to 1.4v as per another thread in these forums.

temps also rose now that i'm doing proper stress testing and the ambient temperature is higher; 54C orthos blend with Tuniq fan set at 10% above low on dial. as a reference, my DS3 3.3 w/ e6300 @ 3.0Ghz on load is 57C with a Scythe Ninja with low speed fan measured during afternoon the hottest part of the day. keep in mind i'm overvolting much more to get to 3.4Ghz so the tuniq is an exceptional cooler. if i put the tuniq in jet engine mode (high speed) i get a whopping 4C drop, fluctuating between 50-51C.

1 con of tuniq:

- LONG power connector. not sure what they were thinking but newer boards have the CPU fan header adjacent the CPU (again not so bad with P182 since extra length can be hidden behind tray)

 

[newschool]

I got a corsair 520hx ps too... looks like we gonna end up with the same config. But the PCI Lan issue is bothering me, because I am living in my university campus and they provide us with a LAN link to a fiber optic internet... I might wait till the P5K-E or C is available in Canada, in terms of performance and durability I think they can compare with the Abit too.. plus they got ADI audio and PCIe Lan.

But the Abit is so sexy..

 

[brencat]

How's the onboard sound on the Abit IP35 Pro? I like saving $50 by not having to buy a sound card if possible, but agree with newschool that ADI onboard audio like what's used on the Asus P5K series tends to be superior.

 

[renethx]

ALC888 used in IP35 Pro, ALC883 used in P5K vanilla, AD1988B used in P5K Deluxe are not bad, but ALC889A used in GIGABYTE's new lineup has superior sound quality as several users testified. It supports full-rate Blu-ray/HD DVD audio sound and the SNR is

• ALC889A: 106dB
• ALC888: 97dB
• ALC883: 95dB
• AD1988B: 101dB

I am not sure of EAX support.

These are just analog audio out. If you use S/PDIF out, any of them should be fine.

 

[renethx]

Originally posted by: renethx
But AnandTech gave a contradictory result:

• Intel P965: The Double Mint Twins Gone Wild

where RTL8110SC is referred to as "PCI-E" (this is wrong).

The AnandTech article is just a crap as far as this part is concerned. In this article,

• Ethernet Throughput
  • Realtek RTL-8110SC PCI-E - Biostar TForce P965PT: 947.8 Mbps

In another article, Intel P965: MSI P965 Platinum and ECS PX1 Extreme (by the same author, Gary Key),

• Ethernet Throughput
  • Realtek RTL-8110SC PCI - Biostar TForce P965PT: 647.8 Mbps

The test configurations are identical in both the articles. Needless to say, the latter result is correct.

 

[postmortemIA]

Originally posted by: renethx
ALC888 used in IP35 Pro, ALC883 used in P5K vanilla, AD1988B used in P5K Deluxe are not bad, but ALC889A used in GIGABYTE's new lineup has superior sound quality as several users testified. It supports full-rate Blu-ray/HD DVD audio sound and the SNR is

• ALC889A: 106dB
• ALC888: 97dB
• ALC883: 95dB
• AD1988B: 101dB

I am not sure of EAX support.

These are just analog audio out. If you use S/PDIF out, any of them should be fine.

Do you know anything about SigmaTel chips?

 

[newschool]

So Gigabyte got a better audio codec and Asus got a better network controller. Im pretty much f*cked here.
So I think im just gonna go by the look.. and get the Abit.. plus it has 2 RJ45 on the back so I can connect a friends computer too.

 

[renethx]

Originally posted by: postmortemIA

Originally posted by: renethx
ALC888 used in IP35 Pro, ALC883 used in P5K vanilla, AD1988B used in P5K Deluxe are not bad, but ALC889A used in GIGABYTE's new lineup has superior sound quality as several users testified. It supports full-rate Blu-ray/HD DVD audio sound and the SNR is

• ALC889A: 106dB
• ALC888: 97dB
• ALC883: 95dB
• AD1988B: 101dB

I am not sure of EAX support.

These are just analog audio out. If you use S/PDIF out, any of them should be fine.

Do you know anything about SigmaTel chips?

Perhaps you mean STAC9271D used in Intel Media Series motherboards DG965WH/DG965OT/Intel DP35DP/Intel DG33TL. Its SNR is 105dB.

 

[mgutz]

OK I got this stable (2 hours orthos blend, not certified stable but good enough for me) at 3.5Ghz. The bad news is the VCore=1.5v. My office temp was warm at 3:00-4:00 PM and the CPU loaded was 60C with Tuniq on high. the sound of the fans is unbearable to me. i will back this down to 3.2-3.3 for quieter, cooler and less stressful computing. I just wanted to see how far I could push it. May try 3.6Ghz this weekend but the sweet spot seems to be right below 3.4Ghz. I want to stay below 1.37 on the VCore.

newschool - i like this board and it goes great with a P182 and Corsair PSU. makes for tidy cable management. my camera is dead otherwise i would take pictures for you. however, i am bothered by the high cpu utilization of this network controller. i'm not too worried about the network throughput as most of the time on the web. i would let it slide if the CPU utilization was low and the throughput was low, but the Realtek controller is low on throughput and high on utilization. i was giddy because this board was so easy to OC to 3.4 but even that was a false impression. vista seems to boot and operate fine but when i started Orthos sress testing i had to increase the volts a lot for stability at 3.4Ghz. as with all boards, there seems to be a point where you have to increase the voltage geometrically to get a stable configuration to squeeze out that last 0.2-0.3Ghz.

i'm stuck, i could return it for a 15% restocking fee to NewEgg. the fee is roughly $27 and if I include shipping it back insured the total amounts is ~$40. i'm inclined to keep it and just buy a dedicated NIC. it's a great board otherwise. i have a soundblaster x-fi xtrememusic so the audio was never a factor. if i were in your shoes i'd consider other boards as most P35s seem to overclock close to each other even if it means spending a little more.

 

[brencat]

mgutz, before you give up on OCing can I ask if vcore was the only thing you touched? You should try raising the vMCH and use less vcore to try and get the right balance, especially for higher FSB clocks.

 

[mgutz]

Originally posted by: brencat
mgutz, before you give up on OCing can I ask if vcore was the only thing you touched? You should try raising the vMCH and use less vcore to try and get the right balance, especially for higher FSB clocks.

I bumped up everything by the next setting except for

MCH 1.33
VCore 1.50
DDR2 2.20

Didn't touch DDR2 REF, CPU GTLREF(s)

Will try other increasing MCH tomorrow. I"m testing at 7x500 and looks good so far. My memory scores in Everest are off the wall. These Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 well worth the money. You know I've always stayed from bios utilities like uGuru in Windows but this thing hasn't crashed. I even set it to 3.8Ghz for the heck of it (orthos failed within the one second!) Huge time saver. I don't have to constantly reboot into the BIOS.

 

[newschool]

I found this : http://www.intel.com/products/...board/DP35DP/index.htm , it has great audio and network but it has -zero- o/c capabilities, I guess its the perfect board for your father's comp. But I am still searching for a board with this network controller.. (Intel 82566DC)

The P35 Gigabyte mobos have the best Audio (ALC889A) but they use RealTek 8111 network controller who has a good throughput but kinda bad CPU utilisation.
So finally, I think I'll buy the ASUS P5K-E with ADI® AD1988B and LAN CONTROLLER Marvell 88E8056e who looks kinda good. But I still can't found her anywhere in Canada...

BTW renethx, you seems to be really informed, wich board would you choose?

 

[mgutz]

~3.3 Ghz stable settings, not tweaked yet, using high MCH. Also note orthos doesn't recognize I'm using 7x multiplier, it thinks I'm using 8x. 7x gives me much better performance for memory-intensive apps. These Crucial Ballistix DDR2-1066 are off the charts in Everest benchmarks. Vdroop seems to be around 0.5-0.6 on this board which is consistent with what others are reporting in other forums. Tuniq on lowest fan speed.

http://img402.imageshack.us/my...?image=snag0000qo3.jpg

speakeasy bandwidth test (still FAST, network throughput not bothering me so much)
http://img456.imageshack.us/my...image=speakeasydd4.jpg


3.5Ghz settngs from last night. I didn't take screen after an hour of blend, I just recreated it from my notes. Again 7x multiplier on e6420. Tuniq highest fan speed.

http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/5550/snag0001nq7.jpg

3.4Ghz test in progress

http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/8983/snag0003kr0.jpg

Please post a screenshot of your BIOS settings if you have a configuration > 3.4Ghz

 

[mgutz]

this is really strange my temps went up 10C (idle and load) now that i have it on my desk. i know this Antec P182B case has very good air flow as it was my main case for my previous setup. i wonder if I loosened the Tuniq when transporting it from my garage. it could also be the way i have the tuniq oriented to push air up through the top exhaust. that could be pulling heat from my Sapphire X1950XT which is hot and frankly loud, will probably replace it with my passively cooled 7600 GT. i was getting a warning from uGuru, that's why i stopped the 3.5Ghz test at an hour. i have a Swiftech Ultra WC kit but I've been lazy to install but i might to see if i can get past 3.6Ghz. heat might be holding me back. much less hassle with air.

(i buy too much stuff, should stop reading these forums. my relatives are happy, i seem to give away decent computers every two months).

 

[brencat]

Originally posted by: mgutz
Vdroop seems to be around 0.5-0.6 on this board which is consistent with what others are reporting in other forums.

Well that sucks the big one.... 0.5 - 0.6 vdroop is pretty poor -- sounds similar to the P5K vanilla. And the Abit doesn't have the 'Enable Voltage Damper' feature in Bios like the P5K Deluxe, correct?

Time to get out the pencil

 

[mgutz]

Originally posted by: brencat

Originally posted by: mgutz
Vdroop seems to be around 0.5-0.6 on this board which is consistent with what others are reporting in other forums.

Well that sucks the big one.... 0.5 - 0.6 vdroop is pretty poor -- sounds similar to the P5K vanilla. And the Abit doesn't have the 'Enable Voltage Damper' feature in Bios like the P5K Deluxe, correct?

Time to get out the pencil

Oops i mean 0.05-0.06, obviously a big difference. But yes not good.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: mgutz
Oops i mean 0.05-0.06, obviously a big difference. But yes not good.

I've seen it reported elsewhere though that whilst vdroop is ~.05V from BIOS setting to uGuru reading under load that the idle>load droop in uGuru is only ~0.02V which imo isn't a big deal.

 

[newschool]

Im finally buying a 965-DS3 (realtek 888 audio codec and marvell 8056 controller)! Because its only 120$CDN so I will simply buy a X38 board in december who will support DDR3 and Penryn. I think its a great solution.

 

[mgutz]

i have the DS3 in my other system (see my sig). and to be honest the extra few 0.3-0.5Ghz i've been able to squeeze out of this Abit didn't translate into WOW my system is so much faster. P35s aren't that much better than the P965s and tests prove this out. HOWEVER, the DS3 3.3 is a finicky board, lots of cold boot issues, sometimes the CMOS won't clear for hours then all of the sudden it will, or sometimes your BIOS settings will not be saved. never had those issues with this Abit. still, the DS3 is an awesome performer and will perform as well as the high end boards once you get it stable.