Another plus:
+ Good ocability with fully loaded banks, 4x1GB, while retaining decent timings
I noticed my LAN uses a 100M hub so the onboard PCI based LAN controllers are a non-issue for my use. I'm not running this as a server nor do I transfer large files on the LAN. When I do I use external eSata drives and this board comes with two eSata ports. It is silly though that an enthusiast board has a pair of underperforming LAN ports. I don't think most people use their OC machines as true servers so this is probably not a big deal for mos of us. I would make a suggestion to Abit if it was a cost isssue, I suggest for the 2nd revision of this board to do what that other 4 letter company does and put a decent LAN controller on the first and go cheap on the second.
This board has been easy to OC. I've taken it to 3.5 using high FSB (7x) on air so whenever I find more time I'll switch to my Swiftech Ultra WC kit. I'm guessing that will take the e6420 to 3.8. I actually booted and could do web browsing, etc in Vista x64 at 3.8 GHz (8x) but Orthos stopped within 1 second. Not once did I have to clear the CMOS. A simple power down put the board back in a stable state to access the BIOS (unlike my DS3 which I wasted lots of hours fighting boot problems).
Another plus is the uGuru utility works in Vista x64 which is a huge time saver once you get in the ballpark. Rather than reboot, change bios, take a note of your settings, boot into vista, run orthos just change the settings, take a screen shot and run orthos. When Vista did blue screen, the last successful settings were in the BIOS. Nice.
Anyway, I have to give this board an overall rating of 9 of 10 stars since it works well with Vista x64 with 4GB (both 4x1GB and 2x2GB) at a good OC with only a slight increase in voltages except the VCore obviously. The unusual SATA connector placement may not work well with most cases but is perfect for the Antec P182 or P180 rev 2 cases making for clean cable management. It will be tough to beat this board in its price range.
Here are my final what I consider safe settings for extended use. Also if you are going to OC this board based on my settings, disregard my previous posts. I had the voltages way too high. As you can see in this screen, you only need a mild increase on the MCH along with the obvious increases in DDR and VCore. Others in the Abit forum have had better luck using stock voltages up to 3.33Ghz. Wow. Orthos blend at PRIORITY 10 going on 7 hours now so this is rock stable.
Abit IP35 Pro F10 Bios
Tuniq Tower (~35C - ~55C)
e6420 @ 3.3GHz (7x472)
Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 4x1GB (4-4-4-12 @ 2.225V)
Corsair HX520
Antec P182B Case, additional 12cm Yate-Loon intake fan in mid cage
http://img248.imageshack.us/my...?image=snag0016ku0.jpg
BTW, what the heck is up with these forums? It's been down half the time since they switched to this new version. Here's something I learned in software development, don't fix it if it aint broken.