ABIT IP35-E, IP35 Pro, or ASUS P5K DELUXE for E6420

[SilentAssassin]

I'm building a new rig that's mainly going to be used for gaming. I'm already decided on an E6420 and plan on overclocking it atleast to 3.2ghz if not higher. All the extra features of the pro/deluxe aren't really needed, my main concern is which board will give me the best overlock and stability. From what I read so far the IP35-E is just as good as the pro but with less features? The P5K supossedly is awesome from what I read but the price is kinda ouch on that and I don't need all those features. So which board would you guys recommend out of these? If the IP35-E is going to preform just as good as the P5k DELUXE or IP35 Pro but without the features I'd rather spend less money and put it towards better ram or something.

Another thing is I'm using the Tuniq Tower 120 for the E6420, that should fit fine on any of those boards right?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

That's why I also went with the IP35-E. It runs cool (no need for heat pipe). Easy 450MHz FSB with little to no bump in NB, SB, and VTT. Big bonus is I don't have to pay more $ for bells and whistles that I don't use. It would be nice if the board has a printer port for my ancient laser printer. My only gripe with the IP35-E is the double post at cold start. No problem with RESTART in windows. The double post adds about 14 seconds to your boot time.

There are other factors that limit the maximum core speed, such as CPU, CPU cooler, and RAM. Note that 6420 comes with 4MB of cache (more heat). No installation issue with Tuniq.

 

[vailr]

Both Anandtech and HardOCP.com picked the Gigabyte P35-DQ6 as being the best choice for an IP35 board.
However, it's about $50 more expensive than the Abit IP35-Pro board.
There's also a less expensive Gigabyte P35-DS3 board.
Might compare that board with the cheaper Abit IP35-E; no online reviews comparing those 2 boards that I'm aware of.

Correction: P35 board comparison review at DriverHeaven.net:
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/p35moboroundup/
(not HardOCP.com)

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Link comparing P35-DQ6 to IP35 Pro? The only minor drawback of the Pro is the placement of LAN on PCI. Since the real-world write speed of HDD is capped at 50MB/s, I don't see LAN on PCI as a legitimate concern. Let's talk about VALUE. If you don't need RAID, 1394, or two extra SATA plugs, then the $107 IP35-E is a fantastic bargain. I couldn't find any FSB hole between 200 and 490MHz FSB with my IP35-E and E4300/E6320 CPUs.

I don't worry about a 1 to 2% performance gap between any two boards. That's well within the noise level of many tests. A more important variable is ease of overclocking and heat output. If both boards are stable at 480MHz FSB, then I would rather go with one that uses less power...say 15 to 20 watts.

 

[vailr]

Correction: P35 board comparison review at DriverHeaven.net:
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/p35moboroundup/
(not HardOCP.com)

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Thanks for linkie. It appears that the boards were within 2% with all benchies. That tells me that we are working within the noise floor of these tests. I would not use the word BEST unless there is at least a 5% gain in performance across all tests.

A good evaluator will also factor-in price, stability, ease-of-use, and heat (power consumption).

 

[yyrkoon]

Wow, driverheaven's web page REALLY needs work. Anyhow to the OP, take a gander of the user reviews of the ABIT IP35 Pro on newegg, 37 reviews, 5 eggs average. Dont just take the 5 egg average, read the reviews and see what the people are saying. I personally hold the user reviews in higher esteem over any review sites opinion for obvious reasons.

Yes, I am an ABIT fan, but for good reason, 10-12 years experience with their boards, and all have been rock solid stable once I have ironed out BIOS/user error issues.