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

[manimal]

Just discovered a very odd thing, after enabling C1E and speedstep my vdroop problem went away. Now I still get .02-.04 from bios to windows actual but its nowhere near as bad as the 1.5 in bios to 1.4 in windows I was getting with those things enabled. Im still load stable at 1.4 actual vdroop with bios set to 1.45. I may try flashing to the latest beta to see if I can get stable at 4.0 at lower volts. 1.4 makes me a little nervous on this board.....I tried to read that entire post over at XS on these chips but after about 40 pages or so I had a splitting headache and was nowhere near what I wanted to know.......

What do you guys think? 1.4 go boom short time on a E8400?

 

[QuixoticOne]

C1E is the enhanced halt state thing that saves CPU power when the processor is momentarily idle. Turn it on and when Windows isn't doing anything useful for the moment the CPU goes into C1E, less power is consumed.

When less average power is consumed, there is less load on the PWM power circuits on the motherboard, and the Vdroop improves.

Besides Vdroop isn't necessarily bad at all, it is really good as long as they're staying within the CPU power specifications:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuch...howdoc.aspx?i=3184&p=5

Originally posted by: manimal
Just discovered a very odd thing, after enabling C1E and speedstep my vdroop problem went away. Now I still get .02-.04 from bios to windows actual but its nowhere near as bad as the 1.5 in bios to 1.4 in windows I was getting with those things enabled. Im still load stable at 1.4 actual vdroop with bios set to 1.45. I may try flashing to the latest beta to see if I can get stable at 4.0 at lower volts. 1.4 makes me a little nervous on this board.....I tried to read that entire post over at XS on these chips but after about 40 pages or so I had a splitting headache and was nowhere near what I wanted to know.......

What do you guys think? 1.4 go boom short time on a E8400?

 

[MustangSVT]

what bios are you guys using?

12?

 

[trevor0323]

LOL, I am having similar problems with my buddies PC that I built for him. All went fine with my q6600 with this board but with his e2180 I cant seem to OC at all.

He has

mb-ip35-e, e2180, adata 2x1gb ddr2 800, thermaltake 430w psu

i was hoping to be able to run at 3.0ghz with the 1:1:25 divider

I have turned C1E and the other cpu feature off,

ive tried voltages settings up to here

cpu volts- 1.46
mem -2.00
mch- one step higher.

I was hoping to run the mem at 4-4-4-12 with the 1:1:25 divider but after that failed prime cft right away I also tried 5-5-5-15 1:1:25, 4-4-4-12 1:1, and finally when that failed 5-5-5-15 1:1.

All seem to fail small cft in prime rather quickly (one test usually fails in under a minute)

All temps seem to be normal but I am worried about raising volts beyond what I listed. I am thinking that his PSU is giving me trouble. It is the popular one from newegg with like 1400 reviews. However it is a single 12v rail and I think this board would likely benefit with 2 12v rails.

I have racked my brain trying to figure out what the deal is. Even going to 2.8ghz with ram at spec with 1:1 causes prime to fail, Everyone seems to be able to notch to this at stock volts without a problem

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: MustangSVT
what bios are you guys using?

12?

16 final.

 

[manimal]

Gonna try 16 today to see if my problems go away. Using 1.4 volts is making me nervous on this 45 nanometer chip.

 

[ghost recon88]

16 beta 1 is the best, doesn't have the double-boot after changing the FSB like the official BIOS 16 does.

 

[hrbngr]

hello,

I have been running a IP35-E for a couple of weeks w/a E2140 and a Big Typhoon as well as the recommended Kingston memory from the first page of this post. I am currently running at stock speeds b/c of the problem I am having.

Beyond the system drive (WD740 Raptor 70gb) drive, I cannot seem to format/install any new hard drives as data drives.

When I transfer a drive from another computer that I have wiped clean and deleted the partition on, the computer sees it just fine. but when i create a dynamic disk and then try to format it, I get an error within a few minutes.

I have swapped out sata cables and this is the 2nd 500gb drive that this has happened to, so i am starting to get worried that the mobo might be the problem. Is there anything that I am missing??

basic XP pro install w/sp2 and updates, nvidia 8800gt vc, 4gb of memory is my setup.

 

[mlhm5]

here is oine for you.

I downloaded MS IE and now cannot post despite removing the battery and clearing the CMOS several times. Was working just fine before the dl and restart. Now it ends up at the ABIT screen and goes no further.

any help appreciated

 

[mindless1]

Originally posted by: hrbngr
hello,

I have been running a IP35-E for a couple of weeks w/a E2140 and a Big Typhoon as well as the recommended Kingston memory from the first page of this post. I am currently running at stock speeds b/c of the problem I am having.

Beyond the system drive (WD740 Raptor 70gb) drive, I cannot seem to format/install any new hard drives as data drives.

That's not exactly what you wrote about below, which seems as much like a problem formatting a dynamic volume but to be sure it would be good to have a drive already working, holding data for some basic access tests.

When I transfer a drive from another computer that I have wiped clean and deleted the partition on, the computer sees it just fine. but when i create a dynamic disk and then try to format it, I get an error within a few minutes.

First, why wipe it THEN delete partition THEN move it? Just curious, was this some super secretive data store? If not it's odd you didn't just install the drive, format it and be done.

Why a dynamic disc? Don't do advanced things like a dynamic volume and blame the board (yet), do the simple thing THEN tell use exactly what the error message was, including what is shown in Event Viewer if there are any correspondant entries.

We also don't know if the board is stable in general, memtest86+, Orthos testing, etc? I'm just saying that there are things you know and take for granted that we don't know (yet).

Without knowing these things Windows itself could be to blame in some way.

I have swapped out sata cables and this is the 2nd 500gb drive that this has happened to, so i am starting to get worried that the mobo might be the problem. Is there anything that I am missing??

Did the prior drive do exactly the same thing under exactly the same conditions? Have you checked either with the manufacturer's diagnostics? Next time, try just installing a drive holding data and see if Chkdsk, reading and writing to it, works. Next try just formatting it. Next try deleting and creating partition(s). Each thing in turn, find out what exactly it won't do and above all, use the info provided in the error message to track the problem.

basic XP pro install w/sp2 and updates, nvidia 8800gt vc, 4gb of memory is my setup.

I wonder if your PSU has ample 12V current for adding more parts like HDDs.

 

[mindless1]

Originally posted by: mlhm5
here is oine for you.

I downloaded MS IE and now cannot post despite removing the battery and clearing the CMOS several times. Was working just fine before the dl and restart. Now it ends up at the ABIT screen and goes no further.

any help appreciated

IE is not the problem.

Did you unplug AC before removing battery?
When the Abit screen comes up, press (Tab?) key to show the info and tell us what it says, where it stops. If you can get into the bios menus at some point, disable the Abit splash screen.

You haven't mentioned much, like what parts are installed incl. PSU, what bios version, whether you're overclocking.

Try turning off AC power, pulling all but one memory module, leaving the battery out for 10 minutes, then using clear CMOS jumper. If that doesn't help, measure PSU voltage if possible, swap in spare PSU if you have one, swap in spare CPU if you're using something new(er) that isn't listed as supported on Abit's CPU support page (linked off their main product page IIRC), and if you have one of course.

Generally speaking if AC power is disconnected for long enough (I've read conflicting reports of how long is necessary, some say only 15 seconds or so to drain PSU and others that leaving it unplugged overnight made a difference) then the next time the board POSTs it'll do so at the lower (200MHz?) default FSB which in some cases may improve or regain stability. If overnight disconnect doesn't help I would tend to think either your bios settings are bad for what config you use or the bios has a general incompatibility with the defaults. How long had your system ran in it's present config including # of times you'd successfully powered off and on again without changing anything?

Beyond that if further info you provide doesn't suggest another option, you're stuck having to RMA the board or return to (Newegg?) if within their return period still.

 

[mlhm5]

Specs.

Intel core 2 duo e8400
thermalright ultra 120
2gb (2 x 1gb) DDR2 PC2-6400 supertalent
Antec Earthwatts 500
3 port firewire card
wifi card PCI
120gb Samsung IDE HDD
500gb Samsung SATA
320gb SeagateSATA
bios 14 beta 5

Unit was running stock for the past month. Nothing was overclocked. I have powered off the unit every night for the past month and restarted in the AM with no problems.

I did take out the battery, cleared the CMOS but did not unplug the power cord.

Will unplug the power cord, remove the battery, and set the jumpers to clear for 10 minutes and try again? - did not work.

If that does not work, I will do the same but remove one stick of memory and try again. have not done this.

Hard to believe the board is bad. It is rather new and has been working great until that dl of MS IE and restart. Hard to figure.

Lee

 

[Tweakin]

Originally posted by: MustangSVT
what bios are you guys using?

12?

I installed v16 for the additional settings in the bios.

 

[MadScientist]

Originally posted by: Tweakin

Originally posted by: MustangSVT
what bios are you guys using?

12?

I installed v16 for the additional settings in the bios.

What extra settings?

I'm still using V12. It's fine. I am running a Q6600 and see no reason to flash to V16 unless I upgrade my CPU. I know V14 and V15 were borked because if you oc they will set your CPU back to stock settings if you completely (no standby power) power down. Anyone tested V16 for this? And there's always the chance, even in DOS, that a bad flash will f*ck up your bios. If your computer's running fine with the bios it came with, leave it alone. You are not going to gain anything by flashing to a later bios unless your CPU needs support.

"If it aint broke, I'll fix it till it is."
Canterwood

 

[tornadog]

whats ur cpu speed at, mad?

 

[MadScientist]

Originally posted by: tornadog
whats ur cpu speed at, mad?

For now, VID: 1.2375V, needs 1.2975 bios, 1.248V idle, 1.208V load (CPUZ) @ 3.40Ghz, 12 hrs. Prime95 (small FFts) stable, 32C idle, 52C load with a Coolermaster Hyper TX2 HSF and an Antec 900 case, room temp 66-68F (winter).
It will do 3.6Ghz at 1.3575V bios, 1.312V idle, 1.272V load (CPUZ), 34C idle, 57C load stable.

I built this rig for my son who likes to keep his apartment at 72F so I set it to 3.4GHz. Besides your case air flow and CPU HSF, ambient temps are also part of the CPU temps equation.

What's the VID, per Core Temp, of your Q6600?

Q6600 GO stepping @3.4 Ghz (9 x 378), 1.2975V bios
Gigabyte Geforce 8800GT GV-NX88T512HP
4 x 1GB Crucial Ballistix PC6400 @946Mhz (378 x 1.25 x 2), 1:1.25 ratio, 5-4-4-12-2T, 2.1V, MCH 1.25V
Vista Ultimate 64, SP1
2 x Maxtor 300GB SATA HDs
Samsung SH-S203B SATA DVD Burner
Corsair 620W PSU
Cooler Master Hyper TX2 HS/fan
Antec 900 case

 

[hrbngr]

That's not exactly what you wrote about below, which seems as much like a problem formatting a dynamic volume but to be sure it would be good to have a drive already working, holding data for some basic access tests.

First, why wipe it THEN delete partition THEN move it? Just curious, was this some super secretive data store? If not it's odd you didn't just install the drive, format it and be done.

Why a dynamic disc? Don't do advanced things like a dynamic volume and blame the board (yet), do the simple thing THEN tell use exactly what the error message was, including what is shown in Event Viewer if there are any correspondant entries.

We also don't know if the board is stable in general, memtest86+, Orthos testing, etc? I'm just saying that there are things you know and take for granted that we don't know (yet).

Without knowing these things Windows itself could be to blame in some way.[/quote]

Ok, to clarify, I installed board, xp pro sp2, e2140 onto raptor 70gb main drive. ran memtest and orthos and prime for about 2ish days w/no errors, considered the system basically ok. overclocked the C2D to about 266 FSB w/no issues and left it there.

next, to prepare the system for a gaming weekend, moved a 500gb drive from another xp pro sp2 system (dynamic drive--originally created as such under disk mgr of other cpu) to the the new computer. It had some ripped backup dvd directories but was otherwise fine and had been used for over 6months on the other cpu w/out probs.

After game day, decided to clear up and delete all the old directories on that drive so i installed diskkeeper v8 to help w/the defrag process...and thats when the problems started, I tried to do a chkdsk on the drive via the cmd prompt but it appeared to set up chkdsk to run everytime i rebooted the computer, also, slowly but surely, everytime i rebooted, chkdsk kept finding more and more errors, w/alarms showing out of space problems to save recovered files, etc.

at that point, I gave up and then took another known working 500gb drive, and then deleted the partition in the old system --did not wipe it--sorry for the confusion. I then moved it to the new cpu/ip35 system and tried to create a volume and format it(once again creating a dynamic volume via default prompts)--which promptly started getting errors during the format process. (note this was done w/the cpu, memory etc running at stock speed via bios changes)

So at this point I have a system w/one harddrive working but an inability to install a new data hd--or at least it appears this way.

Finally, I took the harddrive from the new system, moved it back to the old system and then created a new dynamic volume and formatted it w/out problems.

I wonder if your PSU has ample 12V current for adding more parts like HDDs.

Also, the power supply i used was a Antec Earthwatts EA500, about 3mos old.

 

[mindless1]

hrbngr, I would uninstall Diskkeeper,run the manufacturer's HDD diags in windows, and see if you have any other factors that might preventwrite caching from being flushed each time windows shuts down. Was there nothing showing in Event Viewer? If you don't need dynamic discs, try basic.

 

[manimal]

After updating to bios 16 on my E8400 the .5 multi in the bios became an option. I changed it to 9.5 and it says I should be booting into 4.1 but CPUZ and everything else tells me I am only at 3.9. Speeds do not seem faster than when I had the board set to actual 4.0. Anyone else have any luck with the new bios?

 

[ghost recon88]

even though the 9.5 multi option is there, the highest its ever gonna POST is 9.0. I've personally found BIOS 16 beta 1 to be the best so far, BIOS 16 final brought back the double-post whenever I would change the FSB.

 

[Ages]

SerpentRoyal outstanding review and fantastic support throughout this topic!

Will the IP35-E support an E8400 and a 9800 GX2 gpu? If the IP35-E will do it then I am sold. If not can you recommend a good quality reasonably priced overclocker that will? I can live without all the bells and whistles, performance matters more to me. I am going to build a new system and believe I shouldn't have to pay $250 - $400 for a quality motherboard.

 

[Heidfirst]

certainly will support an E8400 & I can't see why it wouldn't support a 9800GX2 (you want to check whether it will block SATA ports though).

 

[hrbngr]

Originally posted by: mindless1
hrbngr, I would uninstall Diskkeeper,run the manufacturer's HDD diags in windows, and see if you have any other factors that might preventwrite caching from being flushed each time windows shuts down. Was there nothing showing in Event Viewer? If you don't need dynamic discs, try basic.

Mindless1,

thanks for the reply. I will definitely uninstall diskkeeper, maybe wipe and redo the whole system as I finally purchased a Q6600.

Would u recommend a bios upgrade to v16 beta1 as others have been using for the Q6600?

Might you also explain why you think write caching might be an issue?

 

[mindless1]

Originally posted by: hrbngr

Originally posted by: mindless1
hrbngr, I would uninstall Diskkeeper,run the manufacturer's HDD diags in windows, and see if you have any other factors that might preventwrite caching from being flushed each time windows shuts down. Was there nothing showing in Event Viewer? If you don't need dynamic discs, try basic.

Mindless1,

thanks for the reply. I will definitely uninstall diskkeeper, maybe wipe and redo the whole system as I finally purchased a Q6600.

Would u recommend a bios upgrade to v16 beta1 as others have been using for the Q6600?

Might you also explain why you think write caching might be an issue?

I don't have Q6600, can't tell you advantages of 16 beta1 as well as others would. If it were only my input, I would use a final version instead of a beta but others do have 16 beta 1 working well for them so it's your call.

The write catching remark was only one thought on why it might be scanning the drive on every boot. I'm sure there are other possibilities but I can't remember them at the moment.

I'm doubting a bios change is a solution to your problem. I suggest doing the prior things and telling us you did and what the results were. There's no way to give reasonable suggestions not knowing what has been tried and worked or failed. The systematic approach requires a process of elimination instead of randomization. If you know you have a bios flaw that effects disc access, then it would be more reasonable. Otherwise since there is nobody else having this problem due to a bios version it would be premature to assume a bios change will matter... but it's your system, up to you what to do next.

 

[trevor0323]

Alas I just solved many of my OC'ing problems with this board, like many other posters who could not obtain a stable OC even with modest settings. After numerous failures I put my money on my PSU being the problem.

In the machine I have
Abit IP35-E, E2180, Adata DDR2 800 2x1gb, Thermaltake TR2 430w PSU

This is the PSU that has the most reviews on newegg and is a decent piece of a equipment for a modest system. The problem is that it is a single 12v rail and from some reading this board likes dual 12v rails better. The other more important problem is that it only has the 4 pin 12v plug for CPU power. As you know the IP35-E has the 8 pin for the CPU on the mobo although the manual states you can use the 4 pin however recommends the 8 pin. I plugged in my spare Neo power 500w PSU that I have been saving for my own rig as this PC is for my buddies. and sure enough I was able to OC to 3.0 Ghz with the 1:1:25 ram divider with memory timings of 4-4-4-12.

Since I didn't want to sell or give this PSU to my buddy I rolled the dice with the dynex case/psu combo at best buy posted in the hot deals. Luckily the PSU that came with had the 8 pin connector. The PSU claims to be 500w but is probably more like 350w, however this still will be more than enough for my buddies modest system. Anyways I am off to buddies to test this PSU and see if it will allow the same OC as the Neopower 500.


Cliffs for those having trouble OC'ing: MAKE SURE you use the 8 pin 12v cpu power connector on the mobo, and if your PSU does not have one replace it.

Just as a side note, I was wondering if they sell a 4 to 8 pin adapter for the 12v cpu power plug anywhere. This could have aslo solved my problems