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

[Peav]

Originally posted by: Winterpool
Reassuring to hear that, as I've purchased the same memory for my Abit IP35-E. The reviews did suggest that, on initial POST, the memory would default to CL5 at standard 1.8V. Though I did pay the extra bucks for CL4 memory, I'm not sure if I'll really run it at 2.1V: would this be likely to shorten memory chip lifespan (akin to overvolting a cpu)? I'd rather have stability and longevity than the marginal gain of CL4 (so why did I pay more, heh?).

Have been collecting parts over the last two months and will at last commence my build tomorrow. Pray nothing is DOA.

Good luck with the build.

The memory is guarenteed by Corsair to run at 2.1V so no warranties will be broken run at that voltage. I doubt the chip life will shorten that much. Maybe a little but when it does die I doubt we'd still be using it.

However, as they are warrantied to 2.1V you can whack up the volts and overclock the ram instead of lowering the timings. I havent noticed much difference between CL4 and CL5 with this board.

@METALWORK

You could try increasing the MCH voltages a few notches. Seems this board needs an extra bit on the northbridge chip when using 4 sticks of ram. Also try GTLREF ( I think it is, last on on the voltage list ) to 67%.

 

[Winterpool]

Mustered the necessary pieces of kit and assembled my new computer system (see system rig profile below). It was my first time building a system round LGA775, so I had the privilege of enjoying all manner of novel experiences today (particularly frustrating were the plastic pins in the Intel heatsink mount). Somewhat to my surprise, the computer managed to POST on the first attempt (well, after a false start that may have been the notorious double POST of this board).

My monitor announced a 3.06 GHz Xeon, which the BIOS confirmed: despite the 'CPU Operating Speed' being set to factory default and listing '3000(333)', further details revealed

x - External Clock 340MHz
x - Multiplier Factor 9 x
x - Estimated New CPU Clock 3060MHz
x - DRAM Speed (CPURAM) Default (DDR2-816)

Ought I to be alarmed by this development? It seems a little disturbing that the default FSB should go to 340 when the default is listed as 333 (and I presume that's what the chipset would aim for). I am running BIOS ver 15 (how the board came from Newegg). The BIOS reported a 'CPU Core Voltage' of 1.11 volts, 'DDR2 Voltage' of 1.92 volts, and 'Core VTT Voltage' of 1.09 volts.

The other disturbing bit is that, almost every time I cold booted the system after plugging AC power back into the mains, the computer would hang the first time I quit the AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility. I'd have to power off the machine, then power it back on. Usually after that the issue would disappear until the next time I unplugged everything and then plugged back in. All my CMOS settings would still be there after this failed restart (no checksum error, reset to factory defaults, etc).

Haven't installed an operating system yet, but I did give it a brief round with Memtest86+ 1.70. I was amused to see my cpu identified as a 'Pentium III 3060 MHz' with an unknown L2 cache, and a blank chipset.

 

[METALWORK]

I have a problem. When I boot into windows, sometimes I get a stable system which passes Prime95 testing and has no apparent problems except multiplier stays at 6.0 even under full load (at default 9.0 in BIOS, change to 9.0 max on the fly with Crystal CPUID for now and it moves between 6.0 and 9.0 depending on load)

I got online and installed updates and apparently Vista was my problem and now all is well. EIST is working correctly, my bad there. Having a real time meter using CPUID is cool. I'm very happy with this system for what I paid. $38 shipped for Vista home basic was something I had to bite on. If it doesn't work out no big deal but so far I am enjoying Microsoft's attempt at being user friendly.

GO FLYERS!!

 

[Winterpool]

By the way, for those of you who were curious: Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 did boot without adjustment on my IP35-E. Installed the two DIMMs, and the system POSTed and ran Memtest (of a sort -- see my previous post). The memory defaulted to 816 MHz and 1.92 volts, and I presume it's at CL5 (the nonstandard memory speed is related to the default 340 MHz bus I also described above). Haven't tried increasing voltage, speed, or timings manually yet, but those of you considering Corsair memory deals should feel a little more confident that you can boot the CL4 stuff SPD.

 

[lopri]

Bumped for a better thread visibility.

 

[slken]

I posted the message below in the Motherboard section earlier without know about this thread over here. So I'm reposting.

I built a box with Abit IP35-E m/b with a E6750. Threw in (4) 1GB Patriot 4-4-4-12. But I didn't try to overclock this box. Though I went with the default BIOS settings. Also have a 8600GT video card in there.

Originally, the computer boots and is on for 3 seconds, power shuts down for 3 seconds and then turns on. I was able to install Vista 64bit. Then installed all my software. That was with a single monitor setup. But after I switched to dual monitors, I getting blue screens.

That was a disaster.

Formatted the drive, and installed Vista 32bit.

But now, the machine would turn on for 3 seconds, then turn off for 3 seconds, and then turn on for 3 seconds. Then finally shut off.

Anybody ever seen anything like this?

At one point, the computer would fire alarm and shut down, but that was because the CPU fan was fully seated. But that's ok now.

Now that I've see this IP35-E thread here. It appears I have the double POST problem. I got this m/b on black Friday. Does anyone know how I can get the version know of my BIOS?

I'd appreciate any ideas anybody would have.

Thanks.

 

[bryanW1995]

on abit's forums here:

http://forum.uabit.com/showthread.php?t=127743

I would check out their mobo support pages however and see if the latest official bios fixes this, however.

back down to $70AR for ip35 e the other day at newegg, though I think they might be oos again.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: Winterpool
By the way, for those of you who were curious: Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 did boot without adjustment on my IP35-E. Installed the two DIMMs, and the system POSTed and ran Memtest (of a sort -- see my previous post). The memory defaulted to 816 MHz and 1.92 volts, and I presume it's at CL5 (the nonstandard memory speed is related to the default 340 MHz bus I also described above). Haven't tried increasing voltage, speed, or timings manually yet, but those of you considering Corsair memory deals should feel a little more confident that you can boot the CL4 stuff SPD.

that is good to know since I just ordered a 2x1 gb set of pc 6400 4-4-4-12 @2.1v dominators the other day.

 

[WEW]

Ugh - I am tempted to jump in on the Abit IP35 Pro from Newegg for $100 AR - wondering if I can sell my Abit IP35-E for $70

1. 
   IP35-E users please use the new thread which can be found below. Thank you.
   
   *The Official* Abit IP35-E (Ed. 2)
   
   AnandTech Moderator lopri

 

[rockfella79]

Sorry bumping old thread. Just got nostalgic. IP35-E was one helluva board specially for the price. I have fond memories overclocking E2140 to 3.6 ghz on that beastly board.

 

[Replay]

I'm using one!
Gave it a $17 E5440 2.8 GHz Xeon server chip and cranked it up for 3.9 GHz of quad core goodness & 12 Mb of L2 cache.
Had fun OC'ing it too.

 

[soccerballtux]

Sorry bumping old thread. Just got nostalgic. IP35-E was one helluva board specially for the price. I have fond memories overclocking E2140 to 3.6 ghz on that beastly board.

I sorta wish I had kept mine for funsies, there was no real need to upgrade from it. I had a e2180 that I took to 3.4ghz at 1.48v. Impressively, pushing it past 1.5v and 73C (thermal limit) would immediately cause it to fail Prime-- Intel knows what they're doing.

I then received an e8400 CPU, unfortunately C0 stepping, that I was able to OC to 3.9Ghz and not a hair further.

This wasn't enough for me so I upgraded to a Ph2 x3 720 BE which I unlocked to quad core, but which wouldn't overclock past 3.5ghz at 1.475v on my cooler. I could take it higher by keeping it under 55C, but that made the fan too loud. I ran in 64bit mode and resented the people who claimed their chip better OC'ing to 3.8/3.9ghz on 32bit. Cheat.

Nothing compared to the e2180/ip35e deal though. The e2180 was $100 when I bought it, and overclocked to 3.4ghz, performed the same as the X6800, a $999 CPU from Intel at the time.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/pentium-e2160_14.html#sect0

 

[soccerballtux]

I'm using one!
Gave it a $17 E5440 2.8 GHz Xeon server chip and cranked it up for 3.9 GHz of quad core goodness & 12 Mb of L2 cache.
Had fun OC'ing it too.

the vdroop has got to be atrocious on that!

 

[rockfella79]

Yup! My E2140 was stable at 3.6 Ghz 24x7 (Don't remember Vcore but it was not much i remember) along with Crucial Ballistix and that beast of a board. I remember this review too. It was insane.

I sorta wish I had kept mine for funsies, there was no real need to upgrade from it. I had a e2180 that I took to 3.4ghz at 1.48v. Impressively, pushing it past 1.5v and 73C (thermal limit) would immediately cause it to fail Prime-- Intel knows what they're doing.

I then received an e8400 CPU, unfortunately C0 stepping, that I was able to OC to 3.9Ghz and not a hair further.

This wasn't enough for me so I upgraded to a Ph2 x3 720 BE which I unlocked to quad core, but which wouldn't overclock past 3.5ghz at 1.475v on my cooler. I could take it higher by keeping it under 55C, but that made the fan too loud. I ran in 64bit mode and resented the people who claimed their chip better OC'ing to 3.8/3.9ghz on 32bit. Cheat.

Nothing compared to the e2180/ip35e deal though. The e2180 was $100 when I bought it, and overclocked to 3.4ghz, performed the same as the X6800, a $999 CPU from Intel at the time.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/pentium-e2160_14.html#sect0

 

[fleshconsumed]

ROFL, that's one hell of a necro bump. Funnily enough I still have IP35E. I have sold off my IP35PRO motherboards because I could actually fetch something for those on ebay. However IP35E has such a low resale value at this point that I just decided to just keep it as a troubleshooting box for when I have something failing but I'm not quite sure what it is, having another box to test PSU/hard drive/videocard/fan/sound card is invaluable in situations like these.

 

[soccerballtux]

ROFL, that's one hell of a necro bump. Funnily enough I still have IP35E. I have sold off my IP35PRO motherboards because I could actually fetch something for those on ebay. However IP35E has such a low resale value at this point that I just decided to just keep it as a troubleshooting box for when I have something failing but I'm not quite sure what it is, having another box to test PSU/hard drive/videocard/fan/sound card is invaluable in situations like these.

I sold mine too, the buyer posted positive feedback but mentioned "acceptable" quality. I can only imagine he was referring to the vdroop, which is the main reason I sold it as it kept getting worse.

I thought that was interesting.

 

[AkumaX]

holy thread resurrection..