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

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: TungFree
I cannot find on Abit IP35e any of the following settings to tweak as suggested in the tutorial for over clocking a q6600:
Vanterpool
CPU TM Function
Execute Disable bit
Where to set the timing like 5-5-5-15 and later to lower them to 4-4-4-12
PCI Clock Synchronization
Speed Spectrum

CPU voltage is at 1.3000 v
what should I change it to to start? or leave it at that?
what do I start The CPU VCore at the default is 1.3000
any other initial settings to set other than the default ones?

What voltage TO STE for the Kingston 800 on DDR2 it is set to auto now?
CPU VTT Volts set to 1.2000v ?
ICH 1.5V Voltage ?
MCH 1.25V Voltage?
CPU CTLREF 63%?



I have multiplier at 9 and 333 and 1:1.2 ratio on for 800mhz ram



update:
put on 3 programs
prime 95
speed fan
Core temp

I ran it that way for 15 minutes speedfan read the following 2 temps that worry me:
CPU 62C
AUX 73C
and a red fire icon was next to both
the 4 cores all ran cool near 40C

Clear CMOS and load Optimized Default. Hit F10. Reboot back to BIOS for the 2nd time to make adjustments.

RAM timing found on page 2-9. Leave in AUTO mode for now.

Try 1.36 to 1.40 for Vcore. Set DRAM speed to 1:1 (page 2-2). Leave RAM voltage in AUTO mode for now. Change FSB speed to 333MHz. DO NOT modify any other settings. Hit F10.

Download/install Coretemp 0.95.4 to check CPU temp. Limit the maximum Coretemp to 60-65C when running Prime95 large mode (all four cores loaded).

 

[TungFree]

SerpentRoyal:Clear CMOS and load Optimized Default. Hit F10. Reboot back to BIOS for the 2nd time to make adjustments.

RAM timing found on page 2-9. Leave in AUTO mode for now.

Try 1.36 to 1.40 for Vcore. Set DRAM speed to 1:1 (page 2-2). Leave RAM voltage in AUTO mode for now. Change FSB speed to 333MHz. DO NOT modify any other settings. Hit F10.

Download/install Coretemp 0.95.4 to check CPU temp. Limit the maximum Coretemp to 60-65C when running Prime95 large mode (all four cores loaded)..

I disconnected power, from PSU cleared the CMOS waited 2 minutes reset CMOS to default pins, replaced power chord.

Pressing Del button does nothing cannot enter Bios.
Keyboard can reset and keyboard can use tab to get into windows but Del button does nothing and I hear it in the speaker when I press the Del button
I cannot enter Bios

I stopped before the XP screen came up should I load windows shut down and retry?


Update it took a long time as I typed here but it now is in Bios
False alarm I quit too quickly after 80 seconds it needed more time


2nd Update:
I did the settings as you asked first the optimal Defaults, saved F10 rebooted into bios and set the settings you suggested with voltage at 1.36 Vcoreram volts in Auto.
Loaded CoreTemp Could not find any settings where I can limit the temp between 60-65,
Started Prime 95 in Large mode
So when CPU TTemp. went to 67C I exited Prime 95
Did you mean for me to quit when it went over 65? or is there a SETTING I AM NOT SEEING?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Looks like your heat sink is still not properly seated. CPU shouldn't hit 67C @ 3.0GHz and 1.36Vcore.

 

[sisq0kidd]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
I would be temped to buy a good replacement transistor and swap it with the bad one on the MB.

Thanks for the links, but forget about replacing the transistor. If there really is a cold-boot problem, then it should be covered under warranty... unless Abit will allow us to keep the warranty even if we've soldered on the motherboard?

This might be the problem I'm experiencing where it will hang right after POST. It seems to happen mostly in the mornings before the heater becomes effective. It's pretty cold around here.

The motherboard was a killer deal (both of them, heh), but now I'm having second thoughts about it.

I'm having second thoughts on this board too. It was fun at first to tinker with it, but the problems are just starting to mount for me and are getting extremely annoying.

I would occasionally wake up and start my computer to have the motherboard stuck on posting. A simple restart would sometimes work. Other times, I would have to take the power cord out of my power supply, wait a couple of seconds, put it back in and then power the machine back on.

Now that I have upgraded to a 150gb Raptor hdd, it seems to not want to reboot properly anymore. Any time I'm in Windows and decide to restart, it gets stuck on the Bios screen.

Any other good P35 boards out there that are worth it?

 

[TungFree]

Looks like your heat sink is still not properly seated. CPU shouldn't hit 67C @ 3.0GHz and 1.36Vcore.

Yes I was afraid to tighten the screws too much. but now they are tight. and the temperatures of the cores is in Core temp are:
59C
56C
56C
59C
and the CPU temp in Sprrd fan is 61C
Ran Prime 95 in large mode for 15 minutes shit down made sure all screes were tight and rebooted back into it and am running it now 25 minutes with these readings will run it for an hour.
Now what next?

 

[MadScientist]

Tungfree,
This is meant as a helpful hint. This OC Guide at Xbitlabs may be useful.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: sisq0kidd

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
I would be temped to buy a good replacement transistor and swap it with the bad one on the MB.

Thanks for the links, but forget about replacing the transistor. If there really is a cold-boot problem, then it should be covered under warranty... unless Abit will allow us to keep the warranty even if we've soldered on the motherboard?

This might be the problem I'm experiencing where it will hang right after POST. It seems to happen mostly in the mornings before the heater becomes effective. It's pretty cold around here.

The motherboard was a killer deal (both of them, heh), but now I'm having second thoughts about it.

I'm having second thoughts on this board too. It was fun at first to tinker with it, but the problems are just starting to mount for me and are getting extremely annoying.

I would occasionally wake up and start my computer to have the motherboard stuck on posting. A simple restart would sometimes work. Other times, I would have to take the power cord out of my power supply, wait a couple of seconds, put it back in and then power the machine back on.

Now that I have upgraded to a 150gb Raptor hdd, it seems to not want to reboot properly anymore. Any time I'm in Windows and decide to restart, it gets stuck on the Bios screen.

Any other good P35 boards out there that are worth it?

If the board is bad, then boot problem will usually surface at the start. Always clean install windows for best stability. The addition of USB card reader, USB HDD, and other USB devices can interfere with the boot. Same with a marginal PSU (not power but quality). There are confirmed reports about no POST with some Antec TP Trios and Corsair 520/620. Which BIOS are you running?

You may have issue with BIOS corruption. If the room is above 65F, then the MB should boot reliably, even if you have a cold boot board.

The Gigabyte DS3L has a habit of resetting BIOS. Some Asus boards have the same compatibility issue with Raptor.

-Use 12 BIOS.

-latest Raptors are known to be buggy with P35 boards

-How cold is the room temp?

-How stable is your overclock? Did you manually adjust RAM voltage and timing per specs? Did you run Memtest to check RAMs? Cold temp can magnify boot stability when cold.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: TungFree

Looks like your heat sink is still not properly seated. CPU shouldn't hit 67C @ 3.0GHz and 1.36Vcore.

Yes I was afraid to tighten the screws too much. but now they are tight. and the temperatures of the cores is in Core temp are:
59C
56C
56C
59C
and the CPU temp in Sprrd fan is 61C
Ran Prime 95 in large mode for 15 minutes shit down made sure all screes were tight and rebooted back into it and am running it now 25 minutes with these readings will run it for an hour.
Now what next?

Try 1.32Vcore. 60C is still too hot with only 3.0GHz. Raise FSB by 5MHz and retest. Did you read my previous post?

 

[anaona]

Time for the first post here in the forum, I've been a lurker for quite some time and an AnandTech visitor even longer.

Just ordered myself a Abit IP35-E, 2x1GB Kingston 800MHz N5 and a E2160 to replace for my current socket 939 parts that's, well, driving me insane (one motherboard with issues that freezes when starting some applications, or just when it feels like it, on top of that I got my hands on a "new", different, motherboard that was even worse), fairly low cost but still good performance as soon as I get the CPU overclocked, but compared to the US prices I've read in the thread I feel robbed here in Sweden
Feels good going back to Abit motherboards too, I used them all the time back in the Thunderbird/Athlon XP-days (unsure of how many computers using NF7(-S) or AN7 boards I helped people with, still got my own AN7 lying in it's box with a Thermalright NB-1C heatsink on the northbridge), guess I'm a bit of a fanboy...

I'm hoping I won't have any problems with my Corsair HX 520W that I've been using for a couple of months time though, but time will tell as I won't be getting the parts before xmas.

I'm aiming to be able to get the CPU to around 3GHz, higher would be nice but I guess I won't notice any difference in, mainly, games because of my Geforce 7900GS 256MB.
I'll use my Tuniq Tower, and two Scythe S-FLEX 1600RPM case fans that I'll bundle up and connect to the system fan header (they shouldn't need more then ~0.4A at 12V togheter if the specs are correct, so that should be ok, right?), for cooling in my trusty old Antec Sonata case.

I don't think I've ever read a thread with this much information and tips for a single product line in any forum, thanks to everyone (especially SerpentRoyal) I can't say that this Abit motherboard should be able to do anything that I'm not really prepared for (well, except maybe blow up in my face when I open the box).
I can atleast honestly say that I wouldn't even have bothered looking at the Kingston ValueRAMs if it hadn't have been for this thread, I would've most likely gone for the more expensive Corsair or perhaps even OCZ brand memory.

Now I'm just looking forward to getting a late xmas present from myself so I can have some fun with my new computer parts, and I'm happy that I was able to get one of the last 11 IP35-E boards that the store had in stock since Abit cancled the board.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

You need to look for two issues on this board:

1. Bad solder joints at the four SATA ports. Easy to check with the included SATA cable.

2. Cold boot problem under 18C. Check a few posts back for pic of location and possible defective part number. If you see the bad part number, then swap another one from the store. In any event, always test for proper boot below 16C. This may not be a big issue for most users since 18C is rather low temperature for the average home. The high cost of heating probably forced some users to keep room temp around 15C.

14 BIOS works well, but it can cause your FSB to reset to 200MHz under certain condition (check the last 20 posts). 12 BIOS would be best for most users (still double post from cold start). I'm having a hard time re-creating these no-POST issues observed by some users. If it works okay right after a clean install of windows (always best to zero fill a used HDD), then I would suspect software, other add-on hardware, or a marginal PSU to be the root cause of the no-POST.

 

[imported_Husky55]

@anaona,

Since this is your first experience with the Abit 35P-E I have a few tips for you:

1. Serpent's 2 pointers are well documented and real. Hope you have no problem there.

2. The Tuniq 120 as you must know by know, is huge. I have installed this monster and the Abit many times, so

a. connect the Tuniq fan to the MB in advance of putting it in the case. You will have problem with the system fan right next to it, or at least, I did.

b. connect the IDE connector before screw in the MB into the case. I also did the same with the floppy cable ( very nice to have)

c. The 4-8 pin power connector will be tough to connect because the Tuniq is positioned very close to it. Since you case is small ( smaller than my 180P) you cable should reach it easily. Connect to the MB in advance if possible.

Very few of Tuniq owners will tell you that is is a b*itch to install. I have broken skin, bleeding fingers working on it. It does cool pretty good though.

You will have no trouble to reach your goal of 3GHz.

Good luck,

 

[Mech0z]

Now this thread is ennourmous, so how far have people pushed a Q6600 + scythe infinity while remaining stable? I am getting the IP35 Pro this week.

 

[TungFree]

...Did you read my previous

I thought I quoted your last post to me, in my prweveous post where you askes that.

And if that is the one you mean, I answered that I had tightened all 4 screws as far as they can go now ( I was afraid not to bend the pins of the processor bfore that. Now the cooler fan and cooler are set as much as they can be. The fist time they barely were held together the 2nd time it was not as ting as it could get but close, so I tightened it and the temp dropped 5C from 67 to 62 for the CPU as a whole in spead fan program.
The cores in "Coretemp" were read as 60 56 56 60. In "SpeedFan" the cores were in their low 40ies, near 15 degrees difference for the cores.

 

[sisq0kidd]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

If the board is bad, then boot problem will usually surface at the start. Always clean install windows for best stability. The addition of USB card reader, USB HDD, and other USB devices can interfere with the boot. Same with a marginal PSU (not power but quality). There are confirmed reports about no POST with some Antec TP Trios and Corsair 520/620. Which BIOS are you running?

You may have issue with BIOS corruption. If the room is above 65F, then the MB should boot reliably, even if you have a cold boot board.

The Gigabyte DS3L has a habit of resetting BIOS. Some Asus boards have the same compatibility issue with Raptor.

-Use 12 BIOS.

-latest Raptors are known to be buggy with P35 boards

-How cold is the room temp?

-How stable is your overclock? Did you manually adjust RAM voltage and timing per specs? Did you run Memtest to check RAMs? Cold temp can magnify boot stability when cold.

I am running BIOS 14.

I'm not sure if my room temp is above 65F. It's probably hovering around that temperature in the mornings.

My overclock is very stable. Passes Memtest for hours, Orthos, etc. Even if I put things back to stock it still fails at startup. It did it this morning!

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Mech0z
Now this thread is ennourmous, so how far have people pushed a Q6600 + scythe infinity while remaining stable? I am getting the IP35 Pro this week.

I've seen +3.9GHz with ridiculous Vcore. 50% of these chips should hit 3.4-3.6GHz. You'll probably won't find any of the older/hotter Q6600 in stock.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: TungFree

...Did you read my previous

I thought I quoted your last post to me, in my prweveous post where you askes that.

And if that is the one you mean, I answered that I had tightened all 4 screws as far as they can go now ( I was afraid not to bend the pins of the processor bfore that. Now the cooler fan and cooler are set as much as they can be. The fist time they barely were held together the 2nd time it was not as ting as it could get but close, so I tightened it and the temp dropped 5C from 67 to 62 for the CPU as a whole in spead fan program.
The cores in "Coretemp" were read as 60 56 56 60. In "SpeedFan" the cores were in their low 40ies, near 15 degrees difference for the cores.

Check the flatness of the heat spreader and base of the CPU cooler with a straight edge. It is possible that you have con-cave components. Also clean and re-apply the thermal compound.

What is the stepping of your chip? Use CPUz. Continue to drop Vcore until you have problem passing Orthos. Now bump Vcore up one notch. CPU should hover around 50 to 55C with a good CPU cooler. 60 to 62C is too hot.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: sisq0kidd

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

If the board is bad, then boot problem will usually surface at the start. Always clean install windows for best stability. The addition of USB card reader, USB HDD, and other USB devices can interfere with the boot. Same with a marginal PSU (not power but quality). There are confirmed reports about no POST with some Antec TP Trios and Corsair 520/620. Which BIOS are you running?

You may have issue with BIOS corruption. If the room is above 65F, then the MB should boot reliably, even if you have a cold boot board.

The Gigabyte DS3L has a habit of resetting BIOS. Some Asus boards have the same compatibility issue with Raptor.

-Use 12 BIOS.

-latest Raptors are known to be buggy with P35 boards

-How cold is the room temp?

-How stable is your overclock? Did you manually adjust RAM voltage and timing per specs? Did you run Memtest to check RAMs? Cold temp can magnify boot stability when cold.

I am running BIOS 14.

I'm not sure if my room temp is above 65F. It's probably hovering around that temperature in the mornings.

My overclock is very stable. Passes Memtest for hours, Orthos, etc. Even if I put things back to stock it still fails at startup. It did it this morning!

Check for boot problem with 68F or higher room temp. Did you encounter boot issues when you first assembled the rig? Did you add any new hardware?

Please flash to 12 BIOS (use the WB switch to reload the boot-block).

 

[Thund3rb1rd]

flashed to v14 BIOS.
now proggys that read fan speed (speedfan, HWMonitor) are totally locking up system , can't even ctl-alt-del

not that I can't function without them, just weird, haven't heard of this problem yet

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Currently running Speedfan 4.33 with official 14 BIOS. No problem monitoring SYSTEM, CPU, PWM, GPU, and HDD temps. OS is WXP Pro SP1. You may want to remove reload Speedfan 4.33. I don't use HWMonitor.

 

[TungFree]

SerpentRoyal: ...What is the stepping of your chip? Use CPUz. Continue to drop Vcore until you have problem passing Orthos. Now bump Vcore up one notch. CPU should hover around 50 to 55C with a good CPU cooler. 60 to 62C is too hot.

You mean

Prime 95 or Orthos?

I have the Go Stepping Q6600
I will do this on Friday When my Vacation Begins.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

There's a newer version of Prime95 that will automatically load all four cores. That newer stepping should not exceed 55C with 3.0GHz and the lowest stable Vcore (75F room temp).

 

[TungFree]

There's a newer version of Prime95 that will automatically load all four cores. That newer stepping should not exceed 55C with 3.0GHz and the lowest stable Vcore (75F room temp).

I have the latest version and had used it last time also. I Disconnected the cooler wiped it off and reattached it with new caerefully even paste. lowered the vcore to 1.32 and raised the FSB as you suggested by 5 so it is now 338x9
and will use CPUZ with core 95 newest version.
and report the readings in an update below.

Update:
With Prime 95.5
OPverall CPU temp in SpeedFan is mostly 59 and goes up to 60C and returns to 59
Core temps are odd:
57C
57C
49C
49C

I am not sure wnat you wanted me to do with CPUZ program?
I ran Prime 95 for over 20 minutes in Large mode.

While writing this and using Explorer the temp of the Overal CPU in SpeedFan creeped upwards to 60 and 61C alternating

 

[bigblockchevy]

i'm running bios 12 now . so far the machine has been booting constant over-clocked to 8x400fsb 1.41v core 2.10 vdimm 1:1 ratio . very stable .
knock on wood .

however --in benchmarks the e2140 isn't kicking butt like it was with bios 14 . where is bios 15 with full support for the 21xx's ??

 

[Mech0z]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: Mech0z
Now this thread is ennourmous, so how far have people pushed a Q6600 + scythe infinity while remaining stable? I am getting the IP35 Pro this week.

I've seen +3.9GHz with ridiculous Vcore. 50% of these chips should hit 3.4-3.6GHz. You'll probably won't find any of the older/hotter Q6600 in stock.

3.9 with a scythe infinity ??

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: TungFree

There's a newer version of Prime95 that will automatically load all four cores. That newer stepping should not exceed 55C with 3.0GHz and the lowest stable Vcore (75F room temp).

I have the latest version and had used it last time also. I Disconnected the cooler wiped it off and reattached it with new caerefully even paste. lowered the vcore to 1.32 and raised the FSB as you suggested by 5 so it is now 338x9
and will use CPUZ with core 95 newest version.
and report the readings in an update below.

Update:
With Prime 95.5
OPverall CPU temp in SpeedFan is mostly 59 and goes up to 60C and returns to 59
Core temps are odd:
57C
57C
49C
49C

I am not sure wnat you wanted me to do with CPUZ program?
I ran Prime 95 for over 20 minutes in Large mode.

While writing this and using Explorer the temp of the Overal CPU in SpeedFan creeped upwards to 60 and 61C alternating

Use Coretemp 0.95.4! Those numbers show that your CPU is not properly seated. The deviation between cores should be +/-1.5C. Did you checked the flatness of the heat spreader and CPU base? You need to follow-thru with each step.