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

[Blacklash]

There's 3dmark06 on Vista x64 with 4 x 1GB:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=3167024

and for comparison there's my system with 2GB ram and MCE 2005:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=3071586

That's 14264 vs 15013. CPU was 3.74GHz and GTX was @ 659|2040.

EDIT: I increased the ram to 998 for x64 and that raised the score a small amount.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Blacklash

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: 1Cheap2Crazy
I'm thinking of buying this MB. How do I update/flash the BIOS without a floppy drive? Will this memory work? Gonna get 4GB at that price.
Thanks

I've tested four sticks with IP35-E. No problemo.

I can support this statement too. Currently running 4 x 1GB myself.

Review the posts at NewEgg and you'll see a bunch of complaints from un-informed noobs regarding boot issue. Most of these problems are caused by the use of GARBAGE non-JEDEC OCZ RAMs. Garbage in, garbage out. I have nerver had any boot issue with quality JEDEC RAMs from Crucial or Kingston.

In general, a better chip will be able to run at rated frequency with lower voltage (more head room for oveclocking). You want a CPU that can run at high core speed with low Vcore. Why should this be different with RAMs? JEDEC requires 1.8V for DDR2 667 or 800. If you need to pump 2.0-2.2V to reach stability at 400MHz, then your RAM is sub-par.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Blacklash
There's 3dmark06 on Vista x64 with 4 x 1GB:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=3166871

and for comparison there's my system with 2GB ram and MCE 2005:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=3071586

That's 14213 vs 15013. CPU was 3.74GHz and GTX was @ 659|2040.

XP is faster. Four sticks will also reduce RAM performance by a small margin.

 

[Blacklash]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: Blacklash
There's 3dmark06 on Vista x64 with 4 x 1GB:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=3166871

and for comparison there's my system with 2GB ram and MCE 2005:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=3071586

That's 14213 vs 15013. CPU was 3.74GHz and GTX was @ 659|2040.

XP is faster. Four sticks will also reduce RAM performance by a small margin.

I am a benchmark whore I am well aware of that.

I tried running the ram @ 998 and it increased the x64 score slightly:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=3167024

I was simply showing a recent 4x1GB bench I had done, and well overclocked. Also 4x1GB gave my BX2 fits with Vista x64 when I overclocked past a 390 FSB. It simply was not stable and crashed shortly after loading windows, if it would load it at all. Not so with the IP35-E.

I am happy with this 70 dollar Abit mobo.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

I could get my Kingston N5 DDR2 800 up to 576MHz (1GB x2 and 512MB x 2...2.1Vdimm/5-5-5-15-2T).

How's your PWM temp and Vdroop at +3.7GHz and Orthos? Still under 63C and 0.06V?

 

[Blacklash]

Here's 2x1GB under Vista x64:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=3167273

It was actually a few points slower than 4x1GB.

/shrug

Oh well, in any case, I am very happy with the mobo and it flat out owns the BX2 up one side and down the other for overclocking quad core.

If you don't need more than 4 SATA ports and you don't RAID, buy it. It's the best 70usd I've spent in a while.

I haven't tried to max my memory yet on this board, the best it has done in the past was DDR2 1100 4-4-4-8 and that was on 965.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

People buy Asus and Gigabyte boards because they read the STICKY post and assume that it's the "Gospel Truth". Most of those boards run hotter and require more voltage to achieve the same overclock speed. 100% solid caps is a marketing scam. Quality Japanese electrolytic caps will last at least 4 years under heavy use.

 

[Blacklash]

I will repeat this-

There's one behavior this motherboard has that may scare some folks.

It may "play dead" if your system is frozen during a post and the only way you can reset or turn it off, is to kill the power from the PSU. When you turn the PSU back on the motherboard may seem dead. The fix is easy; turn off the PSU again and remove a stick of ram, or if you only have one installed move it to another slot. It will fire up fine then.

I've only had this happen when my system was frozen during a post from a bad OC and I couldn't reset or turn off the system save by killing the power to it by switching off the PSU.

If this mobo had the CMOS reset switch on the back like some of the other Abit mobos it would be perfect. I can understand why they didn't do this, or include RAID with it, because if they had there wouldn't be a reason to buy anything else

For 70usd it's a real home run and does great with 4x1GB.

 

[Heidfirst]

it's easy enough to make you own CMOS clear cable & switch though which can save fiddling about under gfx card to get at jumpers.
& of course they do make that board with RAID in the form of the standard IP35.

 

[Aharami]

any way to make orthos test all 4 cores? I heard you can open up two instances of orthos and that will get all 4 cores going. I did just that and ran both but still only the first 2 cores were being used

 

[Blacklash]

Originally posted by: Aharami
any way to make orthos test all 4 cores? I heard you can open up two instances of orthos and that will get all 4 cores going. I did just that and ran both but still only the first 2 cores were being used

Just use prime95, it gets 'em all.

I believe folks that use Orthos for quad set its affinity for all cores.

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: Blacklash

Originally posted by: Aharami
any way to make orthos test all 4 cores? I heard you can open up two instances of orthos and that will get all 4 cores going. I did just that and ran both but still only the first 2 cores were being used

Just use prime95, it gets 'em all.

I believe folks that use Orthos for quad set its affinity for all cores.

im using prime95. thought id give orthos a try also.
for 356 MHz FSB/3204 Ghz,
failed prime95 at 1.2875, 1.3075, 1.3275 VCores.
Currenly been running Prime95 Large at 1.3475 for 30 mins now and no problems yet.
CPUZ shows 1.312V at idle and 1.280V at load (C1E/EIST off. I will enable them after I find stable VCore).
Temps are holding at 59, 55, 56, 58. I think im going to give this 30 mins more then consider it stable enough at this voltage. I was really hoping for lower temps...but ah well.
Gotta lap the IHS for that, and Im not doing that

 

[cleverest]

Originally posted by: cleverest

Originally posted by: Heidfirst

Originally posted by: cleverest

Sorry if I missed it, but what is the difference between the PRO and NON-PRO version? (not interested in E version cause I need more than 4 sata ports....)

v. rough guide
uGuru, 2x eSATA, 2nd physical x16 (x4 electrical) PCI-E slot, 2nd gigabit nic, onboard power & reset buttons, external clearCMOS, different chipset cooling.

Thanks, the External clearsmos switch and chipset cooling justifies the price difference to me....see you all soon!

Also noticed all the caps on the PRO are solid caps, so that's another point that sold it to me (was going to miss that the most from the P35 Gigabyte board that died on me...guess it didn't help it though, lol)...

I know solid caps don't really matter, but I like the idea anyways

So I've ordered the PRO...it's on it's way now..have it in a couple days, YAY, going to be using a freezer 7 pro, Corsair X6400 (2x1gb sticks) RAM, Artice Freezer 7 pro, good case cooling (xclio A380) (has x2 250mm fans and a 120mm rear exhaust...using a E6750 CPU..realistic overlock on my rig assuming normal environment temps? (75-80F)

- Brett

 

[cleverest]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Be sure to follow the guide in my 1st post. Upon completion of flash, remove floppy and hit F1. Turn off PC when you see the prompt to hit DELETE to enter BIOS. Reset CMOS and reboot PC. Go into BIOS and load OPTIMIZED DEFAULT. Now boot into windows.

Always test the MB outside of the case. Be sure the HDD is clean (no existing data). Zero fill if necessary. Most boot issues are caused by the use of non-JEDEC RAMs or spotty PSU. Some PSUs like the Antec Trio may not work properly. High quality JEDEC RAMs from Crucial or Kingston are 100% compatible with this boards.

Most bargain OCZ stuffs are JUNKS!

Because I have an OEM version of MCE 2005, I'm going to be forced to do a REPAIR installation with windows to prevent locking out my License...I had previously installed this on my Giga-BITE board which crapped out on me after 1 week...OEM policy states that I have to replace with same board..to heck with that, I ordered the Abit IP35 Pro...but it's being recommended to repair install to avoid activation issues with the OEM OS....

I can't go into windows to prep the board in device manager for the MB switch...is this going to work out ok? what can I do to improve my chances doing this? thanks for your help, you seem the like mack daddy of info around here, lol

 

[cleverest]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: Blacklash

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: 1Cheap2Crazy
I'm thinking of buying this MB. How do I update/flash the BIOS without a floppy drive? Will this memory work? Gonna get 4GB at that price.
Thanks

I've tested four sticks with IP35-E. No problemo.

I can support this statement too. Currently running 4 x 1GB myself.

Review the posts at NewEgg and you'll see a bunch of complaints from un-informed noobs regarding boot issue. Most of these problems are caused by the use of GARBAGE non-JEDEC OCZ RAMs. Garbage in, garbage out. I have nerver had any boot issue with quality JEDEC RAMs from Crucial or Kingston.

What about XMS2 from from Corsair?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?Item=N82E16820145034

I know it's listed as 2.1v, but people in the Gigabyte Ds3r thread have no problem reaching 450mhz FSB at 4-4-4-12 timing, usually between +1 to +3 volts...board defaults to 1.8v on memory...that's my humble goal for it with this abit board and an E6750 CPU...

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: cleverest

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: Blacklash

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: 1Cheap2Crazy
I'm thinking of buying this MB. How do I update/flash the BIOS without a floppy drive? Will this memory work? Gonna get 4GB at that price.
Thanks

I've tested four sticks with IP35-E. No problemo.

I can support this statement too. Currently running 4 x 1GB myself.

Review the posts at NewEgg and you'll see a bunch of complaints from un-informed noobs regarding boot issue. Most of these problems are caused by the use of GARBAGE non-JEDEC OCZ RAMs. Garbage in, garbage out. I have nerver had any boot issue with quality JEDEC RAMs from Crucial or Kingston.

What about XMS2 from from Corsair?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?Item=N82E16820145034

I know it's listed as 2.1v, but people in the Gigabyte Ds3r thread have no problem reaching 450mhz FSB at 4-4-4-12 timing, usually between +1 to +3 volts...board defaults to 1.8v on memory...that's my humble goal for it with this abit board and an E6750 CPU...

It depends what they put the SPD at. If they reprogrammed the spd at 5-5-5-15 @ 1.8 @ 800Mhz, then they will bootup with the Abit. That is the thing that not a lot of people understand about RAM. There is no such thing as DDR2 1066. It is overclocked DDR2 800 with the SPD adjusted. So, some manufactors will give a disclaimer something like:

Upon bootup, the motherboard will detect the ram at DDR2 667Mhz @ 1.8. Move Voltage up to 2.1 and set for DDR2 800Mhz. We reset the SPDs so that they would bootup in many of the P965 & P35 motherboards

So, overclocked ram WILL work IF the SPDs were set within JEDEC spec. If not, it is quite a gamble...

 

[imported_BS]

Well all went smooth with the Install and update of the bios to 13. Only downside is I have to reinstall vista as it didn't like all the changes to the system and couldn't fix itself. One thing I dread is having to load everything up again. Takes a dam day. I know you should anyways but I really get tired of having to do it. So that will be another job for tomorrow. Was happy everything booted up without incident though.

 

[Mucker]

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777

It depends what they put the SPD at. If they reprogrammed the spd at 5-5-5-15 @ 1.8 @ 800Mhz, then they will bootup with the Abit. That is the thing that not a lot of people understand about RAM. There is no such thing as DDR2 1066. It is overclocked DDR2 800 with the SPD adjusted. So, some manufactors will give a disclaimer something like:

<<Upon bootup, the motherboard will detect the ram at DDR2 667Mhz @ 1.8. Move Voltage up to 2.1 and set for DDR2 800Mhz. We reset the SPDs so that they would bootup in many of the P965 & P35 motherboards

So, overclocked ram WILL work IF the SPDs were set within JEDEC spec. If not, it is quite a gamble...

Speaks the truth he does. See a screen shot here of my ram: http://members.cox.net/mucker/Ballistix.jpg

Slot 1: Crucial Ballistix PC2-8000 <---shows up 6400
Slot 2: Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400
Slot 3: Crucial Ballistix PC2-8000 <---shows up 6400
Slot 4: Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400

Even though they are different by name, cpu-z shows them all as programmed the same. Just binned differently at the factory.

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: Blacklash

Originally posted by: Aharami
any way to make orthos test all 4 cores? I heard you can open up two instances of orthos and that will get all 4 cores going. I did just that and ran both but still only the first 2 cores were being used

Just use prime95, it gets 'em all.

I believe folks that use Orthos for quad set its affinity for all cores.

how do i set affinity for all cores? I dont see any setting for that.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: cleverest

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Be sure to follow the guide in my 1st post. Upon completion of flash, remove floppy and hit F1. Turn off PC when you see the prompt to hit DELETE to enter BIOS. Reset CMOS and reboot PC. Go into BIOS and load OPTIMIZED DEFAULT. Now boot into windows.

Always test the MB outside of the case. Be sure the HDD is clean (no existing data). Zero fill if necessary. Most boot issues are caused by the use of non-JEDEC RAMs or spotty PSU. Some PSUs like the Antec Trio may not work properly. High quality JEDEC RAMs from Crucial or Kingston are 100% compatible with this boards.

Most bargain OCZ stuffs are JUNKS!

Because I have an OEM version of MCE 2005, I'm going to be forced to do a REPAIR installation with windows to prevent locking out my License...I had previously installed this on my Giga-BITE board which crapped out on me after 1 week...OEM policy states that I have to replace with same board..to heck with that, I ordered the Abit IP35 Pro...but it's being recommended to repair install to avoid activation issues with the OEM OS....

I can't go into windows to prep the board in device manager for the MB switch...is this going to work out ok? what can I do to improve my chances doing this? thanks for your help, you seem the like mack daddy of info around here, lol

Call Microsoft and tell them that your old MB goes up in smoke. They will automatically grant you a new license.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: cleverest

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: Blacklash

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: 1Cheap2Crazy
I'm thinking of buying this MB. How do I update/flash the BIOS without a floppy drive? Will this memory work? Gonna get 4GB at that price.
Thanks

I've tested four sticks with IP35-E. No problemo.

I can support this statement too. Currently running 4 x 1GB myself.

Review the posts at NewEgg and you'll see a bunch of complaints from un-informed noobs regarding boot issue. Most of these problems are caused by the use of GARBAGE non-JEDEC OCZ RAMs. Garbage in, garbage out. I have nerver had any boot issue with quality JEDEC RAMs from Crucial or Kingston.

What about XMS2 from from Corsair?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?Item=N82E16820145034

I know it's listed as 2.1v, but people in the Gigabyte Ds3r thread have no problem reaching 450mhz FSB at 4-4-4-12 timing, usually between +1 to +3 volts...board defaults to 1.8v on memory...that's my humble goal for it with this abit board and an E6750 CPU...

It's always hit or miss when you try to boot with 2.1Vdimm modules. About the only 2.1V module that work reliably at 1.8V is the Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800.

 

[cleverest]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: cleverest

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Be sure to follow the guide in my 1st post. Upon completion of flash, remove floppy and hit F1. Turn off PC when you see the prompt to hit DELETE to enter BIOS. Reset CMOS and reboot PC. Go into BIOS and load OPTIMIZED DEFAULT. Now boot into windows.

Always test the MB outside of the case. Be sure the HDD is clean (no existing data). Zero fill if necessary. Most boot issues are caused by the use of non-JEDEC RAMs or spotty PSU. Some PSUs like the Antec Trio may not work properly. High quality JEDEC RAMs from Crucial or Kingston are 100% compatible with this boards.

Most bargain OCZ stuffs are JUNKS!

Because I have an OEM version of MCE 2005, I'm going to be forced to do a REPAIR installation with windows to prevent locking out my License...I had previously installed this on my Giga-BITE board which crapped out on me after 1 week...OEM policy states that I have to replace with same board..to heck with that, I ordered the Abit IP35 Pro...but it's being recommended to repair install to avoid activation issues with the OEM OS....

I can't go into windows to prep the board in device manager for the MB switch...is this going to work out ok? what can I do to improve my chances doing this? thanks for your help, you seem the like mack daddy of info around here, lol

Call Microsoft and tell them that your old MB goes up in smoke. They will automatically grant you a new license.

Even though it's a different motherboard? the OEM policy says that the Mainboard (and only the mainboard) must remain the same model/make, even in the case of a defect....that's my only big concern....wish MCE was avail retail...bunch of fools making it OEM only.

- Brett

 

[WEW]

Need some help, I got the Abit IP35-E today, I am testing it out so I took out my Pentium D from my Dell E510, cleaned the thermal paste some of those wipe it tissues. Placed it in the Abit, connected my Dell PS, took it out my dell, then also put one stick of ram, and the video card.

Now, im new to this, how do i power it on to try the motherboard out I thought there would be a connector/button i could press, do I need to take out my Antec P180 and connect it in there.

Note: I dont have a heatsink yet, so I just wanted to try out the motherboard to make sure it work, ive just placed the CPU only, is that fine? Thanks

 

[cleverest]

Originally posted by: WEW
Need some help, I got the Abit IP35-E today, I am testing it out so I took out my Pentium D from my Dell E510, cleaned the thermal paste some of those wipe it tissues. Placed it in the Abit, connected my Dell PS, took it out my dell, then also put one stick of ram, and the video card.

Now, im new to this, how do i power it on to try the motherboard out I thought there would be a connector/button i could press, do I need to take out my Antec P180 and connect it in there.

Note: I dont have a heatsink yet, so I just wanted to try out the motherboard to make sure it work, ive just placed the CPU only, is that fine? Thanks

modern cpu's can be damaged within about 10 seconds if it's not properly attached to a heatsink....with yours you probably have longer, but if you decide to do it, I'd be BRIEF just to be totally safe...

to power on look on the small many connectors on the bottom edge of the board....usually it's two pins....power (not power led, the other power one), etc....take a metal screwdriver tip and touch both pins at the same time...make sure your power supply is plugged in firmly and the board is stable (on the box it came in for example and no other metal pieces are lying around to cause problems, etc...

to shut off I recommend unplugging the power cord....that's my experience anyways...

 

[hokiealumnus]

WOW this board is impressive. I've changed the BIOS a few times and remembered yesterday that I'd forgotten to use the proper switches (/wb) the last time I went to beta 13. So, since 12 is faster anyway, I decided to flash back to it. Then, for the heck of it, I started experimenting. Starting w/ 2.5GHz, I stepped it up in 100MHz increments.

I'm not sure if it's my board, or if my processor was made on a good week or what, but THIS is my most recent result.

You may notice that this looks almost identical to the last one I posted. Take note of the Vcore setting in CoreTemp and, while you're at it, what it's actually running at in Speedfan & CPU-z.

That's right...I got 300MHz FSB w/ 10x multi at DEFAULT 1.325Vcore!!

Simply unbelievable. Previously, I had needed to increase to 1.345 to get above (and to) 2.5GHz. I don't know what exactly happened between flashes, but I like it! Not increasing the voltage saves me a good 2C at that speed. This board (which I paid a whopping $69.99 AR for) never ceases to amaze. Best $70 I've spent in many years.