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

[QuixoticOne]

Originally posted by: kalster
this board handles STT ram fine , correct?

According to this fellow below, yes, it seems it'll handle it just fine, though his post wasn't specific about which model of STT RAM he has, I'd be very surprised if it wasn't the same stuff that has been cheap / popular, the T8UB2G sticks.

I'll be trying an IP35-E with 8GB of that T8UB2G RAM and an E2180 in about a week myself.

01/31/2008 09:50 PM
Spike
Diamond Member
Posts: 4957
Joined: 08/27/2001

As I said before, temps show up fine with BIOS 15, mine is idling at 34C right now (e8400 @ 3.7). I am running 8GB of STT DDR-800 and so far they are memtest stable at 1.95 volts.

E8400 @ 3.7 | Abit IP35-E | 8GB STT DDR-800 | eVGA 8800GTS 512 | 2 x Sea 500GB SATA 3 | X-Fi Extreme Music | LG 20X | NEC 16X | EW 500 | P180 | Vista Ultimate 64

 

[MadScientist]

Originally posted by: nabinabi
I installed win xp essential (whatever essential means...). I see several question marks in device manager window. I guess I should start installing drivers from abit cd. I got the board from newegg maybe a week ago, and assumed that it came with bios v15. However I still have dual boot issue (is it a functional issue?). Does dual boot impact negatively anyways on my hardware? How do I check the version of bios. Now the pc beeps during the first boot, and it does not beep anymore as the second boot starts. i feel i go through a lot more than my last build with gigabyte P965 board.

Just trying to be helpful, I know this is a long thread to read but if you would have used the Search Topic tab at the top right of the page you would have found the answers to some of your questions already posted in the thread.

Quoting from one of Hokiealumnus's posts:
To verify your BIOS version, go into BIOS. In the lower right of the screen there will be a long string of letters & numbers in parenthesis. The last two numbers are your BIOS version.

Quoting from one of my posts quoting Yellow Beard's comment in the Abit forum:
"Double boot is not a "problem" per se, it is a characteristic. It's not just going to go away with a bios update."

If you are running Win XP, what is essential?, the yellow question marks will go away after you load the drivers from the Abit CD.

Will the double boot hurt your hardware? Probably not, some people keep their computers running 24/7, I power mine down completely after every use to try to cut my already high utility bill, so it always double boots when I start it up. To me it's just a minor annoyance.

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: Kaieye
I just built a pc using this p35-e mb and a e2180. It overclocks easily up to 3.1 and runs fine when there is no load. When my daughter plays her Sims 2 games, the computer beeps once every two to three seconds. I stopped overclocking and put everything back to the normal unclocked parameters and it still beeps.

Any suggestions?

I think this would probably be a temperature alarm. Check the settings in the bios and see what the threshold it. Then, grab coretemp and run something to stress your cores, like OCCT or Orthos. Keep a close eye on the temps and wait and see if/when the beep occurs.

 

[Kaieye]

I am using coretemp and I get about 36 and 32 average with the game running in the background and surfing the net. It still beeps every so often but not as much. My box is still running in a non overclocked condition. By the way, I tried running Intel Tat program but I get a error message.

I just disabled all the cpu temperture warning stuff in the bios and when I run Sims 2 after a few minutes, the computer beeps again. Could the memory be bad?

 

[hokiealumnus]

TAT doesn't work with this board unfortunately. Prime works just fine though. What HSF are you using? If it has a low RPM fan, when it slows b/c the temps are down, it could be dipping temporarily below the RPM threshold set in abitEQ.

 

[Kaieye]

I just tried switching out my corsair memory for some new crucial stuff but the same thing happens again. I am using a XIGMATEK HDT-S963 cpu cooler by the way.

 

[nabinabi]

I got pc working without major issues I thought. I have E6400, Coolermaster GeminII HS with 2x120mm 1100rpm fan, 2x1Gb Corsair 800Mhz ram, ATI 1650 Pro, IDE DVD, IDE Hitachi HDD in Antec Sonata-III case. No overclocking at this moment. After installing abit CD, abitEQ comes up as it boots up. It says my cpu temp is 43C (limit is set at 80C). I monitored the temp without doing any work for 20min. It still says 43-44C. It seems way high for the setup. What do you think? Is it normal temp, or is there possible error in abitEQ reading?

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: Kaieye
I just built a pc using this p35-e mb and a e2180. It overclocks easily up to 3.1 and runs fine when there is no load. When my daughter plays her Sims 2 games, the computer beeps once every two to three seconds. I stopped overclocking and put everything back to the normal unclocked parameters and it still beeps.

Any suggestions?

open abitEq & see what is in red.
I would imagine that it's either going to be a temp or voltage.

 

[Kaieye]

abit eq does not work on my ip-35e. It just turns up blank...

 

[nabinabi]

According to abitEQ, there's nothing in red (temp, voltage, and fan) cpu core voltage is ~1.14v. One cpu fan is connected to cpu fan header, and the other 3 fan headers are disabled. Case fan on my case(sonataIII) is antec tricool which is set at low rpm at this point. Massive HS (geminII) and 2 of 120mm HSF should at least handle default e6400, right? Should I look for other program to read the temp?

 

[MadScientist]

Originally posted by: nabinabi
According to abitEQ, there's nothing in red (temp, voltage, and fan) cpu core voltage is ~1.14v. One cpu fan is connected to cpu fan header, and the other 3 fan headers are disabled. Case fan on my case(sonataIII) is antec tricool which is set at low rpm at this point. Massive HS (geminII) and 2 of 120mm HSF should at least handle default e6400, right? Should I look for other program to read the temp?

Use Core Temp. Link

 

[nabinabi]

Thanks madscientist, I used Core Temp. It says 38 and 39C for each cores whereas abit EQ says 43C at idle. If it's not typical idle temp, what should I do first?

 

[QuixoticOne]

That sounds like it could be normal, or it could be a bit high.

I've got a Q6600-G0, P5K-E M/B, in a P180B, also with a Gemini II and a pair of slow 120 mm fans on the Gemini, and I run about those levels of temperatures at light load.

Further, my ASUS motherboard's reported temperatures tend to be similar to or a bit higher than the CPU temperature at light loads.

I could certainly see how in a moderately warm room and with somewhat normal case airflow that the inside of your case could easily be in the 30C+ range, and the hotter parts could be up near 35-38C. At idle, what does your motherboard's temperature read? Your GPU's?

Do your temperatures change for better or worse significantly after an hour if you run the PC with the case door open, or with a front 5.25" drive bay cover panel removed?

You might try gently turning the PC on its side so the Gemini rests on top of the CPU pressing down on it. That'll cause it to apply a little more force and have a little less torque tending to pull the cooler away from the CPU. See if that changes anything after an hour or two of running that way.

Perhaps it's best to do the experiments all at once, case door open, PC on side since that'll be a convenient arrangement.

I haven't received my IP35-E yet, so I don't know what it does, but many BIOS settings these days overvolt the CPU *by default* with some kind of intelligent / auto over-clocking type system. 1.14Vcore seems on the low side for a 65nm CPU like my Q6600, but maybe your E8400 can or is specified to actually run with less Vcore at stock speed. Try to disable any overclock related options, or if you know what your nominal Vcore should be for stock speed operation you could try to manually set the Vcore from "AUTO" to that exact stock value if it is less than what you're running at now.

If none of the warm, room temperature, limited case exhaust airflow, or high vcore issues are true then maybe the Gemini II isn't making good contact. What kind of paste did you use, how did you apply it, and how tightly did you screw down the Gemini II?

If you run the Gemini either too loose OR too tight it won't make the best thermal contact and your temperatures can run a bit high.

Then again Idle temperature isn't the end story for a PC... try running dual-core simultaneous small-FFT runs of Prime95 or StressPrime2004 or whatever and see what your motherboard, CPU, and GPU temperatures are. If the CPU is staying under around 50C-60C under heavy load that isn't too bad.

Originally posted by: nabinabi
Thanks madscientist, I used Core Temp. It says 38 and 39C for each cores whereas abit EQ says 43C at idle. If it's not typical idle temp, what should I do first?

 

[nabinabi]

Originally posted by: QuixoticOne
That sounds like it could be normal, or it could be a bit high.

I've got a Q6600-G0, P5K-E M/B, in a P180B, also with a Gemini II and a pair of slow 120 mm fans on the Gemini, and I run about those levels of temperatures at light load.

Further, my ASUS motherboard's reported temperatures tend to be similar to or a bit higher than the CPU temperature at light loads.

I could certainly see how in a moderately warm room and with somewhat normal case airflow that the inside of your case could easily be in the 30C+ range, and the hotter parts could be up near 35-38C. At idle, what does your motherboard's temperature read? Your GPU's?

Do your temperatures change for better or worse significantly after an hour if you run the PC with the case door open, or with a front 5.25" drive bay cover panel removed?

You might try gently turning the PC on its side so the Gemini rests on top of the CPU pressing down on it. That'll cause it to apply a little more force and have a little less torque tending to pull the cooler away from the CPU. See if that changes anything after an hour or two of running that way.

Perhaps it's best to do the experiments all at once, case door open, PC on side since that'll be a convenient arrangement.

I haven't received my IP35-E yet, so I don't know what it does, but many BIOS settings these days overvolt the CPU *by default* with some kind of intelligent / auto over-clocking type system. 1.14Vcore seems on the low side for a 65nm CPU like my Q6600, but maybe your E8400 can or is specified to actually run with less Vcore at stock speed. Try to disable any overclock related options, or if you know what your nominal Vcore should be for stock speed operation you could try to manually set the Vcore from "AUTO" to that exact stock value if it is less than what you're running at now.

If none of the warm, room temperature, limited case exhaust airflow, or high vcore issues are true then maybe the Gemini II isn't making good contact. What kind of paste did you use, how did you apply it, and how tightly did you screw down the Gemini II?

If you run the Gemini either too loose OR too tight it won't make the best thermal contact and your temperatures can run a bit high.

Then again Idle temperature isn't the end story for a PC... try running dual-core simultaneous small-FFT runs of Prime95 or StressPrime2004 or whatever and see what your motherboard, CPU, and GPU temperatures are. If the CPU is staying under around 50C-60C under heavy load that isn't too bad.

Originally posted by: nabinabi
Thanks madscientist, I used Core Temp. It says 38 and 39C for each cores whereas abit EQ says 43C at idle. If it's not typical idle temp, what should I do first?

Thank you for the tips.

My motherboard temp is ~35C when cpu temp is ~43C (at idle/at start up). I have not done any cpu torture test yet. I'll test it with those SW. While MS office installation, the temps were steady though.

I left side door open, let it sit on side panel, and turned case fan (antec tricool) to high setting. It seemed there's almost no change (maybe 1C) during 20min of monitoring. I used thermal paste included in Gemini HS.

Other people report less that 30C at idle and less than 50C at load with C2D. Is it possible that my cpu is from bad batch? 1.14V of vcore is not high?

 

[MadScientist]

Originally posted by: nabinabi

Thank you for the tips.

My motherboard temp is ~35C when cpu temp is ~43C (at idle/at start up). I have not done any cpu torture test yet. I'll test it with those SW. While MS office installation, the temps were steady though.

I left side door open, let it sit on side panel, and turned case fan (antec tricool) to high setting. It seemed there's almost no change (maybe 1C) during 20min of monitoring. I used thermal paste included in Gemini HS.

Other people report less that 30C at idle and less than 50C at load with C2D. Is it possible that my cpu is from bad batch? 1.14V of vcore is not high?

Your CPU idle temps are a bit high, but as Q pointed out are dependent on your ambient (room) temp, case airflow, and CPU HS installation.
Your Sonata III case came with only a rear 120mm tricool fan. Did you install another 120mm fan in the front? If not, you should.

 

[blahsome]

Originally posted by: nabinabi
Thank you for the tips.

My motherboard temp is ~35C when cpu temp is ~43C (at idle/at start up). I have not done any cpu torture test yet. I'll test it with those SW. While MS office installation, the temps were steady though.

Core Temp reports my E8400 to be 38C at idle, while SpeedFan reports only 24C. I can't get AbitEQ to work with Vista.

This is without any overclock, and three case fans, sleeved PSU wires, and a properly seated heatsink.

Therefore, be careful what temperature reporting software other people are using. I would say your CPU at least is similar to mine.

 

[MadScientist]

He has an E6400. Does the E6400 have the same issues with temp reporting software that the E8400 has?

Originally posted by: nabinabi
I got pc working without major issues I thought. I have E6400, Coolermaster GeminII HS with 2x120mm 1100rpm fan, 2x1Gb Corsair 800Mhz ram, ATI 1650 Pro, IDE DVD, IDE Hitachi HDD in Antec Sonata-III case. No overclocking at this moment. After installing abit CD, abitEQ comes up as it boots up. It says my cpu temp is 43C (limit is set at 80C). I monitored the temp without doing any work for 20min. It still says 43-44C. It seems way high for the setup. What do you think? Is it normal temp, or is there possible error in abitEQ reading?

 

[shaolin95]

Guys this thread is huge so please allow me to ask....is this mobo a good OC to take a e2160 to 3GHZ or so? Should I get an ASUS, Gigabyte or DFI Infinity instead?
Thanks!

 

[nabinabi]

Thank you guys.
I have 1 case fan running at low setting (antec tricool). I tried it at high setting as well with no noticeable improvement. SilentPCReview.com states having front case fan in SonataIII does not improve any thermal performance. However, I can at least give at shot as mine seems a bit different. I got to see if there's room for front case fan due to the huse Gemini HS...

Originally posted by: blahsome

Originally posted by: nabinabi
Thank you for the tips.

My motherboard temp is ~35C when cpu temp is ~43C (at idle/at start up). I have not done any cpu torture test yet. I'll test it with those SW. While MS office installation, the temps were steady though.

Core Temp reports my E8400 to be 38C at idle, while SpeedFan reports only 24C. I can't get AbitEQ to work with Vista.

This is without any overclock, and three case fans, sleeved PSU wires, and a properly seated heatsink.

Therefore, be careful what temperature reporting software other people are using. I would say your CPU at least is similar to mine.

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: shaolin95
Guys this thread is huge so please allow me to ask....is this mobo a good OC to take a e2160 to 3GHZ or so? Should I get an ASUS, Gigabyte or DFI Infinity instead?
Thanks!

I'd say so. I got my E2180 to 3.2 with ease, I tell you. And I've heard the E2160 is just as overclockable.

This thread's immense size and longevity is a testament. It sold me and I'm glad it did.

 

[rizorith]

I've been wracking my brains out for a day on this. I bought this board from newegg with bios 15 and have it setup bare bones with the basics in my config below. No matter what I do I always get a CMOS Checksum error when it fires up. Just as concerning, whenever I change anything (except the clock) in my BIOS it does not save it. I've tried resetting the bios and that hasn't helped. I'd like to upgrade it to the newest version but I don't see how I can do anything until I can at least make changes to the current one.

any suggestions on how to trouble shoot this? I've never gotten stuck so early on a computer and I'm not finding anyone else with this problem.

 

[QuixoticOne]

Originally posted by: rizorith
I've been wracking my brains out for a day on this. I bought this board from newegg with bios 15 and have it setup bare bones with the basics in my config below. No matter what I do I always get a CMOS Checksum error when it fires up. Just as concerning, whenever I change anything (except the clock) in my BIOS it does not save it. I've tried resetting the bios and that hasn't helped. I'd like to upgrade it to the newest version but I don't see how I can do anything until I can at least make changes to the current one.

any suggestions on how to trouble shoot this? I've never gotten stuck so early on a computer and I'm not finding anyone else with this problem.

possibilities
a - dead / bad backup battery
b - badly installed backup battery on the motherboard, take it out and reseat it, clear off any labels, dirt, etc.
c - shorted out CLEAR CMOS SETTINGS JUMPER -- make SURE this is NOT closed!
d - short between the motherboard / motherboard screws / case. Take out all screws, examine the stand-off locations and the screw hole areas on the motherboard and ensure the heads of the screws or the standoff posts are not going to come in contact with anything other than the desired screw areas.
e - is your metal I/O cover bezel / faceplate poking out any prongs that are shorting something?

 

[rizorith]

Originally posted by: QuixoticOne

Originally posted by: rizorith
I've been wracking my brains out for a day on this. I bought this board from newegg with bios 15 and have it setup bare bones with the basics in my config below. No matter what I do I always get a CMOS Checksum error when it fires up. Just as concerning, whenever I change anything (except the clock) in my BIOS it does not save it. I've tried resetting the bios and that hasn't helped. I'd like to upgrade it to the newest version but I don't see how I can do anything until I can at least make changes to the current one.

any suggestions on how to trouble shoot this? I've never gotten stuck so early on a computer and I'm not finding anyone else with this problem.

possibilities
a - dead / bad backup battery
b - badly installed backup battery on the motherboard, take it out and reseat it, clear off any labels, dirt, etc.
c - shorted out CLEAR CMOS SETTINGS JUMPER -- make SURE this is NOT closed!
d - short between the motherboard / motherboard screws / case. Take out all screws, examine the stand-off locations and the screw hole areas on the motherboard and ensure the heads of the screws or the standoff posts are not going to come in contact with anything other than the desired screw areas.
e - is your metal I/O cover bezel / faceplate poking out any prongs that are shorting something?

Thanks for the advice. I just tried a new battery so everything you've suggested I've tried and no luck. Am I the only one having this problem? I should add that I hooked up my old hard drive with windows xp and it boots ok and I can run windows. When I hooked up my dvd-drives none of them would work right however although maybe that's a driver issue. I do keep getting another message in bios saying "detect drives done, no any drives found". I get that when i had drives hooked up and when i didn't. the hard drives do work fine regardless of this message. They're all SATA if that makes a difference

But in the end my main problem is I can't make any bios changes and I figure that should supercede everything else.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: shaolin95
Guys this thread is huge so please allow me to ask....is this mobo a good OC to take a e2160 to 3GHZ or so? Should I get an ASUS, Gigabyte or DFI Infinity instead?
Thanks!

yes, & at $60 after rebate at newegg you can't beat it for value.

Originally posted by: rizorithI do keep getting another message in bios saying "detect drives done, no any drives found". I get that when i had drives hooked up and when i didn't. the hard drives do work fine regardless of this message. They're all SATA if that makes a difference

that's the JMicron controller - if you aren't using it disable it (if it will stick in your case) & the system will boot faster.

 

[rizorith]

Originally posted by: Heidfirst

Originally posted by: rizorithI do keep getting another message in bios saying "detect drives done, no any drives found". I get that when i had drives hooked up and when i didn't. the hard drives do work fine regardless of this message. They're all SATA if that makes a difference

that's the JMicron controller - if you aren't using it disable it (if it will stick in your case) & the system will boot faster.

Thanks. Since I can't make any changes it's not doing anything but good to know if/when I get this back up. I've spent tons of time on this and I'm pretty close to just sending it back and getting the gigabyte I was originally reccomended.