IP35-E or DFI Blood Iron for 500MHz & Wolfdale??

[cbolt67]

Looking at finally going back into Intel. Like both of these boards. Just curious with fsb results out there. from reading posts and reviews they both appear to hit 500MHz. In another few months I would want to upgrade to a new Wolfdale, but unsure if either board will support this. Any suggestions on which board to go with?

 

[Tempered81]

both chips have intels p35, and should have support. I would chose either the most popular, because it is more likely to receive bios updates, or the one which boasts better phase power circuitry. Not sure what both boards have, but you want 8phase power or greater, ive been told. This is going to be my exact upgrade. a p35 $100 mobo & an e8400. I'm also looking for 1 that will handle 500-600mhz and fit the price range with good power.

 

[Gorrillasnot]

I just ordered the Blood Iron board, but haven't received it yet to see how well it OCs.
The reason I picked it over the p35-e is it has RAID support and the p35-e does not.
If you don't plan to do a RAID setup I think the p35-e is cheaper..I know the Fry's in my area had them for $79

 

[cbolt67]

I've heard Abit is discontinuing this board so I'm curious if they will release a BIOS with Wolfdale support. Both boards fit my needs. I haven't decided about RAID yet. It's not really a big selling point for me. Guess I need to check the Fry's locations down here. All 4 in the Dallas area are close to me. If they have it for $79 I'm going to purchase it.

 

[Gomeler]

The MSI P35 Neo2-FR would be an even better choice as it can be routinely found for under $100. It's a P35 Platinum in disguise and overclocks incredibly well. Just re-benched mine with a Q6600, 515x9 on cascade and 490x8 on air. Has ICH9R and all the other bells and whistles you could want from a $150 board and I imagine it'll clock Wolfdale like a dream. I'm hoping for 550-560FSB with an E8400 on this board.

 

[cbolt67]

Interesting board. The last two MSI boards I used were garbage though. I don't remember the models. One was a Platinum Socket A board and the other was a Socket 939. Both had stability issues galore. So I have stayed away from MSI for awhile.

 

[Tempered81]

dude the dfi lanparty p35 ut tr2 holds the world record for fsbs! You already ahve a dfi, go with dfi again, see if you can beat 688mhz

 

[manimal]

Originally posted by: cbolt67
Interesting board. The last two MSI boards I used were garbage though. I don't remember the models. One was a Platinum Socket A board and the other was a Socket 939. Both had stability issues galore. So I have stayed away from MSI for awhile.

I had a similar issue with a MSI 939 board that never was stable. I ended up getting a IP35E for cheap on clearance at frys and absolutely love the board, while the NB runs hot its 24/7 stable at 3.4 at 1.35 with 4 gigs of ram installed. The same exact setup needed over 1.45V to post into 3.4 and was never stable. I tried that on 3 differnt boards. Now the DFI blood Iron if im not mistaken has some mfg tape over the pins on the NB on the blood Iron that if removed voids your warranty so if you ever plan on replaceing the NB and the SB sinks with a City of Thermalrights you would SOL your RMA options.

 

[cbolt67]

I've read that about the NB and SB sinks on the Blood Iron also. Although I usually don't worry about voiding warranties. Glad to see that memory in your sig. I plan on putting that exact 4x1 OCZ in whatever I end up with.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: cbolt67
I've heard Abit is discontinuing this board.

Conjecture, it's in abit's catalogue for Q1 '08.
I suppose when P45 comes after that then the P35s may well be discontinued.
As for BIOS support the discontinued abit AW9D (975X) runs Wolfdales with the latest BIOS.
In my experience abit are pretty good about legacy BIOS support where it's possible with the hardware.

I've heard of Blood Iron PWM failures with quads but none with the IP35-E/IP35 although with a Wolfdale it shouldn't stress either.

 

[manimal]

Originally posted by: cbolt67
I've read that about the NB and SB sinks on the Blood Iron also. Although I usually don't worry about voiding warranties. Glad to see that memory in your sig. I plan on putting that exact 4x1 OCZ in whatever I end up with.

Ya that OCZ ram was 19AR for each pair a while back. Alot of people dont like ocz ram, ive had decent luck with them and love my 1066 Micron D9s that I can run crazy tight. Generally though they run hotter than most premium modules.

 

[cbolt67]

Thanks Heidfirst. Glad to hear the Abit should run fine with Wolfdale. I haven't about the blood iron failures. I'll have to check into that.

Manimal, I love OCZ. I haven't used any other manufacturer for years. OCZ has always replaced bad RAM for me after years of use, and their tech support on line is second to none. Any time I have had issues I have contacted their support and been given the timings to run to fix my various issues within the hour.

 

[Yoshi911]

My vote is for the DFI Blood Iron, I've built two with this board so far and it is rock solid. Don't waste your money on anything else unless you need SLI.

$115 is cheap at Newegg for a high performance MB

 

[The-Noid]

CPU is more the culprit for FSB than the motherboard. I would recommend going with the DFI because I like the bios a bit better, but the IP35-E is a more than capable board.

 

[ghost recon88]

The IP35-E already supports 45nm CPUs natively. All Abit P35 boards do. From BIOS 1 on up.

 

[Tempered81]

i keep hearing good stuff about the blood iron. 1 guy had it running at 580fsb

 

[bigblockchevy]

having a blood iron and two ip35e"s i say go with the blood iron. but either should go 500+fsb if your cpu-ram ect can support such high fsb. in spite of what others have experienced with the ip35s. i haven't found mine to be pickey at all. that is when i have a working ip35e. i have seen some very odd QC problems with my ip35s though.

the blood-iron just flat works. can't say about the OKZ ram though as i don't have any. but corsair xms v2.1 pro-mos and a-dataEE with brainpower/d9 micron seem to work very well with either MB.

 

[cbolt67]

I believe I'll go with the DFI board. I have had great luck with them in the past. Having owned an NF3 board and my current NF4 board. I appreciate all the input.

 

[imported_menx]

does anyone know what version BIOS is shipping on the Blood Iron board? (from any retailer, but NewEgg specifically)

I ordered the E8400 today and I want to know if the board will load with the 45nm chips from the BIOS released in 11/07....or if the BIOS is older. I am not going to have another 775 chip to load up the board to flash otherwise...

thanks!

 

[DerwenArtos12]

I've had two DFI LP NF2, a DFI LP NF3 and a DFI LP UT NF4 Ultra-D and have had great success with all three. Great support from the community at DIY-street(formerly DFI-street) was a big plus when I first got their LP NF2 rev.a and great RMA support when my rev.a broke and they kindly sent me a revB(extra SATA and HSF mounting holes and better layout.) I'm actually planning on getting the blood iron and dropping in a cheap-o 2140 or 2160 and just OC the heck out of it.

Also glad to see good compatibility with the OCZ plat rev2's. I've been using OCZ since i first got my NF4 and my DDR500 dual 1gb kit actually runs DDR545 3-3-3-8 2.8v before it starts to hiccup.

 

[cbolt67]

My thoughts exactly DerwenArtos12. I want a Blood Iron and 2140 and make that little processor scream. I'd like to find the Lan Party Dk series but I haven't found them available here in the states.

 

[Nessism]

Another DFI lover here. Had both NF2 and NF3 boards and thought they were top shelf all the way.

Regarding the Blood Iron board running hot I just don't get it. The SB shouldn't run hotter than any other P35 SB other than the heatsink efficiency - which should be similar to other board with passive cooling, like the IP-35E.

I've got a IP-35E but would trade for a Blood Iron in a second - DFI costs a little more though.

 

[KenAF]

I can't agree with the above posts.

I do think the Blood Iron is a small step up from the IP35-E. However, it costs $126 compared to $80 AR for the IP35-E. It's not a $46 step up. I would personally rather spend the extra $24 at Newegg to get the IP35-Pro.

 

[Spike]

I just setup my IP35-E and E8400 last night and all is well, it recognized everything and booted just fine with the BIOS it came with (13). The only issue I have seen so far is the in-accurate temperature reading for the CPU so I have no idea what temp the 8400 is at. Right now the board is reporting 8-12c so I think thats a wee bit off.

I have not done any real OC yet besides bumping the FSB up to 400 to get to 3.6, I'll wait for a more serious overclock when they release a BIOS that can read the temp correctly. For me the choice was a no-brainer since I got the IP35-E for $66 AR, add to that my giftcard and it came to $16, can't really complain!

 

[ghost recon88]

Originally posted by: Spike
I just setup my IP35-E and E8400 last night and all is well, it recognized everything and booted just fine with the BIOS it came with (13). The only issue I have seen so far is the in-accurate temperature reading for the CPU so I have no idea what temp the 8400 is at. Right now the board is reporting 8-12c so I think thats a wee bit off.

I have not done any real OC yet besides bumping the FSB up to 400 to get to 3.6, I'll wait for a more serious overclock when they release a BIOS that can read the temp correctly. For me the choice was a no-brainer since I got the IP35-E for $66 AR, add to that my giftcard and it came to $16, can't really complain!

Try updating to BIOS 15, while it brings the double-posting flaw back, its a lot more stable on overclocks, and the temp reader for Wolfdales is a lot more accurate.