In looking at P35, all I see is a lot of complaints. I was hoping to find something that would be relatively simple for a first time OCer and that I could easily cool on air. Even though I have no intention of using SLi, would I be better of with a 680i? Any specific recommendations? No, I don't want to wait for x38, mostly because I don't want to go over to DDR3, yet. Thanks in advance.
P35?
- Thread starter lessonz
- Start date
You only hear complaints because only people with problems ask for help. The 680i boards were good but way more buggy IMO.
You need to hear some good things about P35 boards....
I love my P5K Deluxe, it's the best motherboard I've ever owned, it's super easy to overclock, the BIOS is amazing, no major problems whatsoever. I've also heard good things about ABIT's IP35.
You need to hear some good things about P35 boards....
I love my P5K Deluxe, it's the best motherboard I've ever owned, it's super easy to overclock, the BIOS is amazing, no major problems whatsoever. I've also heard good things about ABIT's IP35.
cmdrdredd
Lifer
- Dec 12, 2001
- 27,052
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All the P35 boards are good...each one has little issues that certain users find. I went with the Asus based on their BIOS support being superior to both Gigabyte and Abit. I have heard good things about the Abit board, but also some negatives.
Good things about the Abit IP35: Someone got a WR by upping the FSB to 614Mhz on that board, the board is very stable and cool, the BIOS is stable with many options and uguru is a great utility.
Bad: Some users note that the heatpipe cooler does not sit flat on the chips and is not adequately cooling the components. This requires removal and reinstall. The audio controller is an older version. Abit has been very slow with BIOS updates and many of their boards lately do not have many revisions.
The P5K from asus is more expensive than the others, but you get timely BIOS updates with ASUS boards. Asus also does not abandon a board when a new model comes out (gigabyte has a tendancy to forget about updating the BIOS for boards when they have a new chipset).
I was originally going to get the IP35 Pro, but their lack of any BIOS updates on past boards and the support ASUS gives in that area is what won me over. I talk about BIOS updates alot because there are features on the P5K that the IP-35 does not have. For example, on the Asus P5K after updating the BIOS you can select 1T memory timing. The IP-35 has this in a beta bios only and if that BIOS gives you trouble Abit will claim it's your fault for using it. Yet from what I read, their Ab9 Quad GT didn't have but 2 official BIOS releases (to fix things) and everyone had to use beta BIOSes which may not be bad, but I always shy away from beta.
Good things about the Abit IP35: Someone got a WR by upping the FSB to 614Mhz on that board, the board is very stable and cool, the BIOS is stable with many options and uguru is a great utility.
Bad: Some users note that the heatpipe cooler does not sit flat on the chips and is not adequately cooling the components. This requires removal and reinstall. The audio controller is an older version. Abit has been very slow with BIOS updates and many of their boards lately do not have many revisions.
The P5K from asus is more expensive than the others, but you get timely BIOS updates with ASUS boards. Asus also does not abandon a board when a new model comes out (gigabyte has a tendancy to forget about updating the BIOS for boards when they have a new chipset).
I was originally going to get the IP35 Pro, but their lack of any BIOS updates on past boards and the support ASUS gives in that area is what won me over. I talk about BIOS updates alot because there are features on the P5K that the IP-35 does not have. For example, on the Asus P5K after updating the BIOS you can select 1T memory timing. The IP-35 has this in a beta bios only and if that BIOS gives you trouble Abit will claim it's your fault for using it. Yet from what I read, their Ab9 Quad GT didn't have but 2 official BIOS releases (to fix things) and everyone had to use beta BIOSes which may not be bad, but I always shy away from beta.
1T timing may reduce 1M Super Pi time by 0.1 second. I see no statistical change in SP time with 1T vs 2T. As for the BIOS update, if the MB is running well with your hardware, then there is NO NEED to apply a new BIOS.
No need to step up to the IP35 Pro if you don't need RAID. IP35-E comes with three heat sinks that are not interconnected. The board runs cool up to 488MHz. No need to push much higher unless you have a 7x multi chip capable of >3.4GHz. Only issue is the double post during cold start (common with many P965 and P35 boards). Gigabyte boards also exhibit this problem. Board is only $110. Use the $ saved to buy a sound card if you need better audio.
No need to step up to the IP35 Pro if you don't need RAID. IP35-E comes with three heat sinks that are not interconnected. The board runs cool up to 488MHz. No need to push much higher unless you have a 7x multi chip capable of >3.4GHz. Only issue is the double post during cold start (common with many P965 and P35 boards). Gigabyte boards also exhibit this problem. Board is only $110. Use the $ saved to buy a sound card if you need better audio.
Other than a minor issue with my onboard audio (resolved immediately with help from ASUS site), I've had little trouble with my P5K and e6750 combo. I concur with what the other posters have said about ASUS.
So, it sounds like the P5K Deluxe is the way to go. I guess a little additional power consumption isn't the worst thing imaginable. Thanks to everyone who has replied so far.
Any other opinions/thoughts?
Any other opinions/thoughts?
Its certainly true that you generally only hear about the complaints because only people with problems usually bother posting on forums etc looking for answers. You might get the odd enthusiast coming on and singing the praises of his new purchase but most are too busy actually using the thing as it was intended.
Myself, Ive had major issues with the Gigabyte p35-DQ6 cold booting...but others havent....maybe its my RAM (even though it worked fine for 3 weeks and is still faultless when you eventually get it to boot)......but on the basis its still a major problem for me it would be wrong of me based on my own experience to recommend this board. Its a shame because I love it from every other perspective
Myself, Ive had major issues with the Gigabyte p35-DQ6 cold booting...but others havent....maybe its my RAM (even though it worked fine for 3 weeks and is still faultless when you eventually get it to boot)......but on the basis its still a major problem for me it would be wrong of me based on my own experience to recommend this board. Its a shame because I love it from every other perspective
cmdrdredd
Lifer
- Dec 12, 2001
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BIOS update always fix problems and add new features and compatability. Not having many revisions means they're not fixing things.
I decided to go an entirely different route and managed to grab an EVGA 680i SLi board cheap locally and installed it all np. Latest BIOS updates CPU support for 1333FSB. I managed to get my memory and CPU at a higher overclock than my P965 based P5B Deluxe could. Maybe the P35 would do the same, maybe not.
Anyway went from 3.2Ghz limit at any voltage to 3.4Ghz at 1.416v on a 425Mhz FSB (the bios lists the quad pumped fsb of 1700) and my memory unlinked at DDR2-1005. Now there is a slight problem with unlinked memory on this board although it's not exactly a problem per-se. The board automatically selects the ratio for you so if you try to pick like DDR2-1000 it will go down to whatever ratio gives you 991Mhz. If you try between 1005 and 1010 you get 1005Mhz. It's a little odd but that's the price you pay for selecting an unlinked memory ratio on the controller.
Only problem with this board is the absolutely terrible layout...in a P180 I can't hardly fir anything in there where it's supposed to be...the NB cooler is so close to the TR 120 also...just crammed. The front pannel connects are in a horrible location as well, right next to the memory slots and IDE connector. Anyway it's a good board minus the terrible design of the PCB layout.
Just thought I'd throw that out there. I was considering a P5K Deluxe, but could not resist the price I got on this 680i.
Well, Asus just released the newer Asus P5K premium which should be a bit better than the Deluxe version, or it is just the FIX for the problems the Deluxe has had.
Okay, is there a 680i that just makes more sense monetarily even if I have no intention of running SLI?
nitromullet
Diamond Member
- Jan 7, 2004
- 9,031
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Personally, I think the P5K's are too expensive and they have features I just don't need. I've generally been partial to Asus boards in the past, but I decided to give the Abit IP35 Pro (I use RAID0) a try and so far I'm glad I did. If you're used to Asus, the board's layout and BIOS have a different feel. The BIOS is just a matter of adjustment, but the layout has a few quirks that I don't like.
1) The right angle SATA ports are a complete pain in the ass. Sure, they don't interfere with my 8800GTX, but I also pretty much have to remove the card to get to the SATA cables. With straight SATA ports you can use pliers to gently insert/remove SATA cables in between your add on cards.
2) The 4-pin molex for supplying additional power to the PCIe 16x slots is smack dab in the middle of the expansion card slots... Not an easy place to have to run a power cable, and a really bad place if you want your wiring to look pretty. It's possible that this additional power is only necessary if a second PCIe card is installed for Crossfire, but the manual does not seem to indicate this one way or another.
3) floppy drives are almost always at the top of the case, why did Abit put the floppy plug at the bottom? I don't own a cable long enough to install my floppy... Luckily Vista recognizes the RAID0 array unlike XP that would have required me to do the put the RAID drivers on a floppy.
...all of these layout quirks are surmountable, but I wanted to make note of them.
At $180, it still isn't the cheapest of boards, but still a good chunk less than then the comparably equipped P5K's. So far, I have not had any issues whatsoever with the board, and I've easily managed a mild OC with my E6600 running 3.0GHz. My main focus is stability and a bit of a speed bump, not to achieve the world speed record. I'm fine with 3.0GHz with zero hassle, but I'm sure I could tweak it much higher if I really felt like it.
Overall, I'm happy with the board and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for a mid-priced, easy overclocking board with a decent (and usable) feature set.
edit: If you have no intention of running SLI, don't bother looking at the 680i boards.
edit2:
I imagine you will taking back that recommendation at this point? http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2077834&enterthread=y
1) The right angle SATA ports are a complete pain in the ass. Sure, they don't interfere with my 8800GTX, but I also pretty much have to remove the card to get to the SATA cables. With straight SATA ports you can use pliers to gently insert/remove SATA cables in between your add on cards.
2) The 4-pin molex for supplying additional power to the PCIe 16x slots is smack dab in the middle of the expansion card slots... Not an easy place to have to run a power cable, and a really bad place if you want your wiring to look pretty. It's possible that this additional power is only necessary if a second PCIe card is installed for Crossfire, but the manual does not seem to indicate this one way or another.
3) floppy drives are almost always at the top of the case, why did Abit put the floppy plug at the bottom? I don't own a cable long enough to install my floppy... Luckily Vista recognizes the RAID0 array unlike XP that would have required me to do the put the RAID drivers on a floppy.
...all of these layout quirks are surmountable, but I wanted to make note of them.
At $180, it still isn't the cheapest of boards, but still a good chunk less than then the comparably equipped P5K's. So far, I have not had any issues whatsoever with the board, and I've easily managed a mild OC with my E6600 running 3.0GHz. My main focus is stability and a bit of a speed bump, not to achieve the world speed record. I'm fine with 3.0GHz with zero hassle, but I'm sure I could tweak it much higher if I really felt like it.
Overall, I'm happy with the board and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for a mid-priced, easy overclocking board with a decent (and usable) feature set.
edit: If you have no intention of running SLI, don't bother looking at the 680i boards.
edit2:
I imagine you will taking back that recommendation at this point? http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2077834&enterthread=y
nitromullet
Diamond Member
- Jan 7, 2004
- 9,031
- 36
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So, no double posting issues with the Abit Pro?
Has anyone done any speed comparisons with regards to the LAN running on the PCI rather than a PCIe? What kind of difference is actually being seen?
Has anyone done any speed comparisons with regards to the LAN running on the PCI rather than a PCIe? What kind of difference is actually being seen?
The Pro doesn't , the IP35-E & IP35 currently do for most people.
The Asus P5K Dl apparently does it for at least some people (Yellowbeard from Corsair's does).
As for the PCI/PCI-E LAN throughput it's ~650MB/s v ~900MB/s but 650MB/s is faster than any domestic BB, faster than a single HDD can provide or even some RAIDed setups.
2 reasons
1) in my experience floppies are ussually in the middle, below the 5.25" bays
2) they're anticipating the death of floppies ...
nitromullet
Diamond Member
- Jan 7, 2004
- 9,031
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Actually, you're right about the placement of the floppy... It's still a bad place for those people that do use floppies, especially because it is at a right angle to the other connectors. A ribbon floppy cable would be cumbersome down there no matter what. My case is kind of "special", so I'm used to requiring abnormally long cables, but I still didn't have anything long enough to reach my floppy drive.
Anyway, I really like this board so far, so I can overlook the floppy connector placement.
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