**Official ABIT IP-35 Pro Review/Overclock/Guide Thread**

[dstedman]

Hi - I've looked through most of this thread & am excited to start the build below. I have all of the stuff and intend to get it at least running this weekend. A couple of questions:

What BIOS version should I use? Seems to be a few betas on the main page - are they OK? Or should I stick with 14 (which might be what is already on the board)?

So is the bolt mod mandatory? Or can I just take off the heat pipes, clean them up, and apply AS5? I don't think I have any non-conductive stuff - do I really need it?

How much of a negative impact is 8 GB of RAM going to have on my overclock? I'm going to start the build with just one stick, but would really love to get all 8 GB running at 400 X 9 = 3.6 ghz. Impossible?

That's it. Upgrading from a AMD 3800+ 939 running at 2.5 ghz - excited to see how much better a quad can be!

thanks for your input -
dan

[HaTaX]

Since you have a quad core I would stick with either the 14 BIOS or goto the 16B04 version. The 16B09 seems to be really made for the wolfdale line and I doubt it offers you any real advantage with the Q6600.

Bolt mod isn't mandatory, some people reuse the plastic retention clips, they just don't offer the pressure that the small bolts can. However, you should NOT use a paste that is conductive on the PWM area. Best to play it safe and get some non-conductive thermal paste or even reuse the supplied black pad and make sure it contacts all of the PWM modules. Arctic silver ceramique is the paste of choice for the PWM area if you can get it, normal AS5 is fine for the north and south bridge.

8GB should be fine with the overclock you're looking to get, you will most likely have to bump the voltage up a bit for the MCH to get it stable. I would start checking stability though of the CPU by using only one 2GB stick, after you're sure the CPU is stable at your OCed speed, go ahead and add the others and test again. I'm using the OCZ vista upgrade (cheapie ram) 2GB modules and they run on my board fine at 450 FSB @ 5-5-4-12/2.1v so I bet you'll be fine.

[pross]

just a heads up, with b04 I, and a few others, get the annoying high temp readings for CPU, b03 I get normal readings...so for q6600 i suggest 16b03

[Cpl Ledanek]

@Ace...boards on the way. Got a question about the MX-5.
The mom & pop store I go buy my little stuff, no longer carries Artic Cooler thermal compounds; only Artic Silver. Feeling bad that I haven't patronized my local Mom & Pop store I still went ahead and bought
- ArcticClean #1 Thermal Material Remover and # 2 Thermal Surface Purifier.
- Arctic Silver Ceramique 2.5 grams.
can I still use this for your EXAMPLE OF LACK OF CONTACT WITH IP35 PRO PWM HEATSINK post?
Then hopefully Sat, I can stop by HomeDepot for your 3/4" length bolts or 1/2" bolts
I'm just scratching my head about the two 40mm fans

Would removing them and replacing them with, lets say a Thermaltake CL-C0034 Copper Fan&Heatsinks be better
How about Thermalright HR-05/or HR-05-SLI

Or is this too much for someone not OC'ing?

[nvteleskier]

Is it possible to swap motherboards, deleting all of the Nvidia drivers and changing to Abit drivers with the IP35 install?

I'd like to swap out the 680i but don't want to do a format and install. I am waiting for a 780i upgrade from EVGA, but I don't envision ever doing SLI.

There is an amazing number of people on this forum interested or using this board, I was considering the MARS,
but this thread has changed my mind.

Thanks

[Ace-a-Rue]

Ive been using mx-2 for a few months, honestly the diffrence is maybe diffrence is 1c, it could be anything, from application, not enough paste, to much paste etc. I Prolly go back to as5 whenever I re-seat again

nice thing about MX2 is no burn in period like AS5 has.

[Ace-a-Rue]

Gents, thanks to A-a-R, it appears the GTL reference voltage (63%) may have been the culprit. I was convinced it had to do something with my RAM being overvolted, but the jury is still not out - 10 hours is pretty solid tho. Means I have more room to oc, AND this is all on AIR!!!

GREAT!...which bios are you using?

[jamieuk23]

Hi I plan to water cool my Q6600 with a IP35 Pro motherboard. is it a must to water cool the north and south bridges as well ?

[Ace-a-Rue]

@Ace...boards on the way. Got a question about the MX-5.

are you asking about the Mazda car

you must mean MX2?...right?

The mom & pop store I go buy my little stuff, no longer carries Artic Cooler thermal compounds; only Artic Silver. Feeling bad that I haven't patronized my local Mom & Pop store I still went ahead and bought
- ArcticClean #1 Thermal Material Remover and # 2 Thermal Surface Purifier.
- Arctic Silver Ceramique 2.5 grams.
can I still use this for your EXAMPLE OF LACK OF CONTACT WITH IP35 PRO PWM HEATSINK post?

absolutely!...i used AS Ceramique on my PWM section....i was and still am happy with the results.

Then hopefully Sat, I can stop by HomeDepot for your 3/4" length bolts or 1/2" bolts
I'm just scratching my head about the two 40mm fans

what about the 40mm fans?...are you wanting to know where or how to place them?..if so, just go back to the page where i show the heatpipe mod and slide down a few posts for some pictures showing placement of the fans.

Would removing them and replacing them with, lets say a Thermaltake CL-C0034 Copper Fan&Heatsinks be better
How about Thermalright HR-05/or HR-05-SLI

Or is this too much for someone not OC'ing?

the SLI version for the HR-05 will not work...not sure about the thermaltake heatsink...i was trying to use what was installed on the board to avoid higher cost outlay...the heatpipe system that abit is using is not bad, just inadequate with the TIM material it used and the HP not level causing the irregular surface contact with their TIM.

[jimmsch]

OK...For some reason I cannot seem to be able to get Orthos blend stable at 500x8 with even up to 1.35vcore. The RAM is rated to run DDR2 1066 @ 2.3v. It passes memtest at 2.1v DDR2 1000 speed. The CPU runs small FFTs for over four hours at 500x8, but no joy on blend test.

My best possible 24/7 setings are as follows.



Ship/Packaging Date: Jan. 04, 2008
Voltage(s) (Stock/OC'ed): 1.112 (VID)/1.355 (set in BIOS)
Frequency(ies) (OC'ed): 456x9 (4.1ghz)
Motherboard: Abit IP35 Pro
BIOS: 16.B09
Video Card: El Cheapo X300 PCI-E
__________________________________________________ __
FSB = 456x9(4.1ghz)
RAM = 1:1
Vcore = 1.355(set in BIOS) (CPU-Z idle = 1.34------CPU-Z load = 1.31)
DDR2: 2.200v
CPU VVT: 1.10v
MCH = 1.33v
ICH = 1.05v
ICHIO = 1.50v
DDR2 REF = 0%
CPU GTLREF = 63% (for all)
__________________________________________________
*Extra* Memory(ies) (Timing(s)): 2GB OCZ SLI ready PC2-8500 5-5-5-15 running 1:1
*Extra* Memory(ies) (Voltage(s)): 2.2v
*Extra* Third Party Cooling Solution: NY winter (Zalman 9700)
*Extra* Paste(s)/Compound(s)/Other(s): Ceramique
*Extra* NB/SB/Mosfets bolt modded using Ceramique
*Extra* PSU Ultra XVS 750watt Modular

Ambient temps in my garage were a balmy 12C...open case w/ 120mm blowing on NB. Core Temp reads 36C (core 1) 32C (core 0) idle...as always, this NEVER changes. Load was 52 (core 1) 56 (core 0). Everyst reads the CPU temp as 26C under load

I think this will even be OK if I bring it into the house. I do not think temps will be too much of an issue with a TJmax of 105C.

The only difference in the setup from this pic is I swapped the stock cooler out for a Zalman 9700.



I have now taken out the OCZ RAM and installed some Dominators PC2 8500's to try for that evasive blend stable 500x8. I will update if this gets me a few hours of blend stability.

EDIT: OK that failed after only 2 minutes on blend test. I guess this combo just doesn't like 500fsb. Next up is the Dominators and E8400 on a GA X38 DQ6.

[Ymir]

Hi I plan to water cool my Q6600 with a IP35 Pro motherboard. is it a must to water cool the north and south bridges as well ?

Not a must, but I would. Actually, I would say run your water on the Northbridge for sure.

[Cpl Ledanek]

are you asking about the Mazda car

you must mean MX2?...right?
...no wonder he looked at me funny


absolutely!...i used AS Ceramique on my PWM section....i was and still am happy with the results.
Confession: I don't know what PWM means
Is that on the CPU? Also on the mosfet...the black thermal, someone posted you could reuse it? Is that certifiable?

what about the 40mm fans?...are you wanting to know where or how to place them?..if so, just go back to the page where i show the heatpipe mod and slide down a few posts for some pictures showing placement of the fans.

Your pics are here at post # 759

the SLI version for the HR-05 will not work...not sure about the thermaltake heatsink...i was trying to use what was installed on the board to avoid higher cost outlay...the heatpipe system that abit is using is not bad, just inadequate with the TIM material it used and the HP not level causing the irregular surface contact with their TIM.

Hopefully get to assemble on weekend

[Pntgrd]

Is it possible to swap motherboards, deleting all of the Nvidia drivers and changing to Abit drivers with the IP35 install?

I'd like to swap out the 680i but don't want to do a format and install. I am waiting for a 780i upgrade from EVGA, but I don't envision ever doing SLI.

There is an amazing number of people on this forum interested or using this board, I was considering the MARS,
but this thread has changed my mind.

Thanks

I have done this many times without a hickup. Just do like you say and delete all the chipset drivers, shut down, change boards and install new drivers. I know many will say this is bad but it has always worked for me. My IP35 system was and Asus A8N SLI with an Opty 165 when I put it to sleep and it woke up as the system in my sig. One other thing I always do when doing this is run a System Repair from the XP disk, the 2nd one in the menu. The XP install I run is over 3 years old and still runs fine, but I do maintain in regularly.

[theELVISCERATOR]

This is with 6 mins of prime .

Thats when running large FFT`s

here is my result running same....bolt mod air cooled everything....

oc'd to my daily driver settings.. prime FFts about 7 mins in..

[Ron 61]

@ jimmsch Put some juice to your mch if you want 500FSB. Try 1.44v for 500. If you are failing blend but passing small fft then most likely its your NB voltage provided you have mem volts dialed in.

[HaTaX]

I have done this many times without a hickup. Just do like you say and delete all the chipset drivers, shut down, change boards and install new drivers. I know many will say this is bad but it has always worked for me. My IP35 system was and Asus A8N SLI with an Opty 165 when I put it to sleep and it woke up as the system in my sig. One other thing I always do when doing this is run a System Repair from the XP disk, the 2nd one in the menu. The XP install I run is over 3 years old and still runs fine, but I do maintain in regularly.

When you do a repair from the XP disk you are wiping out settings and such that you had previously had. Not a big deal as the data and applications are still there and can be recovered if you do the file and settings transfer wizard before you do the repair. But another option you could look into is using a program on the XP cd called Sysprep. If you google that name and something like motherboard replacement you'll get lots of guides pointing out how to use it to change chipset or hard drive controllers or entire mobos. It's really the hard drive controller drivers that will give you those 7E blue screens after moving to a new motherboard.

[HaTaX]

I just posted over in the E8400 thread and thought you might all be interesting in my bios settings I'm currently running:
Posted here: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...94#post2772894

450x9
Mem @ 1:1/5-5-4-12 (Cheap memory)

VCore 1.284v verified by DMM, hardware monitors report 1.28-1.29v
CPU VTT 1.16 ~ HWMON: 1.18v
DDR2 2.125v ~ HWMON: 2.12v
DDR2 REF 0%
MCH 1.37v ~ HWMON: 1.39v
ICH 1.09 ~ HWMON: 1.10v
ICHIO 1.60 ~ HWMON: 1.63v
GTLREF 0&2 / 1&3 65%/64%

Also, something I noticed while testing, when I fire up the latest version of HWMonitor from CPUID I get a few spikes in my reported CPU temps from the bios and I actually had it lock up on me twice for no reason, but I did have that monitor open.

Wanted to share that here as it's probably motherboard specific and if some of you think the system is unstable, it could be because of multiple hardware monitor applications not getting along or sharing the allocated memory space properly. uGuru and CPU-Z have done it before so there could be other apps with the same problems.

[Nano2k]

Is it possible to swap motherboards, deleting all of the Nvidia drivers and changing to Abit drivers with the IP35 install?

From my personal experience you can switch from Nvidia chipsets to Intel chipsets without a problem and that without previously uninstalling any drivers at all. Moving from Intel to Nvidia seems to be a problem though... tend to get blue screens at startup.

Just my 2 cents...

[Pntgrd]

When you do a repair from the XP disk you are wiping out settings and such that you had previously had. Not a big deal as the data and applications are still there and can be recovered if you do the file and settings transfer wizard before you do the repair. But another option you could look into is using a program on the XP cd called Sysprep. If you google that name and something like motherboard replacement you'll get lots of guides pointing out how to use it to change chipset or hard drive controllers or entire mobos. It's really the hard drive controller drivers that will give you those 7E blue screens after moving to a new motherboard.

I think this is in fact what gets used. It is an option that you see after you choose "install". When it sees that there is an existiong Windows Install, it asks if you want to repair it. It then deletes a bunch of system files and reinstalls them, but leaves all reg settings and program settings alone. It is a neat feature that as of yet i have not found in Vista

[Knight]

I have been wondering about a question that I have been having. I have 4x1GB sticks of some Ballistix, but I have seen that others with the same setup have been having better luck with clocking the RAM. I believe that my RAM should be running better with 2.20v, but might it be the MCH or sub timings that are holding me back?

[Ace-a-Rue]

I have been wondering about a question that I have been having. I have 4x1GB sticks of some Ballistix, but I have seen that others with the same setup have been having better luck with clocking the RAM. I believe that my RAM should be running better with 2.20v, but might it be the MCH or sub timings that are holding me back?

what FSB to memory ratio are you using?

i always say go for the gusto for a short, brief time if you are worry about overvolting for an extended time...that way, you can discount an undervoltage possibly holding you back.

i would suggest higher MCH, all the way to max (1.72) if necessary and ICHIO 1.5 to 1.7 or 1.8v.

you can try vdimm up to 2.35-2.4v with a fan blowing on the dimms.

if none of theses voltage increases work, you just retreat to what you have now.

if you are trying to use 4:5 FSB to memory ratio, that will be more difficult to capture as you climb the FSB ladder.

[Knight]

what FSB to memory ratio are you using?

i always say go for the gusto for a short, brief time if you are worry about overvolting for an extended time...that way, you can discount an undervoltage possibly holding you back.

i would suggest higher MCH, all the way to max (1.72) if necessary and ICHIO 1.5 to 1.7 or 1.8v.

you can try vdimm up to 2.35-2.4v with a fan blowing on the dimms.

if none of theses voltage increases work, you just retreat to what you have now.

if you are trying to use 4:5 FSB to memory ratio, that will be more difficult to capture as you climb the FSB ladder.

I'm using the 4:5 ratio right now. I am perfectly happy right now about the frequencies, but I just want to now work on my RAM timings. I wish MemSet worked for this board.

[AstroCreep]

I must confess Knight, I dig your avatar.

[Ace-a-Rue]

I'm using the 4:5 ratio right now. I am perfectly happy right now about the frequencies, but I just want to now work on my RAM timings. I wish MemSet worked for this board.

the biggest gain in performance is going from cas 5 to 4, which might be hard to attain especially running all 4 dimm slots.

this board is not super tweakable like the DFI LT X38 board...in their bios, it has over abundant of tweaks for memory...a little to much in my mind...i like the simplicity of the Pro board over the tweak-city of the DFI LT X38 board.

[deathman20]

the biggest gain in performance is going from cas 5 to 4, which might be hard to attain especially running all 4 dimm slots.

this board is not super tweakable like the DFI LT X38 board...in their bios, it has over abundant of tweaks for memory...a little to much in my mind...i like the simplicity of the Pro board over the tweak-city of the DFI LT X38 board.

The Pro board is simple? LOL Man this has so many options its crazy compared to boards that im use too. Well except that AMD DFI Ultra I had that was pretty intense as well.