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

[squito]

So I'm pretty much frustrated with my board + e8400 right now, but maybe my expectations are too high ( I mean I only have a 1ghz OC)

I've been running 4.0ghz for over a week now, but I'm not satisfied, because it takes me such a high voltage to maintain any sort of stability. I've been reading the 8400/8500 OC thread, and I'm quite worried about degradation--even if it's not true.

My main problem with my board, I believe is voltage drop. I'm using the beta 9 bios, and I get such a huge drop. I'm running 1.395v in Bios and the longest I orthos'd (small ffts) for was 2 hours without error, I never went beyond that because of degradation fears, @ 1.385 vCore I error at 30 minutes.

According to CPU-z and uGuru, in windows I'm at 1.37 core and at load it drops down to 1.34. I know that some drop is normal, but that just seems extreme. And it seems that everyone else is hitting 4ghz as much lower voltages.

According to uGuru: I Idle at 24*C and at full load hit 44*C.

Perhaps I have a bad chip, and my question is better suited for the e8400 thread. I apologize if that's the case.

I tend to think, it's something I'm doing wrong though. Since I've been out of the game for a while.

I'm using the system in my sig and my bios settings include:

e8400 batch#:Q744A760 w/ 1.1125vid

1.395 vCore
2.0 DDR2 Volts
everything else is at default
5-5-5-15 Ram Timings by SPD
I've tried 63% gtlref voltages

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm hoping that there is just some obvious BIOS settings I'm missing.

Doesn't seem to be that bad of a chip to me - seems average - here's ours

[Ace-a-Rue]

So I'm pretty much frustrated with my board + e8400 right now, but maybe my expectations are too high ( I mean I only have a 1ghz OC)

be content with a 1ghz overclock...that is typical.

I've been running 4.0ghz for over a week now, but I'm not satisfied, because it takes me such a high voltage to maintain any sort of stability. I've been reading the 8400/8500 OC thread, and I'm quite worried about degradation--even if it's not true.

My main problem with my board, I believe is voltage drop. I'm using the beta 9 bios, and I get such a huge drop. I'm running 1.395v in Bios and the longest I orthos'd (small ffts) for was 2 hours without error, I never went beyond that because of degradation fears, @ 1.385 vCore I error at 30 minutes.

According to CPU-z and uGuru, in windows I'm at 1.37 core and at load it drops down to 1.34. I know that some drop is normal, but that just seems extreme. And it seems that everyone else is hitting 4ghz as much lower voltages.

Vdroop is a spec for intel processors...some board makers offer an override circuit to eliminate the droop but that increases the cost of the board...by how much, i don't have a handle on that.

EVERY cpu is different in overclocking potential and also with each motherboard...those lower voltages could be on boards that have vdroop control built in...remember...intel specs chipset design with vdroop.

According to uGuru: I Idle at 24*C and at full load hit 44*C.

if you are air cooled then the cpu temp should not really be below what your system temp is running at...

Perhaps I have a bad chip, and my question is better suited for the e8400 thread. I apologize if that's the case.

perhaps!...i sent back an excellent QX9650 because of a bad DTS sensor...my replacement is like yours...i get a reliable 1ghz overclock with moderate vcore...i am not a Prime 95, Orthos or OCCT fanatic...i use wPrime 1024M stability bench...it gives me what i need for stability.

I tend to think, it's something I'm doing wrong though. Since I've been out of the game for a while.

keep tweaking but you are probably close to a max overclock that will give you moderate temps.

I'm using the system in my sig and my bios settings include:

e8400 batch#:Q744A760 w/ 1.1125vid

1.395 vCore
2.0 DDR2 Volts
everything else is at default
5-5-5-15 Ram Timings by SPD
I've tried 63% gtlref voltages

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm hoping that there is just some obvious BIOS settings I'm missing.

try setting everything to stock speed and then set your vcore to actual vcore of 1.04v or 1.05v and then run wPrime 1024M bench...i can do that...maybe you won't be able to post at that voltage...my VID is 0.9625 but now with this latest beta, 16.b09, it shows 1.1375....so...try that low vcore to see if you even get into windows at stock speed...set enough vdimm to allow it to post to boot...some sticks need more than other sticks, especially if you are running 4 sticks.

remember, the various bioses will require different set vcores to get a certain target actual vcore....ie, i am using 16.b09..in the bios, i have to set about 0.06v above what i actually need for an idle load and then another 0.03 to 0.04v to account for vdroop to accomplis a bench or wprime.

good luck!

[Cpl Ledanek]

just a bump for my question:

anyone have their motherboard upside down?

I'll be running on air-cool, just curious if anyone else is doing this

Specs in Signature

advance thanks

btw Ace, that bolt on the NB and PWM is pain...not sure if I got enough torque but I did by fingers only, so hopefully I didn't over do it.

[Ace-a-Rue]

it is a little difficult but you overcame it like i did

[Cpl Ledanek]

it is a little difficult but you overcame it like i did

Overcame ...that's gonna be my word-for-the-day.
Thank You, thank you very much

Question #1 Now, since I have to rip apart an older PC, that has my Silverstone Zeus ST65ZF...should I bother or get another PSU?

Not running no SLI or plan to. Is this Zeus powerful enough? It's a serious question, coz this is not my day job and I don't understand it. I just want to connect the dots and go on with my old games and Photoshop.

I see some post with problems with newer/Intel compliant PSU's, I just want to make sure there are enough horses in my PSU to pull me out of the mud.

Question #2...since I'm still asking questions ....I've read that you need Vista64 to appreciate---for lack of better word---my 4GB Corsair Dominator CM2X2048-6400C5DHX 5-5-5-18 1.80V ver4.1...I prefer XP since I got to many peripherals that are dependent on XP.

Sure Vista got the DX10-or-what-have-you, but I still play original GhostRecon (circa 2002) and Richard Burns Rally (circa 2004)...the newest game I play is COD4---which I've read, doesn't need DX10.

And as always, advance thanks to all replies

[mezryn]

I'm still working on my system, but in doing so I'm a little concerned about my CPU temperatures

BIOS will report between 80c and 100c on my E8400 when going into 3.6GHz range... and the system will shut down when reaching 125 or so with Core Temp. This is with the 16b.09 bios. I forget what version I had before flashing to this bios, but before it reported around a 20-30c temp idling. The CPU cooler is _cold_ to touch (ZeroTherm NV120 w/ AS5) however, so should I ignore these temps and consider it part of the beta bios? Or can a CPU cooler be cold even when the CPU is cooking? I'd hate to reseat it since I fear I may have stripped one of the screws when installing it

Are there known issues with 16b.09 reporting high temps? Is there a known good bios version that reports proper temps on the E8400?

[mezryn]

One more thing, and of a separate topic - I can't seem to disable Speed stepping :\ I set C1E and EIST to disabled, then in Vista I ensure the performance is set to high, and then I've drilled down on the separate performance pull down menus and set those all to high as well. CPU-Z will still show bouncing between 6x and 9x... am I missing anything?

[Ace-a-Rue]

what bios?

[Crazy Chuckster]

Ace i have the new memory in, here are some cpuz screns http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=373

I put em in slots 2 and 4 this time, dunno if it makes a difference between slots 1 and 3

[chawks2]

BIOS will report between 80c and 100c on my E8400 when going into 3.6GHz range... and the system will shut down when reaching 125 or so with Core Temp.

I have no problem with the 9 bios and temp/voltage readings on my e8400 (440 x 9 - vcore 1.42 - idle 28c load 50). uGuru is another matter, but it could just be an old version I have installed.

One more thing, and of a separate topic - I can't seem to disable Speed stepping :\ I set C1E and EIST to disabled, then in Vista I ensure the performance is set to high

Regardless of the setting in Vista, the BIOS should be controlling c1e/eist. Maybe do a BIOS refresh.

Honestly, it sounds like the cpu cooler is not seated properly. If you stripped one of the screws, you could be getting uneven IHS distribution.

[mezryn]

what bios?

Sorry, 16.B09

[BenSanford]

....so...try that low vcore to see if you even get into windows at stock speed...set enough vdimm to allow it to post to boot...some sticks need more than other sticks, especially if you are running 4 sticks.

remember, the various bioses will require different set vcores to get a certain target actual vcore....ie, i am using 16.b09..in the bios, i have to set about 0.06v above what i actually need for an idle load and then another 0.03 to 0.04v to account for vdroop to accomplis a bench or wprime.

good luck!

I had my system working ok with 4 1GB sticks, and then I decided to go to 8GB. I can run fine with 2 sticks of OCZ Gold at 4Gb (PC-6400) and recommended 2.1v dimm voltage. But when I add in two more of the same sticks, I can't get into Vista. After the Bios loads, and goes through recognizing the drives, etc. I get an error that the Windows boot manager file Windows\system32\winload.exe is possibly corrupt.

If I take the two new memory sticks out, and system boots fine. I RMA'ed the memory and the two new sticks I got show the same problems, so it's likely something else and not the memory. Since you noted problems with voltages needed for 4 sticks, what should I go for to just get it to get past this point?

My Sig is accurate except it shows the memory I'm still trying to get to work.

[Ace-a-Rue]

first try vdimm of 2.2 to 2.3v to see if that helps with all four sticks...think about air cooling the memory sticks.

what is your "MCH" (memory controller hub, AKA, Northbridge) set to?...you might need 1.52, 1.56 or 1.64...don't forget the Southbridge, AKA, "ICHIO1.5" will need extra help to communicate to all four of those memory sticks...i'd recommend 1.65 to 1.7v, at least.

[HaTaX]

mezryn, also the P35 chipsets don't do well at 1T speeds, the Nvidia chipsets seem to be able to handle the 1T command rate, but intels chipsets don't gain much with it enabled, and few systems work correctly at that rate.

It can be a little misleading if you're coming from a DDR system as 1T makes a big difference in speed on the first gen DDR systems, but with DDR2 the gain has greatly diminished.

[Ace-a-Rue]

One more thing, and of a separate topic - I can't seem to disable Speed stepping :\ I set C1E and EIST to disabled, then in Vista I ensure the performance is set to high, and then I've drilled down on the separate performance pull down menus and set those all to high as well. CPU-Z will still show bouncing between 6x and 9x... am I missing anything?

what bios?

Sorry, 16.B09

i would try CMOS clear with battery out and PSU unplugged...don't forget to push the power button to unload the caps...if you can get to the mobo power ATX power plug, i would unplug it...leave it for 5 or 10 minutes...put everything back together....after that, go into the bios and set the bios to optimize bios defaults...save...go into windows to see the C1E and EIST working...now...reboot to disable both...go back into windows to see if the multi stays a 9x.

what program are you using to see the multi change from 6-9-6?

[Ace-a-Rue]

Question #1 Now, since I have to rip apart an older PC, that has my Silverstone Zeus ST65ZF...should I bother or get another PSU?

Not running no SLI or plan to. Is this Zeus powerful enough? It's a serious question, coz this is not my day job and I don't understand it. I just want to connect the dots and go on with my old games and Photoshop.

I see some post with problems with newer/Intel compliant PSU's, I just want to make sure there are enough horses in my PSU to pull me out of the mud.

a 650W PSU should be fine...can't tell you if that particular model is going to be the right one...try it!

Question #2...since I'm still asking questions ....I've read that you need Vista64 to appreciate---for lack of better word---my 4GB Corsair Dominator CM2X2048-6400C5DHX 5-5-5-18 1.80V ver4.1...I prefer XP since I got to many peripherals that are dependent on XP.

Sure Vista got the DX10-or-what-have-you, but I still play original GhostRecon (circa 2002) and Richard Burns Rally (circa 2004)...the newest game I play is COD4---which I've read, doesn't need DX10.

And as always, advance thanks to all replies

XP SP2 will allow 3.25 gb to be used for installed software as long as you use the PAE (Physical Address Extension) switch

[mezryn]

OK - I'll focus on leaving the RAM timings loose at 5-5-5-18 2T until I can get the FSB & CPU stable. Thanks

mezryn, also the P35 chipsets don't do well at 1T speeds, the Nvidia chipsets seem to be able to handle the 1T command rate, but intels chipsets don't gain much with it enabled, and few systems work correctly at that rate.

It can be a little misleading if you're coming from a DDR system as 1T makes a big difference in speed on the first gen DDR systems, but with DDR2 the gain has greatly diminished.

[mezryn]

Thanks Ace! I'll try that tonight... was using CPU-Z to see the bouncing. Also, when OCing to 3.6, and I start testing 3dmark06, the video drops to about 50% - per some more researching, I'm assuming I just need to increase the PCIe clock speed to 101. Something should have flagged me to it when I began to lose overclocking potential on my video card - would normally OC it to 750, and was then able to only OC it to 720 after the 3.6GHz OC. Would I ever need to increase it more to 102? Are there other factors I could also then be missing? I know I'm not sharing a lot of details right now about the voltages I'm trying, but it's because I've been spending hours of rebooting/testing voltages and can't give a concrete single number response yet

i would try CMOS clear with battery out and PSU unplugged...don't forget to push the power button to unload the caps...if you can get to the mobo power ATX power plug, i would unplug it...leave it for 5 or 10 minutes...put everything back together....after that, go into the bios and set the bios to optimize bios defaults...save...go into windows to see the C1E and EIST working...now...reboot to disable both...go back into windows to see if the multi stays a 9x.

what program are you using to see the multi change from 6-9-6?

[Ace-a-Rue]

are you using 1.44.1 cpuz version?

[Ledge]

I just got my new P35 Pro and I don't understand all of the BIOS settings. Can someone give me a link to some OC settings that should work for my setup?

P35 Pro
E8400
2Gb Ballistix PC-6400
8800GTS 640Mb
OCZ 700w GameXstream
XP SP2

[Ace-a-Rue]

Also, when OCing to 3.6, and I start testing 3dmark06, the video drops to about 50% -

i do not understand about the 50% drop....is your 3d2006 score dropping 50%????

[Khaotic]

Need some suggestions.....
For a while now I've been running my IP 35 Pro with an eVGA 7950GX2.
333x9 for 3.0Ghz with DDR2-800.
I recently swapped the 7950GX2 for an 8800GT (512/G92).
when the system is OC @ 3.0Ghz i get the annoying Driver has Stopped Responding (Vista Ultimate-32bit) but when I run at default, the DSR goes away.
The DSR occurs when running 3DM 06, or just about anything else that requires heavy GPU.

Is this something that can be fixed by just throwing more voltage at the NB?

[HaTaX]

He's talking about when you increase the FSB on some systems, your PCIe link width will drop to 1x. Alot of people have reported that upping the PCIe speed to 101mhz will fix this problem. Dropping the link width that much is enough to drop 3dmark scores by 50%.

Only reason you'd need to goto 102mhz or above is if raising it to 101 doesn't get you back up to 16x link width. Lots of people have tested and really you don't see any improvement at all when increasing even up to 125mhz. Seems it's a waste of time currently to crank that up.. Maybe with triple SLI cards you might have the ability to see some gains.

[Ledge]

Wow is this board flaky with the E8400 in it! The vdrop is crazy, The double boot is getting old (Had the board for one night) and I can't get my E8400 over 3.6Ghz without putting insane volts to it. Now with the Vdrop I am not sure if the number in the BIOS is as important as the reading on Coretemp or Uguru but, I would hate to fry the E8400 so soon. I did the heat pipe mod and the temps look good at 39c on both cores and PWM is at 35c in Everest and uGURU system temp is 31c but uGURU reads my CPU temp at 127c!. I updated the BIOS to v.14 but the double boot continues. I read there is a way to fix the double boot by adding /WB to a file in the BIOS but, I can't figure out how to edit it?? I am hoping that the overclocking improves with a new BIOS revision as this (So far) is a step down from the 680i.

[HaTaX]

Ledge, you should probably try out the 16B09 bios that's been released. If you check abit's forums and look in the bios section there is a beta bios thread.

I'm running an E8400 in my IP35 pro and it does a great job. Had issues with temps and voltages not being anywhere close to what I set in the bios for VCore.

Don't give up hope yet, it's a pretty nice board that's very stable once you get it tweaked.