Abit 775 boards

[k0nigen]

ABIT IB9 iP965 Vs ABIT IP35

What's the contest going to be like if I'm trying to clock an E4500?

Cheers

[staffsMike]

Probably be very similar but the IP-35 will make lighter work out of it i'd imagine.

[k0nigen]

Cheers Mike - there's a £25 effective difference in price so I'm trying to figure out why I should justify going for the (slightly) newer tech in the IP35

Any other opinions/users' thoughts are welcome...

[BUFF]

IB9 ~400fsb (& incurable double boot but does have support for 4x PATA devices rather than 2)
IP35 ~500fsb+

[k0nigen]

Double boot - is that the one where you need to reset after booting in order to detect hardware (ie HDDs)?

[BUFF]

no, it will start>stop>start again as it sets the strap & then fully boot into Windows.
IB9 is £56 at SCAN & the IP35-E is £62 - for £6 get the IP35-E unless you need RAID & firewire in which case IP35 is £78.

[k0nigen]

Thanks for the advice BUFF - I was wondering about the "-E" version, I'll take a closer look at the specs tonight, after squash!

Let's hope there are no issues installing a Scythe Ninja onto it, eh?

[silentvoice]

The northbridge heatsink in quite big / tall on the "-E" version so be careful. There are reports that an Artic Freezer Pro 7 won't fit, for example.

Also, BUFF, do you know if there are still plans to release a BIOS for the double boot 'issue'? The Pro version doesn't seem to be affected but is a higher price premium.

[BUFF]

Well, there's already a beta BIOS for the IP35-E & IP35 that fixes the double boot.
I imagine that the fix will probably see light in a later full release BIOS e.g. one also bringing Penryn support.

The Pro isn't affected by this imo because uGuru esentially takes over the thing that causes it - strap setting.

[k0nigen]

Well, there's already a beta BIOS for the IP35-E & IP35 that fixes the double boot

Does that mean that the IP35 and IP35-E have the dual boot problem as well as the IB9? (but they're curable?)

[BUFF]

The IP35 & IP35-E also have the double boot same as the IB9.
Difference is that they are curable ( beta BIOS already available) whereas Sean at abit UK says that they can't remedy it on the IB9.

[k0nigen]

Thanks for the info, Buff
If you don't mind, I'm going to try to pick your brains further

How do the AB9 Pro and the Abit AB9 QUAD GT fit into the picture?

EDIT: I guess a better question would be: Which Abit board should I get?

[BUFF]

what do you need in terms of features (RAID, firewire etc.)?
what do you primarily intend to do with the system?
budget?
when do you next think that you would upgrade & would it be a single item like a CPU or a complete platform change?

[k0nigen]

what do you need in terms of features (RAID, firewire etc.)?
what do you primarily intend to do with the system?
budget?
when do you next think that you would upgrade & would it be a single item like a CPU or a complete platform change?

Features: SPDIF out (seems standard), SLI not required
I'll be playing games and HD videos
Budget isn't a value, I'd rather base a purchase on bang for buck
Most likely upgrade would be through same board, with Quad Core etc

Going to be installing the following:
E4500 (@ ~3.0GHz hopefully)
Scythe Ninja Rev.B
2x1GB GEiL DDR2 800
Powercolor X1950 Pro Passive
Akasa Exclipse

As you can see, I'm going for quiet too

Cheers

[BUFF]

IP35 is basically the IP35-E plus ICH9R instead of ICH9 (so you get 6 SATA instead of 4 & RAID capability) plus Firewire & different chipset cooling.
The IP35 Pro adds uGuru (best manufacturer hardware monitoring/fan control going imo), 2nd physical x16 (x4 electrical) PCI-E slot, 2nd gigabit LAN, 2x eSATA ports, onboard power & reset buttons plus external clearCMOS switch, different again cooling & a slightly more complex BIOS.
IP35 series should support Penryn CPUs when they come out.

The QuadGT is a great board but it's based on the slightly older 965 chipset - it's probably most comparable to the IP35 Pro.
It also has lots of blue LEDs (iirc 7 different patterns plus all off) behind the PCB for a bit of bling if you have a case window.
I would imagine that abit will release a BIOS offering Penryn support for it but it's not guaranteed.

[k0nigen]

Thanks very much for your help, BUFF

I've gone for the IP35 - If anyone's interested, I'll list the setup below and post back with my assembly and clocking findings:

E4500
Scythe Ninja
Corsair 520W
Abit IP35
2x1GB GEIL DDR2 800 C4
Powercolor X1950 Pro SCS3 (Passive)
Akasa Eclipse