Opinion on Abit IP35 Pro or other recommendation...

[jaguarskx]

I am thinking about the Abit IP35 Pro as part of my next upgrade. I'm just looking for opinions on this or other mobos that has an additional PCI-e x4 slot to use for a possible secondary LCD monitor. I'm not looking for an XFire setup so stepping up to a X35 chipset doesn't seem necessary.

The reason why I'm looking at the IP35 is because it has some pretty good reviews and it has 3 PCI slots. One will be used for the sound card, another will be used for a possible RAID controller card. I prefer a dedicated RAID controller over the "software" RAID controller that's part of the motherboard. The third will be kept empty to provide the possible 2nd GPU in the PCI-e x4 slot better airflow.

I will most likely drop in a Q9450, and a GeForce 8800 (G92) GTS. A cheap GeForce 8400/8500 will be used to drive the possible second monitor.


Thanks.

 

[Shadow703793]

Check out the P35-DS3L/R. esp. if you plan to OC. but since you need 2x PCIe i suggest a ASUS P5K.

 

[jaguarskx]

Yeah I looked at the Asus P5K series, but it don't like the positioning of the PCI, PCI-e x16/4/1 slots.

Basically using any 8800 series card will block one of the PCI slots. That don't happen on the IP35 Pro. It would also mean poor airflow for the GPU stuck in the PCI-e x4 slot because the PCI slot in front and back would have to be occupied.

 

[BUFF]

The IP35 Pro is a great mobo.

1 thing to consider is that if you run a PCI hardware RAID card then all the data runs via PCI bus & hence has a limit of 133Mb/s (before any overheads or other traffic).
You might want to consider a PCI-E RAID card (Arecas work in the IP35 Pro) & a PCI gfx card (you can do multi-monitor from a single 8800 though).

 

[ImajorI]

I have the Abit IP 35 Pro and love it.

 

[andro21]

huh... thats true... i never considered that! i was inbetween these two mobos also and i ended up choosing the ASUS because (im told) it has more features and is more future proof... also cause the ASUS i chose is the p5k-e, which has wi-fi, has one more pci-e slot, and has the adi ad 1988b onboard audio (which is supposed to be some pretty good sound). the one thing i liked more was the heat sinks SEEM better on the abit... and since i have my own wireless internet card, my own sound card, and the damn VC (im getting the 8800 gts g92 512mb) is apparently going to be blocking the very extra pci-e slot i wanted to have (just in case), i dont see very much of a benefit to the asus anymore............ i dont like u, jaguarskx... now im freakin confused again...

oh, and i dont like the setup of the P35-DS3L/R... they dont look nice at all and use almost entirely obsolete external connections (comm port?????) instead of the external sata and ieee 1394... plus, the heat sinks are much smaller on those boards... i dont even consider those two boards anymore because of these reasons... id love for someone to explain the benefits of using any/all of these four mobos.

the other thing is, im definitely going to be buying myself either the E8400 or the E8500 when they come out in a week or so. i dont know if these mobos will work with them or not.

 

[jaguarskx]

i dont see very much of a benefit to the asus anymore............ i dont like u, jaguarskx... now im freakin confused again...

 

[jaguarskx]

the other thing is, im definitely going to be buying myself either the E8400 or the E8500 when they come out in a week or so. i dont know if these mobos will work with them or not.

You might need to flash the mobo, but the P35, X38, X48 chipsets are designed for Penryn's release.

 

[andro21]

well, ive read a couple more reviews and it seems that the blocked slot is just a pci slot, not one of the pci-e slots... still not sure about that though...
and the wifi is actually kinda cool since i can now just use that instead of the router we have... although im not sure if its a better choice than a linksys router with 802.11g/b/a.
the other thing i KNOW the asus has goin for it is that it CAN handle the new 45nm processors comin out. im not sure about the abit.
they both have great reviews goin for them, so i guess u cant really go wrong with either one. have u decided on one?

 

[fjabad]

Abit IP35-Pro is an excellent choice.

External switch for resetting CMOS, solid state caps, BIOS is easy to understand and navigate.

I don't know if you're going to overclock but the external switch is a must have.

 

[jaguarskx]

Personally, I'm not that crazy about wireless 'cause I tend to transfer GB's worth of data at a time from my primary PC to my HTPC (media files). Wireless is still too slow for my taste.

Yeah, if you install a dual slot GPU in the Asus P5K you will loose a PCI slot. Not important to most people, but I'm not like most people.

 

[andro21]

hahaha. good point. so i guess ur goin with the abit, huh? can the abit handle the 45nm chips?

 

[Eurasianman]

I just ordered the Gigabyte P35-DS3P rev 2.0 since it was crossfire compatible and supposedly has less vDroop than the IP35 Pro. And if you plan to overclock a 45nm quad, you might want to wait.

 

[jaguarskx]

I just ordered the Gigabyte P35-DS3P rev 2.0 since it was crossfire compatible and supposedly has less vDroop than the IP35 Pro. And if you plan to overclock a 45nm quad, you might want to wait.

Yep, waiting for Yorkfield; Q9450.

 

[andro21]

so which mobo r u goin with? btw, that processor is ridiculous! but what have u chosen? id love to know why u chose what uve chosen and such... itll help me :/

 

[Groveling_Wyrm]

+1 For the Abit IP35-Pro. I have used the Abit, Gigabyte, and Asus P35 boards, and for ease of use and flexibility of options, the Abit is definitely the best. Also, I have found that the IP35-Pro is about the easiest for overclocking as well.

If you do choose the IP35-Pro, and plan to overclock, you would be wise to consider purchasing a couple of fans for the mosfet and northbridge heatsinks.

 

[andro21]

well, one thing i just read from techspot says that theyd recommend the asus mobo over the abit mobo... also an interesting thing said in the article was that they were able to SLI two 8800gtx cards! i didnt know it worked with SLI?!?! maybe its a hacked driver or something??? idk... but if techspot says they could, that might be something thats interesting to u. i really dont know which id rather have yet, but i might be leaning toward the asus (if the SLI thing is possible)

 

[BUFF]

the abit will work with 45nm CPUs.

One other thing is that if you do decide to go with the PCI-E RAID card idea:
1) the abit seems to be more compatible/less hassle
2) the Asus will disable it's PCI-E x1 slots whereas the abit won't due to the lanes being configured differently.

 

[SanDiegoPaul]

P35 Pro for me. Great board and lots of settings for oc'ing it.

 

[jaguarskx]

If you do choose the IP35-Pro, and plan to overclock, you would be wise to consider purchasing a couple of fans for the mosfet and northbridge heatsinks.

I'll probably OC the Q9450 to between 3.0GHz - 3.2GHz.

How hot do the MOSFET and Northbridge get from your experience?

 

[andro21]

I'll probably OC the Q9450 to between 3.0GHz - 3.2GHz.

How hot do the MOSFET and Northbridge get from your experience?

i dont have experience with this mobo myself (obviously). but figured id let u know that-- from what ive read, at least-- its a bit overstated how hot the MOSFET and NB get. but almost any decent quality fan will do just fine to keep things cool.
on a personal note, ive decided to go with the asus mobo, mainly because the abit 30 MIR went away, so its 180 again... im gonna wait for when the new e8400 or e8500 come out to get my mobo and gpu. i hope the abit works out for ya though.