Mid ranged P35 mobo?
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Mid ranged P35 mobo?
Currently in the process of upgrading my system, i know everything im getting except for the board. Here's what i plan on buying:
Q9300 CPU
9600GT or the ATI 4850 depending on its price to performance ratio. Leaning towards the 9600 though as i know my S1 fits it.
2x WD 640GB WD6400AAKS drives
For a mobo im looking at spending £70-100. don't need anything special, would like something with plenty of fan headers and speedfan support (I have 3 case fans, all nicely undervolted, plus my CPU) and a good BIOS for under/overclocking), and decent on board sound so i can get rid of my soundcard.
Ive heard very good things about the Abit IP35 Pro but here its quite expensive (~£100). Is it worth it over others like the Asus p5k pro (£82), the MSI Neo2 fr (£75) or the cheaper Abit IP35 (£81)?
Q9300 CPU
9600GT or the ATI 4850 depending on its price to performance ratio. Leaning towards the 9600 though as i know my S1 fits it.
2x WD 640GB WD6400AAKS drives
For a mobo im looking at spending £70-100. don't need anything special, would like something with plenty of fan headers and speedfan support (I have 3 case fans, all nicely undervolted, plus my CPU) and a good BIOS for under/overclocking), and decent on board sound so i can get rid of my soundcard.
Ive heard very good things about the Abit IP35 Pro but here its quite expensive (~£100). Is it worth it over others like the Asus p5k pro (£82), the MSI Neo2 fr (£75) or the cheaper Abit IP35 (£81)?
OC is fine with all the boards that you mentioned above.
As for fan control, I haven't used IP35 before, but I can guarantee that even a low-end IP-35E has relatively powerful fan control compared to others. Of course, you can use speedfan to control two fans on Abit IP35-E.
Image was taken by gungun, thanks.
As for fan control, I haven't used IP35 before, but I can guarantee that even a low-end IP-35E has relatively powerful fan control compared to others. Of course, you can use speedfan to control two fans on Abit IP35-E.
Image was taken by gungun, thanks.
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Keep an eye out on the Scan Today Only pageas they’ve had it for under £80 in May and it seems to come on offer regularly. They have free postage for AVForums and Hexus forum members also.
I’d also consider the Gigabyte P35 series as I’m very happy with my P35-DS3R 2.0. It’s good for serious under-volting & over-clocking and I can control 2 of the 4 fan headers with Speedfan. There are reports that the later versions (2.1 or EP35) don’t support Speedfan but I’m not clear if this is because people haven’t configured the BIOS and Speedfan correctly; I had to change some settings to get it to work for me.
Scan has the EP35-DS3R for £73.44 but you’d be hard pressed to find the version I have in stock anywhere.
Added. There’s also a P35C-DS3R which is the same as the P35-DSR3 with the addition of 2 DDR3 slots (it keeps the 4 DDR2 slots) - http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInf ... ctID=17596
I’d also consider the Gigabyte P35 series as I’m very happy with my P35-DS3R 2.0. It’s good for serious under-volting & over-clocking and I can control 2 of the 4 fan headers with Speedfan. There are reports that the later versions (2.1 or EP35) don’t support Speedfan but I’m not clear if this is because people haven’t configured the BIOS and Speedfan correctly; I had to change some settings to get it to work for me.
Scan has the EP35-DS3R for £73.44 but you’d be hard pressed to find the version I have in stock anywhere.
Added. There’s also a P35C-DS3R which is the same as the P35-DSR3 with the addition of 2 DDR3 slots (it keeps the 4 DDR2 slots) - http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInf ... ctID=17596
http://www.uabit.com/index.php?option=c ... &Itemid=44
I think Abit's official website is a good reference.
Gigabyte produced decent OC boards, but their bios fan control at least was a mess of loss. It's too changeable in every bios releases without logics.
I think Abit's official website is a good reference.
Gigabyte produced decent OC boards, but their bios fan control at least was a mess of loss. It's too changeable in every bios releases without logics.
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Thanks. The spec sheets arent that detailed (no mention of fan headers, supported CPU's etc), but theres enough there and on a few other places ive seen to convince me that the IP35 pro is ideal for me.loimlo wrote:http://www.uabit.com/index.php?option=c ... &Itemid=44
I think Abit's official website is a good reference.
I do think someone at Abit needs to update their info on LGA775. It currently reads:
The Prescott (Pentium 4 core) is the only processor to use the LGA 775 socket type, for now. LGA 775 offers a Front side bus of 1066 MHz.
Yes, IP35 Pro is almost perfect about fan control except 6V tip. In my opinion, IP35 Pro is the best P35 board on the market.FartingBob wrote:Thanks. The spec sheets arent that detailed (no mention of fan headers, supported CPU's etc), but theres enough there and on a few other places ive seen to convince me that the IP35 pro is ideal for me.loimlo wrote:http://www.uabit.com/index.php?option=c ... &Itemid=44
I think Abit's official website is a good reference.
I do think someone at Abit needs to update their info on LGA775. It currently reads:The Prescott (Pentium 4 core) is the only processor to use the LGA 775 socket type, for now. LGA 775 offers a Front side bus of 1066 MHz.
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The IP35 Pro you won't be disappointed with, at least when it comes to fan headers, control and features. There are six headers, all controllable from BIOS or µGuru, and the only reason I'd try any other control method would be to get hysteresis - native control is a bit hasty in changing fan speed, transitions aren't very smooth. The little BIOS code display and external BIOS reset switch I'm sure you'll appreciate very much.
Abit's site seems to live in a bygone age, but at least there's not a huge number of boards per chipset to wade through.
Abit's site seems to live in a bygone age, but at least there's not a huge number of boards per chipset to wade through.
What's the 6V tip? I've heard of the voltage never being able to drop below 6V even though you can apparently set it lower.Yes, IP35 Pro is almost perfect about fan control except 6V tip.
If you haven't yet decided ....
I can recommend the Gigabyte-P35-DS4, which you can get for around GBP 100 including VAT (some of these price comparison sites seem to mix and match VAT inclusive and VAT exclusive).
I have a 25% overclock on my E6750, using standard (non-OCing) DDR2-800 memory, and it is both rock solid and quite cool - load temps folding for the motherboard are in the range 43-45C today, with the weather similar to that in London.
I did find it necessary to undervolt for my OC, to keep the fan speeds down, but this is partly because I also need to replace the Tri-Cools in my P182 with something that move the air more quietly.
HTH
Mike
I have a 25% overclock on my E6750, using standard (non-OCing) DDR2-800 memory, and it is both rock solid and quite cool - load temps folding for the motherboard are in the range 43-45C today, with the weather similar to that in London.
I did find it necessary to undervolt for my OC, to keep the fan speeds down, but this is partly because I also need to replace the Tri-Cools in my P182 with something that move the air more quietly.
HTH
Mike