# P35 OC Recommendations



## Kursah (Feb 3, 2008)

Well as some of you may know, my P5B Deluxe's BIOS decided to get all fritzed to the point nothing would clear it, so it's on RMA. Fortunately I had about 7 days left on my 1-year return plan with the 'Egg. P5B Deluxes have been a deactivated item on Newegg for quite some time, and when I inquired about this they said I'd get an option of similar items or refund. My board showed up on Thursday of last week so I expect to hear something in the Mon/Tues area.

I've been reading up on the newer chipsets, mostly the P35 series as it was the direct P965 replacement. I've started doing some research, and it seems there are plenty of good boards out there with some very good OC potential. I know earlier P35's had issues OC-ing as high as a good 965 board, but the tides have long since changed.

I was kind of curious as to what you guys would recommend for a stable, cool-running, semi-feature-filled P35 board?

If I go refund when the time comes, I should get $179.99 US. There are a couple of boards on Newegg that would fit that bill easily in the P35 area and would also be my limiting budget factor.

I am kind of leaning towards an Abit IP35 Pro atm as it has nice features, looks and from what I've read some great OC-ability. Depending on budget I could always get the IP35-E which from what I've heard is a 500+ FSB board for a bit cheaper. Of course there are quite a few good options, so if you have suggestions please let me know!

My e6300 is capable of 500FSB (3.5ghz) with just a nudge over stock voltage (1.34vcore, 1.32 is stock). And my memory is 500fsb/ddr 1000 capable with 2.15v. So if things work out the way I want and I can get a P35 board, I would like to know the one I get will run good, cool and stable. I see no need for X38 or newer as I don't need full CF or any CF at all, I have no plans for 2 vid cards. Just a good solid OC'd system that will continue to do what I want.


----------



## oli_ramsay (Feb 4, 2008)

The DFI Blood Iron is an excellent overclocker, and only $105 at newegg.


----------



## sneekypeet (Feb 4, 2008)

oli_ramsay said:


> The DFI Blood Iron is an excellent overclocker, and only $105 at newegg.



+1 especially with no desire for CF...would leave money for RAM or a cooler ...well you get the idea!


----------



## Kursah (Feb 4, 2008)

If they had that board, which I hope will be re-activated on their site...

Pretty much all I'm interested in right now is a board, the rest of my stuff suits me just fine atm. But if i had more budget to play with, I might find a way to snag more RAM and try X64 w/4 Gigs.

I'm thinking if I wanna go budget brawler I'd go with the GB P35-DS3L, or step up to DS3R. 

Maybe one of the mid-range Asus P5K's, but the Abit IP35-E or -Pro's also seem like very good boards for the price. I'm sure any of them are capable of 500FSB, i'm just hoping to hear more from those of you experienced with them at those levels of OC.

Thanks thus far!


----------



## sneekypeet (Feb 4, 2008)

I just saw one on Ebay for like $60 bones...better get on it...lol

YHPM...link to mobo!


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 4, 2008)

a blood iron thing without me!!! and there is no need for cross fire if you have the newest stuff.. volt mod, or g mod or do whatever you can to that card! RM's running a 22in wide hd monitor and just one 3870 on crysis with frames at 60ish.. 
just look at my stuff.. its sneekys but better in some spots! lol you rule sneeky!


----------



## Kursah (Feb 4, 2008)

My 1950xtx runs just fine on my 19" widescreen 

I have it oc'd in BIOS, and just recently stuck an AC S1 cooler w/Fan Module to get a better and quieter cooling solution. As long as it plays the games I want for now, I'm good, I don't have the budget for a better card, and really I'm quite content atm.

Plus I have no need for crossfire anyways, I've always been a one card 3d Card fan. Less power, less heat, less headache, i believe in getting a decent card that's a better performance value with some OC-ability to make games enjoyable at mid-range resolutions (i.e. 1280x1024 / 1440x900).

Thanks!


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 4, 2008)

My vote goes in for the BloodIron, IF you can find one. 

If you can't you may have to take the next step-up in the DFI line.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136043


EDIT: or if you don't mind MIR's, need crossfire, and can afford the extra $10 now:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130141

Even the P5K-e is nice ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131225


----------



## Kursah (Feb 4, 2008)

I was just looking at that next-step-up DFI board Jr! Just happened to come back here to post about it! 

Nice find! Well if some other things fall through and go my way, I will have a newer P35 OC board! Thanks for the help thus far! I know my e6300 would do just fine on one of these and I haven't found a reason to replace my 6300, but if and/or when the time comes, I'm ready!


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 4, 2008)

Well, you always have to think though, the Gigabyte X38 board is "only" $60 more ....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128080


----------



## Kursah (Feb 4, 2008)

True, and there is good point to that. If Newegg refunds my P5B, I in theory will have $179.99 to play with, and if there was a good reason to spend more than that, I would have to think on it. I don't need the newest out there, CF is not in my future with this build by choice, and if I can find something that will take my 6300 up to 3.5 effortlessly and run my DDR2 and XTX I'll be happy.

When I go with newer will be with the newer Intel CPU's, DDR3, and whatever will be a good next-gen vid card this Summer-ish. That leaves a lot of time for things to change, which makes me want to limit how far I truly go with this build. Hell even if I did get a P5B Deluxe back, I'd be happy, prolly sell it to play with a good P35, I'd still be content with it.

That X38 board does look awfully nice though, but from what i've read CF is really the biggest reason to go X38 if I wanted it, OC-ing doesn't seem to be that different between the two...dunno if there's enough more to deem it needed in my rig. But it sure is nice...


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 4, 2008)

Well, either way whatever you do, you can't go wrong. I still say the P5K-e/IP35-e are nice boards and good alternates. Whatever you do though, like always, give us some benches!


----------



## Kursah (Feb 4, 2008)

Will do! I figure if I do buy one, it'll be either an Abit IP35-E or -PRO (I like the fan headers, chipset cooling and rear CMOS switch instead of jumper but either way, rear CMOS reset is nice) or if I can snag a Bloodiron or DFI LanParty Dark. I like the Dark better due to fuller size, better layout (aside from the 8-pin CPU power on the Bloodiron would work better for me), cooling on CPU voltage, and more fan headers.

Really, I'd like a fan header close to the memory due to my XMS Airflow cooler, that way I can hide the wiring better, but on the BloodIron I could just use the NB Fan header pretty easily. There are really a lot of good boards to choose from and it seems most are capable of 500fsb pretty easily, so I don't think I need to worry there.

If Newegg gives me full refund shortly, I think I'll be torn between the more expensive IP35-Pro, which has a good layout imo, good looks, good cooling, plenty of extra's I'd probably never use...but at least they'd be there!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030

or DFI LANPARTY DK P35-T2RS, which seems like the BloodIron 2.0 but Blacked out. It reviewed well, has a good price point, good OC-ability with lots of tuning and rear CMOS Jumper, plus plenty of fan headers...and has quite a few good features beyond that, though not as full as the IP35-PRO, the price point makes sense here.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136043

But that's if everything goes my way and sooner than later cause I'm gettin a tad ancy to get my rig back up and runnin! I still have some old bench screenies from my P5B 965 board, so comparisons and benches would be imminent no matter what! 

I've never used a DFI board, but from what I've read of this one and the BloodIron, plus their performance history in recent years, it seems I've been missing out. I've been an Abit and Asus person for a long time, with the occasional Gigabyte product. Maybe this is a hint...but the P5K-e is a pretty nice looking alternative also. I guess it depends on what happens with my Newegg RMA...will keep ya posted! Thanks everyone, and by any means any experience with these boards and suggestions are very much welcome!


----------



## BullGod (Feb 4, 2008)

It's a bit over your budget but I think this is one of the best p35 boards: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186133&Tpk=foxconn+mars

The BloodIron is good too and a lot cheaper.


----------



## Kursah (Feb 6, 2008)

Well just got word from Newegg that they recieved my MB today, and are "inspecting" it. Actually a slightly different message from what I've had before, but I'm sure it's protocal with deleted/deactivated items they cannot replace as easily. So now I get to wait another 1-3 days...uuuhhhhggg. If I had the cash I'd just get a diff MB now...I am crossing my fingers for a refund...full refund...

Here's there message:



> Dear Valued Customer,
> 
> Thanks again for shopping at Newegg.com.
> 
> ...



Personally I think it's no big deal, they'll slap a chip and ram in it and it won't boot...then I'll be good to go. Unless Newegg replaces BIOS ROM chips, I am really not worried, it wouldn't boot with a C2D or a P4, both verified working, 2 different sets of RAM (G.Skill OC RAM and Crucial economy RAM that I used for booting up boards that don't like to boot 2.0v+ RAM...like my P5B when issues start arising).

But I'm still torn between the Abit IP35-Pro and DFI Dark...time, Newegg's actions and my budget will tell soon enough....I just hope it works out and get's over with sooner than later.


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 6, 2008)

I hope you get it man!


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 6, 2008)

I doubt NewEgg does bios replacements. Still either way, your getting A HIGHLY WORKABLE/OVERCLOCKABLE board either way you look at it.


----------



## Kursah (Feb 6, 2008)

True, I am just kinda hoping for a fresher chipset with better memory support/tweaking and different options to play with! 

I'm going to laugh if they say that my board has no issues lol! I spent a couple days with it not going beyond partial POST! xD

I will keep this thread updated as I hear news, what happens, what I get if I end up getting a different board and what not! At this point, I just want my damn PC runnin again so I can play some COD4, do some OC'in and Tuning, and let my G/F have her rig back! LoL!


----------



## sneekypeet (Feb 6, 2008)

The Blood Irons are back at the Egg!!!!!!!


----------



## Kursah (Feb 6, 2008)

sneekypeet said:


> The Blood Irons are back at the Egg!!!!!!!



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136038&Tpk=DFI+Bloodiron

Yes, but at $149.99 and about $7 for shipping is more expensive that the DFI Lanparty Dark board that has the same setup, but with a little more cooling and a touch more features....kind of a bummer...good find tho!


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 6, 2008)

well then... you got to ask your self which side do you want to go on!?!? the side with 550fsb, and a ocer's dream? or the other board... i know if i do some tweaks, and so forth I can hit 600.. just haven't seen the time to hunt down the parts and get to it..


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 6, 2008)

Cold Storm said:


> well then... you got to ask your self which side do you want to go on!?!? the side with 550fsb, and a ocer's dream? or the other board... i know if i do some tweaks, and so forth I can hit 600.. just haven't seen the time to hunt down the parts and get to it..



Yes but if he has no choice in the matter and he gets his board repaired from RMA ..... It would be kinda bummers ....


----------



## Kursah (Feb 6, 2008)

Cold Storm said:


> well then... you got to ask your self which side do you want to go on!?!? the side with 550fsb, and a ocer's dream? or the other board... i know if i do some tweaks, and so forth I can hit 600.. just haven't seen the time to hunt down the parts and get to it..



If I get a choice via Newegg Refund...it will be what I feel is the best bang-for-my-dollar. I want decent cooling, and price-point-performance..the DFI Lanparty Dark (pretty much BloodIron 2.0...) at $140 + $6 s/h is cheaper than Newegg's new stock of BloodIrons (if they were at $108...well, that's a tough deal to turn down...I wish I would've caught it sooner!). Paying $157 for a DFI BloodIron just doesn't sound right to me imo...sure it's an OC demon, but to me, it doesn't seem worth that price tag when I have heard repeatedly it was found for less than $120 for a while...and sometimes closer to $100. But maybe they'll have a sale soon...

I've done a lot of reading, I know the Abit P35's can hit 500, the DFI's can hit 500, my P5B's have repeatedly hit 500, and that's my goal for now. But I would like to play with DFI's extra BIOS options.


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 6, 2008)

yeah i get where you going at.. i'm stating if you do.. I'm hoping for yeah man! and I think you'll enjoy the dfi boards! If you dont get the board back...


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Feb 6, 2008)

Why is it,that people always recommend dfi boards,yet all the wr oc's i have seen and all the highest oc's on xs forum use asus primarily and other boards?


----------



## sneekypeet (Feb 6, 2008)

Very true tigger. the ASUS does hold WR but not on the type of systems we have.

Mostly I promote it because it is an easy clocker and works well for the everyman overclocker!


----------



## gOJDO (Feb 6, 2008)

I was running a E6420 OC-ed to 3.5GHz(7x500MHz) 1.36v on a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 1.0 for several months. The system was rock solid stable with the default voltages for the MCH, FSB, PCI-e, DIMM. Currently I am running the same board with a Q6600 G0, OC-ed to 3.6GHz(9x400MHz) 1.35v with the MCH voltage increased for 0.175v and DIMM voltage for 0.15v. It is rock solid stable also, and I can do benches with the CPU OC-ed to 4.1GHz+(9x456MHz). 
The mainboard has a very decent ALL Cu cooling(unlike the Asus boards, which have painted Al) solution on the NB, SB and the VRM's. It has plenty of OC-ing options and has a recovery mechanism when the systems fails to POST.
P35-DS4 + E6420 @4.14GHz, Super Pi @4.1GHz
P35-DS4 + Q6600 @4.3GHz, 3D Mark 2006 @ 4.1GHz)


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 6, 2008)

I pimp out this product for the simple fact that this, by far, is the best bang for you buck board out there...IMO... I just don't feel you even need crossfire right now for anything, so I went with this board...


----------



## Kursah (Feb 7, 2008)

Yeah, I have no need for CF or SLI...1 semi-decent card does the job fine for me and my gaming, since I don't game at higher than 1280x1024 / 1440x900. I just heard from Newegg and they verified that my P5B is in-fact not booting properly and that flashing is not possible in it's current status.

Now they say I gotta wait another 2-3 days to see if I get a replacement or refund. So time will tell until I get my refund...which I'm pretty certain will happen since they don't even have P5B's in Open Box anymore (I already stated that would not suffice for replacement if they attempted such a thing). So at least I know I'm waiting for a good situation!

To be continued...


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 7, 2008)

Thats good news!.... wait did I just say a motherboard not working is a good thing!?!? I guess when it comes to this it is! My gigabyte board did the same thing, and they discontinued the board for a "green" board... so i got my refund and went with the blood iron


----------



## Kursah (Feb 7, 2008)

Nice...well if things go my way...$179.99 could garner me a quite nice P35 OC board. I would still be torn between the Abit and the DFI Lanparty Dark...but I think I'd go DFI. The P5K is nice though and the spendier ones have 8-phase CPU Power, but I've heard the 4-phase on the DFI BI and Dark is very efficient as-is proof of their OC potential. Still kinda bummed my P5B died on me, I had that thing down to a fine art for tuning and OC-ing, but compared to these newer OC boards it does seem kinda limited to it's overall abilites.

I hope I hear a good word from Newegg before the weekend as I am going Snow-Camping over the weekend (it's our yearly tradition). I am excited as hell, but I would like to leave town knowing that my rig will be back up soon!


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 7, 2008)

My bestfriend, Rm, has his P5W done the same way man! lol I would be the same man! wanting to know and stuff... I hope you do find out and the trip is a good one! Going to do any "Man Hunt"?


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 7, 2008)

I really would like to see you go the BI route, Kursah. It's just too bad NewEgg upped the price. There is also quite a few others I know that you may be interested in, those 680i's are pretty nice if your not planning overclocking a quad core on 'em. Then again, SLi, meh .. if dual grfx would be your thing, go crossfire, scales tons better.


----------



## Kursah (Feb 12, 2008)

Sup all, well Newegg gave me an option of either taking an ASUS Commando P965 as replacement or $174.99 refund. I responded for request of refund, and can hopefully get the ball rollin soon.

Seems the BI is out of stock again, so I will be going with the DFI Lanparty Dark P35-T2RS most likely. It has raised in price to 149.99, and the BI is out of stock with a price of 149.99. These two are very alike with the Lanparty Dark having a few differences that I have read are very worthy. I have also found that quite a few have pushed beyond the 500FSB mark pretty easily with the Lanparty, so I have no worries there!

Just waiting on the refund now...


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 12, 2008)

Well, you still have some time to think about what you would like to do. Congrats on the refund, not saying it's good that your board died but it's a good thing that NewEgg honored it though!


----------



## Kursah (Feb 12, 2008)

Yeah...I just wish the process was a tad faster...this is Week 3....

Ahh well, I'll be back up and runnin soon enough. I just hope I can get into Windows long enough to save my desktop junk so I can do a fresh install. But that could be another week or 2 before I even get to at this rate lol!


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 12, 2008)

You got an external enclosure and any friends with a dvd burner?  lol ...

Just kiddin'

I was looking at that DFI board, too. It's nice and all but why not a P5k-e WIFI/AP? Or hell ... save some cash and get the IP35-e. It's $89 and after MIR it's like $65, save you some cash and maybe you might be able to pickup another seagate 500GB hdd with that money.

Oh well .. just a thought ....


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 12, 2008)

I hope you get it soon man! i'm waiting for my xeon from Newegg now! xeon ftw!


----------



## Kursah (Feb 12, 2008)

I have looked at many options, but my reasons for pushing for the DFI Lanparty Dark P35-T2RS are features, OC-ability, layout, fan-headers, size, looks and a brand I haven't tried before to kind of change things up in my build. It fits the budget even if it's now $150 instead of $135, and has what I want. I'm eager to try out such a detailed BIOS and see what more I can wrangle out of my current hardware.

After this last stint with Asus I have been left with a good experience and a slightly sour aftertaste..not saying they're a bad brand, but after 3 boards...I was hoping for one that could last in the long run. 

Just out of curiosity, why do you feel that the DFI Lanparty Dark P35-T2RS isn't quite a viable option in the $150 range (the range I've decided to stick with atm...so I have a little $$ left over to help pitch in to get one of our buddies a new PSU). It seems not too many have gotten one yet...I do know that they haven't been available for more than a couple of months-ish...but from what I've read it seems to be a very good MB with some very promising overclockability and tweaking.

I looked at the P5K's, but I'm kind of indifferent to getting it...not really on my list atm. I could save some cash and get a IP35-e...but I'm not gonna...not enough there, might as well get a P35-DS3L at a similar price with solid caps, and only one PCI-e as I'd rather not have a 2nd slot I know I won't use, especially on a chipset that only has 20 PCI-e lanes to use....if I wanted CF I'd get a newer chipset...no need for me.

Bud I'd like to know what drew you away from the Lanparty Dark...maybe you know something I don't or haven't read yet...but really, for me, my needs, and wants in a P35 in that price range...it seems like almost a sure fit to my system. I really do appreciate all the suggestions and options provided thus far...it's given me hours of reading and research, and I really do appreciate it! Thanks!


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 12, 2008)

Oh no, don't take me the wrong way. I was just giving you another couple options to think about. Seeing as though you really don't need to upgrade anything in your rig, going the full refund amount for a board like that would be the best viable option.


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 12, 2008)

I believe that the DFI Dark would be a pretty nice board. I'm sorry to hear that the Asus board gave you that bad of an aftertaste. 

The DFI Dark in my opinion is the better of the Blood Iron. Since it has crossfire ability and seems like a great ocing board.. I got this Blood Iron because it was a great budget board that could oc like crazy.. but now its at 150 so I don't think I would suggest it to someone if they could get a board for better... And the board that is better is the DARK board...


----------



## Kursah (Feb 12, 2008)

JrRacinFan said:


> Oh no, don't take me the wrong way. I was just giving you another couple options to think about. Seeing as though you really don't need to upgrade anything in your rig, going the full refund amount for a board like that would be the best viable option.



I didn't take it the wrong way at all dude, and I appreciate all of the suggestions, I was just hoping you had some more insight or a reason you kept edging me towards something different...like maybe they have a BIOS issue or something. I'm pretty certain I'm getting the LP Dark, but not for sure yet...but I was not gonna get the P965 commando when I could get something a tad newer for the same price or cheaper that would treat me a tad better.

I really do appreciate the involvement you've had in this thread and the help you've provided, it's much appreciated and has helped me in my decision(s) thus far! So please feel free to continue contributing!


----------



## Kursah (Feb 12, 2008)

Well it seems that the Lanparty has been deactivated...bummer...

Well things could change in the future when I do have the cash ready for purchase...I guess I will continue to research and narrow down my list of other options. The Abit IP35 Pro was my next choice, but at a higher price...meh., but I love the layout, looks and feautures...plus it seems to OC very well and had pretty positive reviews...the IP35-E is just too skinned down for me and my preferences atm.

I am planning on sticking with Newegg for this purchase...but that may just have to change at this rate. I like ClubIT also...


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 12, 2008)

Why not get it at NCIX?

http://www.ncixus.com/products/27638/LP DK P35-T2RS/DFI/


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 12, 2008)

Also, sorry for the double post but: This is a damn good price for a P5kC, but I know you may yell at me because it's an Asus product.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA24037


----------



## Kursah (Feb 12, 2008)

$130 for a P5KC makes it very appealing! Thanks!


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 12, 2008)

Yeah, but then again .... 

You get free 3 day UPS from NewEgg on it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131188&Tpk=P5KC


----------



## ntdouglas (Feb 12, 2008)

Asus rocks man.


----------



## Kursah (Feb 13, 2008)

The search is still on, I've been doing a lot of reading..and while I would like to have the Abit IP35Pro...it's just a tad too expensive...and by the time I have my refund the $30 MIR at Newegg will be expired.

Good news though, I got RMA Refund confirmation, they said it'll take 3-5 business days though. So I'm sure by next Monday/Tuesday I'll be ready for purchase...

A couple of things that I would prefer in features are:
-Decent layout, with SATA's possibly at 90 degrees on edge of board
-8-Pin CPU Power Plug, even if only 4-phase, I feel better utilizing a more stable power distribution
-CPU Power Mosfet cooling
-Full Size MB (not necessarily required tho)
-Good record of OC-ability
-No need for second PCI-e X16 slot, but the feature won't hinder purchase
-Though I know only few do it, the CMOS reset/jumper on the back is sure a nice feature

I know it's picky...and I do have a few options, and I'm sure with your continuing help and support (especially Jr and Cold, thank you guys so much!), I will make a decision worthy and that will suit my needs perfectly.


----------



## ntdouglas (Feb 13, 2008)

To future proof yourself a little bit what about this? An extra $75, but sometimes you just got to say f!#@ it.






http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131227


----------



## Kursah (Feb 13, 2008)

Naa...I'm planning a new build in the future...at most I may replace the vid card with a 3870 or so...but I have no need for an X38 since all it's really useful for now is Dual PCI-E X16's, similar to P35 in performance, DDR3...none of those features interest me for this specific build.

When I decide to get something a little more future-proof and modern, I will probably get something similar to that though...but hard saying what'll be out when I do decide. I think a decently priced P35 will treat me just fine.


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 13, 2008)

It will probably be the Nehalems or the Penryn 1600FSB based Quads and Duals when you decide to do another "overhaul". 

The price point that you have is perfect, it's just too bad it was at cost of a nice motherboard, I just hope you can get something as reliable for replacement.

Have you thought of going 680i?


----------



## Kursah (Feb 13, 2008)

I have thought about it...but I'm a big fan of Intel chipsets...I had bad luck straying from Intel chipsets in the past...wasn't NV's issue...it was a VIA issue...lol.

But, I figure that I might as well try something a tad newer...I've looked at 680i's, and I know they're decent...but I've heard they don't seem to OC as high. If I know a decently priced 680i will hit 500fsb pretty easily I may just have to consider it! At this point I'm open to suggestions...there are a few things I want, fewer things I require, and even though I'd preferr a P35, I'm going to keep my mind open so I know I am getting the best deal I can.


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 13, 2008)

Here's a pretty good deal. Unsure of the overclockability of the motherboard but the price is really good.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3441358&CatId=14


EDIT: After reading a review on Anandtech, they were able to get an e6600 to the 500FSB mark. Source.


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Feb 13, 2008)

Just get a asus p5k-premium black pearl,has everything you said you need.


----------



## Kursah (Feb 13, 2008)

I found it for about $200 incl s/h and that's just too high for my current budget, so the higher end p5k is most likely out of the option list for me...but we'll see what happens in a few days!


----------



## gOJDO (Feb 13, 2008)

The P5K is cheap and OCs fine, but it has very poor cooling. If you are planing to OC a quad or a dual at very high FSB(450+), you'll have to add a fan on the NB. I am running a E6420 @3.2GHz(8x400MHz) 1.25v on a P5K without an active cooling on the NB and at stock NB and FSB voltages. The PC is turned ON 24/7 and is 100% stable.


----------



## Kursah (Feb 14, 2008)

True and from my research it appears to be a decent board. I enjoyed OC-ing with my P5B Deluxe, but I wish it had some more options for tuning in BIOS. So my goal here is to try the newer mid-range chipset with similar OC results and a few more OC options.

I had my rig running at 480fsb for a long time on stock voltages across the board aside from RAM on the P5B, and with a minor increase on NB voltage and CPU Vcore I was hitting 500fsb. So 480+ FSB is a requirement, and I would like to keep the constraints of cooling to the original purchase of the motherboard. I want to stay in my $150 alloted budget for this project (s/h does not need to be included).

Really though, from what I've read...if I wanted a good, stable, decently cooled Asus board I'd have to hit the $200-ish range for what I require...so that pretty much leaves Asus off the table for options atm. Thanks for the suggestiong though!


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 14, 2008)

If thats the case man.. what are your options now? I'm so lost! lol...


----------



## Kursah (Feb 14, 2008)

Cold Storm said:


> If thats the case man.. what are your options now? I'm so lost! lol...



 I hear ya...but I think I have a pretty good idea...

The DFI Lanparty Dark, BI (price dependant), Asus IP35-Pro (too expensive w/o MIR), P5K's if I mod the cooling...which may just happen, but there are some things about the cheaper P5's I dislike. IP35-E is a possibility on the lower-budget side except for the fact is does not use solid caps...but I have heard of damn good OC results. Gigabyte P35-DS3L for low budget, DS3R or DS3P beyond that...and I can't remember the rest.

I'm still hoping Newegg will get some more Lanparty DK P35's though, they should be recieving some more from what I was told, and if they don't completely jack the price up...it is still in the top teir of options imo. But being said, all the boards have something I dislike and things I like...I just gotta decide what I want, what I'm willing to deal with and what I feel would be the best option for my needs and my wallet.


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 14, 2008)

No offense, but after hearing about Cold Storm's and ShadowFold's gigabyte P35-DSL boards, I would recommend you stay away.


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 14, 2008)

I'm telling you to go with the DFI Dark board.. I thought thats one board you where thinking of.. DFI is a great name for ocing and if the board was out when I had the refund from Newegg I would of gotten it! I have the ability to try crossfire and quad at anytime... So I wanted a good crossfire board, but there really wasn't one like the Blood Iron... Now thinking of getting a new board might be that?
Im staying away from Gigabyte for any thing P35... mine was doa, and it only worked if oced... so I couldn't even test it before ocing... THen it died... and shadow.. man, I wish it didn't happen to the man!


----------



## Kursah (Feb 14, 2008)

I've seen good results from the DS3L's I've worked with, but I will heed the warnings as I want a good stable OC-ing board...so that's out. But a DS3R or DS3P from what I've heard are both better built and more stable...but I think if I can hold out, I'll wait for the Lanparty Darks to come back.


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 14, 2008)

well they are all revisions of what the boards that has haved problems with.. I had the DS2r.. and it just gave me shit... they don't even sell them anymore at newegg because of all the rmas... I'm just going to be stating for any p35 northbridge, to stay away from Gigabyte for anything that has a revision... and 3 at that... it only means more and more problems... IMO that is... 
I'm just all for DFI boards right now with the fact that they have done such a good job with the new lan boards... IMO the boards are a killer deal! my 30 day is up on the blood iron and I haven't had a problem yet.. so I'm now swapping out the northbridge for a new cooler... they have a void warr. sticker connection the northbridge to the mobo.. so I wanted to wait and see.
If you feel the Ds3r and p are good, then go for it.. but I for one believe in DFI and that I haven't seen a person here yet say their board is f'd...


----------



## gOJDO (Feb 14, 2008)

@Storm I haven't heard about any bug with the DS3P, but I know that the newer revisons are cheaper and have cheaper cooling. The first revision has the same cooling as on DS4, but without the heatpipes and the voltage regulators cooling. It has the same voltage regulators as on DS4 and will OC same in average. The DS3P lacks the second PCI-e x16 and the crossfire support.
I have DS4 Rev. 1.0 and I've never had any problem with it. It runs stable FSB 500MHz @stock voltage with a dual, and needs +0.2v on the MCH to do the same with a quad. It also is capable of running the PCI-e @118MHz without a issue and runs stable with the ram set to 1180MHz CL4.


----------



## Kursah (Feb 14, 2008)

Nice...as anything, results can very. If the DFI can be restocked sooner than later I will get it, I may get it at NCIX but after shipping, I'm in the $160-$165 range...which is kinda high imo. But it may be worth it for such a tunable BIOS and decent OC-ing board, I've read of quite a few hitting 520-540FSB pretty easily on the Lanparty Darks. Good stuff!

Thanks guys!


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 14, 2008)

gOJDO said:


> @Storm I haven't heard about any bug with the DS3P, but I know that the newer revisons are cheaper and have cheaper cooling. The first revision has the same cooling as on DS4, but without the heatpipes and the voltage regulators cooling. It has the same voltage regulators as on DS4 and will OC same in average. The DS3P lacks the second PCI-e x16 and the crossfire support.
> I have DS4 Rev. 1.0 and I've never had any problem with it. It runs stable FSB 500MHz @stock voltage with a dual, and needs +0.2v on the MCH to do the same with a quad. It also is capable of running the PCI-e @118MHz without a issue and runs stable with the ram set to 1180MHz CL4.



All right.. the issues that people are having is with rev. boards.. after rev. 2 and they go nuts... but like you I went with a Gigabyte and I loved the thing until the mobo finally went on me. My DFI hasn't had any problems and Im sticking with that...
I'm very much liking the fact that you got it all the way up there on stock volts my man. I'm glad to see that you have a good Gigabyte board on your hands!.


----------



## Kursah (Feb 14, 2008)

I always had a later rev. Asus P5B Deluxe...some of the rev.'s were notorious for the mass RMA's due to failed Bios Flashing and such...coulda been my problem to begin with.


----------



## gOJDO (Feb 14, 2008)

Cold Storm said:


> All right.. the issues that people are having is with rev. boards.. after rev. 2 and they go nuts... but like you I went with a Gigabyte and I loved the thing until the mobo finally went on me. My DFI hasn't had any problems and Im sticking with that...
> I'm very much liking the fact that you got it all the way up there on stock volts my man. I'm glad to see that you have a good Gigabyte board on your hands!.


People sometimes have different experiences and we're here to share them with the others.  My DS4 seems to be a decent one, but I have had a P965-DS3 which wasn't a great OC-er. It couldn't make it stable above 475MHz no matter how hard I try. Meanwhile FSB 500MHz stable was a joke for the cheaper P5B (Vanilla) with a BIOS update.

About DFI, I haven't used DFI for a long time, but no doubt they are making amazing OC boards. The last I was OC-ing was a Lanparty S939 NF4 SLI-DR from a friend. It was the best s939 OC board I've ever seen/touched/OCed and I have tried OCing on at least 30 different s939 boards. I liked how the RAM was positioned on the board because it got cooled from the rear fans. 

Kursah, I wish you good luck with your new board regardless of which you are going to buy and I'm expecting some extreme results soon.


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 14, 2008)

gOJDO said:


> People sometimes have different experiences and we're here to share them with the others.  My DS4 seems to be a decent one, but I have had a P965-DS3 which wasn't a great OC-er. It couldn't make it stable above 475MHz no matter how hard I try. Meanwhile FSB 500MHz stable was a joke for the cheaper P5B (Vanilla) with a BIOS update.
> 
> About DFI, I haven't used DFI for a long time, but no doubt they are making amazing OC boards. The last I was OC-ing was a Lanparty S939 NF4 SLI-DR from a friend. It was the best s939 OC board I've ever seen/touched/OCed and I have tried OCing on at least 30 different s939 boards. I liked how the RAM was positioned on the board because it got cooled from the rear fans.
> 
> Kursah, I wish you good luck with your new board regardless of which you are going to buy and I'm expecting some extreme results soon.



I understand that everyone has different experiences with different boards... And go with you on that 100%. I just have seen so many people on here as of late having bad problems. So with that, I just SUGGEST... 

and I feel the same for you. I hope the best for you Kursah and will be waiting to see the great results on whatever you buy...


----------



## Kursah (Feb 16, 2008)

Sup guys, well my refund finally made it into my account yesterday, but I still haven't seen the DFI Lanparty DK come back on newegg, I think I could still get it at NCIX for about 160-165 after S/H charges, I've never delt with them or their return policies though.

My overbudget choice, the Abit IP35-Pro is now ironically 174.99 free s/h lol! I still think I'm going to shy away from it, even though it has nice cooling, features, layout and from what I've read decent-to-very good OC results.

But I am going to make a decision by early next week (Tues at the latest) as I am sick of waiting and wanna get my rig back up and runnin! So if you guys spot any good deals (my MB budget is ~$150, not incl s/h) on a good OC MB (480-500+fsb) please lemme know! I think I'm just gonna stick with P35 options to keep my choices a tad simpler and I'm just used to running an Intel chipset with my Intel CPU.


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 16, 2008)

Can you link me with the site??? And I don't even think its going to be back into stock with newegg...
And I'll make sure I find something that hits your eye!


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 16, 2008)

Hiya Kursah! Sory to go o/t on you but whats your average 3dM06 on the x1900?


Really if you want to keep it short sweet and simple. Do the DFI ICFX3200, does 8x+8x crossfire and is $79 + free DFI nb heatsink.

Unsure of the range of max fsb though.


----------



## Kursah (Feb 16, 2008)

Cold Storm said:


> Can you link me with the site??? And I don't even think its going to be back into stock with newegg...
> And I'll make sure I find something that hits your eye!



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030   ABIT IP35 Pro

http://www.ncixus.com/products/27638/LP DK P35-T2RS/DFI/  DFI Lanparty Dark @ NCIX



			
				JrRacingFan said:
			
		

> Hiya Kursah! Sory to go o/t on you but whats your average 3dM06 on the x1900?
> 
> 
> Really if you want to keep it short sweet and simple. Do the DFI ICFX3200, does 8x+8x crossfire and is $79 + free DFI nb heatsink.
> ...



I was hitting 7.3k iirc in 3dm06. That was before the AC cooler and with just ATI Tool OC's, nothing done in Bios etc. I was working on a custom bios with vgpu increase and such. I had it up to 721 core, and around 1100 mem. I was thinking of dropping the mem speed a tad and messing with the timings, but never got around to it.

I did look at that DFI ICFX3200, it's a nice looking board, and if I wanted CF I would jump on it, but I don't really need or want CF right now...dual cards for gaming at 1440x900 just doesn't make sense for my application if ya know what I mean. My trusty XTX will suit just fine until I snag a 3870 down the road in a few months or if I even upgrade from it before I make a new system.

But, I gotta have my high FSB for this build...I just want it to run like it was at 500fsb and get things back to normal. I know the Abit is capable, and I've read some have taken their boards over 500fsb after vdroop mods and such...but even with the DFI closing in on the Abit's price I'd rather have the DFI with less on feature side and more on OC tuning side.


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 16, 2008)

Oh I understand. I am abotu to head out to Best Buy and pickup my case+psu. Only reason why I was wondering about the X1900XTX is there is a certain forum member that is selling one .

I wonder if it would be ok on a 17a+17a psu "??" 

Sorry for going off topic.

As far as the IP35 Pro is concerned, its pretty nice. I heard it's the "AW9D Max with P35 chipset" but if your not going crossfire why a crossfire board? Oh wait .. I shouldn't ask that **looks at his own specs** 

EDIT: Hey if you want an IP35 Pro, nflesher is selling his I beleive hit em up with a PM. He always keeps his stuff in really really nice shape.


----------



## Kursah (Feb 16, 2008)

Yeah that's the problem..so many P35 boards have the CF slots with one at 4X due to the PCI-e lanes...just like my P965 P5B Deluxe...I never saw the point of wasting space like that just for a feature that would give minimal increases and not fully use the second card. I did see that x1900xtx though! Trust me the thought still crosses my mind, but meh...not necessary right now. That is anothe reason I like the DFI, it has one PCIe x16 slot, which for me is nice as it allows me to better locate my X-Fi on my Antec 900 to give my HX520 some better breathing room by moving it up a slot or two (the P5B Deluxe I had to use the bottom slot due to configuration...that pissed me off).

I like the Abit...and I'm still contemplating it, but that DFI is just a stronger draw to me since it has so much crap to tweak! I'd probably spend another couple months just tweaking the damn thing! And granted I wanna get back up and gaming with my clan in CoD4, but I can't help but tune my OC's and see if I can snag some more out of it ya know? My rig is now a year old, and I'd like to keep it alive for quite a while longer...

so Abit's IP35 Pro off of Newegg with their decent policies or DFI off of NCIX with their policies which I haven't looked up for MB's yet...?


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 16, 2008)

My vote for the DFI then.


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 16, 2008)

Kursah, I would do this. Since Ncixus has a live chat, I'd go in there and ask a few questions... and if they have to state a reason for it, is that your wanting to know the reasoning of how this site works on a future buyer from that site... Then ask them about the DFI board you want... Then go from there. The site it self doesn't show as being any sort of "bad" site if you get what I'm saying on that. I believe they are lagit, and i'm looking to see about a few things I've been wanting there. 
And you know my feeling on the board. So DFI FTW!


----------



## Kursah (Feb 16, 2008)

Yeah, I just don't have any experience with NCIXUS. I might just have to go for it anyways though...but I do dislike MFG RMA, my experiences with a couple proved to take a long time...making my refund RMA seem quick.


----------



## Laurijan (Feb 16, 2008)

i would go for a Blood-Iron - but is runs not as cool as other boards so if you are a temp freak it not the right joice.. i even wrote on dfi forum if i have to be worried about the temps.. http://csd.dficlub.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5668


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 16, 2008)

I believe going with them would be great to do! The price is great for the board. and you'll love it! DFI FTW!


----------



## Grings (Feb 16, 2008)

If its an option between the 2 dfi's, i'd go for the dark lanparty (the black and orange one) however i'd also recommend the MSI P35 neo2, ive had one a while now and it seems great, they seem to have no problem hitting 500fsb (theres even a noobs guide to hitting 500fsb with it on msi's website) and are damn cheap too (the blood iron and gigabyte ds3 can be found for similar money, but both could do with uprated cooling if youre overclocking)


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 16, 2008)

Kursah, I downloaded the Dark's manual, and it has the same set-up as the Blood Iron does for the Front Audio... Which means this... If you do get the board, and decide to use the PCIe slot (3rd one) then you will be covering up the front audio jack... I have a 3870 and that takes up the PCI-e 16 port, and the PCI-e slot, so I'm forced to use the 3rd slot for my tv tuner.. 
I just wanted to give you a heads up on that...
I got a sound card and did a front panel mod to allow me to use the front panel ports..


----------



## Kursah (Feb 16, 2008)

I saw that you have the same X-Fi as I do, hell I think you recommended that I get the X-Fi Extreme Music...I was going to look for the FP mod. I don't really use front panel though...but it's not necessarily a bad thing to have.

Thanks for the input Grings, I think I'm going to go to NCIXUS now and get that Lanparty on order before they run out too! I've heard mixed results that Newegg may get more the the Darks, but ran out due to Chinese New Year (???), and that they're no longer going to carry it due to limited availability and slow selling. Too bad I couldn't have snagged it for $135 from them a couple weeks ago lol.

EDIT: It also appears that they have a 1 year limited warranty through NCIXUS for this product...fine print at the bottom of the page.



> Product Warranty -
> 1 year limited warranty through NCIX.com.


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 16, 2008)

nice. So the warr. at Ncix is pretty sweet! just have to see HOW LIMITED it is! 
And as for the the card! oh yeah I would of if I didn't know you all ready had it! I really don't use the front panel ether, but I like to make sure everything works! Plus its a mod so why not?!? helps out the people on here also!


----------



## Kursah (Feb 16, 2008)

NCIXUS DFI Lanparty DK P35 T2RS Costs $166.43 after S/H, I did add ExpressRMA/Shipping Insurance which was approx $5, so about $161 with FedEx 3-day Ground.

So far I'm impressed with NCIX, and I may just have to consider using them more often! Time will tell with this deal though!



> Item Description In Stock Part # QTY Price Ext. Price
> DFI LANParty Dk P35-T2RS LGA775 P35 ATX DDR2 1PCI-E16 3PCI SATA2 RAID HD Sound GBLAN Motherboard
> In Stock  27638 1 $144.25                                       $144.25
> Shipping and Handling:                                              $17.85
> ...


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 16, 2008)

wow thats pretty good! newegg is 2.99 for express sending... I think you will love this! Like I said... I'm looking at that site for any other things!


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 16, 2008)

Oh now, I can't even wait for you to get that piece of hardware!!!! and can't wait til tuesday for my new heatsinks!


----------



## Kursah (Feb 16, 2008)

I can't find anything else that really suits my wants/needs in that budget range, but that site does have a good range of options. I'm impressed. I placed the order, so hopefully in a few days I'll be back up and runnin! WOOT!

I'm looking forward to using and messin with this board. And now you've got me interested in the X-Fi FP mod...I'll have to do some searching and see what I can find on it!


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 16, 2008)

As for the mod, you can just go to the x-fi club and your find it out! Tigger and imp both worked it. and you'll find the stuff there.
And I'm waiting for ya myself! Its going to be pretty nice man! Good Choice IMO


----------



## Kursah (Feb 17, 2008)

Also for any viewers it seems that NCIXUS will have some more Blood Irons in stock by: 3/21/2008...if they can keep the price point around $120, then budget builders looking for a good clocking board will be in luck..I'm curious still now to see if Newegg will get more Blood Iron's and/or Lanparty Dark's in the next month, and how much they might jack the prices.

http://www.ncixus.com/products/25751/B.I. P35-T2RL/DFI/

Thanks to everyone that donated in this thread and supporting me in my search for my P5B Deluxe replacement. I hope to be up and running within a week's time. I will report back with results and maybe a few screenies.


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 17, 2008)

All right, sounds like a good thing on the blood Iron, and I'll make sure to know that so i can P.I.M.P. out my product! lol

I'll be looking for you saying on wednesday late thursday that you have the board and going for a nice build... with pictures...


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 18, 2008)

Kursah-there is a thread that started with someone having a bad flash on their blood Iron.. Then Sneeky tried it also and it happened.. So someone link it to a DFI Club website... So I think you might wanna look at it... Winflash problems..


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 18, 2008)

Isn't that the same thing that happened to your old board Kursah? Bad flash in Windows?


----------



## Kursah (Feb 18, 2008)

One of my first P5B's had a crap flash in Windows...so I never did that again...I used USB beyond that w/o issue. But my most recent P5B just decided out of the blue to no longer complete post, no beeps, no errors, just wouldn't finish post...tried different CPU, RAM, vid, hdd, PSU with same results...I just think the bios chip failed...even tried a new CMOS battery which changed nothing, after 3 days of messing with it, I decided it was RMA time. I have been reading up on the threads for failed DFI P35 bios flashes both on here and DFI Forums, but I'm thinking with my current hardware a Bios flash won't be required for me to be up and running, and of course overclocking.


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 18, 2008)

all right, sounds good there. I'm glad to hear that! I'm not going to be flashing anything myself! lol


----------



## Kursah (Feb 18, 2008)

Well if I do decide to flash it will be either a boot CD or boot USB...too bad you can't flash from USB using an EZFlash Bios Utility like my P5B had..that was a really nice feature, and well modern...should be a more widespread feature for sure.


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 18, 2008)

Yeah, my gigabyte had a real nice flash tool.. but didn't have to long to really see if it worked nicely..


----------



## Kursah (Feb 20, 2008)

Just an update, they didn't get my MB sent out until after-hours Monday night, FedEx still just has the verifacation that they recieved the package for shipping and estimated delivery to Friday the 22nd by 4:30 PM...so it looks like I'll be up late Friday night after work getting things up and runnin...but it'll be worth it!


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 20, 2008)

Sounds like a great weekend in store for you man! lol


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 20, 2008)

Oooh Ahhhh! 

I wonder if you will be able to clock those G.Skills higher on the DFI "??"


----------



## Kursah (Feb 20, 2008)

Time will tell! 

From what I've seen, guys are hitting good OC's with decent voltage and lower than expected timings...so we'll see if I have the same luck! If not I'm content with still maintaining 1000 w/2.15v @ 4-4-4-12.


----------



## RandomSunchips (Feb 20, 2008)

I've had my eye on this board for a while. Seems really nice. But tell me, does it support 45nm dual/quads? That would be a major plus.


----------



## JrRacinFan (Feb 20, 2008)

I just wish I could find someone who would be willing to do an even up trade AW9D-Max for IP35-e or MSI P35 Neo 2.


----------



## Kursah (Feb 20, 2008)

RandomSunchips said:


> I've had my eye on this board for a while. Seems really nice. But tell me, does it support 45nm dual/quads? That would be a major plus.



I am pretty sure it does, I've heard it boots an 8400 out of the box. I also know there's BIOS updates out already to ensure compatability with the new chips coming out.

I hope that Newegg, MBPro and whomever besides NCIX get's more and can sell em cheaper so more people can get one, it seems the user base on these is not very large...but price/availability could change that...


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 20, 2008)

yeah, the "dark" supports 45nm... it was a strange thing to see that even the blood iron supports it. Doesn't say it on Newegg, but it does on the box it self. Dfi is a company that gives out just enough so it doesn't "flood" the market with their product. And reason for that?!? so there isn't more boards out there then what is needed.. I've found on newegg around 71 socket 775 boards just for asus alone.. Whats the reason for that!?!? While Dfi there is 9 I believe. They just know how to work with their customers and fix a prefect product.. And as for their customer service, Sneeky had to rma his blood iron, so we'll see how that turns up!


----------



## erocker (Feb 20, 2008)

I don't understand why DFI wouldn't want to sell as many boards as possible.  The whole time I spent looking for motherboards, up untill buying my Asus, finding a DFI was far and few between.  Either way they are great OC'ers.


----------



## Kursah (Feb 23, 2008)

Just getting up and running! Sorry no pics from a camera atm...don't have my x-fer cable for da camera.

Had to go to FedEx warehouse to get my MB, they changed the shipping date to Monday! I said no way...

So far so good, set the FSB at 500, same voltages as on P5B for CPU/RAM (incl timings)...also increased NB voltage by one step...just in case. So far it's very stable and a nice board to work with. The provided SATA cables feel skimpy compared to the Asus cables, but oh well. The back panel doesn't align correctly, which causes the CMOS jumper to get kinda stuck and need to be jammed back in...but I have a fix for that...no biggie. Aside from that I have no issues, and the ones I've listed are minor. Lovin the board so far and just happy to be back up and running!

I will post back with comparisons to my P5B Deluxe and see if this P35 is worth the investment!


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 23, 2008)

I'm glad the board is doing so great for you man! really am! Happy to hear it and so forth. can't wait to see that beast!


----------



## Kursah (Feb 25, 2008)

Well, day 2.5 now and so far, so good. 500FSB was the easiest yet on any MB I've tried. I have some old pics from my P5B build, but some things have changed here and there...XP SP2 vs SP 3 RC2 (I notice a difference, some claim not to...but I also did a fresh install...I noticed a difference with RC1 on a 4 month+ old install)...the memory options are just mind boggling...check out the EverestMemory picture for how much Everest reads...insanity! I just set the basic timings (4-4-4-12) and voltages for CPU, Mem, and a small increase on NB voltage. My x1950xtx is bios modded for 716/1080 3D Profile with 1.55v VDDC (only voltage that can be adjusted in RaBiT...anyone got a way to edit the other 3 voltages options in BIOS???? I've done a lot of searching to no avail...), I will continue to tune it's overclock and maybe it's memory timings as things progress.

A couple of minor issues, my AC Freezer 7 Pro just barely clears the NB cooler (1-2mm spacing between fins, .5-1mm between fan and cooler) when set to exhuast out of the rear exhaust fan, I am considering going vertically to allow more airflow around the NB area. The memory DIMMS are closer to the CPU socket, so my Corsair XMS airflow is now touching the CPU cooler fan to cover my memory in DIMMS 2 & 4, cooling does not seem affected by this though so I'm not worried one bit, and this MB has 5 Fan headers, 3 are controllable...it only advertises having 3...don't be fooled. My MB also has the NB warranty sticker, so I won't be replacing the NB sink any time soon, just in case something goes south.

The layout for the 24-pin and 8-pin work okay with my Antec900 and Corsair HX520, the 8-pin power cable is zip-tied to my rear 120mmfan, but goes over my x1950xtx S1 cooler, so no fan in the side window (the S1 protrudes into that area anyways, plus I prefer to have side venting and front/rear airflow bias. 

The BIOS is very easy to use, and has A LOT of settings, but if you know the basics, to get a good overclock there is minimal adjustments needed beyond upping the FSB. The Memory divider system has a nice variety, and some may be fooled, but 1:1 is 333/667, to verify it will tell you the target Memory speed below this setting, so if you are running a 1066 proc at stock 266fsb, the memory will read 533 at the 333/667 (1:1) ratio.

The voltage options are nice to have and easy to use, plus the voltage readouts seem pretty stable, vcore droop is very livable...and I've had no issues using EIST, C1E, TM with my current OC. It kicks right up to 1.344 and stays there under load. The power sinks seem to stay pretty cool, but I did notice the NB does heat up quite a bit...but not to the point I'd be worried, my P5B Deluxe NB ran hotter before I got the Corsair XMS.

So far my overall impression of this board is of a good quality board at a mid-range price with plentiful OC features and well worth consideration if planning to purchase a P35 board. I am planning to further tune my OC and memory to see what more I can get out of it, and I'm still debating aiming my CPU cooler vertically to exhuast towards the 200mm exhuast fan...my cores are running around mid 20's idle and upper40s lower 50s under load with Orthos Pri.9, small ffts...did an 8 hour run w/o issues last night. I will report more when I do some more testing and tuning! There's also a floppy power connector above the PCI-e 16X slot near the NB for 5v/12v...from what I read it says if there is a second vid card to hook it up, but since this board only has 1 vid card slot...I'm curious as to how this may help voltage supply on the board... I'm sure the users with Blood Iron's out there can also benefit and help in the OC/tuning areas as they have similar specs, bioses, NB coolers, etc. So maybe we can start a new DFI P35 Thread or something.

Here are my current results, the memory bandwidth has improved some, the graphics benches are minimal, about a 1k-2k improvement in AQ3 and 200pts in 3dM06 (when I find the pics I will upload them for my older results).:


----------



## Cold Storm (Feb 25, 2008)

wow man, looks like my system! I am happy that your happy with the board! funny thing is i was thinking of when you where going to post your results, been waiting. I wasn't able to get my memory to 3-3-3-10 stable. so i hope you have better luck there.

I had a problem putting the xigmatek cooler on my mobo also. it hits the northbridge, but i don't mind the 3 fins bent for it. nothing broken or so forth. 

I don't know about the second video card, thats a strange one there since its designed with one PCI-e slot.. the only thing I can even think of is a physical card.. but off the top of my head I don't know if its a PCI-e slot one, or just a PCI-e 16 one.

Glad to see the good results and a happy man!


----------

