![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Friday , September 21, 2007
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
abit IP35 Pro
abit shows off their design prowess with the IP35 Pro. Featuring the latest Intel chipset, this board appears to have a lot of performance potential. Just how well does it stand up to the competition though...
BIOS
abit chose to pair up the IP35 Pro main board with a Phoenix AwardBIOS style BIOS. Note that abit did include customized functionality in the BIOS, most notably under the uGuru Utility menu. The BIOS shown and used in testing was release version 11.
As has been commonplace for some time with abit boards, the IP35 Pro’s BIOS contains a menu for controlling the proprietary abit overclocking chipset dubbed uGuru. The uGuru Utility menu is broken down in to 2 sections – OC Guru and ABIT EQ.
The OC Guru screen contains all BIOS settings for overclocking in a number of top level menu options and submenus. The top level options become user configurable with the CPU Operating Speed option set to User Define. The base CPU FSB is controlled through the External Clock setting, with a maximum FSB of 600MHz allowed. The Multiplier Factor option controls the base CPU ratio, but has no effect for multiplier locked CPUs. The actual processor speed is determined by multiplying the External Clock setting with the set Multiplier Factor. The system memory speed is controlled via the DRAM Speed (CPU : DRAM) option, with the settings listed as ratios based on the CPU FSB. The selectable ratios range from 1:1 to 1:2, allowing for setting the memory speed to double the current CPU FSB. The PCI-Express bus speed is configured through the PCI Express Clock setting, with a maximum bus speed of 200MHz.
The Voltages Control submenu contains all user accessible voltage related settings. The settings themselves are visible with the Voltages Control option set to User Define. The CPU Core Voltage setting allows for up to 1.8850V to be supplied to your precious CPU. The DRAM voltage is controlled via the DDR2 Voltage setting, with a massive 3.0V ceiling allowable. Note that DRAM modules should be actively cooled when using a setting of over 2.2V. The CPU threshold voltage is set through the CPU VTT 1.2V Voltage option, with optimal settings being at least 3/4 of the CPU voltage. The maximum setting allowed for threshold voltage is 1.23V. The MCH 1.25V Voltage option sets the Northbridge chipset voltage, with a 1.72V settable maximum. The Southbridge chipset voltage is controlled via 2 settings, ICH 1.05V Voltage with a 1.38V maximum and ICHIO 1.5V Voltage with a 2.00V maximum allowed. The DDR2 Reference Voltage option sets the memory threshold voltage, with a positive or negative based percentage boost settable. Similarly the CPU GTLREF 0&2 and 1&3 settings controls the CPU reference voltage based on percentages, with settings ranging for 45% to 80%.
The Power Cycle Statistics option opens to the Power Cycle Statistics submenu, which lists total board usage and uptime.
The ABIT EQ screen within the uGuru Utility menu contains a number of submenus used in configuring the BIOS controlled system monitoring settings. The only setting available within the top level menu is the ABIT EQ Beep Control option, which enables the issuance of a warning tone over the system speaker. The Temperature Monitoring submenu lists all system monitored temperature headers, allowing for configuration of warning and shutdown triggers based on preset threshold values. The Voltage Monitoring submenu offers similar warning and system shutdown capabilities for system monitored voltages. The Fan Speed Monitoring submenu controls system warning and system shutdown events based on feedback from the various onboard BIOS monitored fan headers.
The FanEQ Control submenu contains various other submenus for controlling the operation of the onboard fan headers. The onboard fan headers are split across 2 individual groupings, listed as submenus within the FanEQ Control submenu. Within each of the submenu groups are options for configuring the fans attached to the listed headers. The Reference Temperature setting determines which system monitored temperature device controls the individual fan speed. The Control Temperature High and Control Temperature Low options are used to configure the high and low temperature based threshold setting for the fan header. The fan header voltage is set through the DC Fan Voltage High and DC Fan Voltage Low options for the 3-pin fan headers, and the Fan PWM Duty Cycle High and Fan PWM Duty Cycle Low options for the 4-pin headers. When the monitored temperature goes below the selected Control Temperature High setting, the fan header supplies the voltage configured within the DC Fan Voltage Low or Fan PWM Duty Cycle Low setting. Should the temperature climb above the Control Temperature High setting, the header voltage changes to the setting under the DC Fan Voltage High or Fan PWM Duty Cycle High option. By varying the power to the fan headers, the BIOS can automatically control the attached fan’s speed.
The Advanced BIOS Features menu contains settings and submenus for configuring system initialization protocol, including those related to CPU operation and hard drive initialization access order. The CPU Feature submenu contains settings for controlling various proprietary CPU related functions, such as: C1E support, limit CPUID value, Vanderpool virtualization technology, Execute Disable Bit, EIST, and CPU thermal shutdown control. With a properly detected USB 2.0 hard drive attached to the system at initialization, the device shows as a valid item in the Hard Disk Boot Priority submenu. The priority of specific items in this menu can be changed using either the + and – keys or the PageUp and PageDown keys.
The Advanced Chipset Features menu contains chipset related configuration settings, including the PCI-Express and memory timing options. Configurable memory timing settings become accessible with the DRAM Timing Selectable option set to Manual. The BIOS allows the following timing settings to be configured: CAS latency; RAS to CAS delay; RAS precharge delay; active to precharge delay (shown as Precharge Delay (tRAS)); refresh cycle time; write recovery time; write to read delay; RAS to RAS delay (shown as Act to Act Time (tRRD)); precharge command delay (shown as Read to Precharge (tRTP)); and command rate. Note that on the memory timings listed, the numerically lower setting forces more aggressive memory operation.
The Integrated Peripherals menu contains numerous submenus for configuring the system integrated devices. The On-Chip SATA Device submenu contains settings for the ICH9R Southbridge chipset controlled SATA 2 ports, with the SATA Mode option setting the working state of the RAID chipset. Note that the Intel RAID boot BIOS will only show on startup with the SATA Mode option set to RAID and one or more hard disks attached to the ICH9R controlled SATA 2 ports. The On-Chip PCI Device submenu contains USB 2.0 and audio related settings. The USB Device Setting submenu within the On-Chip PCI Device submenu contains general configuration options as well as device specific emulation options. The Onboard PCI Device submenu contains the IEEE 1394, JMicron RAID controller and integrated NIC configuration options. The Controller Mode option sets the operational state for the JMicron controlled e-SATA ports. Note that the RAID boot BIOS loads automatically during system initialization with the RAID setting active within the Controller Mode option.
The PnP/PCI Configurations menu determines the configuration settings for system IRQ and PnP devices. The BIOS does prevent manual assignment of interrupt settings, however, individual IRQ devices can be assigned to specific resource pool from within the IRQ Resources submenu. The IRQ Resources submenu becomes user accessible with the Resource Controlled By option set to Manual.
From within the main BIOS menu, you have the ability to write to or read from 5 BIOS profiles. In order to save to a profile, the F6 key is used, while the load from profile command is toggled by the F7 key.