The IP35 Pro is Abit's current top-of-the-range motherboard for Core 2 CPUs until its X38-based board, the IX38 QuadGT, is released later this year. As its name implies, the IP35 Pro is based on the Intel P35 chipset, so it has full support for all 800MHz, 1,066MHz and 1,333MHz FSB Core 2 CPUs, and up to 8GB of DDR2 memory.
To keep the P35 chipset cool, Abit has fitted the Northbridge and Southbridge with copper heatsinks linked by a single copper heatpipe. An additional heatpipe links the two components of the chipset to another copper heatsink that sits on top of the VRMs. Despite the wealth of copper, the CPU socket is clear of any obstructions, making it very easy to fit a HSF or waterblock.
As a top-tier P35 motherboard, the IP35 Pro has six RAID-capable S-ATA II ports, two RAID-capable eSATA II ports plus 12 USB 2 ports and a pair of FireWire ports. The Realtek-based Intel HD Audio is provided with a full set of analogue jacks plus an optical S/PDIF input and output. Like most P35 motherboards, the IP35 Pro supports CrossFire, although the second 16x PCI-E slot only provides four PCI-E lanes, which means that the performance of two Radeon cards in CrossFire will be lower than on a motherboard with two true 16x PCI-E slots. Due to the sensible PCB layout, all three PCI slots and the single 1x PCI-E slot will be accessible with a single graphics card fitted.
The IP35 Pro has power, reset and CMOS clear switches integrated into the PCB, which are very useful when building and testing a system outside of a case. There's also a small two digit LED screen that displays the POST codes as the system is booting. This can be useful for identifying what may be causing the system not to POST.
As with a lot of Abit motherboards, the BIOS of the IP35 Pro cheekily overclocks the FSB slightly by default. In the case of our E6750 CPU, this boosted the FSB from 333MHz to 340MHz, overclocking the CPU from 2.66GHz to 2.72GHz. This isn't enough to require extra CPU voltage, but it's enough to boost performance slightly above that of any other motherboard in this Labs test. However, the IP35 Pro proved to be a mediocre overclocker, as the FSB voltage can't be raised above 1.23V, resulting in a maximum stable FSB of just 470MHz - much less than any other £100+ motherboard in this Labs test.
Despite the IP35 Pro automatically overclocking your CPU for a sneaky speed boost, due to its limited voltage controls, it's a poor overclocker. For close to £120, you can do far better from the likes of Asus and Foxconn.
Author: James Gorbold
Abit IP35 Pro