The ABIT quite a board scare to all of the major board brands ASUS and even Gigabyte have been playing with the great boards, but ABIT in the other hand keeps silent, and then strikes with the better one smakc bang board but still lacking some vital stuff to still keep an edge over the competition, but with the IP35 pro is a best of the best in there with a good value and performance board with the brand of P35 in here man. With the IP35 pro being a good board doesn’t need to be a okay one, with the problem with the IP35 Pro is the compatibility with the newer 45nm CPU’s like the E8000 series and the Quad E9000. With their higher clock speeds and also a lock system into the type of CPU you use, which can also give a variety of support on new or old CPU’s.
With the IP35 Pro has a replacement with the same name but with the XE in the end of the name, with same PCB layout and design and I/O count in the back panel, with the difference is the enhance usability of the CPU and the BIOS also for the compatibility issues with the hardware. The ABIT IP35 pro XE is a core difference with the IP35 pro by the colour of the heat sink which is black and the BIOS and enhanced peripherals.
But the IP35 pro is still a good cheap board about $150 to buy in any retail computer stores. The PCB design is dark blue like the Gigabyte one, with the CPU covered by PWM’s and also the newer digital PWM’s, to have a precise voltage count to the CPU with better stability when overclocking, while this is the companies based difference with other boards with better voltage feed can help with the performance of the board. The Northbridge and the Southbridge being covered by a good place with copper hear sink, with the test giving a cool 25*C in high load, great for a heat producing chip. With the SIX SATA port faced right angled good for a dual crossfire with a long graphics, with the clear CMOS in the back and diagnostic LED for precise diagnostic in the BIOS when there is a problem, but they where any overclocking but a controlled one when I overclocked it to 4000MHz then crashes (just for fun).
The performance of the board differs from others but the compatibility of newer CPU’s is a down side o the board but the sudden change and fixes the XE is a future partner with the IP35 series. Well it is going to be hard to find the XE is a good alternative but for the investment board you could check on the IP45 pro. (Which in a later time I will review when I can smuggle it a bit Uhh… my Mexican friend…..can you fix the box full of good with the new board)