adding a PCI slot on mobo

[tiro_uspsss]

the mobo in question:

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pqw02neSgweRTGHSUOTiPq0QHph-DNoHUZhHDZQsd9BY9K-SC7AG1ji6oeenhGJIVmM2fvHH0-5g/DSC00653b.jpg

the problem:
the IGP on said mobo is a POS..
the mobo only has 2 slots: a PCI-X & a PCI-Ex8..
the PCI-Ex8 will hold my A1210; the PCI-X will hold a HD2400..

this leaves no slots & consequently, no home for my i-RAM!
if u look @ pics of the mobo, there are plenty of 'blank' places on mobo for extra slots, esp. PCI..

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pn13Z0GK8UXmKyyFVd6kc5LYzXYFomdvWB4V_Vo-yfFrcn_v5DZGMuzQe_VmGMR0H_7fOCPc-ndM/30062008014b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p2vyj1vtrf002YwhryBJ68TswGu1BzgXXXv6_RdAV-7tQNw1H66XFnX8ruR4kfJaUjYYJ71gFzms/30062008017b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pJR1dX2QmWLo-vxppB4NvInNO2ft6lp4AAmCxrfFCnB8Kj9p5qBMPb_xvGr0CY6 DKA0lcOZxwBqg/30062008018b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pJR1dX2QmWLqezPmQT1hVQnHE-6Rn_wW8kgYWC8NRMKzTKC0RdV-5tzujlaBf4PqU8r6-Us6y_y0/30062008019b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p2vyj1vtrf03NL56tPD2SXvWI_cAh9f0iB5Vxv1NYLJbrU-UE-bD2dCwn8tDCuKHcXjQlq-g3fXY/30062008022b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pjaP6_GrqKcYa_BR4PE-7Y_ZpgPP8JiHjRgcq6eFPH8HQzhe1yq3dZnAeyKT4pTDU0NeP_ VZ4ugE/30062008015b.jpg

next step is to insert the pins back into the plastic slot, the insert the entire contraption into the mobo, solder & *bam* - done!

the system in question is quite literally months away from completion - I still need RAM, WC'ing, case, HDDs, DVDdrive &... thats about it.. oh & PSU

so while the mod will be completed this week.. testing to see if it is successful will be yonks away

let the hate flow!

just a lil info on the platform:

the platform has the code-name 'Sossaman'

the sockets are 479. Thats right 479, exactly like the centrino platform from not long ago.. in fact the CPUs that fit on the mobo are Core Duo lappie CPUs, with whatever Intel adds so that u can only use the ones actually 'labelled' Xeon. There are only two model CPUs for this mobo: 1.6Ghz & 2Ghz. Since they are essentially lappie CPUs, they are very power efficient, low heat ouput CPUs

I have 2x 2Ghz CPUs already in possession.. FSB is 667, 2MB cache.. the down-side to this platform is the fact that the CPUs are only 32-bit - but with PAE, the mobo can take a max. of 16GB RAM.. the RAM needed is DDR2/ECC/REG. Max recognised speed is DDR2-400.. I will be putting in 8GB (apparently 16GB causes issues). 8GB of this type of RAM is relatively cheap, seeing as its DDR2 based.

I have this mod posted on a few other forums, hope its A-Ok to share it here as well

[tiro_uspsss]

'side B' with all its pins in:

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1ptq4it7AazLy7LT8bNet6qmThm-OtTaBgiJ4trHKyJnOBbBjIXfx63DWveaCktXL9v78p8Ce5cYA/30062008023b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pyX720UsQi6NAhaRaTDnA-uL7mM0WUb_StmHLEzA11W6A33vy5iw4Yc4WljhJ3eFp9w7tWDZ tEUo/30062008024b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pP7R_Iq9zcFVrarmG-WYyafrlK0I71Ba9uuLxyn5JBiyIlZHISag4Mx8oZs_Dy3StSpP OdfRjPp4/30062008025b.jpg

here are a couple pics of the 'pins', there are 2 types..

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pUZLJ4ih-QyL85daSpBrfpmKoDxTMgfvAYfAcN_iobPp_XRJ1yd4dEGFatE SrCakLJBJRvXHFljw/30062008026b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1peJteCukZ-2Cfh9Frk3DPXpj99XuC1YoYfJAS42ZQBl6de8e-Qvyt5zhZ7tWVoyGlKbURXSQq2M8/30062008027b.jpg

into the holes in mobo easily! :/

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pN2mJ88WNHivQ91I-xLdJqtIZ1djnifQwZqlkHusoULsA_PUw7CxwZAXlduDB8Ite8w 8Cl03Ootk/30062008028b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pJxkfJ9v5vwI34Ym1xc7Odcbjo-3FDu4TG-dWMY-F_5rBaWMqRMfYmSiBhmddruU8xdBQWWsW_pw/30062008029b.jpg

[tiro_uspsss]

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pK8Dqkr1F0aqr3S0F9-GZlVzZPJLzfZqqNNhVI1xKAMj6olX2NqSWKlgDMnWjv6xS8oVd 25uV-Ek/04072008034b.jpg

:D

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pS8KP5527cVVVN17NVRbJFXX6gW4kGR9c8-8xWTUktqCQYF5pFq4ibAOQWLcyt8FsvOr3VglHfLQ/various%20004b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1prDqqsokOE0pzRvVb4r7V3LBrU6S8Mwp8n8YPOnUcp38sOM0 79KFs4dwg_1-rnQK9FD6HVA9EtLk/various%20005b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pciFevLOuN3tRTXORhMrhTeR2jH4VkRHkr2YqfTR3uPadvk4 3JKf1PNU6WiukAqbQOM8o8sSYlaw/various%20006b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pn0pfY34wYvwBu2Ob9BpG0mmqoetm0eVYk-Nw97zozBS1zEpnrrq-_g6PX8yFskQd6XcMggen_3A/various%20007b.jpg

[tiro_uspsss]

ok folks, follow along closely:

- I never tested this mobo before I got it :( :D

- I do not have the correct RAM for this mobo ATM (it needs DDR2 ECC+REG)

- the mobo has four onboard diagnostic LEDs

my thought 'process':

1) if the mobo shows nothing on monitor when turned on with no RAM in it nor any card in my mod slot - then I presume: no RAM = no signal to monitor

2) if no smoke comes from anywhere, especially the slot - thats a dam good start :rofl:

3) the four diagnostic LEDs can show a plethora of combo's, thus a hugh range of problems... I looked up in the mobo manual &... all problems relate to RAM issues - except one, which pertains to the PCI ;)

4) If I turn on the mobo without the LAN card in my mod-slot, & a particular diagnostic error is shown on LEDs - then this would be purely due to the fact that there is no RAM present - cause clearly the mobo isnt going to be able to tell if its had the PCI contacts/traces extented (which is essentially all that *any* slot is, until a card is plugged in).
SO
If I turn it on with the LAN card in, & the diagnostic LEDs have the same combo as when the mobo was without - imo, its a confirmation of sorts :D

hope everyone followed my train of thought ;)

that plus this:

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pk8JnpQTzOqB6WzDp2dZXVoewcnhZ1KSwqq3cs0vDs32q5DF RSmn1-d7CpBbtwFh8hR8dHF13tMc/07072008042b.jpg

[tiro_uspsss]

here are some 'after pics'

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pv5FWYgVXOh_aXBevKU_e-TbBrr-eYOc6sgxAaKBJnhZaFmX4WytgVIlObobWqyKmtODl0AhtQSc/08072008048b.jpg

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pPytPJlK3zl66J_8aRq9sxkgDi1vh46D9dVwp_D5ED5NEzzv 4JctPYH5fYNfpbZfh_H66fQlA5Hg/08072008049b.jpg

If the mod is a 100% success - I will attempt to put a PCI-Express x8 slot under the one currently already on the mobo :D (u can see the blank contacts/traces for it ;) )

[tiro_uspsss]

small update

decided to test if stand-by power is functional: PASS :D

(clarification: stand-by = PC not on, but PSU is plugged in & is switched on)

pic:

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pRZQTUWhouRizfTyfnjQMNWmGVMMXxYuvaM2qMWLaljXyrmF Hy2YoeemStbP0qKdCemW_8VLJ50k/11072008054b.jpg

[tiro_uspsss]

I am sooooooooo tempted to add the PCI-Express x8 (electrically x4) slot to my mobo :D

heres a 'break-down' on my mobo & another one from Intel that is so darn similar:

my mobo model number is: SE7520BB2
other Intel mobo model number: SE7520BD2

a) 1 letter diff in model number
b) notice the bolded number - this is actually a Northbridge of Intel.. one thing is for sure: mobo models may change, but NB specs dont ;)

diagramatic lay-out of my mobo:
(pic courtesy Intel)

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p-eRFV_Z7RDwbSsYh5ViYS9cvVdlNhoyPNc8tWwdXp8Y88kvduF_ 2ZQ6SFmztjbAlZE5p6lNZrIM/se7520bb2tps1.jpg

diagramatic lay-out of the other Intel mobo:
(pic courtesy Intel)

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p-zD_RfRvt19XdH9PPjHxzRtWhYB-UjxF6-7gatf9rC3Z2jUp5bJX_dpK0nt0fsWZqCytf2q5o-A/se7520bd2_server_board_tps_r23.jpg

a 'real' pic of the other Intel mobo:

http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pliivvX1dXmS6e6zcOmoI3oOjfupoAMtXrwRF31A2MTLQrIj e0zyfgX0Y6S0wCteZPqT5vLqI5wU/7520bd2.jpg

from the diagramatic lay-outs, take careful notice of the allocation of PCI-X & PCI-Express lanes ;)

[masakabassist]

Nice. I CBA with doing something like that lol

[-orb-]

Whoa that's an intense mod!

Good luck with your testing!

I really like the mad scientist picture that you also are now using as your avatar ;)

[thideras]

Haha!! That is just AWESOME! :D

[Hardin]

Wow this is really cool.

[Xaotic]

Good luck. Depending on how locked down Intel has created the BIOS, you may have to reflash with the foreign board's BIOS, i.e. the new slot may have power, but be turned off in the MCH.

[petteyg359]

I am curious as to why you put your new PCI slot on a PCI-X space on the board. If you're taking the time to do a mod like this, why not put the PCI slot where it is supposed to be, so you can add the two PCI-X slots?

[EmAn]

Those are some seriously awesome soldering skills!!!

I love it...

But also I am wondering why did you use the PCI-X holes for the PCI slot/card?

[Anubis_386]

Now that is one hardcore mod .. That pic of you with the monocle scared the sh*t out of us .. lol .. You gunner max out the board?

[Neuromancer]

Those are some seriously awesome soldering skills!!!

I love it...

But also I am wondering why did you use the PCI-X holes for the PCI slot/card?

The pic had a PCI slot on the bottom, the two above were PCIX If he had used them, I am not 100% sure but I think he would have let the magic blue smoke out of the motherboard.




Nicely done, I have had to replace slots on small PCBs before, it is not fun, I just do not like soldering that much.

[mbentley]

holy crap! this is one of the most daring mods i have seen lately

subscribed for the results!

[Ben333]

I think he put it on the 64 slot because the little holes for the pins weren't filled with solder and because 32bit cards work in 64bit slots.

[sunrunner20]

But Solder is easy to remove?

[ratbuddy]

Good luck. Depending on how locked down Intel has created the BIOS, you may have to reflash with the foreign board's BIOS, i.e. the new slot may have power, but be turned off in the MCH.

Who cares, i-RAM just uses the slot for power anyway :)

[Xaotic]

Who cares, i-RAM just uses the slot for power anyway :)


Forgot about that. It's been a liong time since I've looked at the specs.

[mbentley]

but it would still be interesting to find out if it works or not :) (the pci slot itself, not just the ability to power the card)

[tiro_uspsss]

Hello all!

Thank u for ur comments & support! :toast:

few questions flying around, so I'll answer them:

there are a few reasons I chose the PCI-X slot:

1) I decided *not* to make it a full length PCI-X slot because that would have been taking bandwidth away from the SI3124 SATA controller (if I had put a card that uses PCI-X data into it)

2) the i-RAM w/RAM in it, is quite the behemoth of a thing - if I had put it in the PCI slot, the lil heatsink would have been in the way (or @ least too close for comfort! :) )

3) if this mod works out, I will be adding a PCI-Express slot, which is below the PCI-Ex8 slot already there, & above the PCI slot - this would 'force' me to use a card that only takes up one slot - whereas now, I have the option of putting in a decent vid. card that can have a dual slot cooler if need be ;)

4) there was solder in all holes prior to mod, so that did not influence my decision :) - removing the solder was an interesting exercise under-taken by both my Dad & I!
While he held the soldering iron to the solder, @ the appropriate time (when solder was liquid), I gave a quick burst of the air-compressor & *whooooosh* out shot the hot liquid solder ROFL *HEADS!!* :D

so, as is already evident, power in both stand-by & active state is functional!
Next week I order the RAM, will be ordering with express shipping, so with luck, it'll be here end of next week!
Then I do final testing, & if all goes well - prep for the PCI-Express slot :D

thank u again! :toast:

[dark bishop]

Hello all!

Thank u for ur comments & support! :toast:

few questions flying around, so I'll answer them:

there are a few reasons I chose the PCI-X slot:

1) I decided *not* to make it a full length PCI-X slot because that would have been taking bandwidth away from the SI3124 SATA controller (if I had put a card that uses PCI-X data into it)

2) the i-RAM w/RAM in it, is quite the behemoth of a thing - if I had put it in the PCI slot, the lil heatsink would have been in the way (or @ least too close for comfort! :) )

3) if this mod works out, I will be adding a PCI-Express slot, which is below the PCI-Ex8 slot already there, & above the PCI slot - this would 'force' me to use a card that only takes up one slot - whereas now, I have the option of putting in a decent vid. card that can have a dual slot cooler if need be ;)

4) there was solder in all holes prior to mod, so that did not influence my decision :) - removing the solder was an interesting exercise under-taken by both my Dad & I!
While he held the soldering iron to the solder, @ the appropriate time (when solder was liquid), I gave a quick burst of the air-compressor & *whooooosh* out shot the hot liquid solder ROFL *HEADS!!* :D

so, as is already evident, power in both stand-by & active state is functional!
Next week I order the RAM, will be ordering with express shipping, so with luck, it'll be here end of next week!
Then I do final testing, & if all goes well - prep for the PCI-Express slot :D

thank u again! :toast:

i hope you made sure the solder didnt stick to anything it shouldnt have ;)
this is gonna be an awesome build from the looks of it.

[jiggamanjb]

I like it! :) :) :)

[EmAn]

Thanks for clearing our questions on placement up!!!

[aja]

You could also have powered the i-ram from another possibly dead mobo (with nothing plugged into it of course) but this is way cooler!

Surely the power draw the new card will put onto the board might be a problem?

[funnyperson1]

Thats the one of the coolest and most useful hardware mods I've ever seen.

[911us]

Man !...That 's cool, there 's many cool things around this area.

[Blazing fire]

Great! what camera are you using? Pretty good.

[patriotdb23]

Why did it come without the PCI slots; just those holes there for one?

[Crazy Jayhawk]

Why did it come without the PCI slots; just those holes there for one?
The same base plate gets used for multiple versions of the same board, I guess. It's cheaper to use fewer board patterns and just leave out certain things on lower-end models.

[tiro_uspsss]

Thanks for clearing our questions on placement up!!!

no probs! sorry for not checking in here in a while - been busy :( my bad!

Surely the power draw the new card will put onto the board might be a problem?

not at all ;) - all PCI devices get power from the 20/24 pin mobo connector - which is from the PSU - so all one must do is make sure there is enough PSU juice :D

Great! what camera are you using? Pretty good.

Nokia N95 (5MP) :D


thank u for the comments etc

guess what?

I am selling my socket 939 collection *sniff* this includes, 5 mobos (incl. DFI Venus), 3 dual -cores, a FX60, 8x 2GB DDR500 kits (yes thats right, 16GB of DDR500/PC4000 :D ) pic: http://fyew6q.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pBkAsl3ty4upZlCUUbxoYohhoobzNJZhE8rl-2YfTbTonMOa9O0c5mTJGutVAcSB__7t2iuyNrfk/15082008079.jpg

soooo... in the next coming week, guess who is gonna have ~$1K :D :D :D

& u all know what that means! ;)

[Mr.Guvernment]

soldering more pci slots? :)

[tiro_uspsss]

soldering more pci slots? :)

nope! :p

gonna buy RAM so I can finally do the last tests! :D

[MrTurd Ferguson]

Well I stumbled in here by accident but this awesome...I'd never thought that would actually work just by adding the port like that. I do a lot of electronic radio work and I know there is usually other parts in the circuit that have to be put in. But of course that is on HAM rigs and this is NOT a HAM rig by any means.

I'm subscribing also cause I want to see how this pans out...hope it doesn't turn like a lot of other threads where they just get dropped and nobody ever finishes them...this is cool...

Good luck!!

[tiro_uspsss]

Well I stumbled in here by accident but this awesome...I'd never thought that would actually work just by adding the port like that. I do a lot of electronic radio work and I know there is usually other parts in the circuit that have to be put in. But of course that is on HAM rigs and this is NOT a HAM rig by any means.

I'm subscribing also cause I want to see how this pans out...hope it doesn't turn like a lot of other threads where they just get dropped and nobody ever finishes them...this is cool...

Good luck!!

will definitely be finished! 100% garaunteed!

its just a matter of 'when'! :D

[tiro_uspsss]

well I got a surprise today - my RMA RAM came waaaay earlier! :) I was told ETA would be approx. end of Jan.

anyway, so I went straight to testing...

I'm in the middle of trouble-shooting.. but.. atm it looks like:



FAIL



I'm getting the same combo of diagnostic LEDs as before :(

only other possibilities are:
- i'm doing something wrong
- the mobo was rooted before I even started

its quite likely I'll be buying another mobo & this time test if it works first

[Blazing fire]

Perhaps the soildering went wrong?

And what's in your right eye? Cotton wool???

[tiro_uspsss]

soldering appears to be fine

its a monocle! :P

[MrTurd Ferguson]

So you're saying it's not working because of bad RAM or you think it's just an issue of there is something from the circuit besides the slot you added in?

[petteyg359]

I think he thinks the board is bad, rather than the RAM. However, I've had three bad sets of the same RAM in a row from G.Skill before, so whatever RAM he has does have a chance of being bad.

[moz_21]

Isn't there a bunch of capacitors and other circuitry that make a PCI slot work?

[PhysX]

madman.

[Blazing fire]

No... Smart and creative man.

[ihrsetrdr]

When I saw the tread title "adding a PCI slot on mobo" I'm thinking gee, this guy really loves his motherboard.


the sockets are 479. Thats right 479, exactly like the centrino platform from not long ago.. in fact the CPUs that fit on the mobo are Core Duo lappie CPUs, with whatever Intel adds so that u can only use the ones actually 'labelled' Xeon. There are only two model CPUs for this mobo: 1.6Ghz & 2Ghz. Since they are essentially lappie CPUs, they are very power efficient, low heat ouput CPUs

With this, now I know why!

:thup:

best of luck, hope this project turns out sucessful! :)