# Replacement of PCIe, PCI, Ram slots



## aQi (Mar 25, 2019)

Hello there,
Lately i had been youtubing and saw couple of videos where people were trying to color their pci express slots and ram slots for a better or appealing color theme, to match their desires.
Im thinking the same but on professional basis. That is replacing the actual slot with different slot different color theme.
Im targeting old motherboard with brand new fresh look.
The question is has anyone tried this before?
If so where can i get these slots individually?


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## delshay (Mar 25, 2019)

Aqeel Shahzad said:


> Hello there,
> Lately i had been youtubing and saw couple of videos where people were trying to color their pci express slots and ram slots for a better or appealing color theme, to match their desires.
> Im thinking the same but on professional basis. That is replacing the actual slot with different slot different color theme.
> Im targeting old motherboard with brand new fresh look.
> ...



Are you talking about de-soldering the PCI-e/RAM socket & putting in a new one with a different color?


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## aQi (Mar 25, 2019)

delshay said:


> Are you talking about de-soldering the PCI-e/RAM socket & putting in a new one with a different color?



Exactly, i know it sounds insane but why not?


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## Deleted member 67555 (Mar 25, 2019)

Aqeel Shahzad said:


> Exactly, i know it sounds insane but why not?


Because it's insane.. LoL
That's not even a simple task for shops with the right equipment.
I imagine the cost if getting it done would exceed the value of most any board thus making a new board the way to go.


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## infrared (Mar 25, 2019)

Should be doable, hot air gun to remove, solder wick to clean up the holes, then just hand solder.

I'd imagine you can order the brand new slots yourself, or you could potentially salvage them from old boards. Imagine getting a load of old DFI boards and taking the green/yellow pcie slots off those


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## aQi (Mar 25, 2019)

jmcslob said:


> Because it's insane.. LoL
> That's not even a simple task for shops with the right equipment.
> I imagine the cost if getting it done would exceed the value of most any board thus making a new board the way to go.



Yes indeed not a simple task thats why i will go slow with one slot per week or two slots per week. It needs dedication and yes making a new board from an old one is the way to go. 
I am thinking more from your statement now. Making a new board. What else can be done ?


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## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 25, 2019)

I saw a MB once that had had the atx power plug removed and replaced on the reverse, so it was really clean looking from the front.


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## aQi (Mar 25, 2019)

infrared said:


> Should be doable, hot air gun to remove, solder wick to clean up the holes, then just hand solder.
> 
> I'd imagine you can order the brand new slots yourself, or you could potentially salvage them from old boards. Imagine getting a load of old DFI boards and taking the green/yellow pcie slots off those



Haha i was thinking about DFI x48 with ich10r the only x48 with ich10r motherboard. But one second thoughts looking forward to gigabyte and asus rog as well.
I can take the slots out but then taking them out neatly and then resoldering onto another might take a while.


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## delshay (Mar 25, 2019)

infrared said:


> Should be doable, hot air gun to remove, solder wick to clean up the holes, then just hand solder.
> 
> I'd imagine you can order the brand new slots yourself, or you could potentially salvage them from old boards. Imagine getting a load of old DFI boards and taking the green/yellow pcie slots off those



The hardest part is de-soldering. Even I myself would not do this even thou I do have the correct equipment. The risk of damaging an internal trace is to high.

@OP I will give it a go as I have lots of dead motherboards here. I will try the fast route first & stick it in an oven. I have keep a very sharp eye  temperature as the socket will melt if left to long.

As for doing this on a working motherboard, no way, i'm not that crazy.


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## aQi (Mar 25, 2019)

tigger said:


> I saw a MB once that had had the atx power plug removed and replaced on the reverse, so it was really clean looking from the front.



Really admire the idea man..how about the 90angle connector onboard soldered similar to the cooler master’s 90angle 24pin power connector ?



delshay said:


> The hardest part is de-soldering. Even I myself would not do this even thou I do have the correct equipment. The risk of damaging an internal trace is to high.
> 
> @OP I will give it a go as I have lots of dead motherboards here. I will try the fast route first & stick it in an oven. I have keep a very sharp eye  temperature as the socket will melt if left to long.
> 
> As for doing this on a working motherboard, no way, i'm not that crazy.



But i am.....

Please post pictures and procedure as well.
I may only be using regular methods heatgun and solders. But i didnt get it internal trace damage ? 
I have worked with cellphones so i dont think these may be an issue for me.


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## delshay (Mar 25, 2019)

tigger said:


> I saw a MB once that had had the atx power plug removed and replaced on the reverse, so it was really clean looking from the front.



I already done something similar. There are socket on motherboards that I think should not be on the top side of the motherboard. I removed case fan header from top side & moved it to the back. My personal opinion on sockets, anything that is PC chassis related should be on the rear of the motherboard, but not all sockets can be moved, but some can. It all depends if anything is in the way on the backside of the motherboard.

EDIT: I already hacked in a 8 pin CPU power socket on a 939 motherboard some time ago, replacing 4 pin.


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## Deleted member 67555 (Mar 25, 2019)

Aqeel Shahzad said:


> Yes indeed not a simple task thats why i will go slow with one slot per week or two slots per week. It needs dedication and yes making a new board from an old one is the way to go.
> I am thinking more from your statement now. Making a new board. What else can be done ?


If you got the will I'm sure you'll find a way.
The most complicated solder I've done was a BIOS chip replacement.


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## delshay (Mar 25, 2019)

jmcslob said:


> If you got the will I'm sure you'll find a way.
> The most complicated solder I've done was a BIOS chip replacement.



That's easy to do. When you are dealing with though-hole PCI-e, the risk of damage tracks is very high. If you have removed capacitors, you will know what i am talking about.

You can't stick a working motherboard in an oven, as there are other things on the motherboard that don't like high temperature. Also I known that other components will fall off when it is an oven. The PCI-e socket should just fall out when in an oven, but you can only do this on a already dead motherboard.

@OP I have a real oven, so it should take around 4 mins max to de-solder. Very short time.


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## infrared (Mar 25, 2019)

hmm, I thought they'd come off easier than this.. I just had a go at removing one from an old 775 board, first with a cheapo hot air solder station which almost did it, but took too long and the slot went soft and deformed... then tried with a heat gun but still didn't have much success. It definitely looked like it was going to come off but the board was so hot it was going all flexible.. I think there's a high probability of killing any board you try this with, but I still reckon it's plausible.

Edit, got some other bits off.. Anyone need a spare southbridge, or maybe I can tempt you with a couple of raid controller chips? Lol


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## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 25, 2019)

infrared said:


> hmm, I thought they'd come off easier than this.. I just had a go at removing one from an old 775 board, first with a cheapo hot air solder station which almost did it, but took too long and the slot went soft and deformed... then tried with a heat gun but still didn't have much success. It definitely looked like it was going to come off but the board was so hot it was going all flexible.. I think there's a high probability of killing any board you try this with, but I still reckon it's plausible.



Maybe needs directed heat just onto solder area?


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## MrGenius (Mar 25, 2019)

delshay said:


> When you are dealing with though-hole PCI-e, the risk of damage tracks is very high. If you have removed capacitors, you will know what i am talking about.


I replace through-hole capacitors all the time. As a matter of fact I just did an entire motherboard's worth yesterday. And I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't even have a "good" soldering iron either(just a cheap Weller SP40 I picked up at the local hardware store). But I've never managed to damage anything to the point that it no longer functioned. I've scratched the solder resist off quite a few times. Never broken a trace though. I just paint over the nicks/scratches with a little clear nail polish. Good to go. What I'm getting at is you'd have to be pretty heavy handed to mess anything up real bad. Not saying it can't happen. It definitely can. It's just never happened to me...with through-hole components anyway(which I've replaced thousands of). It's the solder pads for SMDs that are fragile AF. I've killed those before. But you can usually repair that type of damage too.

I don't know what you mean about "internal traces" either. Pretty sure they're mythical. And would be well protected from damage even if they weren't.

All I'd want to replace a PCI-E slot would be a hot air gun and one of those solder suckers. I could get by with less even I'm sure. It just wouldn't be as easy. You can pull that plastic part off and pop the pins out one by one if you had to. Which might take a while. Getting a new one back on there would be a piece of cake though.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 25, 2019)

MrGenius said:


> I don't know what you mean about "internal traces" either.



Most boards now have 10+ layers, with traces going all over the place.


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## dorsetknob (Mar 25, 2019)

MrGenius said:


> I don't know what you mean about "internal traces" either. Pretty sure they're mythical.


Never heard of multilayer boards shame on you


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## silentbogo (Mar 25, 2019)

Aqeel Shahzad said:


> Hello there,
> Lately i had been youtubing and saw couple of videos where people were trying to color their pci express slots and ram slots for a better or appealing color theme, to match their desires.
> Im thinking the same but on professional basis. That is replacing the actual slot with different slot different color theme.
> Im targeting old motherboard with brand new fresh look.
> ...


That's an insane idea. First off, you'll have to invest into at least an entry-level IR Rework Station, which starts at around $1500 for something that won't fry your components.
Then, find a suitable place for it with a leveled desk and a power outlet which can handle 3kW load. Afterwards - do some training as a component-level repair tech, so you can familiarize yourself with the topic.
Lastly - say "fuck this idea" and make $50 per operation(excluding parts) on replacing damaged sockets and burnt chipsets instead.


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## biffzinker (Mar 25, 2019)

The squeeze-able solder paste in a tube would make the soldering step easy to do once your pass de-soldering the slot.


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## Ferrum Master (Mar 25, 2019)

It is insane. Most boards are designed that way that they cannot withstand such operation one more time.


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## biffzinker (Mar 25, 2019)

Wave soldering, isn't that the step motherboards go through for soldering the slots? Yes


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## delshay (Mar 25, 2019)

silentbogo said:


> That's an insane idea. First off, you'll have to invest into at least an entry-level IR Rework Station, which starts at around $1500 for something that won't fry your components.
> Then, find a suitable place for it with a leveled desk and a power outlet which can handle 3kW load. Afterwards - do some training as a component-level repair tech, so you can familiarize yourself with the topic.
> Lastly - say "fuck this idea" and make $50 per operation(excluding parts) on replacing damaged sockets and burnt chipsets instead.



I have a workstation too, Aoyue BGA9000A full infrared, but it's still not the best way to remove a PCI-e socket from a working motherboard. I have done something like this before & the best way to remove the socket, is to break the plastic up into little bits, then de-soldered. What you will be doing is de-soldering in little sections, other than one big connector.

If the connector was on the edge of the board, then I could use the workstation as I can shield other components from heat.

Also PCI-e & I do believe DDR ram sockets are soldered in on both sides. Look at PCI-e socket just under the plastic you should just make out the solder under the plastic on the top side of the motherboard. I'm taking a wild guess here that I think all motherboards PCI-e/Ram sockets are soldered in this way.

Be aware I also thought about changing my PCI-e socket to armored one's, then found out their are soldered in differently.







infrared said:


> hmm, I thought they'd come off easier than this.. I just had a go at removing one from an old 775 board, first with a cheapo hot air solder station which almost did it, but took too long and the slot went soft and deformed... then tried with a heat gun but still didn't have much success. It definitely looked like it was going to come off but the board was so hot it was going all flexible.. I think there's a high probability of killing any board you try this with, but I still reckon it's plausible.
> 
> Edit, got some other bits off.. Anyone need a spare southbridge, or maybe I can tempt you with a couple of raid controller chips? Lol
> 
> View attachment 119466



Your making me laugh. You bought a smile to my face. Very funny. Have to give you a like for trying. Now I give it a quick go in the oven, standby.


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## silentbogo (Mar 25, 2019)

delshay said:


> I have a workstation too,* Aoyue BGA9000A* full infrared, but it's still not the best way to remove a socket PCI-e from a working motherboard.


This is your problem. 700W pre-heater is nothing. An entry-level stations have an array of ceramic heaters ranging in 1.5-2.5kW range. Yours probably has 6 quartz lamps with big-ass spacing in-between (or 8 smaller low-power lamps, which is probably worse).
Plus you have a shitty halogen lamp at the top, which means two things:
1) Small heating area
2) Uneven heating area
Not enough to work with PCIe or RAM slots.

You'll be better off diluting lead-free solder with Rose's metal (25% Pb, 25% Sn, 50% Bi), flipping the board over and using hot air station on the back, while pre-heating the front.

Regarding reinforced PCIe slots: that metal part is not just for support, it's also working as a EMI shield. This means that all-around it is soldered to the ground, and the ground plane is the biggest in your motherboard (bigger thermal capacity, and harder to work with).
Basically it all boils down to the same issue: YOU NEED MOAR POWAAAA.


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## aQi (Mar 25, 2019)

Well more posts more knowledge. I never thought of having these armor PCIe to be in lga775 motherboard. The best motherboards were by my sight
Asus Striker 2 extreme
Asus Rampage Extreme
I was having a good thought of buying a cheap Rampage as it was the first rampage and giving it a new look atleast sounds good to me.
The red and black theme to go with the original rampage is an interesting project.
Suppose if i cut out the plastic from the PCIe and PCI and ram slots. desolder the pins and take them  out by sucker. 
But what about the new PCIe slots, PCI slots, Ram slot, 90 angle 24pin power ?? 
Where can i buy these internationally ?


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## silentbogo (Mar 25, 2019)

Aqeel Shahzad said:


> Where can i buy these internationally ?


Aliexpress? Alibaba?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/PCI...cement-Slot-Card-Red-for-GPU/32677973639.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1PC...in-90-degree-bend-pin-socket/32761897027.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5p-...ons-of-memory-slots-1-5V-DDR/32829887673.html


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## aQi (Mar 25, 2019)

That counts alot. I hope the quality is great as i cant waste time or damaging those slots off a dead rampage iv extreme.


silentbogo said:


> Aliexpress? Alibaba?
> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/PCI...cement-Slot-Card-Red-for-GPU/32677973639.html
> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1PC...in-90-degree-bend-pin-socket/32761897027.html
> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5p-...ons-of-memory-slots-1-5V-DDR/32829887673.html


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## delshay (Mar 25, 2019)

silentbogo said:


> This is your problem. 700W pre-heater is nothing. An entry-level stations have an array of ceramic heaters ranging in 1.5-2.5kW range. Yours probably has 6 quartz lamps with big-ass spacing in-between (or 8 smaller low-power lamps, which is probably worse).
> Plus you have a shitty halogen lamp at the top, which means two things:
> 1) Small heating area
> 2) Uneven heating area
> ...



Right. I just given it a go in an oven.

An oven is not the best tool to remove a PCI-e slot, but it looks like my workstation is the best tool for removing the PCI-e socket. When I use the oven, the PCI-e socket did fall out, but the color of the socket had changed just a little as it was a white socket, but now it has a small tan, but looks ok otherwise.

WORKSTATION.

The workstation is the correct tool after-all i just remembered how I can use the workstation to de-solder the socket.

The bottom of the motherboard is completely shielded, just leaving the PCI-e solder contact exposed (back of motherboard). Flux the PCI-e solder contacts, then use the Pre-heater to do most of the heat from Underneath & gently use the lamp from above. I know this works as in the past i have left motherboards on the workstation with just the pre-heater on, & I was able to remove component's without even turning on the lamp. The pre-heater needs to have a higher than normal temperature settings for this to work, around 380C (normal settings 355C).

I will give this a try tomorrow & post here with update, but i'm 100% confident this will work with no damage to the motherboard or the connector, including change of color to the socket due to heat, as most of the heat is coming from below.


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## MTechup (Mar 26, 2019)

silentbogo said:


> Aliexpress? Alibaba?
> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/PCI...cement-Slot-Card-Red-for-GPU/32677973639.html
> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1PC...in-90-degree-bend-pin-socket/32761897027.html
> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5p-...ons-of-memory-slots-1-5V-DDR/32829887673.html





Aqeel Shahzad said:


> That counts alot. I hope the quality is great as i cant waste time or damaging those slots off a dead rampage iv extreme.


If you have time to wait, you can follow the price. 
For the first item - https://www.pricearchive.org/aliexpress.com/item/32677973639
For the second item - https://www.pricearchive.org/aliexpress.com/item/32761897027
And finally for the third - https://www.pricearchive.org/aliexpress.com/item/32829887673
In a few days there will be a sale on Aliexpress. Maybe something will get a little cheaper.


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## Jetster (Mar 26, 2019)




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## silentbogo (Mar 26, 2019)

MTechup said:


> In a few days there will be a sale on Aliexpress. Maybe something will get a little cheaper.


In the grand scheme of things, if OP plans to do it on a regular basis, it will be worthwhile to contact suppliers directly on Alibaba. Some have ridiculously low quotes even for low volume bulk.
I've only added links to Aliexpress to show that this stuff is easily available (just the first random link from search results, not even close to the lowest possible price).


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## MTechup (Mar 26, 2019)

*silentbogo*, thank you for the clarification.


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## juiseman (Mar 26, 2019)

Not to discourage you...but..

I wouldn't try this unless you have time and money to waist.
It would be a good learning experience if that's your goal.

Nothing but a few dead, mangled RAM slots and a dead motherboard 
will be the most likely result of doing this. 

You have to think of cold solder joints also, its not easy to see without the proper tools.
Getting solder to flow evenly is also not as easy as you think. 
It may work at first; but overtime you could start to see memory errors and
weird stuff...you just never really know.

You have to take into consideration; consumer built electronics are 
not really designed to be repaired. So the durability is not there.
They are meant to be dipped (soldered) just once when manufactured.

But; I suppose most of my hobby's seem pointless to most also...
To each his own I guess?

Well, good luck!!


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## aQi (Apr 4, 2019)

Regardless of the risk i have plan to complete this project.
The idea is to simply cut off the plastic and get the pins individually removed. Will work precisely and install fresh slots and solder them even more carefully. I dont think there should be errors other then electronic joint disconnections. For which i will definitely take care of. This will be one of a kind rampage x48 being the first rampage x48 to match the modern color scheme. Unless someone reads and do this before me 

I need a cheap x48 rampage for this.

Any help ?


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