# Adventure: Running 8/9th gen Coffee Lake CPUs on Z170 motherboard (ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger)



## itsakjt (Jul 10, 2021)

Hello everyone, I am writing this to share about my adventure making Coffee Lake CPUs work on Z170 motherboard. My secondary system as on specs has an ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger (Z170) that officially supports up to 7th gen CPUs (7700K). I have been using an i5 7600K @4.9 GHz since March 2017. As you might know, 8th and 9th gen CPUs fit in the socket perfectly however, the motherboard doesn't start. Until now that is.
Spoiler alert!



How to:
To start things, I should mention I researched a lot regarding the pros and cons on various forums. Since this is my second PC, I did not care much about getting an upgrade until I found a great deal on Amazon India for a brand new i5 9600KF! And as you can imagine, it was quite tempting for the adventure and because, why not?

To start, I downloaded a tool (CoffeeTime 0.99) and modded the BIOS with it, adding the necessary microcodes and applying the necessary fixes. I did it such that existing CPU support is not removed. 







For making this BIOS flash successful, you have to use an external programmer. In my case, I used a CH341A programmer. Luckily, the Maximus VIII Ranger has a removable BIOS chip. I took out the BIOS chip and first took a dump of the existing official BIOS from the chip. This is useful to preserve your board data like serial number, MAC address, licenses etc. Once done, I used a software called FD44Editor to pull of the data and inject it to the modified BIOS file. Once done, I erased the BIOS chip and flashed the modified BIOS. In my case, the flash was not successful even after multiple attempts but I put back the BIOS chip back on the board anyway. It did not start (Q-Code 00). But this time, I used ASUS USB BIOS Flashback (since BIOS chip was empty, flashback will flash all regions including the ones which were previously locked). And success. The system booted up fine with the i5 7600K and worked as good as it did with the original BIOS. Our BIOS modding is done. 
Now for the hardware part.
I ordered an i5 9600KF which was quite affordable and was a good upgrade from the 7600K. Now, if you look at the pinouts of SkyLake/KabyLake vs. Coffee Lake, you will see a number of differences, one of them being VCC and VSS (ground pads). On the 6th and 7th gen CPUs, there are two consecutive contacts on the CPU which are grounded. When you install the CPU on the motherboard, these pads make a connection with the socket pins which "tells" the board to turn on. 
On 8th and 9th gen, that contact point is RSVD (reserved). Hence I needed to connect these two pins. 

To do that, I used a copper tape with adhesive and cut that accordingly. Extreme care is required for this step to make sure nothing else is shorted. Also note that connecting the CPU pads are not necessary but shorting the pins in the socket is what does the trick. 
After this I installed the cooler and VOILA! POST successful. My adventures went on as I continued testing stability. 
Finally, I was able to achieve 5 GHz core clock and 4.8 GHz cache clock at just 1.36V!




I tested with my RTX 2060 Super from my primary rig and did some gaming. Runs awesome. Better than my overclocked Ryzen 5 3600!





To finalize things, I thought what if I could remove the copper tape? Is there any other way? 
And that's when I learnt about those two contact pads and the "Socket Occupied" sense. 
I grabbed the datasheet of the SuperIO controller. In the Maximus VIII Ranger, it is a Nuvoton NCT6793D. 



In the photo, pin 102 (highlighted - top left) is the SKTOCC pin or socket occupied. According to the datasheet, grounding this will "fool" the motherboard to think that a CPU is present which is what we want since the 8th and 9th gen CPUs communicates this signal in another way. I followed the trace and found the nearest ground pin and soldered a tiny wire (marked with yellow rectangle)




To test this, I powered the board without the CPU installed and surely, it started (00 code, no CPU but fans spin) thus making our modification successful. Once this was tested, I removed the copper tape from CPU and cleaned the base with IsoPropyl Alcohol to remove any fingerprints and residue. 
I put back the CPU on the socket and closed the latch. 



This has been a great experiment and very nice upgrade. This motherboard has a very capable power delivery system and some people are even running i9 9900K at 5 GHz with this very motherboard. 

This mod can be applied to any 100/200 series motherboards. The below photo is important and in some motherboards it is very important to isolate the pins to prevent damage. Fortunately, the Maximus VIII Ranger don't have these pins connected anywhere and hence no isolation was needed in my case.




I wrote this as an adventure. If you have a spare 8th/9th gen CPU lying around with a 100 or 200 series motherboard, you can give this a go. For me, the motherboard I have is in mint condition and hence I decided to give it a deserving upgrade. 
I use this PC for video editing and the 6 cores make a lot of difference. I initially thought of going for a 9700K/KF but it was twice the cost of the 9600KF and honestly did not justify the extra performance!
I am planning to make a video of this as a tutorial for anyone who would like to try this. 
Thanks for reading and stay safe!


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## itsakjt (Aug 23, 2021)

Hello everyone, so I just made a YouTube video about this guide in case some of you want to give it a shot. Do let me know about any queries and any feedback is welcome. 

Guide: Coffee Lake CPU on Z170


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## QuietBob (Aug 26, 2021)

Thanks for researching this topic and putting together your detailed guide!
While I'm not going to attempt this mod myself, I'm sure there are people out there brave enough


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## dumaster (Nov 6, 2021)

itsakjt said:


> Hello everyone, so I just made a YouTube video about this guide in case some of you want to give it a shot. Do let me know about any queries and any feedback is welcome.
> 
> Guide: Coffee Lake CPU on Z170



Hello friend @itsakjt, I'm also wanting to venture on this journey of installing a 9700K CPU on my Asus Maximus VIII Hero (Z170) motherboard, I would like your help if you can help me, one of the issues I would like to discuss with you is about the pins on the CPU , did you manage to find the pin on the motherboard that is short , my question is will it be possible to also find a way to avoid using tape to isolate the other pins on the CPU ??? if it is possible to find them on the motherboard we could disconnect them and install the 9700K without making any changes to the CPU !!!

Another question is , after I make all these changes to install the 9700K if I need for some reason to get my old 6700K back can I install it back without having to revert the changes ???


Finally , I would like to thank you for having shared your adventure here on the forum , it gave me more courage to also take risks in this task !!!

A big hug friend !!!

@dumaster


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## itsakjt (Nov 6, 2021)

dumaster said:


> Hello friend @itsakjt, I'm also wanting to venture on this journey of installing a 9700K CPU on my Asus Maximus VIII Hero (Z170) motherboard, I would like your help if you can help me, one of the issues I would like to discuss with you is about the pins on the CPU , did you manage to find the pin on the motherboard that is short , my question is will it be possible to also find a way to avoid using tape to isolate the other pins on the CPU ??? if it is possible to find them on the motherboard we could disconnect them and install the 9700K without making any changes to the CPU !!!
> 
> Another question is , after I make all these changes to install the 9700K if I need for some reason to get my old 6700K back can I install it back without having to revert the changes ???
> 
> ...


Hello @dumaster, thanks for the appreciation. 
Now for your questions:

1. I was able to find the respective pins on the processor which were to be shorted by looking at the diagram from CoffeeTime. Later on, I figured out that the SuperIO controller is responsible for letting the board know that a CPU is present via the SKTOCC pin and hence grounded the SKTOCC pin with a wire from the nearest ground pad. 

2. For pin isolation, Maximus VIII Hero does not need that, as the respective pins on the socket are not connected anywhere, same with the Maximus VIII Ranger. You can check this by very carefully using a multimeter and checking resistance to ground with the respective socket pins. Higher end boards like the Formula and Extreme series require pin isolation. 

3. After the mod, you will be able to run any CPU from 6th gen to 9th gen without any issues, provided you have kept the required microcodes in the BIOS. You should be able to do that with Coffee Time. I have tested this and my old 7600K still works flawlessly. 

Notes: If you can solder a wire like I did near the SuperIO chip, you won't need to do any modifications on the socket or the CPU at all and it will be plug and play for any 6th to 9th gen CPU. 

Addendum:
After this mod, the only things left to do to make it a Z370/390 equivalent is:
1. Adding TPM 2.0 support - For full official Windows 11 compatibility
2. Adding resizable bar support. 

After multiple tries trying to mod the BIOS to add Intel PTT (TPM) support, I was not successful as later on, I figured out it was disabled from within the chipset through FPF (Field Programmable Fuses). So I managed to get the original 14-1 pin TPM card. 













I am glad to say, TPM is fully functional. I have upgraded to Windows 11 on this setup and it runs flawlessly. 

As for resizable bar support, I have not been able to figure it out yet. I tried porting it from other Z370/390 chipset based motherboard BIOSes but could not make the mod work so far. 
Will keep this thread updated if I can find a solution.


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## dumaster (Nov 7, 2021)

Hello friend , thank you very much for replying quickly , after I read your post , run away and buy the 9700K 

Thanks for your help and I will answer each topic you mentioned in your post below !!!



itsakjt said:


> I figured out that the SuperIO controller is responsible for letting the board know that a CPU is present via the SKTOCC pin and hence grounded the SKTOCC pin with a wire from the nearest ground pad



I believe that in the case of my motherboard I should also easily find the pin to make the short next to the super i/o because I believe there is not much difference between your board and my board !!!



itsakjt said:


> For pin isolation, Maximus VIII Hero does not need that



Fantastic news , when I read what you wrote I was extremely excited because not having to touch the processor was one of my biggest doubts as I am buying a new 9700K in the box and I want to keep the Intel warranty and would not want to touch anything on the processor , your answer that on my board it was only necessary to proceed with the short of the SKTOCC near the super i/o made me super happy !!!



itsakjt said:


> you will be able to run any CPU from 6th gen to 9th gen without any issues



I'm going to follow your tutorial with Coffee Time because I want to keep the microcodes from the sixth to the ninth generation, these your answer says that it's possible after the mod use all the generations mentioned above made me very happy too !!!



itsakjt said:


> Adding TPM 2.0 support



In the case of windows 11 in the future I will buy the TMP 2.0 card , for now I will use the ISO version of installation which disables the restrictions to test windows 11 , but my main system will keep windows 10 as I believe it is a mature system and 11 It is still in its infancy , I will wait a little longer for the 11 to be more mature and so I will update it , but I will appreciate the tip of the TPM 2.0 card !!!




itsakjt said:


> resizable bar support



About the resize bar I will do research about it after I have the entire system working , but if you find something new post here , I believe everyone was happy , and if I find something that can help in this task I will also update here !!!

--------------------------------------------------------------

Now it 's time to wait for the arrival of my new 9700K CPU to start work here , I am very happy that you have answered all my questions , and I wish you success and prosperity in your life for your willingness to share your knowledge to all of us in the community !! !

A big hug and a good weekend!!!

( sorry for any error in english , i'm not very good because i'm brazilian  )


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## itsakjt (Nov 7, 2021)

dumaster said:


> Hello friend , thank you very much for replying quickly , after I read your post , run away and buy the 9700K
> 
> Thanks for your help and I will answer each topic you mentioned in your post below !!!
> 
> ...



Hi! Your English is perfect. 

And you are right about the SKTOCC mod on your board as it has the exact same chip (Nuvoton NCT6793D). Just follow the trace from pin 102, find a pad where it connects and connect that pad with the nearest ground pad you find. 
It is easy to test it as well. Just connect power supply and do not install the processor and turn the board on. It should power on with Q-Code 00. This will indicate if your SKTOCC mod is successful. All the best and keep us updated.


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## Hugis (Nov 7, 2021)

Awesome stuff there  great modding guide! and grats on your upgrade


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## dumaster (Nov 8, 2021)

itsakjt said:


> It is easy to test it as well. Just connect power supply and do not install the processor and turn the board on. It should power on with Q-Code 00. This will indicate if your SKTOCC mod is successful. All the best and keep us updated.



Hello friend, with the correct mod Q-Code must be 00 and before making the mod SKTOCC which code should appear if I try to connect the card without cpu ??? or the board doesn't even turn on ??? do you remember ???

My 9700K should arrive later this week, any news I'll let you know around here!!!

A big hug and good week.


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## itsakjt (Nov 9, 2021)

dumaster said:


> Hello friend, with the correct mod Q-Code must be 00 and before making the mod SKTOCC which code should appear if I try to connect the card without cpu ??? or the board doesn't even turn on ??? do you remember ???
> 
> My 9700K should arrive later this week, any news I'll let you know around here!!!
> 
> A big hug and good week.



Hello @dumaster, without mod, board should not turn on at all without CPU. After the mod, if successful, the board should start without CPU with Q-Code 00.
Wish you all the best and a great week ahead.


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## dumaster (Jan 28, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Hello @dumaster, without mod, board should not turn on at all without CPU. After the mod, if successful, the board should start without CPU with Q-Code 00.
> Wish you all the best and a great week ahead.




Hello my friend itsakjt,

Sorry for taking so long to return to the topic to update my adventures here with Coffe and Z170, my CPU 9700K arrived some time ago, but I'm using my PC a lot for work and I haven't been able to disassemble the PC so far to be able to modify the SKTOCC on the motherboard, that's all I need, I made the mods in the BIOS already including everything necessary for the board to accept the 9700K, after I recorded the BIOS and put it back on the motherboard, it connected perfectly with my old 6700K, just missing even modifying the motherboard to short-circuit the SKTOCC to ground, let's see if for these weeks ahead I can find some time to do that !!!

Below is a print of my BIOS:





I also downloaded the Datasheet of the possible SuperIO from my motherboard (I still don't know the exact model of the SuperIO because you have to remove a plastic shield that is on top of it and it will only be possible after disassembling the entire PC)

But apparently Nuvoton adopts an identical pinout in this NTC679XD series (your X is 3 and mine is possibly 6) and I found out why without this SKTOCC signal connected to ground the board doesn't turn on, SuperIO depends on 3 signals that enter an OR Gate generating a ZERO output to the PSON pin on the power supply and this causes it to turn on the power supply, and one of these three signals is the SKTOCC as shown in the diagram of this sector on the SuperIO chip in the photo below .






in the photo where you made the modification I saw that you connected the SKTOCC pin directly to the ground, there a doubt arose, the resistor soldered there is one side connected to the SKTOCC and the other ???? is that the other side of the resistor is not connected to the SKTOCC pin of the cpu socket ???

I'm commenting on this because I saw in another forum a user soldering the resistor diagonally with that the resistor was between the ground and the SKTOCC of the SuperIO, I don't know which of the methods is the most correct or safest, but if the resistor is really between the SuperIO and Socket was nice to keep the resistor in the way between SKTOCC and Ground, it's something to think about!!!





Photo from the other forum showing this other modification option :





Source : https://community.hwbot.org/topic/1...-and-coffee-lake-cpus/page/17/#comment-582691

Sorry for the amount of messages and photos , but I would like to keep this topic alive so that we can discuss more about this subject and that new users can interact with us !!!

I will update here as soon as I can disassemble my PC, a big hug for you friend itsakjt !!!


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## itsakjt (Jan 29, 2022)

dumaster said:


> Hello my friend itsakjt,
> 
> Sorry for taking so long to return to the topic to update my adventures here with Coffe and Z170, my CPU 9700K arrived some time ago, but I'm using my PC a lot for work and I haven't been able to disassemble the PC so far to be able to modify the SKTOCC on the motherboard, that's all I need, I made the mods in the BIOS already including everything necessary for the board to accept the 9700K, after I recorded the BIOS and put it back on the motherboard, it connected perfectly with my old 6700K, just missing even modifying the motherboard to short-circuit the SKTOCC to ground, let's see if for these weeks ahead I can find some time to do that !!!
> 
> ...


Hello @dumaster, great news on modifying the BIOS. 
As I can see from your BIOS file, you have a Maximus VIII Hero which has the exact same Super IO chip (Nuvoton NCT6793D). Based on the datasheet, SKTOCC needs to be pulled to ground for making the board power on. As for the resistor, I did think about that but the measured resistance was quite a bit and I was doubtful whether it would actually work and hence I bypassed the resistor. My system has been running from July 2021 without any issues and hence I believe this modification is perfectly safe both from knowledge and from information given on the datasheet. I have been using this system as my primary gaming and entertainment PC now (performs better on games than my Ryzen 5 3600 PC as on specs). 
But either way of SKTOCC mod (both mine and the method you showed) should work and hence you can do whichever you are comfortable with. To be honest, I went with the method I did because I was not comfortable removing and reorienting the resistor in the risk of losing it. 
Pro tip: You can use kapton tape surrounding the section around the area where you need to solder to be on the safe side. Once you are finished with the soldering, clean the section of solder flux with some isopropyl alcohol. 

All the best and let us know once you have this system running. 
Cheers.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 1, 2022)

Hello,  I am BobbyBoyGaming from the YouTube comments, @itsakjt

Here is a link to google drive with a some photos of my mod. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DmBdBHC8XchKBh3kGiAZ_X81MZObNMef?usp=sharing

Please see google drive images for higher quality

I am still not very sure how to test this pin (with the question mark) to see if it is a ground pin. I took out the CPU and I tried using the multimeter, but it would show some weird numbers. What result do I have to see to know that it is a ground pin?

I can boot into the BIOS, but then the computer freezes when loading Windows... I also tried to boot from a USB for a fresh Windows Installation, and that failed as well. 

I am afraid I have damaged my CPU


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## aQi (Feb 1, 2022)

I read somewhere that the mod actually makes issues when installing a cpu exceeding 8 threads. For those extending upto 8 cores. Hyper threading needs to be disabled. I am talking about Dan's mod over z270 motherboards


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 1, 2022)

aQi said:


> I read somewhere that the mod actually makes issues when installing a cpu exceeding 8 threads. For those extending upto 8 cores. Hyper threading needs to be disabled. I am talking about Dan's mod over z270 motherboards


I dont know who Dan is. Are you talking to me? If so, I thought CoffeeTime 0.99 already comes with full support for 16 threads.

@itsakjt 
I already removed the kapton tape and copper tape from my 9900K, I am afraid I may have damaged my CPU. I will try to take some photos with a digital microscope i got online. I can redo the pin mod. But I dont want to risk further damage.

I may try to isolate more pins for my  3rd attempt. Ideally I would test the pins on the socket. If the reference pins show a non-infinite resistance then it means they must be isolated right? 

I dont know if I have the skills or stamina to do all of the pins in the pin map. but I can maybe do the blue asrock and the red gigabyte that are near the blue asrock pins...

or I can just follow the image in this post and block all of the asrock/gigabyte pins (on the left side of the chip) and just give it a shot like that.


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## itsakjt (Feb 1, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> Hello,  I am BobbyBoyGaming from the YouTube comments, @itsakjt
> 
> Here is a link to google drive with a some photos of my mod. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DmBdBHC8XchKBh3kGiAZ_X81MZObNMef?usp=sharing
> 
> ...


Hi there is no way you have damaged your CPU.
Since you had the copper tape removed and still have the system turning on, your SKT_OCC mod is definitely successful. For the instability issue, are you using the latest BIOS and edited that with Coffee Time?

For troubleshooting, try increasing the voltages by 0.025V-0.35V for the CPU core and also VCCIO and System Agent voltage - Set to 1.18-1.22V.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 1, 2022)

Oh, no. There was a misunderstanding. I have not done a mod to the motherboard yet. What I meant to say is that I took off the pin mods because I freaked out and I thought I did some damage or something but It is okay, I can do the mod again, I am getting better at it xD.

Yes, my BIOS is fully modded like in your Youtube video.

I have more photos in this google drive, the photos show the BIOS and all that. I did not try booting into Windows with Hyper Threading disabled. I should try that...






						CoffeeTime Mod - Google Drive
					






					drive.google.com
				











What I still dont understand is this. Why does the official pin map say isolate blue pins for asrock,



but then another set of instructions say that I must isolate a different set of pins (only two pins versus 5+ pins?) Which instructions are the correct ones for a CoffeeLake 9900K R0 stepping




The other question is, Does coffeetime 0.99 support 16 threads for the 9900K on z170? How can I know if I have a "22nm board"? (maybe he meant to say 14nm and made a mistake?)


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## itsakjt (Feb 1, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> Oh, no. There was a misunderstanding. I have not done a mod to the motherboard yet. What I meant to say is that I took off the pin mods because I freaked out and I thought I did some damage or something but It is okay, I can do the mod again, I am getting better at it xD.
> 
> Yes, my BIOS is fully modded like in your Youtube video.
> 
> ...


Hi. CoffeeTime 0.99 supports 16 thread CPUs on any motherboard. 





Follow this image for correct pin mod. I am fairly certain increasing voltage a bit will make your system stable. Your BIOS basically fails to set the default proper voltage for CPU.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 1, 2022)

Ok I will try the new voltage and see if it helps!!


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## itsakjt (Feb 2, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> Ok I will try the new voltage and see if it helps!!


Also for pin isolation, yes you can check resistance to ground of each pin very carefully. If you get something other than infinite, it is connected somewhere and needs to be isolated.

As for the SKT_OCC, can you check what happens if you power on the board without the CPU installed?
Does it power on (fans spin)?
If yes, you don't need to do SKT_OCC mod. Not all motherboards need it and in many boards, SKT_OCC sense is not implemented.

Also, for the instability, try turning off C states and any other power saving features that are there and check if it becomes stable. Also try removing and reseating the memory modules.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 2, 2022)

Finally finished  my third attempt at the pin mod... I hope it works... 
I will not test it yet with the higher vcore and the c states off yet. I think I should try to carefully test the socket pins since the CPU is not installed

Which pins on the socket should test, only the asrock blue ones or also some other ones? What about the Yellow colored pins, they don't pertain to any specific motherboard? 

Is it safe to use "automatic mode" on the multimeter or is this dangerous? I can set it manually to ohms mode. I dont have a ground pad but I have a big piece of steel metal.


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## itsakjt (Feb 2, 2022)

Hi there, 

Please find the pinout comparison between Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake:





I have marked the corresponding pins on the socket to test with multimeter. I am not sure about the automatic mode but continuity or diode mode should work. 
Please find the pins marked in yellow under Coffee Lake. 

Please note the following:

*RSVD = Reserved
Vcc = Vcore
Vss= Ground*

The pins which are *reserved *in Coffee Lake do not need to be checked as those pins are not used by the CPU at all. 
The *Vcc pins do need to be checked*. Because ideally on your board, these Vcc pins are reserved (see Kaby Lake photo). But some boards have these pins grounded or connected somewhere (unlikely in case of ASUS/AsRock). To test - Place one probe of multimeter to any of the IO shield port covers and the other probe to each of these pins very carefully. If it beeps or shows some value, it needs to be isolated. If it is infinite resistance, no need to isolate.
The *Vss pins do need to be checked*. Place one probe of multimeter to any of the IO shield port covers and the other probe to each of these pins very carefully. If it shows some value except 0 (no resistance, continuous), it needs to be isolated. If it beeps (continuous) or shows infinite resistance, no need to isolate as these are ground pins anyway on Coffee Lake so should be fine. 

Once tested, make modification accordingly. It is very likely you won't need any kind of mod to the CPU socket at all except for connecting SKT_OCC pin. For testing that, try powering on board without CPU installed. If it powers on (fans spin), no need to do SKT_OCC mod. 

As for ground points on motherboard, here is an example:


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## aQi (Feb 2, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> I dont know who Dan is. Are you talking to me? If so, I thought CoffeeTime 0.99 already comes with full support for 16 threads.
> 
> @itsakjt
> I already removed the kapton tape and copper tape from my 9900K, I am afraid I may have damaged my CPU. I will try to take some photos with a digital microscope i got online. I can redo the pin mod. But I dont want to risk further damage.
> ...


Never mind i was not following dsanke and i call him dan that is the person who started it all and now i know that he has been working all good to provide such support. Long live dsanke. I am looking forward for a z270 motherboard to house 9900k as these boards are cheap and power house.


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## itsakjt (Feb 2, 2022)

aQi said:


> Never mind i was not following dsanke and i call him dan that is the person who started it all and now i know that he has been working all good to provide such support. Long live dsanke. I am looking forward for a z270 motherboard to house 9900k as these boards are cheap and power house.


He is the MVP.


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## aQi (Feb 2, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> He is the MVP.


MVP ???


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## itsakjt (Feb 3, 2022)

aQi said:


> MVP ???


Most valuable person with regards to this.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 4, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Hi there,
> 
> Please find the pinout comparison between Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake:
> 
> ...


This post was very helpful, 

I will do all the tests this weekend and will report back. 
For now I just wanted to share a photo i took with my new digital microscope of my current pin mod. 

The reason I was worried that I had damaged the cpu is because I made some damage to the green part of the chip with the blade i used to cut the capton tape, but it did boot to windows before it would freeze (for which I will try increasing the vcore and all that, as you had suggested), so hopefully those scratches are not too bad.
Also see how the capton tape on one of the pictures is covering the edge of the adjacent lga pins, is this okay? or should it be perfect like the other one


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## itsakjt (Feb 4, 2022)

The 3rd photo does look scary. But as long as the traces are not broken, it is fine and possibly just cosmetic damage. 
Do check out the socket pins with multimeter and if not required, you can skip it. 

As for the kapton tape covering the edge of the adjacent pins, it is fine and pins should still make proper contact. 

Do let us know how it goes and all the best.


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## Arctucas (Feb 4, 2022)

Wish I could find info on modding eVGA Z170 Classified K motherboard ...

Not interested in modding CPU.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 4, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> The 3rd photo does look scary. But as long as the traces are not broken, it is fine and possibly just cosmetic damage.
> Do check out the socket pins with multimeter and if not required, you can skip it.
> 
> As for the kapton tape covering the edge of the adjacent pins, it is fine and pins should still make proper contact.
> ...


I tried my best to do these motherboard pin tests with my microscope and multimeter, these are the results I got. 

First of all, the socket occupied pin is implemented in my board, the fans wont spin without a cpu. Nothing will power on without a cpu.

As for the pin tests.

I tried doing the tests by manually setting my multimeter to continuity mode, and nothing would happen. I thought I was not setting a proper range in the multimeter, but I looked at the manual and it doesnt say anything about a ohms range setting for continuity. Then I also tried doing the tests in automatic mode, and it will automatically try to do a continuity test. 

so i did the tests in both manual mode and automatic mode and these are the results I think I got. 




After I tested my motherboard pins, I reinstalled my older 6700K and the computer booted into Windows 10 without any problems at all. So this means I did not damage the socket pins during my testing.

Do my results make sense? does it look Like I did something wrong from looking at my results?

can you help me conclude what these results mean? Thanks


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## itsakjt (Feb 5, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> I tried my best to do these motherboard pin tests with my microscope and multimeter, these are the results I got.
> 
> First of all, the socket occupied pin is implemented in my board, the fans wont spin without a cpu. Nothing will power on without a cpu.
> 
> ...


Hello. The places where you got no beep, did you get any value other than 0?


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 5, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Hello. The places where you got no beep, did you get any value other than 0?


I think when it doesnt beep it is the same thing as "open loop" which you call "infinite resistance" but my multimeter does not show "infinite resistance" it can show "OL = open loop", 0.00, or a resistance value


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## itsakjt (Feb 5, 2022)

A


BobbyBoyGaming said:


> I think when it doesnt beep it is the same thing as "open loop" which you call "infinite resistance" but my multimeter does not show "infinite resistance" it can show "OL = open loop", 0.00, or a resistance value


Awesome. That totally makes sense.
In that case, you don't need any modifications to CPU except connecting the copper tape for SKT_OCC which you have already done properly. No need to isolate any pin. The place where you are getting 0.00, that is fine since it is a ground pin anyway.
With that noted, check out at what voltage the CPU is running at. Since the BIOS is not aware of that CPU, voltages might need manual tweaking. Also, it is a good practice to clear CMOS after replacing the CPU.
All the best and keep us posted.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 5, 2022)

bleh... the computer powers up the fans, but the monitor does not show any image anymore with the 9900K inserted... I think I killed my cpu... . I cleared the bios as well. I always clear bios after cpu swap.


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## itsakjt (Feb 5, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> bleh... the computer powers up the fans, but the monitor does not show any image anymore with the 9900K inserted... I think I killed my cpu... . I cleared the bios as well. I always clear bios after cpu swap.


Honestly, it is not that easy to kill a CPU. Try with basic troubleshooting like try with 1 stick of RAM, remove unnecessary components etc.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 5, 2022)

I think my multimeter measurements were shit. because I removed all the kapton tape and booted up with the 9900K, and this is when i was not getting any POST tests.

I took the cpu out and I noticed small burn marks only on the two pins that the original instructions indicate to isolate for asrock. The  motherboard also showed a little bit of blueish color on those pins (they got very hot). But I reinsterted the 6700K and luckily it did boot into Windows again. So my motherboard is somehow still alive... got lucky.

I have a wd40 contact cleaner and I cleaned the pins that had burn marks and the burn mark came off completely. it is possible that maybe it still works xD i can try one more time with the kapton tape on.

photos before cleaning (after booting without kapton tape)








photos after cleaning contacts with wd40 (after burn marks were created by booting without kapton tape)






the contacts now look clean but it does look like a nasty piece of green plastic came off or something. like a trace may have been burned partially


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## itsakjt (Feb 5, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> I think my multimeter measurements were shit. because I removed all the kapton tape and booted up with the 9900K, and this is when i was not getting any POST tests.
> 
> I took the cpu out and I noticed small burn marks only on the two pins that the original instructions indicate to isolate for asrock. The  motherboard also showed a little bit of blueish color on those pins (they got very hot). But I reinsterted the 6700K and luckily it did boot into Windows again. So my motherboard is somehow still alive... got lucky.
> 
> ...


I see. Yeah, then definitely isolate these pads with Kapton tape. Based on information I had, even if those pins completely burn out or the pads completely burn out, it is not going to affect performance of the board or the CPU. Some people have even went ahead and chopped those pins off.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 5, 2022)

ok I will attempt to isolate them again very very very very carefully

I was able to get into the bios again!! 

will try to set voltages higher and all that

It worked!

I set the current limits to 255.75 because I remember this was a overclocking profile for the 6700K, I also increased the vcore with an offset of +25 milivolts, and I increased both the VCCIO and the VCCSA to 1.18volts

The i set all cores to a target speed of 4.6 Ghz (multiplier 46) and the cpu cache ratio to 4.3ghz (multiplier 43).

I am not sure if it is safe for me to achieve 5 gigahertz. Do you know what the normal cache ratio is supposed to be set to?

the default settings were core speed of 3.6 and cache ratio of 4.3, but I think I remember seeing somewhere that the cache ratio is supposed to be a bit lower than the core frequency. do  you know anything about this? my motherboard doesnt seem to be able to set the correct cpu speeds


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## itsakjt (Feb 5, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> ok I will attempt to isolate them again very very very very carefully
> 
> I was able to get into the bios again!!
> 
> ...


Amazing news. I think you should be able to do 4.8 to 5 GHz assuming you have a good cooler. Once done, do what you normally do with the PC and run some basic stress tests for sometime to check if it is stable.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 5, 2022)

do you happen to know what the cache ratio speed is supposed to be? I will set cpu to 5.0. I dont want to overclock though, I just want it to run like it is supposed to run on a normal 300 series motherboard

I brought the clockspeed up to 5 ghz, and the computer froze so then I changed the vccio and vccsa from 1.18 to 1.22, and it it has not crashed yet. it seems stable now 
My cache ratio speed is still 4300, is that the correct speed? 4.3ghz?


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 6, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Amazing news. I think you should be able to do 4.8 to 5 GHz assuming you have a good cooler. Once done, do what you normally do with the PC and run some basic stress tests for sometime to check if it is stable.


Do you happen to know what the cache ratio speed is supposed to be? I will set cpu to 5.0. I dont want to overclock though, I just want it to run like it is supposed to run on a normal 300 series motherboard

I brought the clockspeed up to 5 ghz, and the computer froze so then I changed the vccio and vccsa from 1.18 to 1.22, and it it has not crashed yet. it seems stable now 
My cache ratio speed is still 4300, is that the correct speed? 4.3ghz?

I got BSOD (IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL), it does not happen frequently, it has only happened once
It seems pretty stable overall, but it does get some BSOD every once in a while I think I got another one at some point (CRITICAL PROCESS DIED), but I did not take a photo of it, I will try to be better about recording my errors 

I remember this patch installed when I had the 6700K installed. I am wondering if I should find an equivalent patch like this one but for the 9900K or if I should remove this patch while the 9900K is installed




I also have an extra BIOS chip, I was thinking of making the same BIOS but with the Intel ME Corporate Cut 11.8 and with ME HAP bit disabled and then just using an external TPM 2.0 module. I was wondering if doing this may increase system stability.

Any thoughts??


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## itsakjt (Feb 6, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> Do you happen to know what the cache ratio speed is supposed to be? I will set cpu to 5.0. I dont want to overclock though, I just want it to run like it is supposed to run on a normal 300 series motherboard
> 
> I brought the clockspeed up to 5 ghz, and the computer froze so then I changed the vccio and vccsa from 1.18 to 1.22, and it it has not crashed yet. it seems stable now
> My cache ratio speed is still 4300, is that the correct speed? 4.3ghz?
> ...


Hi, for your questions:

5 GHz might need a lot of extra voltage because while 5 GHz is the max turbo frequency, it is the single core turbo speed i.e. when only one core is loaded to 100 percent. I would say, try 4.7 to 4.9 with cache ratio to 4.3 (should be default). A 4.5 GHz cache speed should be easily achievable at the stock voltage. I recommend you set that.

As for ME, it should not affect system stability in any way and I would suggest to keep it enabled. Also, some Z170 motherboards and all Z270 motherboards have TPM 2.0. Z170 boards might require a modded BIOS to make it enabled. Let me know if you are up for that adventure. The only way it is not possible is if it is disabled in the chipset via FPF (Field Programmable Fuses - basically a one shot fuse). There are ways to check that. But even if it is disabled through FPF, you can always use a TPM 2.0 module like I did. 

VCCSA is mostly required for the System Agent and iGPU and VCCIO is required for the memory controller. So if you are running RAMs at higher frequency, you will need extra voltage for VCCIO. These voltages have a safe limit for 24x7 use and that is 1.35V.
Please note that since the motherboard officially does not "know" this CPU, it might not be able to set proper voltages and hence manual tweaking might be required. 

Overall, I am glad that you finally got it working.  For the instabilities, try manually tuning the clocks and voltages and eventually you will find a sweet spot. All the best. 

To summarize, 

5.0 GHz all core frequency is an overclock for the i9 9900K. 4.7 GHz is the stock all core boost frequency for i9 9900K. If you have a good cooler, you can do 5 GHz at around 1.35V (check Load Line Calibration settings also) and thus won't lose single core performance also. You might not be able to do per core frequency adjustments since motherboard BIOS is programmed to show only up to 4 cores and provide adjustments for that. Hence you need to sync all the cores. 
Default cache frequency is 4.3 GHz (based on info I could find). Try increasing this till you are unstable. It is very difficult to test stability of cache frequency. For example, I can successfully set cache frequency to 4.9 GHz. It can work great for days. But to my observation, I will get a crash at some point of time. For my i5 9600KF, 4.8 GHz is rock stable at the voltage I am using (1.35V). It has been more than 6 months without a single crash.
VCCIO = Memory controller voltage. I have this set to 1.18V for 4*8 GB Kingston HyperX Fury dual rank RAM kit overclocked to 3100 MHz CL14
VCCSA = Set to a near about value or the same value as the VCCIO. I have this set at 1.175V.

CPU standby voltage - Default is 0.95-1.00V. I have this set to 1.05V. I have not seen this affect anything but higher voltages can cause BD_PROCHOT signal to malfunction when CPU is cold and cause frequency throttling to 800 MHz. Refer my thread here for issues I faced and the last few posts for the solution. https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/system-boots-slow-when-left-powered-off-for-long.247375/

All the best.


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 6, 2022)

I noticed the pins in the upper left corner are different from each other


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## itsakjt (Feb 6, 2022)

eidairaman1 said:


> I noticed the pins in the upper left corner are different from each other


I just noticed too. However they are reference/test points for Sky Lake/Kaby Lake and ground pins for Coffee Lake and hence no board have them connected anywhere. dsanke has done extensive research regarding various board makers and hence his pin connect/isolate guide is fool proof. True it is very much possible you might not need them for a particular board like in my case but doing the isolation/connection won't do any harm at all.


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## DR4G00N (Feb 6, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> I see. Yeah, then definitely isolate these pads with Kapton tape. Based on information I had, even if those pins completely burn out or the pads completely burn out, it is not going to affect performance of the board or the CPU. Some people have even went ahead and chopped those pins off.


Yeah, those pins aren't needed at all (though obviously it's better to insulate them). 
I did the coffee mod when the 8700K was still new so the ones in my Z170M OCF got vaporized a long while ago but it doesn't effect anything.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 6, 2022)

So 1.22 volts is definitely safe for everyday use as vccio and vccsa? How do you know these max voltages? I couldnt find this information on my own.
My motherboard, which is not originally designed for a 9900k, shows the 1.22 setting in red font (which is a warning that means dangerous or at maximum limit)


When I was getting the crashes I also had the memory overclocked to 3200 CL15 1.35V, and the memory originally had an XMP profile of 3000 CL15 1.35V (automatic voltage), so it is very possible that my system crashes were a result of the voltage being too low on the memory.

So for now, I just let the motherboard determin safe memory settings, and I brought down my CPU from 5.0 ghz to 4.9, and I increased my cache frequency from 4.3 to 4.6

My vccio and vccsa are still both 1.22, and my vcore is still offset to +35 millivolts, my iGPU is at stock clocks (I hope these are safe settings)

My CPU load-line calibration is set to Level 2 out of 5 levels, which means that the motherboard is supposed to try to keep the voltage more constant (closer to my manually set value) when the CPU is under load. This is my understanding of it. Is this correct? The correct CPU load-line-calibration setting for this mod should be closer to the flat graph setting (level 1), rather that further away from it towards the level 5, which has a steep downward slope on the graph (meaning that as cpu load goes up the motherboard will decrease the cpu voltage)

Level 5 would be bad for the 9900K stability, correct? correct me if I am wrong. I didnt set it to Level 1 because I know it requires a very very very good PSU and it can stress out the components more or something like that.

----UPDATE---
I was able to do one pass of cinebench R23 without crashing the score was 12925. I dont have a very good cooler and the test reaches 99-100C towards the end so I only did one pass. I also dont think this 100 percent CPU usage is representative of my daily use at all so one pass seemed fine... If I put a better cooler on it eventually I could try 3 passes or whatever everybody does.
It seems like my crashes were indeed due to the shitty RAM I have. I put on this system some RAM from 2015 which is not as efficient/fast as the more recent DDR4. I am waiting for some new DDR4 by TeamGroup called Creator Expert DDR4 3600 to arrive. I will finish the build once my new RAM arrives and I will turn this little computer into a dedicated server.


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## itsakjt (Feb 6, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> So 1.22 volts is definitely safe for everyday use as vccio and vccsa? How do you know these max voltages? I couldnt find this information on my own.
> My motherboard, which is not originally designed for a 9900k, shows the 1.22 setting in red font (which is a warning that means dangerous or at maximum limit)
> 
> 
> ...


Hi there. 
1.22V is absolutely safe for 24x7 use. I got to know the 1.35V limit from various sources (Google Coffee Lake OC guide) and all of those articles mentioned that. 

As for your load line calibration, I am sorry but can't help you that much without physically inspecting the behavior of the system. It depends on a lot of factors like how well binned the CPU is, the way the motherboard adjusts voltage and so on. A better binned CPU for example might be able to do 5 GHz at stock voltage and LLC, another unit of the same model of that CPU might require more voltage. 
In short, try to achieve and balance clock speeds and voltage. Do stress tests and use the system like you normally do. 

For stress tests, Cinebench R20, R23, AIDA 64 and OCCT are great tools. 
As for your memory, I would recommend to leave it at the XMP for now and once you are absolutely sure the CPU side of things are rock stable, you can fine tune the memory to your liking. Always overclock one thing at a time because that will help you figure out which settings to tweak.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 7, 2022)

Just out of curiosity, I am only asking this in because I am trying to understand VRM power phases in regards to motherboard quality.

So first of all, according to this mod's instructions in gigabyte boards, a larger number of pins must be isolated relative to the asus/asrock boards (for the 9900K to work on z170)

So my first question is, if I were to (hypothetically) put a 9900K on a gigabyte board, then, and increase the vccio/vccsa and vcore; would this mean that more power would be going into the processor over a smaller amount of pins (potentially producing heat problems?) or reducing stability?
Does this mean that doing thte mod on asrock/asus is better because they allocated more pins for power as seen in the 300 series boards?

gigabyte example






asrock example







- - - - - - -
On a separate topic:

I was watching some videos about VRMs on youtube, and I see that sometimes boards can use the cylindrical electrolytic capacitor or the flat SMD solid polymer capacitors, and according to some youtuber, it seems like the SMD ones produce "better results"

So my second question, is: Is it really possible that this z170 fatal1ty itx/ac board by AsRock has a superior VRM than the subsequently released z390 phantom gaming itx/ac?!?!

If this is true, that would be very unfortunate to know that the newer stuff a downgrade... LOL... In addition, it it is also possible that the z170 fatality itx/ac has more power phases than the new z390 phantom gaming itx/ac?!!? lol?!

Asrock z170 fatal1ty itx/ac power phases have the flat polymer solid capacitor types (4 of them on top + 2 on the back of the board = 6 total)








asrock z390 phantom gaming itx/ac instead has cylindrical electrolytic capacitors (6 of them all on top it seems)




- - - - - -
Separate topic:
As for those pins that I left "extra crispy"  (see photos from previous post)



You mentioned that they are not needed and that some people cut them off. I wanted to clarify,
Are these pins also not needed for the 6700K?
I dont plan on cutting them off but I was wondering. If I were to cut them off (hypothetically), would I lose the ability to use my old 6700K with this motherboard??

Thanks


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## itsakjt (Feb 7, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> Just out of curiosity, I am only asking this in because I am trying to understand VRM power phases in regards to motherboard quality.
> 
> So first of all, according to this mod's instructions in gigabyte boards, a larger number of pins must be isolated relative to the asus/asrock boards (for the 9900K to work on z170)
> 
> ...


Hi @BobbyBoyGaming,

1. The extra set of pins which are to be isolated for GIGABYTE boards are ideally reference pins in 6th/7th gen. So no Z170/Z270 motherboard should _ideally_ have them connected anywhere. And based on research, except GIGABYTE, no other motherboard have these pins connected anywhere and they are just left floating, soldered to dummy pads on the board. In case of GIGABYTE, these pins are very likely connected to something (very likely grounded) in some way and hence requires to be isolated to prevent damage. And since no Z170/Z270 motherboard is designed to make these pins VCC pins, the CPUs get the same power through almost equal number of pins. So all capable boards should be able to run them just fine. 

2. To my knowledge, cylindrical solid state caps produce the best result but are bulky and in boards with smaller footprint are not used much to save space. The next best are the SMD MLCC (Multilayer Ceramic Capacitor) followed by POSCAPs (Conductive Polymer Tantalum Solid Capacitors). All of them have their advantages and trade-offs.
 a. Cylindrical solid state caps - Best choice for performance, higher thermal tolerance, higher lifespan, easy to identify without datasheet, expensive. Cons - Bulky and hence consumes space. 
 b. MLCC SMD caps - Better choice for performance, ultra small component, fairly cheap. Cons - Lower thermal tolerance, can go full short when failed damaging other components.
 c. POSCAPs - Good choice for performance, small component, cheapest solution. Cons - Lower thermal tolerance, can go full short when failed damaging other components, life drastically decreases at higher temperatures. 

The PlayStation 3 FAT and Slim models were equipped with POSCAPs and the Yellow Light of Death (YLOD) failure they had were due to weakened POSCAPs. You might be aware that heating the board with a hairdryer temporarily fixed them and that is because higher temps allowed these caps to reach within spec again. The PS3 Super Slim had all MLCC caps in the VRM filter and hence the failure rate was much less with respect to YLOD. 
The RTX 3080 series capacitor issue is also a demonstration of the above points with regards to MLCC and POSCAPs. Refer to this link - https://www.techspot.com/news/86916... that the,been rebutted by most manufacturers.

3. Those pins are reserved for 6th/7th gen and hence chopping off those pins would not make any difference with any of those chips. In 8th/9th gen, these pins are ground pins and hence don't affect anything noticeable either. 
Ideally, if motherboard manufacturers followed Intel's spec and pinout, we would not need to isolate any pin since all pins required to be isolated are reference pins and are not to be connected. But motherboard manufacturers sometime try to implement their own design and that's when these things become heterogenous. Don't worry, you can chop off those pins. 

Hope this helps.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 7, 2022)

This guy on this video timestamp 







 talks about the capacitors but he is not good at explaining anything concisely, and unfortunately comes off as pretentious in his videos (it is very tedious for me to listen to him talk ). It is actually not clear to me whether he actually knows what he is talking about. He appears to call these flat capacitors "SMD aluminum polymer capacitors", but I think the correct name is actually more along the lines of POSCAP (electrolytic) (with aluminum instead of tantalum perhaps?), as you suggest (not sure). The guy in this video appears to suggest that the POSCAPs are better which is why I had this question. Anyway thanks for the info  I will try to look into this on Wikipedia maybe or something, next weekend.

I found this explanation https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-differences-between-electrolytic-tantalum-and-ceramic-capacitors, which appears to be more reliable information. As of now, I am just learning here and there, and hoping for the best. Perhaps it is best to take some type of electrical engineering online course or something.

Yeah, I remember both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 had some ring of death issues, albeit due to different reasons, and I also remember the heat-gun fix (from watching videos, as I never owned either of those consoles). Good to know thanks for the explanation/example.

Thanks for answering the other questions!


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## tabascosauz (Feb 8, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> This guy on this video timestamp
> 
> 
> 
> ...



buildzoid is right here on TPU too, if you have concerns/gripes you want to take up with him. Impact was an old video, he had a newer video explaining the difference between POSCAP and SP-CAP. Can't fault you for not wanting to listen to his long-winded rants, it's an acquired taste and tedious..............and the Impact isn't really that good at any type of OC like he made it out to be...................

POSCAP is not a type of cap, it's a Panasonic trademark specifically for their flat package tantalum polymers. There is no aluminium polymer POSCAP because it doesn't exist......you can go on any electronic parts supplier website or Panasonic themselves and check for yourself.

POSCAPs are pretty easy to identify (iirc) - at least for the 470µF versions that are common on high end/ITX motherboards, the grey stripe on them is always of a very bright colour, light grey or almost white. The Impact only has them on the back of the board (memory VRM or something). I have another board, B550I Aorus Pro AX, and it has a couple of POSCAPs on output filter, easy to spot.

Amongst caps, MLCCs are probably at the top of the list for performance, followed by some mix of SPCAP and POSCAP depending on what you're using them for. But there's a ton of different flat polymers of various manufacturers with various materials and specs, and some of them are better than others, and depends on which rated spec you care about for the specific application.

Regular cylindrical through-hole polymers are really not very special compared to any of the other caps, it's really not close. The all the Z590/Z690 2DIMM boards' choice of caps should tell you all you need to know about that. But at the same time, caps really don't come into play for most regular users of motherboards; a dozen other VRM design/performance issues will rear their head before caps are really a consideration. Unless Board 1 and Board 2 are of identical design except for their caps, you can't just say that Board 1 is better because it uses SMD polymers while Board 2 uses through-hole polymers. When OCers are talking about cap choice they're just making sure caps aren't going to hold them back and prevent them from beating the next dude on the leaderboards by a hair's width


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## dumaster (Feb 9, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Hello @dumaster, great news on modifying the BIOS.
> As I can see from your BIOS file, you have a Maximus VIII Hero which has the exact same Super IO chip (Nuvoton NCT6793D). Based on the datasheet, SKTOCC needs to be pulled to ground for making the board power on. As for the resistor, I did think about that but the measured resistance was quite a bit and I was doubtful whether it would actually work and hence I bypassed the resistor. My system has been running from July 2021 without any issues and hence I believe this modification is perfectly safe both from knowledge and from information given on the datasheet. I have been using this system as my primary gaming and entertainment PC now (performs better on games than my Ryzen 5 3600 PC as on specs).
> But either way of SKTOCC mod (both mine and the method you showed) should work and hence you can do whichever you are comfortable with. To be honest, I went with the method I did because I was not comfortable removing and reorienting the resistor in the risk of losing it.
> Pro tip: You can use kapton tape surrounding the section around the area where you need to solder to be on the safe side. Once you are finished with the soldering, clean the section of solder flux with some isopropyl alcohol.
> ...



Hello great friend itsakjt,

I come through this post to thank you for the tips and your time spent on this topic, it was through him that I created the courage to buy my 9700K and make all the modifications to the motherboard so that it worked perfectly !!!

A few weeks ago I had already made a post informing that the BIOS update had gone well and I just needed to disassemble the PC and modify the motherboard to install the 9700K !!!

I got some free time a few days ago and disassembled everything , did a thorough cleaning of everything and went to my rework table to proceed with the modification , below are some photos !!!






Checking pins :





Before Mod :





Zoom mod region:





After mod :





Zoom region after mod :





In this image above I would like to comment that after taking several measurements, with the CPU installed and without, I came to the conclusion that the SKTOCC pin on the socket is connected directly to the corresponding pin on the Super IO , which led me to think that the resistor connected to SKTOCC track near the Super IO is a Pull Up so that there is no CPU absent, the pin is not floating and with that it could cause the motherboard to start without having the CPU installed just because of some electrical noise, I then opted for your mod by turning on the GND next to the resistor on the side that is connected to the Super IO, your mod is the CORRECT mod, and that image where another person made the mod using the resistor as a jumper does not seem correct to me because the resistance that I measured in this resistor was from the house of mega omhs which would possibly leave the SKTOCC susceptible to interference !!!

Here my CPU 9700K installed :





CPU recognized correctly by BIOS :





Here in Windows 10 :





To start my tests I left the Core All Sync option and the multiplier set to 47x in the BIOS, so I have all the cores at 4.7GHz when the % load on the CPU triggers Turbo Boost.

I also left the AVX Ratio at ZERO, as I know there are benchmarks that use AVX and I want to see real stability at 4.7GHz.

In Cine R15 that I like to use as one of my tests, the CPU almost reached 160 watts (HWInfo Report), stable temperatures and with values that I liked because it peaked at 71 degrees, Vcore peak reported by Super IO was 1.408v !!!

I want to test like this for a few days and I should try later 4.8... then 4.9... and finally I will try and if I can run all the cores at 5.0GHz with acceptable and safe Temperatures and Vcores I will be very happy !!!

Below are the latest images, and finally I want to thank you * itsakjt * again for creating this topic and making yourself available to help other people on this journey of installing 8xxx and 9xxx processors on these older Z170 / Z270 platforms, my journey so far, everything went well, I didn't have any setbacks during the modifications, and on the first turn on the motherboard it already gave an image and recognized the 9700K perfectly, Best of luck and success to you my friend itsakjt !!!!











BobbyBoyGaming said:


> View attachment 235376
> View attachment 235377
> 
> do you happen to know what the cache ratio speed is supposed to be? I will set cpu to 5.0. I dont want to overclock though, I just want it to run like it is supposed to run on a normal 300 series motherboard
> ...



Hello friend,

I think you had a lot of problems to get to the point of having stable windows, I would do it differently, I would use the clocks for a few weeks in Stock and only after that I would start thinking about overclocking, I think you are very desperate , speed is the enemy of perfection !!!

About running it as original all cores at 5.0GHz is an incorrect statement, it's sad that the manufacturers (Intel / Amd) don't make it very explicit that this maximum clock is only for one core and that each core has its independent temperature sensor, so even if one core reaches 5.0GHz if the temperature exceeds the limits to protect the cpu throttle will occur, and this is talking for a single core, you were wanting to sync all 8 cores to 5.0 and that would probably demand an increase in Vcore and also increase drastically the power dissipated and consequently you would have to have a very good cooling system to dissipate all that heat generated !!!

Do things calmly, slowly, thinking about every detail so you don't go through some disappointment of damaging something there in your system!!!

Big hug and success in your mod !!!

Dumaster.

Referência:


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 10, 2022)

@dumaster My build is finished and completely stable now! 
I am running 4.9 Ghz boost clock, 4.6 GHz cache frequency, 64GB DDR4 3600 CL18 at 1.35V, Vcore +35millivolts, VCCIO 1.25V, VCCSA 1.25V, there are a few other tricky setting I had to change as well. one is called DLL bandwidth to the values: 0,1,2,3, another one was RAM baseclock 133mhz, and Fclock to 1Ghz.

I will not try setting it to 5.0Ghz cpu clock and 4.7 cache frequency. I am very, VERY happy with these settings, rock solid, stability. More than I could ever have asked for in terms of upgrading this older platform, and all of this is running on a Black-Ridge cooler with two slim fans.

I agree! HUGE thanks to @itsakjt !! Super friendly, super fast responses, and very patient with all us big noobs!


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## fxckrio (Feb 10, 2022)

Glad to see this getting some more attention, I've been doing this for a couple years across a few boards now, if you want to go to another level theres also some converted mobile engineering samples on aliexpress for cheap that're a bit higher effort but super well priced, but also have some issues (mine has an uneven die, although afaik thats relatively uncommon and doesnt happen with the newer chips)


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## dumaster (Feb 10, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> @dumaster My build is finished and completely stable now!
> I am running 4.9 Ghz boost clock, 4.6 GHz cache frequency, 64GB DDR4 3600 CL18 at 1.35V, Vcore +35millivolts, VCCIO 1.25V, VCCSA 1.25V, there are a few other tricky setting I had to change as well. one is called DLL bandwidth to the values: 0,1,2,3, another one was RAM baseclock 133mhz, and Fclock to 1Ghz.
> 
> I will not try setting it to 5.0Ghz cpu clock and 4.7 cache frequency. I am very, VERY happy with these settings, rock solid, stability. More than I could ever have asked for in terms of upgrading this older platform, and all of this is running on a Black-Ridge cooler with two slim fans.
> ...




Congratulations friend for the results!!!

I'm still not sure what the gain in the real world is with regard to overclocks, but I also like to do them, my experiences with extreme overclocks have been stable only when I leave speedstep off, practically all the parameters in the bios related to both Core voltages , as for the other secondary voltages such as the System Agent , CPU IO voltage ( VCCSA VCCIO ) everything has to be put in the manual , and spend days testing step by step to find the lowest possible voltages without having instabilities such as BSODs , alas lately I have preferred lighter OCs where I can leave the speedstep active, so I know that when I'm in 2D, for example watching videos on YouTube, the CPU clocks lower and consequently the Vcore is much lower, unlike when you keep the clocks for example all the time at 5.0GHz , the CPU does not know when it will receive a load surge , so the Vcore has to stay high even if the CPU is idle , you could even work r in LLC but the reduction is minimal, and I have seen that in the end the gain you have is not worth it!!!

If you can run Cine R15 I would like to know the results of your system , I know that R15 runs AVX , it is a good test to see the stability , but be careful , because I saw you mention temperatures of 100 degrees when you ran R23 , I think at this level the CPU is already slowing down to protect itself, I don't like to see the CPU beyond 75 degrees, here I ran R15 and even the HWInfo indicating a peak of 157 Watts on the CPU the peak temperature was 71 degrees !!!

I know yours is the 9900K and it has the HT feature with that it has 16 threads and mine only has 8 threads, it's ok that both have 8 cores, but HT gives an advantage when using idle registers inside the cores, I'm curious to see how many percent above yours will be from my 9700K that is running at a modest 4.7GHz and only with 8 threads

Big hugs

Dumaster



fxckrio said:


> Glad to see this getting some more attention, I've been doing this for a couple years across a few boards now, if you want to go to another level theres also some converted mobile engineering samples on aliexpress for cheap that're a bit higher effort but super well priced, but also have some issues (mine has an uneven die, although afaik thats relatively uncommon and doesnt happen with the newer chips)



I've seen tests with these modified mobile CPUs, but I believe they don't like OC very much since they are CPUs with very low TDP and also because they have this interposer that ends up being halfway between the CPU and the socket, possibly raising the clocks interference and noise could be the villains of stability !!!

But for a system running in the original parameters I believe it is a great option with a low cost and very good !!!

Congrats on the work!!!


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## itsakjt (Feb 10, 2022)

dumaster said:


> Hello great friend itsakjt,
> 
> I come through this post to thank you for the tips and your time spent on this topic, it was through him that I created the courage to buy my 9700K and make all the modifications to the motherboard so that it worked perfectly !!!
> 
> ...


Congratulations @dumaster.  I am so glad that you had a great experience. My experience was very similar to you. When I put the 9th gen CPU and started the system, it was as if the motherboard was made for this CPU.  Do make sure that your RAMs are running at XMP as well. 
Also, your SKT_OCC mod explanation was spot on and that resistor was the exact same reason I resorted to connecting a wire to the nearest ground pad. Maximus VIII Hero and Ranger are very similar in terms of board and components layout. Thanks for the explanation regarding the use of that resistor.



BobbyBoyGaming said:


> @dumaster My build is finished and completely stable now!
> I am running 4.9 Ghz boost clock, 4.6 GHz cache frequency, 64GB DDR4 3600 CL18 at 1.35V, Vcore +35millivolts, VCCIO 1.25V, VCCSA 1.25V, there are a few other tricky setting I had to change as well. one is called DLL bandwidth to the values: 0,1,2,3, another one was RAM baseclock 133mhz, and Fclock to 1Ghz.
> 
> I will not try setting it to 5.0Ghz cpu clock and 4.7 cache frequency. I am very, VERY happy with these settings, rock solid, stability. More than I could ever have asked for in terms of upgrading this older platform, and all of this is running on a Black-Ridge cooler with two slim fans.
> ...


Awesome. I am so glad you are sorted and 4.9 GHz is a great clock speed to settle for the 9900K. And those 3600 MHz RAMs are an icing on the cake. 
On my motherboard, I cannot do anything more than 3266 MHz with two slots populated and 3100 MHz with all four slots populated. I have dual ranked memory also. Have heard that Maximus VIII Ranger likes single rank memory in terms of overclocking. But it is what it is. 

These are my daily clocks : 5.1 GHz core with AVX, 4.8 GHz cache, 3100 MHz RAMs at 14-15-15-35 2T
Here are some benchmarks. I think I managed quite well for an i5 9600KF.










I have all power saving features turned on as well and idle power draw for the CPU package is around 20 Watts. 
Also, update about resizable bar:
I checked similar ASUS motherboards and found that the Maximus X Hero is very similar to the ranger. Hence I replaced some of the BIOS modules manually usimg UEFI tool. After flashing it, I was able to get the board to complete CPU initialization as well as complete memory training but board gets stuck after that with q code 3b (Post memory PCH initialization) which makes sense since the PCH is different. I am not sure which modules, sub modules are responsible for the PCH init but I will do some more digging when I can find some more time.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 10, 2022)

fxckrio said:


> Glad to see this getting some more attention, I've been doing this for a couple years across a few boards now, if you want to go to another level theres also some converted mobile engineering samples on aliexpress for cheap that're a bit higher effort but super well priced, but also have some issues (mine has an uneven die, although afaik thats relatively uncommon and doesnt happen with the newer chips)


Oh nice, me and  you have the same motherboard, I might have to message you in the near future about some questions about this board. 

How did you mod the socket occupied pin, with motherboard mod or with cpu pin shorting?


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## itsakjt (Feb 10, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> Oh nice, me and  you have the same motherboard, I might have to message you in the near future about some questions about this board.
> 
> How did you mod the socket occupied pin, with motherboard mod or with cpu pin shorting?


He did it with the motherboard mod same as me. His board is very similar to mine. Maximus VIII Ranger and Hero are very similar with respect to component layout. The Hero offers a slightly better VRM, better RAM OC and some RGB.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Feb 10, 2022)

@itsakjt Fxckrio showed a screenshot of the asrock itx/ac, and that is what im talking about, not about the hero or ranger. he seems to have several computers though.

This one, if it is called Fatal1ty itx/ac on the box then it is the same one as mine.



@fxckrio can you confirm if you have the asrock  z170 fatality itx/ac? If so, can you please send me a photo of the ground pinyou used to solder the socket occupied to your board?

Was it this one?




the soldering joints are extremely small, I dont think I can solder those two points safely, I may try using the conductive pen on top lol.


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## dumaster (Feb 10, 2022)

itsakjt said:


>



Congratulations !!!!

Your results are very good, I'm surprised how close it was to my result on R15, I believe it's because of the clocks at 5.1, the memories at 3200 and the cache at 4.8, my system is all in the default and I just synced them all 8 cores for 4.7 but I left the speedstep active to leave the system consuming very little when I am in very light or idle activities.

About XMP I haven't activated it yet, but soon I will activate XMP and do more tests, as I said I'm testing the whole system because I have to remember that this motherboard already has its 5 to 6 years of use and that means that its VRM it has the same usage time, I can't go out abusing it all at once, I want to go step by step checking the stability of everything!!!

I'll try to test these next few weeks to test how far my system allows to increase the clocks without losing the excellent stability that I have today!!!

If I have news I'll come here to tell you!!!

Big hug to all.

Dumaster


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## fxckrio (Feb 14, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> @itsakjt Fxckrio showed a screenshot of the asrock itx/ac, and that is what im talking about, not about the hero or ranger. he seems to have several computers though.
> 
> This one, if it is called Fatal1ty itx/ac on the box then it is the same one as mine.
> View attachment 236066
> ...


I do have the same board yeah, but in the case of these converted mobile chips those pins are shorted as a part of the interposer, in the past when I did it with a 9400F I just used a graphite pencil on the pins, you can use tape around the two pins to prevent overshoot too, but in the case of a graphite pencil you'll need a pretty heavy coat



dumaster said:


> Congratulations friend for the results!!!
> 
> I'm still not sure what the gain in the real world is with regard to overclocks, but I also like to do them, my experiences with extreme overclocks have been stable only when I leave speedstep off, practically all the parameters in the bios related to both Core voltages , as for the other secondary voltages such as the System Agent , CPU IO voltage ( VCCSA VCCIO ) everything has to be put in the manual , and spend days testing step by step to find the lowest possible voltages without having instabilities such as BSODs , alas lately I have preferred lighter OCs where I can leave the speedstep active, so I know that when I'm in 2D, for example watching videos on YouTube, the CPU clocks lower and consequently the Vcore is much lower, unlike when you keep the clocks for example all the time at 5.0GHz , the CPU does not know when it will receive a load surge , so the Vcore has to stay high even if the CPU is idle , you could even work r in LLC but the reduction is minimal, and I have seen that in the end the gain you have is not worth it!!!
> 
> ...


Also for me, mine runs clocks alright but unfortunately either the die or my cooler is uneven, so despite the chip posting 4.8 I've no way to tell if its actually stable or saving itself by throttling lol


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## dumaster (Feb 14, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> @itsakjt Fxckrio showed a screenshot of the asrock itx/ac, and that is what im talking about, not about the hero or ranger. he seems to have several computers though.
> 
> This one, if it is called Fatal1ty itx/ac on the box then it is the same one as mine.
> View attachment 236066
> ...



Hi Bobby,

Check if the PAD that you indicated with a question mark is really connected to ground, for that use the multimeter on the diode/beep scale and test this PAD in relation to some point that is ground!!!

In case this PAD is ground, just make a jumper between this PAD and the right side of the resistor as you already drew, to know if it worked, start the motherboard without a processor, if the mod has worked, the motherboard has to turn on and if you have a post code display it should indicate 00 , if the mod is not correct the motherboard will not connect !!!

Good luck buddy !!!


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## CleenGreeny (Mar 2, 2022)

I have an Asrock Z170M Pro4S, and I was wondering if it might be a good idea to upgrade it to a Core i5 9400 using the mod. My main concern, is that since it's not a K series CPU, would it have any stability problems? would I have to spring for an 8600K/9600K?


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## Nike_486DX (Mar 2, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Congratulations @dumaster.  I am so glad that you had a great experience. My experience was very similar to you. When I put the 9th gen CPU and started the system, it was as if the motherboard was made for this CPU.  Do make sure that your RAMs are running at XMP as well.
> Also, your SKT_OCC mod explanation was spot on and that resistor was the exact same reason I resorted to connecting a wire to the nearest ground pad. Maximus VIII Hero and Ranger are very similar in terms of board and components layout. Thanks for the explanation regarding the use of that resistor.
> 
> 
> ...


1.4v core are you serious?


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## dumaster (Mar 2, 2022)

CleenGreeny said:


> I have an Asrock Z170M Pro4S, and I was wondering if it might be a good idea to upgrade it to a Core i5 9400 using the mod. My main concern, is that since it's not a K series CPU, would it have any stability problems? would I have to spring for an 8600K/9600K?



My Friend,

This modification makes cards with PCH Chipset Z170 accept all eighth and ninth generation processors, if you do everything correctly I believe the 9400 will work correctly, I just think it's a waste to use a Z170 with a 9400, I would try to find an non K series i7 or a i5 or i7 of K series !!!

Mine here is a Z170 system with a 9700K and it's working perfectly 

Hugs



Nike_486DX said:


> 1.4v core are you serious?



For 5.1 GHz in all cores 1.4v is totally normal !!!

But I wouldn't want to keep that 1.4v all the time on the CPU, so I'm currently using throttlestop to manage my overclocks, so I get a consistent and stable overclock when the CPU is under load but when I'm using light or moderate loads the clocks and vcores do not go up as much, saving the cores from being exposed all the time to high voltages!!!

Hugs


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## itsakjt (Mar 3, 2022)

Nike_486DX said:


> 1.4v core are you serious?


Intel Coffee Lake datasheet states voltage tolerance upto 1.52V (that too without LLC). With 5.1 GHz, I have managed to keep all power saving features active and hence when the system is lightly loaded, the voltage is only around 1V. When gaming, it goes to 1.4V but that is still okay and much less than the Intel recommended max of 1.52V. My temperatures while gaming stay under 70 degree C all the time.


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## CleenGreeny (Mar 5, 2022)

> My Friend,
> 
> This modification makes cards with PCH Chipset Z170 accept all eighth and ninth generation processors, if you do everything correctly I believe the 9400 will work correctly, I just think it's a waste to use a Z170 with a 9400, I would try to find an non K series i7 or a i5 or i7 of K series !!!
> 
> ...


For the 9600K, the lowest price I can find on it is ~$140, whereas the 9400 is ~$80, and I can't really afford the 9600K, especially since I have my current i5 6500 paired with a Radeon RX460 2GB.

Also, has anyone had problems with z170 and rx 460? Mine doesn’t give a signal in the top pcie slot, but it does in the bottom slot that is x4 bandwidth.


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## AusWolf (Mar 5, 2022)

Very nice guide! I'm happy that you succeeded in your adventure. 

On the other hand, it shows how little effort Intel would have had to make to support Coffee Lake on 100 and 200 series boards, and that they only released a new chipset out of greed, and not because they had to.


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## itsakjt (Mar 9, 2022)

Took my CPU out of the socket for the first time for a deep clean of the board since writing this article and confirming there is no damage to the socket and/or the CPU pads. Did not skip anything this time. Took out all the heatsinks from the board and cleaned everything. Also replaced the thermal pad for the chipset which was in bad shape. 
Also, I am looking for a cheap 240mm AIO to replace this 8 years old Cooler Master 120V AIO. Is the Silverstone PF240 worth it? Reviews are good.


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## AusWolf (Mar 9, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Took my CPU out of the socket for the first time for a deep clean of the board since writing this article and confirming there is no damage to the socket and/or the CPU pads. Did not skip anything this time. Took out all the heatsinks from the board and cleaned everything. Also replaced the thermal pad for the chipset which was in bad shape.
> Also, I am looking for a cheap 240mm AIO to replace this 8 years old Cooler Master 120V AIO. Is the Silverstone PF240 worth it? Reviews are good.
> 
> View attachment 239187
> ...


IMO, you can't go wrong with any AIO. With that said, I absolutely love my _be quiet!_ unit. Pump and fan speed controlled through PWM and RGB through a 3-pin ARGB port. Not many AIOs can say the same, unfortunately.


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## itsakjt (Mar 17, 2022)

Update:
I got an i7 9700K. Presently running at 4.9 GHz all cores with AVX on at 1.33V. Stable so far but didn't do much testing. Ordered a Silverstone PF240 ARGB AIO. It should arrive tomorrow. After that, will try 5.0 GHz and up!   






@dumaster -We have twins now. And now that I see it, even our CPU batch is about the same.


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## dumaster (Mar 18, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> @dumaster -We have twins now. And now that I see it, even our CPU batch is about the same.



I'm super happy for your new acquisition, I hope everything goes well and when I can show you the new OC and performance results, if you can detail the parameters used so I will have a path to use as a guide for my next steps on my OCs!!!

Congratulations on the New CPU !!!!


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## itsakjt (Mar 19, 2022)

Well, all I can say is I am incredibly happy! Got the Silverstone PF240 ARGB AIO delivered yesterday! Installed it and managed a solid OC of 5.1 GHz (with AVX on) along with cache clock of 4.7 GHz. And the best part: all power management features are active. Memory is at 3100 MHz @14-15-15-35 2T. RAMs are 4*8 GB and dual ranked.





The system looks dope for a 5+ years old build. The fans and AIO ar ARGB. 3x Silverstone AB120AR fans (2 included with AIO, bought an additional one). These fans have excellent airflow (94 CFM). The motherboard does not have ARGB but I used a Jonsbo ARGB controller and hooked it up with one of the 3 buttons in the chassis which was originally for the Corsair RGB system. I have removed all the Corsair modules since I am no longer using those fans.
















@dumaster - Here are the settings I used:
CPU core: 5.1 GHz (no AVX offset), cache: 4.7 GHz
Core voltage: Offset +0.140V
VCCIO: 1.1375V
System Agent voltage (VCCSA): 1.1000V
CPU Standby voltage: 1.0000 V

Under Digi+VRM:
Load-line calibration: Level 5
CPU current capability: 120%
VRM Switching Frequency: 350 kHz
CPU Power Phase control: Extreme

Under Internal CPU Power Management (very important):
IA DC Loadline: 0.08
IA AC Loadline: 0.08

Under Tweaker's paradise:
Core PLL Voltage: 0.900V
Internal PLL Voltage: 0.900V
Eventual CPU Standby voltage: 1.0000 V

With these settings, the clocks are rock stable across any benchmark. Max temp is 76 degree C on the CPU package while Prime95 small FFT test with AVX. The max measured voltage with multimeter as well as SuperIO reported voltage while running the Prime95 small FFT test is 1.504V. While that may seem high, it is perfectly fine since Prime95 small FFT test puts an incredible amount of load on the CPU and such kind of load are never encountered even during benchmarks. While benchmarking on Cinebench R20 or R23, the voltage is 1.45-1.46 V. While gaming, the voltage is 1.392 - 1.44V.

Idle voltage is at 1.31-1.32 V.

@dumaster - Your board (Maximus VIII Hero) has a slightly better VRM than my board (Maximus VIII Ranger) and I think you will be able to achieve the same clocks as mine with a bit lower voltage as well.

Also, please note that I have spent an extensive amount of time in tuning this system and your system might vary as well with regards to CPU clocks and required voltages.


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## dumaster (Mar 20, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Well, all I can say is I am incredibly happy! Got the Silverstone PF240 ARGB AIO delivered yesterday! Installed it and managed a solid OC of 5.1 GHz (with AVX on) along with cache clock of 4.7 GHz. And the best part: all power management features are active. Memory is at 3100 MHz @14-15-15-35 2T. RAMs are 4*8 GB and dual ranked.



My dear friend, excellent results, seeing your success I am now more courageous and willing to raise my clocks!!!



itsakjt said:


> The system looks dope for a 5+ years old build.



I'm just a little worried about my cooling, which is an old Corsair H90 but I like it a lot, it's been a few years but I always keep it very clean and occasionally I disassemble the block I do a general cleaning and change the fluid, it may be because of your age and size can't keep temperatures as good as yours, but I'll try to see how far I can go with so clocks!!!



itsakjt said:


> @dumaster - Your board (Maximus VIII Hero) has a slightly better VRM than my board (Maximus VIII Ranger) and I think you will be able to achieve the same clocks as mine with a bit lower voltage as well.



I sincerely appreciate you sharing your settings with me, I know that no system is the same but your help will make it easier and guide my adjustments, thank you very much friend and success 

Big Hug 

Dumaster


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## chrcoluk (Mar 20, 2022)

Hey guys nice work, it does make me wonder if Intel could have made this work officially.

Just a little comment to bobbyboygaming

As I noticed you set a very high SA and IO voltages, on my own 9900k system (z370) I discovered silent corruption on some SATA/NVME devices which was eventually discovered to be because of the VCCSA voltage too high.  So I do suggest you monitor the SMART stats of your IO devices.


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## itsakjt (Mar 20, 2022)

chrcoluk said:


> Hey guys nice work, it does make me wonder if Intel could have made this work officially.
> 
> Just a little comment to bobbyboygaming
> 
> As I noticed you set a very high SA and IO voltages, on my own 9900k system (z370) I discovered silent corruption on some SATA/NVME devices which was eventually discovered to be because of the VCCSA voltage too high.  So I do suggest you monitor the SMART stats of your IO devices.


In my case, I was getting instability with high VCCSA with OCCT, reducing it increased stability until I found the sweet spot of 1.1V for the clocks I am using. My i5 9600KF needed 1.15V for VCCSA for 5.1 GHz with 4.8 GHz cache. In the 9700K, I was not able to make 4.8 GHz cache stable no matter what voltage I used. Might have something to do with the higher cache memory (12 MB vs 9 MB) on the chips.


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## fxckrio (Mar 21, 2022)

chrcoluk said:


> Hey guys nice work, it does make me wonder if Intel could have made this work officially.
> 
> Just a little comment to bobbyboygaming
> 
> As I noticed you set a very high SA and IO voltages, on my own 9900k system (z370) I discovered silent corruption on some SATA/NVME devices which was eventually discovered to be because of the VCCSA voltage too high.  So I do suggest you monitor the SMART stats of your IO devices.


oh they 100% couldve, they just chose not to to sell boards, theres a fair amount of z370 boards that use identical pcbs to z270 equivalents


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Mar 22, 2022)

Just a brief update. I recently reinstalled windows 11 on my 9900K-z170 modded system, and all I did was to change the VCCIO and VCCSA to 1.250 for both (my BIOS does not allow me to set the VCCIO to anything higher than 1.250). And the Vcore, I set to an offset of +40mV 

The CPU-Z is showing that my pc is achieving 4.98 (5Ghz) without any issue.

I mention this because Previously, I had been manually changing the clock speed to "All cores = 4.9Ghz, with a cache ratio of 4.6Ghz) but I was having some occasional (infrequent stability issues). However without these manual settings it just seems to be achiving 5GHz, and seems more stable too.. so.. IDK. I guess its even better!


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## itsakjt (Mar 22, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> Just a brief update. I recently reinstalled windows 11 on my 9900K-z170 modded system, and all I did was to change the VCCIO and VCCSA to 1.250 for both (my BIOS does not allow me to set the VCCIO to anything higher than 1.250). And the Vcore, I set to an offset of +40mV
> 
> The CPU-Z is showing that my pc is achieving 4.98 (5Ghz) without any issue.
> 
> I mention this because Previously, I had been manually changing the clock speed to "All cores = 4.9Ghz, with a cache ratio of 4.6Ghz) but I was having some occasional (infrequent stability issues). However without these manual settings it just seems to be achiving 5GHz, and seems more stable too.. so.. IDK. I guess its even better!


You need to run proper stress test tools like OCCT, Prime95 to ensure 100% stability of the overclock. Typically, for me, if a system is stable in 20 mins of OCCT under extreme mode, it can be considered stable. Like I said, there are a lot of factors at play. For 5.1 GHz core clock, I cannot set 4.6 GHz cache without running into BSODs or lockups or WHEA errors. I could run it but it needs a lot of VCCSA (1.175V). However, I have 4.7 GHz cache rock stable at just 1.1V VCCSA along with 5.1 GHz core clock. There are things that just does not make sense and the only way to find out for sure is repeated stress tests done properly. That's how I like to do it anyway. 
For RAM OC, I use MemTest 64 (available on TPU, a bit patience needed for it to work sometimes but well worth it) and AIDA64 Stability test by just selecting memory.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Mar 22, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> You need to run proper stress test tools like OCCT, Prime95 to ensure 100% stability of the overclock. Typically, for me, if a system is stable in 20 mins of OCCT under extreme mode, it can be considered stable. Like I said, there are a lot of factors at play. For 5.1 GHz core clock, I cannot set 4.6 GHz cache without running into BSODs or lockups or WHEA errors. I could run it but it needs a lot of VCCSA (1.175V). However, I have 4.7 GHz cache rock stable at just 1.1V VCCSA along with 5.1 GHz core clock. There are things that just does not make sense and the only way to find out for sure is repeated stress tests done properly. That's how I like to do it anyway.
> For RAM OC, I use MemTest 64 (available on TPU, a bit patience needed for it to work sometimes but well worth it) and AIDA64 Stability test by just selecting memory.


what value are you using for vccio?
does your motherboard allow more that 1.250 vccio?


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## itsakjt (Mar 22, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> what value are you using for vccio?
> does your motherboard allow more that 1.250 vccio?


My VCCIO is at 1.1375V. Motherboard allows setting this up to 1.8V. 
VCCIO is the voltage for the memory controller (IMC) of the CPU. How much voltage you will need will depend on your memory frequency, memory rank (single will require less voltage, dual rank will require more voltage) and the number of slots you have populated. I have all 4 slots populated with 4*8 GB dual rank memory running at 3100 MHz CL14. I think I got really lucky because this chip seems to be great overall.


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## itsakjt (Mar 24, 2022)

Small update: For the first time ever, I managed to not only boot my RAMs populated in all 4 slots to 3200 MHz on the Maximus VIII Ranger, but got them rock stable. RAM voltage is at 1.4V. I have been using these RAMs since 2017 and this motherboard as well (had an i5 7600K back then) and I was never ever able to even make POST successful with RAMs at 3200 MHz. I knew they would be stable after I got them working at 3266 MHz on my AMD system as on specs (with the same timings you see below) and always thought it had something to do with the board or with the IMC of the CPU.
Later on, when I failed with my i5 9600KF as well, I was almost convinced it was the board because all i5 9th gen can easily do 3200 MHz or even more. After all, all RAMs of 3200 MHz on the QVL of my board were listed as 2 DIMMs and not 4.
Today, I don't know what happened. I just tried it and it just worked! And I got it stable without any struggle or anything.

Only two things have been changed since I wrote this post:
1. CPU - From i5 9600KF to i7 9700K, both R0 stepping.
2. AIO - From a Cooler Master Seidon 120V to a Silverstone PF240-ARGB

I have no idea what made it possible. VCCIO and VCCSA are still at 1.1375V and 1.1000V respectively.
I read somewhere that some AIO pumps interfere with the memory signals but never believed it really. Could it be that? I have no idea. But I am super happy today!






Update: It seems CL14 is stable as well. Tested with Memtest64 and AIDA64 memory test for 1 hour each.


----------



## BobbyBoyGaming (Mar 25, 2022)

For me it worked at 3600MHz, look at a strange setting in the bios called
DLL (Digital Locked Loop). For me this setting is what allowed my ram to run at its XMP Speed. My ram is very new though so it is more energy efficient I guess. but it is Dual Rank 2x 32Gig Sticks (I wanted to test the 128GB RAM bios mod [and it worked!]), it is a mini ITX board so it has 64 GB of ram in  two slots which means the mod worked.

The model of ram that worked for me is this one:
TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert overclocking 10L DDR4 64GB Kit (2 x 32GB) 3600MHz (PC4 28800) CL18 Desktop Memory Module Ram - TTCED464G3600HC18JDC01​


by default this DLL setting (under the RAM menu all the way at the bottom) was set to zero, but if I change it to 3 it works


----------



## itsakjt (Mar 25, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> For me it worked at 3600MHz, look at a strange setting in the bios called
> DLL (Digital Locked Loop). For me this setting is what allowed my ram to run at its XMP Speed. My ram is very new though so it is more energy efficient I guess. but it is Dual Rank 2x 32Gig Sticks (I wanted to test the 128GB RAM bios mod [and it worked!]), it is a mini ITX board so it has 64 GB of ram in  two slots which means the mod worked.
> 
> The model of ram that worked for me is this one:
> ...


That's awesome. I don't have use for 64 GB RAM but I need 32 GB. My RAMs are from 2015 and rated at 2666 MHz CL15. It is a kit of 4 modules with SK hynix chips. For what it does still today, I can't really complain. I have overclocked and have tightened the timings and even tightened secondary and tertiary timings. 
However, the motherboard I have is real picky about memory. I tried with my other Fury Beast 2x16 GB RAM kit from my primary system back when I had the i5 9600KF and I was not able to make them POST at 3200 MHz XMP profile. Though now, I am not entirely sure how they would do. I do have that DLL setting as well under DRAM Timing configuration on my board. Looks like I will play with that some day. 
One thing is for certain, this CPU I got is absolutely awesome. I still cannot believe I am running dual rank 32 GB 3200 MHz RAMs with all slots populated with VCCIO voltage of just 1.1375V and VCCSA at 1.1V and rock stable. I don't know any Coffee Lake user who has been able to do the same even while keeping such a high overclock. 
My next upgrade is going to be the GPU. Prices are going down here in India and is almost close to MSRP now. I am using the 2060 Super on this machine which will run out of warranty on August this year. Performance is still amazing though since I game at 1080p.


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Mar 26, 2022)

I was not so careful with VCCIO and VCCSA so far. I might try to tweak each one in smaller decrements but I may have to dedicate several hours to that. This is not my main computer, and it is actually off at the moment so it is safe. 

I did notice that when I install the latest Intel DCH Video driver for the UHD 630 (via the web-browser-based "Intel Driver Assistant") it causes a freeze/crash.

I have tried multiple times with different configurations and this driver causes a system crash during installation no matter what. The one that windows automatically installs works fine though

I think it was this one




For now, it does not matter as windows is not force-feeding me this update yet. but maybe in the future if windows begins to force this update, it may become a problem.

Has anybody had issues with the latest iGPU Intel drivers for the UHD 630 from a 9600K, 9700K or 9900K?

These drivers dont make any difference in performance so it has no point in updating but I was just wondering why this is an issue.


----------



## BobbyBoyGaming (Apr 13, 2022)

@itsakjt
Have you had any luck with the mod for the resizable BAR?
Sounds very complicated, I wouldn't be surprised if it is not possible 

--UPDATE 1--
Going back to the iGPU Driver Update issue I was having. I have turned on "Developer Mode" on Windows 11 and I will try to upgrade  the video driver and see if this works.
--
Has anybody else had success updating the iGPU driver with this mod?
Intel driver assistant says that there is graphics driver available. Screenshot below shows that the mod works (z170 with 9900K). And the current video driver version is highlighted (from 2021)




The current version is from 2022, and it is shown below




However, when the driver updated is offered it gives a warning about how "updating might remove customizations".




Since the coffeeTime mod does involve a vBIOS change, I was wondering if that is somehow related to this warning or if it is related to why my driver update installation was failing in the past.



I am just curious. In case anybody has any clue as to what might be going on, I would be interested in any ideas. (even though the iGPU driver update isn't really important). Of course the most important thing is that the coffee lake runs on z170, but I am just curious.


---UPDATE 2---
After I enabled "Developer Mode" and tried to upgrade the video driver again, My computer no longer crashed. It gave me an error this time. Shown Below. And it also produced a error LOG file (attached).

So I think that this is indeed probably related to the customized vBIOS and maybe it is simply not possible to upgrade the video Driver. Hopefully this answers the question to anybody who might be curious about this in the future.




--


----------



## itsakjt (Apr 13, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> @itsakjt
> Have you had any luck with the mod for the resizable BAR?
> Sounds very complicated, I wouldn't be surprised if it is not possible
> 
> ...


Hi there!
I tried porting Maximus X Hero BIOS to my Maximus VIII Ranger and was almost successful. I was able to get it to pass CPU and even memory training. But it was then stuck on debug code 3b (PCH init) which makes sense since it is Z170 vs Z370. It is definitely possible by changing the PCH init binaries and DXE files but turns out there are a lot of them. I don't have a spare 128 Mb BIOS chip to try and experiment with and hence stopped my experiment there, scared that I am probably going to kill the BIOS chip at some point. 
As for your iGPU issue, I will try it once on my i7 9700K. I believe this is more of a software/OS issue you are having rather than the VBIOS at fault. I have a spare SSD to play with and will try the iGPU out once I get some time.


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## Sweex (Apr 27, 2022)

@itsakjt 

How did you manage to solder this? My 1st attempt failed cause the solder didnt hold on the resistor.


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## itsakjt (Apr 27, 2022)

Sweex said:


> @itsakjt
> 
> How did you manage to solder this? My 1st attempt failed cause the solder didnt hold on the resistor.


Just basic soldering. I applied some flux to the places and captured a tiny amount of solder on the tip of the soldering iron and soldered the wire.


----------



## itsakjt (May 18, 2022)

Addendum to the original post:

Another ASUS Z270 motherboard, another Coffee Lake mod. I had an i7 9700KF laying around and someone offered me a good deal on an used mint condition ASUS Z270-K motherboard. Modded the BIOS to add Coffee Lake support and unlocked some of the hidden BIOS menu like Boot performance mode etc. Flashed it by connecting my programmer directly to the SPI flash interface on the motherboard. The SuperIO controller here is a Nuvoton NCT5539D and socket occupied sense is implemented on the board. In no time, I checked the datasheet and pin 48 is the SKT_OCC pin. A trace is there which goes to a SMD capacitor and a SMD resistor. The other end of that capacitor is ground. I soldered a tiny wire over that capacitor and we have a winner. Modded the VRM cooling a bit as well. Replaced the thermal pad with a better one of the same thickness. Dropped the temps by 10 degree C (75 degree C now vs 85 degree C before). Also added another small heatsink on one of the top phases which is connected to the IA cores. I left the HD graphics phases as is as I have no use for it, this being a KF chip.
The 9700KF is overclocked to 5 GHz with an AVX offset of 1. As good as it can get with a 120mm cooler and a motherboard of this tier. VRM temps with Prime 95 small FFT stress is 75 degree C with a 120mm fan blowing over the heatsinks.
Everything works. All RAM slots, m.2, SATA ports, PCIe, you name it. At this point, I am confident I will be able to mod any 100 or 200 series board for Coffee Lake support.
This board has a few advantages over the Z170 lineup:
1. 2 x m.2 slots
2. Inbuilt TPM support due to presence of Intel PTT (Platform Trust Technology)
3. Better memory compatibility

Flashing BIOS by connecting CH341A to SPI header




Socket Occupied mod (notice the tiny wire on the capacitor)




First boot




After cleaning the board to perfection




CPU installed




Custom heatsink on one of the power phases belonging to the IA cores. There is a thermal pad between the MOSFETs and the heatsink and the heatsink itself is glued with epoxy based adhesive to the choke below it, cured for about 24 hrs, kept under pressure with a clip and then powered on. The fan above on the chassis helps to keep the entire VRM cool.




CPU-Z




AIDA cache and memory benchmark



The RAMs here are mismatched and one of the sticks does not even have a heatsink hence the timings are not the best. But good to see 3200 MHz CL 17 achievable at 1.35V.
Important note: On this board, isolation of the two pins as noted on the photo on the original post should be done. I was lazy and did not do it and turns out, those pins got very hot and turned blue just like @BobbyBoyGaming also faced. Luckily, the CPU pads were unaffected. Since these are reserved pins, I chopped them off with a needle nose plier and I am happy to say nothing is affected. After doing that, I have checked each and every RAM slot, PCIe slot and the list goes and everything works. The board also works with an i5 7600K meaning existing support is not compromised as well by chopping of those pins. If you are not comfortable chopping of the pins, please isolate the pads in your CPU as instructed


----------



## z270f (May 20, 2022)

I have an Asus z270f gaming and want to know if this guide can get the board to use a 8400 (6 cores no HT)

Bios version: 1301
ME version: 11.7.0.1040

I know the board does not have flashback and only has crashfree3 (not sure if it’s useful or not)

Does anyone know if pin isolation is needed for this board? I plan to do find the pin 102 and ground it for the superIO.

Is there a way to flash the modded bios safely without bios programmer? If I screw up, only way to get it back is via bios programmer? I heard most of the programmer out there can’t do the needed 3.3v, 5v will kill the bios chip??? Any cheaper programmer with clip that works with 3.3v?

Is AMI Firmware Update Utility v5.X.X.X (AfuEfix64.efi) going to able to flash the modded bios???
I found this want want to see if following it is safe approach:  https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthre...-in-DOS-with-USB-tutorial-Intel-AMD-roll-back

is it better to use the port-bios? [ASUS_Z270F_PORT_Z370F_V2001] or mod the latest original from asus?

Thanks in advance.


----------



## itsakjt (May 20, 2022)

z270f said:


> I have an Asus z270f gaming and want to know if this guide can get the board to use a 8400 (6 cores no HT)
> 
> Bios version: 1301
> ME version: 11.7.0.1040
> ...


1. It is possible to run Coffee Lake CPUs on any 100/200 series board.
2. Pin isolation is recommended for any Z270 series board from ASUS to prevent damage to contact pads of CPU or pins of socket. 
3. It is recommended to use external programmer to flash BIOS as ASUS boards have some regions locked and cannot be flashed. No software can bypass those locks as well. The only other way is a hard mod which involves momentarily grounding one of the pins of the audio chip.
4. I have the CH341A unmodded and so far, I have flashed numerous BIOS chips e with it and all of them work perfectly fine.


----------



## z270f (May 20, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> 1. It is possible to run Coffee Lake CPUs on any 100/200 series board.
> 2. Pin isolation is recommended for any Z270 series board from ASUS to prevent damage to contact pads of CPU or pins of socket.
> 3. It is recommended to use external programmer to flash BIOS as ASUS boards have some regions locked and cannot be flashed. No software can bypass those locks as well. The only other way is a hard mod which involves momentarily grounding one of the pins of the audio chip.
> 4. I have the CH341A unmodded and so far, I have flashed numerous BIOS chips e with it and all of them work perfectly fine.


If I'm going to get the CH341A anyway, I can first try out AMI Firmware Update Utility to flash first?  If that fails, I can still use the programmer to load the modded or original bios to recover?  I don't see the realtek chipset on z270f gaming...

I found it odd that coffetime doesn't let me patch the 128gb ram limit on 1501 but available to 1301 officially.  Does that mean Asus already enable the 128gb ram in 1501?

I guess it's still better to use coffeetime to mod the official bios other than using port from z370f?

Thanks


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## itsakjt (May 20, 2022)

z270f said:


> If I'm going to get the CH341A anyway, I can first try out AMI Firmware Update Utility to flash first?  If that fails, I can still use the programmer to load the modded or original bios to recover?  I don't see the realtek chipset on z270f gaming...
> 
> I found it odd that coffetime doesn't let me patch the 128gb ram limit on 1501 but available to 1301 officially.  Does that mean Asus already enable the 128gb ram in 1501?
> 
> ...


Using the port from Z370-F if available is the best option since you will have support for newer technologies like resizable bar and per core overclocking of up to 8 cores (depending on CPU). From where are you getting the port? Can you provide the link please?
Also, you can try flashing with AMI firmware update utility but pretty sure it won't work.


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## z270f (May 20, 2022)

This is where I found the z370f:








						[Guide] How to flash a modded AMI UEFI BIOS
					

Thank you for great explanation.  Regarding the Asus EZ Flash method, I was actually talking about the Windows version of it in AI Suite 3. It seems some body trick the program with the original bios and replace it with mod bios just before clicking the flash button and let the system restart to...




					winraid.level1techs.com
				




This post Rez is following the AFUDOS guide able to flash the z370 ported mod bios to z270f:








						[Guide] How to flash a modded AMI UEFI BIOS
					

@Lost_N_BIOS  I tried to fix Error 368 following step 1-5 but somehow end up with a empty Section_PE32_image_Setup IFR.txt (only headers, no detail on BIOS lock). One thing I realize is that on Step 3, the Protocol showed Green EFI, not Green UEFI. I must have done something wrong there.  In the...




					winraid.level1techs.com
				




So I'm really curious if loading the bios with AFUDOS is possible.  So If I make a backup with AMI utility with the serial#/mac address etc I can just buy the CH341A flasher to recover if things go wrong with AFUDOS?

Thanks.


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## itsakjt (May 23, 2022)

z270f said:


> This is where I found the z370f:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Awesome. Please let us know your results. 
Also, update for me, I checked my ASUS Z270-K and it seems the ASUS TUF Z370 Gaming Plus is the closest equivalent to the Z270-K. I downgraded the ME to 11.7.0.1261 with CoffeeTime and added the fixes and flashed it and WHOA, my board has been transformed to an ASUS Z370 TUF Gaming Plus. The only things that do not work are the Asmedia 1142 controller and the AIO Pump header (though I have found a workaround to make it work but without monitoring though). I have flashed back to the original modded BIOS because I want to get the Asmedia 1142 working for USB 3.1 support.


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## z270f (Jul 13, 2022)

I followed your instruction and got the 8400 to work with z270f gaming.  

I had to use external CH341a to connect to SPI port next to the bios to program.

There is only 1 issue, the video output from motherboard doesn't work, do you know if it is bios issue?  I'm using 1501 official Asus bios modded with coffeetime 0.99

Thanks


----------



## itsakjt (Jul 13, 2022)

z270f said:


> I followed your instruction and got the 8400 to work with z270f gaming.
> 
> I had to use external CH341a to connect to SPI port next to the bios to program.
> 
> ...


Hi there, congrats on the mod. 

Coming to the iGPU, did you update the VBIOS and GOP using Coffee Time?


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## z270f (Jul 13, 2022)

yes ME 11.7.0.1229, VBIOS 1062 GOP 9.0.1080

Should I try newer 11.8 ME?  I don't see option for anything newer for VIBIOS and GOP.   When I first loaded the bios the igpu still works i5 7600, but 8400 has to use external gpu card otherwise no screen.  The motherboard light is green tho.  The i5 8400 already tested in original HP machine the igpu works with hdmi out.

Thanks


----------



## itsakjt (Jul 13, 2022)

z270f said:


> yes ME 11.7.0.1229, VBIOS 1062 GOP 9.0.1080
> 
> Should I try newer 11.8 ME?  I don't see option for anything newer for VIBIOS and GOP.   When I first loaded the bios the igpu still works i5 7600, but 8400 has to use external gpu card otherwise no screen.  The motherboard light is green tho.  The i5 8400 already tested in original HP machine the igpu works with hdmi out.
> 
> Thanks


I see. It should work without issues. 
I am wondering, did you isolate the pads on the CPU? 
If you did the isolation, it might be possible that more pins are isolated which is causing iGPU not to work. 
It would be great if you can take out the CPU once and share us a photo here.


----------



## z270f (Jul 13, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> I see. It should work without issues.
> I am wondering, did you isolate the pads on the CPU?
> If you did the isolation, it might be possible that more pins are isolated which is causing iGPU not to work.
> It would be great if you can take out the CPU once and share us a photo here.


Yes isolated 5 pins for the Asus pattern in "L" shape and foil tape to connect the 2 pins needed to power on.  Those isolated pins are only reserved pins not use by iGPU rite?  I try not to take it out if I don't have to, coz I'm afraid the 2 connected pin might get out of place.  Pic attached.

I used Neoprogrammer to program and checksum is fine.  Does it matter?  or I have to try the old CH341a programmer or asprogrammer?

Thanks


----------



## itsakjt (Jul 13, 2022)

z270f said:


> Yes isolated 5 pins for the Asus pattern in "L" shape and foil tape to connect the 2 pins needed to power on.  Those isolated pins are only reserved pins not use by iGPU rite?  I try not to take it out if I don't have to, coz I'm afraid the 2 connected pin might get out of place.  Pic attached.
> 
> I used Neoprogrammer to program and checksum is fine.  Does it matter?  or I have to try the old CH341a programmer or asprogrammer?
> 
> Thanks


That's where likely the problem is present. You only need to isolate these two pins:





Please try it and let us know if it works.


----------



## z270f (Jul 13, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> That's where likely the problem is present. You only need to isolate these two pins:
> 
> View attachment 254598
> 
> Please try it and let us know if it works.


It's a lot easier to do the "L" shape tape instead of only isolating the 2 pins for ASUS.  But if i have a gigabyte board all the pins I isolated is a must so the igpu pins should not be in the ones I isolated?  (red shade in diagram)  unless the igpu is not going to work with gigabyte board for the mod?

Thanks


----------



## Wolverine2349 (Jul 13, 2022)

Since the socket was the same from 6th gen to 9th gen, did Intel artificially limit Z170 and Z270 from running anything more than 6th and 7th Gen on these boards?? Or were there actual technical reasons like VRM being too weak for 6 and 8 core CPUs??


----------



## itsakjt (Jul 13, 2022)

Correct. That totally makes sense. 
Can you check with the DVI or Display Port to see if that makes any difference? 
To be honest, I didn't really check either of my boards (Maximus VIII Ranger and Z270-K) with the iGPU)
The Z270-K has a 9700KF so I can't check with that too.



Wolverine2349 said:


> Since the socket was the same from 6th gen to 9th gen, did Intel artificially limit Z170 and Z270 from running anything more than 6th and 7th Gen on these boards?? Or were there actual technical reasons like VRM being too weak for 6 and 8 core CPUs??


They did limit through firmware (Management Engine) and they also purposefully modified the pin outs slightly to make them incompatible with otherwise completely capable boards. 
They of course cited the reason to be higher power requirement but at this time, that reason does not hold true since capable 100 and 200 series boards can run even the 9900K and even the KS in all their glory.


----------



## z270f (Jul 13, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Correct. That totally makes sense.
> Can you check with the DVI or Display Port to see if that makes any difference?
> To be honest, I didn't really check either of my boards (Maximus VIII Ranger and Z270-K) with the iGPU)
> The Z270-K has a 9700KF so I can't check with that too.
> ...


I tried both HDMI/Display port...no luck with those.  I don't have the DVI cable nor monitor with DVI anymore to try.

Should I try to disable ME in coffeetime or patch with the latest available 11.8.x and reflash the bios?

Thanks


----------



## itsakjt (Jul 14, 2022)

z270f said:


> I tried both HDMI/Display port...no luck with those.  I don't have the DVI cable nor monitor with DVI anymore to try.
> 
> Should I try to disable ME in coffeetime or patch with the latest available 11.8.x and reflash the bios?
> 
> Thanks


11.8 ME do not work with the mod. The system won't POST and will turn off instantly after power on.
ME is not related to iGPU. Could you please share your BIOS file?


----------



## Vario (Jul 14, 2022)

Wolverine2349 said:


> Since the socket was the same from 6th gen to 9th gen, did Intel artificially limit Z170 and Z270 from running anything more than 6th and 7th Gen on these boards?? Or were there actual technical reasons like VRM being too weak for 6 and 8 core CPUs??


Oddly some of the strongest Coffee Lake records were done on ASRock Z170 OC Formula, that board had a very robust power design.  However, my theory is the average Z170/Z270 probably was too weak for the 8700K when overclocked so they artificially limited the socket.


----------



## z270f (Jul 15, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> 11.8 ME do not work with the mod. The system won't POST and will turn off instantly after power on.
> ME is not related to iGPU. Could you please share your BIOS file?


I finally got the igpu to work, I fell back to official 1301 and did the Coffeetime 0.99 again and loaded with CHA341 programmer instead of Neoprogrammer.  May try again with 1501 later, but I'm enjoying full working 8400 now.

Next step maybe getting one of those QQLS/QTJ1 mutant CPU, do you know if the CoffeeTime modded bios is going to work or have to use the bios the seller provides?

Thanks!


----------



## itsakjt (Jul 15, 2022)

z270f said:


> I finally got the igpu to work, I fell back to official 1301 and did the Coffeetime 0.99 again and loaded with CHA341 programmer instead of Neoprogrammer.  May try again with 1501 later, but I'm enjoying full working 8400 now.
> 
> Next step maybe getting one of those QQLS/QTJ1 mutant CPU, do you know if the CoffeeTime modded bios is going to work or have to use the bios the seller provides?
> 
> Thanks!


Great and congratulations again. 
For the QQLS/QTJ1, check their BIOS file if they have the same microcodes and if so, it will be plug and play. If not, look for the CPU ID and download the microcode separately from github and then rename the file to something CoffeeLake recognizes and put it inside the mcodes folder inside CoffeeLake. 
However, do note that RAM frequency and overclocking is severely limited on mutant CPUs. If you are looking for outright performance, it is better to get an used 9700K or an 9900K.


----------



## z270f (Jul 15, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Great and congratulations again.
> For the QQLS/QTJ1, check their BIOS file if they have the same microcodes and if so, it will be plug and play. If not, look for the CPU ID and download the microcode separately from github and then rename the file to something CoffeeLake recognizes and put it inside the mcodes folder inside CoffeeLake.
> However, do note that RAM frequency and overclocking is severely limited on mutant CPUs. If you are looking for outright performance, it is better to get an used 9700K or an 9900K.


Thank you for all your help : )

The reason why I'm considering the mutant CPU is the price...it's around $140 US only, with the catch being max out memory bandwidth 3000.  Looks like the mutant can still hit like 4.4 to 4.6? 

9700k is like $200 US and 9900k is like $300 US

So other than no official Win 11 support and lower memory bandwidth for the Mutant I think at that price point it is worth it to make that sacrifice?  

I believe daily usage I won't feel the lower memory bandwidth...maybe few fps drop, think I can live with that.

If something I'm missing that I need to consider please let me know then the 9700k will be my target...just 8core with not HT, not the end of world.

Thanks


----------



## itsakjt (Jul 15, 2022)

z270f said:


> Thank you for all your help : )
> 
> The reason why I'm considering the mutant CPU is the price...it's around $140 US only, with the catch being max out memory bandwidth 3000.  Looks like the mutant can still hit like 4.4 to 4.6?
> 
> ...


The mutant will do Win 11 just fine.  
The only thing that suffers is the memory bandwidth. 
With that noted, you can check for an used 9700K or 9900K or even an 8700K. Intel CPUs rarely go faulty and often, you will find great deals on an used CPU. With some luck, it can still be in warranty as well. 
If you can get a 9700K for 140 USD, I would say go for it. I have the 9700K on the Maximus VIII Ranger as on my system specs here and have another PC with a 9700KF and a Z270-K and both of them are excellent performers.


----------



## z270f (Jul 15, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> The mutant will do Win 11 just fine.
> The only thing that suffers is the memory bandwidth.
> With that noted, you can check for an used 9700K or 9900K or even an 8700K. Intel CPUs rarely go faulty and often, you will find great deals on an used CPU. With some luck, it can still be in warranty as well.
> If you can get a 9700K for 140 USD, I would say go for it. I have the 9700K on the Maximus VIII Ranger as on my system specs here and have another PC with a 9700KF and a Z270-K and both of them are excellent performers.


Thank you so much for the advise.

I think I will go with the Mutant based on the price only....unless I can hunt for an amazing deal for 9700k.  Other than benchmark, I don't think less memory bandwidth will impact me much in daily usage/gaming.  I guess I have to mod the win11 installation to ignore no TPM2.0 check for it it install, 9700k doesn't need that and officially supported without mod to installation iso?

I'm not trying to spend too much on this setup as newer AM5 platform coming out at the end of the year might sound promising for performance/price value.


----------



## itsakjt (Jul 15, 2022)

z270f said:


> Thank you so much for the advise.
> 
> I think I will go with the Mutant based on the price only....unless I can hunt for an amazing deal for 9700k.  Other than benchmark, I don't think less memory bandwidth will impact me much in daily usage/gaming.  I guess I have to mod the win11 installation to ignore no TPM2.0 check for it it install, 9700k doesn't need that and officially supported without mod to installation iso?
> 
> I'm not trying to spend too much on this setup as newer AM5 platform coming out at the end of the year might sound promising for performance/price value.


Hi, sure you can go for the mutant CPU. 
Also, being a Z270, it should have TPM 2.0 out of the box. Go to UEFI and under Advanced, check for Intel Platform Trust or Trusted Computing and enable it. It should work irrespective of what CPU you are using as it is a feature enabled through the chipset and included in the Management Engine firmware. 
After that, you should be able to install a fresh copy of Windows 11 without any modifications to the ISO. Do note though that upgrading from a 10 installation might not be possible due to the CPU. A fresh install will definitely work.


----------



## z270f (Jul 15, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Hi, sure you can go for the mutant CPU.
> Also, being a Z270, it should have TPM 2.0 out of the box. Go to UEFI and under Advanced, check for Intel Platform Trust or Trusted Computing and enable it. It should work irrespective of what CPU you are using as it is a feature enabled through the chipset and included in the Management Engine firmware.
> After that, you should be able to install a fresh copy of Windows 11 without any modifications to the ISO. Do note though that upgrading from a 10 installation might not be possible due to the CPU. A fresh install will definitely work.


Perfect!  Thank you so much for all your help.  You brought back life to my almost recycle machine into something modern and useful : )  I can save $ going into Gen12 CPU platform for a good powerful GPU.  I guess I can hold on to this machine as long as the GPU doesn't get bottleneck by PCIe Gen 3.

Thank you, thank you thank you!


----------



## jedi23 (Sep 22, 2022)

When I replaced the Skylake Processor on my Asus Z170-Deluxe board with a Coffee Lake Mutant CPU, Windows attested that I fulfill the requirements for Windows 11 and I did the upgrade the official way without problems. Now I want to install the 2022 update, but Window now says my system doesn't meet the requirements because of an unsupported processor. So why did Microsoft accept this processor in the first place?
So any idea why it worked in the past and how I can convince Windows that I have a Coffee Lake CPU?

I'm not asking how to force install Windows 11 on unsupported systems, I want that my system recognizes my CPU as a supported Coffee Lake model, like it did in the past!


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## itsakjt (Sep 22, 2022)

jedi23 said:


> When I replaced the Skylake Processor on my Asus Z170-Deluxe board with a Coffee Lake Mutant CPU, Windows attested that I fulfill the requirements for Windows 11 and I did the upgrade the official way without problems. Now I want to install the 2022 update, but Window now says my system doesn't meet the requirements because of an unsupported processor. So why did Microsoft accept this processor in the first place?
> So any idea why it worked in the past and how I can convince Windows that I have a Coffee Lake CPU?
> 
> I'm not asking how to force install Windows 11 on unsupported systems, I want that my system recognizes my CPU as a supported Coffee Lake model, like it did in the past!


Hello there. 
*Please download the iso file using the Media Creation Tool. Doing so will skip CPU checks so that you can directly update to Windows 11 22H2. *If you do it via the Installation Assistant, it will force you to download Windows PC Health Check and since mutant CPUs are not added to Windows official list, hence it will fail the check.


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## jedi23 (Sep 23, 2022)

I'm just wondering because Windows 10 definitively attest me after the CPU replacement, that all my components are suitable for Windows 11 and I upgraded directly via Windows Update.

So if the checks are stricter now, I will try the ISO installation.

However, are the checks really stricter now? I mean there was no change in the requirements from Microsoft at all. I still think there must be a way that Windows recognizes my Mutant CPU as a supported Coffee Lake model, like it did in the past!


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## martiny (Oct 8, 2022)

Hello,

I try to mod my PC like you do, but I have an issue.
I copper taped my i5-9440F CPU (I dont have the tools for micro soldering) and install my coffeetimed BIOS (using AFUWIN) on my asus maximus 8 ranger (like yours).
I select the microcodes 906EA/906EB/906ED and the one for my old i5-6600K CPU.

When I boot up with the 6600K it work propely, but when I install the 9440F it doesn't. It turn on for a second and then turn off. 

Do you have any idea of what is my issue ?
I will try to edit some voltage, but I don't know which and how, and it's boring to mount the CPU, the cooler, do some modification, dismount the cooler, the CPU, mount the other CPU, the cooler, try to boot and do it again if doesn't work ToT.


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## itsakjt (Oct 8, 2022)

martiny said:


> Hello,
> 
> I try to mod my PC like you do, but I have an issue.
> I copper taped my i5-9440F CPU (I dont have the tools for micro soldering) and install my coffeetimed BIOS (using AFUWIN) on my asus maximus 8 ranger (like yours).
> ...


Hello there, you need to downgrade the Intel Management Engine version to 1229 using Coffeetime. Also, AFUWIN won't flash the Management Engine version and hence using an external flasher is a must for ASUS motherboards which have regions locked for flashing.


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## martiny (Oct 8, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Hello there, you need to downgrade the Intel Management Engine version to 1229 using Coffeetime. Also, AFUWIN won't flash the Management Engine version and hence using an external flasher is a must for ASUS motherboards which have regions locked for flashing.


Ho, I assuming that because my PC boot up than everything with coffetime has been flashed propely but you are right the ME is still in 11.6.10.1196.

I can't buy easily a external flasher because amazon don't deliver in my country, do you know an alternate way to do it ? I see in a tutorial based on your work than some ppl do it with Intel FPT, is it possible with my MB ?

Thanks for your advices, you saved me a lot of time


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## itsakjt (Oct 8, 2022)

martiny said:


> Ho, I assuming that because my PC boot up than everything with coffetime has been flashed propely but you are right the ME is still in 11.6.10.1196.
> 
> I can't buy easily a external flasher because amazon don't deliver in my country, do you know an alternate way to do it ? I see in a tutorial based on your work than some ppl do it with Intel FPT, is it possible with my MB ?
> 
> Thanks for your advices, you saved me a lot of time


Hi there, with some motherboards especially from GIGABYTE and MSI, it is possible to do it via FPT. However, with ASUS boards the FD and ME regions are write protected and hence you will need a low level flasher to do a complete reflash. Look for the CH341A flasher in your country locally. It is common and cheap and should do the job just fine.


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## martiny (Oct 8, 2022)

I'm in swiss, only wish/aliexpress sell the CH341A, no local shop and I can't wait 3 month more.
I will ask a friend from France, they have amazon.


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## martiny (Oct 11, 2022)

I need to wait the next week for the CH341A.
During this wait I will try to do the thing by other way.

Do you know which variable(s) lock the FD on the M8R bios ? with EFI shell I can edit it.


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## itsakjt (Oct 12, 2022)

martiny said:


> I need to wait the next week for the CH341A.
> During this wait I will try to do the thing by other way.
> 
> Do you know which variable(s) lock the FD on the M8R bios ? with EFI shell I can edit it.


Hi there. I am not exactly sure of the setup variable. Which motherboard are you using?


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## martiny (Oct 12, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Hi there. I am not exactly sure of the setup variable. Which motherboard are you using?


Asus maximus viii ranger.


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## itsakjt (Oct 12, 2022)

martiny said:


> Asus maximus viii ranger.


That's the same board I have. I will check the setup variables with UBU once I get some time and will let you know if I can find the one you are looking for.


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## bcored (Oct 16, 2022)

How about Maximus impact viii soldering mod example


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 9, 2022)

Can anyone help me with my z170 mod?  I have an Asus Sabertooth z170 Mark 1, paired with 8700k.  I have already programmed the bios 3801 official with the coffee time mod and programmed with the ch341a programmer.  System will post and go into bios, windows will load but taskbar is not available when moving the cursor to the bottom of the screen an hour glass displays and stays like that until the system hangs, cannot open anything windows related such as when pressing the windows key the screen will temporarily blank out stay black then come back to desktop.  I did not mod the motherboard through the nuvoton rather through the cpu, isolating the appropriate pins with kapton tape and connecting the appropriate pins with graphite pencil....to say I'm frustrated and disappointed would be an understatement.


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## itsakjt (Nov 9, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Can anyone help me with my z170 mod?  I have an Asus Sabertooth z170 Mark 1, paired with 8700k.  I have already programmed the bios 3801 official with the coffee time mod and programmed with the ch341a programmer.  System will post and go into bios, windows will load but taskbar is not available when moving the cursor to the bottom of the screen an hour glass displays and stays like that until the system hangs, cannot open anything windows related such as when pressing the windows key the screen will temporarily blank out stay black then come back to desktop.  I did not mod the motherboard through the nuvoton rather through the cpu, isolating the appropriate pins with kapton tape and connecting the appropriate pins with graphite pencil....to say I'm frustrated and disappointed would be an understatement.


This sounds like a software issue. Have you tried a clean installation?



bcored said:


> How about Maximus impact viii soldering mod example





This should do the trick.


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 9, 2022)

wow! did not expect a reply that fast...have not tried that yet because I was contemplating on how to save my files, with an inplace upgrade I would normally be able to save them but cannot access anything to do so, other then windows re.  Well could clone the drive or the necessary stuff then reinstall, is this what you would recommend?


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## itsakjt (Nov 9, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> wow! did not expect a reply that fast...have not tried that yet because I was contemplating on how to save my files, with an inplace upgrade I would normally be able to save them but cannot access anything to do so, other then windows re.  Well could clone the drive or the necessary stuff then reinstall, is this what you would recommend?


I would suggest a clean install since cloning will essentially be the same OS on a different drive.


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 11, 2022)

Finally got important files backed up and reinstalled windows, now the system just hangs can still get into bios though....any ideas?


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## itsakjt (Nov 11, 2022)

Can you tell me the stock values it took for the Core voltage, VCCIO and System Agent Voltage? 
Tell me the values that is shown beside them. It would be great if you can take a photo and share it to me. You can find all these settings under AI Tweaker.


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 12, 2022)

Here is the info you requested, should I also try reinstalling windows again?  For some reason, when windows performed the necessary restart during installation, it hung-up on the pinwheel. I tried restarting it several more times, but the issue remains.


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## itsakjt (Nov 12, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Here is the info you requested, should I also try reinstalling windows again?  For some reason, when windows performed the necessary restart during installation, it hung-up on the pinwheel. I tried restarting it several more times, but the issue remains.


Try the following.
Set CPU voltage as offset mode and increase it by +0.100V
Set system agent at 1.10V
VCCIO at 1.15V.

Why this is required you may ask? 
Because these motherboards officially do not "know" the CPUs and sometimes manual adjustments are needed for stability. 
After this, try the Windows installation. 
Also, a good practice would be to first take out the RAMs and clean the gold plated contacts and clearing the CMOS by removing the battery and waiting for 5 mins. 
After this, try setting up the BIOS as above and set XMP as well if your RAMs support it.


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 12, 2022)

Tried all suggestions, it still locks up


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## itsakjt (Nov 12, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Tried all suggestions, it still locks up


Are you using two RAM sticks and are they known to be perfectly okay? 
Try with one RAM stick at a time and see if it gets better. 
Also, did you isolate the pins as shown in the diagram for ASUS?


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 12, 2022)

Using two stick of corsair 8x2/16gb/3200mhz kit, and yes I isolated the same pins from the coffee time pinout mod pic. and connected the two required with graphite pencil.  Everytime it will post to bios no problem but no windows....will try to reinstall windows again.

And the ram is brand new, well two weeks old had it in my system with the 7700k and it fine no issues.  will try with 1 stick and see what happens


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## itsakjt (Nov 12, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Using two stick of corsair 8x2/16gb/3200mhz kit, and yes I isolated the same pins from the coffee time pinout mod pic. and connected the two required with graphite pencil.  Everytime it will post to bios no problem but no windows....will try to reinstall windows again.
> 
> And the ram is brand new, well two weeks old had it in my system with the 7700k and it fine no issues.  will try with 1 stick and see what happens


I have heard issues like this can also happen due to the pencil mod. Try to do the same with a small copper tape and clean the CPU contact pads with some IPA as well. 
Of course, the best way for the SKT_OCC mod would be to solder that wire on the motherboard but if you are not comfortable doing that, the copper tape is the way to go for. 
Also, the ideal slots for installing the RAMs are slots A2 and B2 if you are using two RAMs so I hope you are following that.


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 12, 2022)

Yes, using slots A2/B2 per the manual, and originally was using copper tape on the cpu pads but decided to switch to the graphite...use to work with LGA771-775 mod...lol.  Back to the copper tape it is, and ultimately if I have to, switching to the motherboard solder mod will be next.  All I currently have to do this is a double eye loop, sorta thing with 10-25x magnification.


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## itsakjt (Nov 12, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Yes, using slots A2/B2 per the manual, and originally was using copper tape on the cpu pads but decided to switch to the graphite...use to work with LGA771-775 mod...lol.  Back to the copper tape it is, and ultimately if I have to, switching to the motherboard solder mod will be next.  All I currently have to do this is a double eye loop, sorta thing with 10-25x magnification.


Awesome. Please let us know how it goes. This board should be able to run the 8700K without any issues. 
Also, while at it, please try cleaning the CPU contact pads and if issues persist, try with one stick of RAM at a time.


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 12, 2022)

Will do, and BTW thank you for your help I truly appreciate it!

Just for curiosity I put in my old cpu, and it is doing the same exact thing...hang up same as the 8700k.


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## itsakjt (Nov 12, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Will do, and BTW thank you for your help I truly appreciate it!
> 
> Just for curiosity I put in my old cpu, and it is doing the same exact thing...hang up same as the 8700k.


I think it is a RAM issue. Are you clearing the CMOS after swapping the processors?


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 12, 2022)

Yes, memory check on initial startup comes back as mem-ok although I know that really does not mean much of anything, but yeah cmos cleared and right now I'm reinstalling windows.  The install is almost finished will update momentarily, still using only 1 stick but if it is simply a ram issue that would be amazing.  brb!

O


Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Yes, memory check on initial startup comes back as mem-ok although I know that really does not mean much of anything, but yeah cmos cleared and right now I'm reinstalling windows.  The install is almost finished will update momentarily, still using only 1 stick but if it is simply a ram issue that would be amazing.  brb!





itsakjt said:


> I think it is a RAM issue. Are you clearing the CMOS after swapping the processors?


Ok just reinstalled windows and it is hanging again after restart, past the bios screen into the ultimate force asus logo, pinwheel and freeze.  I have some good spare memory laying around could try them for the heck of it?


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## itsakjt (Nov 12, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Yes, memory check on initial startup comes back as mem-ok although I know that really does not mean much of anything, but yeah cmos cleared and right now I'm reinstalling windows.  The install is almost finished will update momentarily, still using only 1 stick but if it is simply a ram issue that would be amazing.  brb!
> 
> O
> 
> ...


Absolutely. Do try them. 
Also, does your board have BIOS flashback? And what did you use to flash the BIOS (hardware and software).


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 12, 2022)

Tried different ram that I know for sure is good corsair ballistix sport lt 8gb kit same issue persists. My board does have BIOS flashback and I used a (ch341a programmer using neoprogrammer).


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## itsakjt (Nov 12, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Tried different ram that I know for sure is good corsair ballistix sport lt 8gb kit same issue persists. My board does have BIOS flashback and I used a (ch341a programmer using neoprogrammer).


Can you try once with ASProgrammer? 






						AsProgrammer_V2.1.0.13_XiTongZhiJia.zip
					






					drive.google.com
				




Select Language and then under Hardware select CH341 and then select the BIOS chip model. Erase the chip and then load the modded file and click on program.


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 12, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Tried different ram that I know for sure is good corsair ballistix sport lt 8gb kit same issue persists. My board does have BIOS flashback and I used a (ch341a programmer using neoprogrammer).





itsakjt said:


> Can you try once with ASProgrammer?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I most certainly can and will although foolishly I reassembled my build back into my case but no big deal.



itsakjt said:


> Can you try once with ASProgrammer?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Alright doing it now



itsakjt said:


> Can you try once with ASProgrammer?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


thanks for the dload, btw!


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## itsakjt (Nov 12, 2022)

Sure. All the best. I really hope it works this time.


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 12, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Sure. All the best. I really hope it works this time.


Got my fingers crossed!

Today is not my day, completely disassembled my build and motherboard removing that asus armor, and unsocketing my bios chip and I legit laughed for several hysterical seconds when the programmer quit functioning completely....ahh good times...lol!  But all is good got another programmer coming in 2 days time or less.  Still keeping the faith!  Once again thank you for all of your help so far, will update ASAP!


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 16, 2022)

Still no dice, sadly after getting the replacement ch341aprogrammer and reflashing with Asprogrammer and even doing the sctocc mod on the board it does the same exact thing will not load windows it simply freezes at the pinwheel.  

At this point I just do not know what to do is it some setting in Bios? A setting that windows does not like tried different combos of csm (compatibility support module), and secure boot on/off, windows uefi and other os setting...nothing works.  On the plus side a couple of days ago I got a wonderful deal on a z390 board, although I really wanted this mod to work so only other thing, I can think is trying a different BIOS file from ASUS and reinstalling windows.  

Anyways thought I would give an update!


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## itsakjt (Nov 18, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Still no dice, sadly after getting the replacement ch341aprogrammer and reflashing with Asprogrammer and even doing the sctocc mod on the board it does the same exact thing will not load windows it simply freezes at the pinwheel.
> 
> At this point I just do not know what to do is it some setting in Bios? A setting that windows does not like tried different combos of csm (compatibility support module), and secure boot on/off, windows uefi and other os setting...nothing works.  On the plus side a couple of days ago I got a wonderful deal on a z390 board, although I really wanted this mod to work so only other thing, I can think is trying a different BIOS file from ASUS and reinstalling windows.
> 
> Anyways thought I would give an update!


I see. Might be an issue with the board itself since it happens with the 7th gen CPU as well. You are using the latest BIOS for the mod right?


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 18, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> I see. Might be an issue with the board itself since it happens with the 7th gen CPU as well. You are using the latest BIOS for the mod right?


Yeah, using the last BIOS that ASUS made official 3801, thought that I might try an older one the 3504 and try using a different OS like linux mint.


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## itsakjt (Nov 18, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Yeah, using the last BIOS that ASUS made official 3801, thought that I might try an older one the 3504 and try using a different OS like linux mint.


You can also try downloading a fresh ISO again from MS site and using Rufus to write it again on a different USB drive.


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 19, 2022)

Success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  After all this time trying everything possible it was the windows download itself causing problems.  Once I downloaded rufus and the latest available version ISO through rufus it successfully installed the first time! 

 Now I just have to figure out how to get my important programs reinstalled that had the licenses, do you have any suggestions on how to retrieve these?  Should I just contact the companies directly or possibly try and transfer them over even though I doubt that would work although I did enter my backup product key for windows 10 during install, I have yet to connect my network and see if it will go through and allow activation.  But since the last install of windows was essentially corrupt or something else causing the initial problems with windows not operating properly, would microsoft allow this new install with my backup key?


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## itsakjt (Nov 19, 2022)

Sabertoothz170m1 said:


> Success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> After all this time trying everything possible it was the windows download itself causing problems.  Once I downloaded rufus and the latest available version ISO through rufus it successfully installed the first time!
> 
> Now I just have to figure out how to get my important programs reinstalled that had the licenses, do you have any suggestions on how to retrieve these?  Should I just contact the companies directly or possibly try and transfer them over even though I doubt that would work although I did enter my backup product key for windows 10 during install, I have yet to connect my network and see if it will go through and allow activation.  But since the last install of windows was essentially corrupt or something else causing the initial problems with windows not operating properly, would microsoft allow this new install with my backup key?


Awesome news. Enjoy your upgrade.  
For the licenses, Windows should auto activate itself once connected to the Internet. 
For the other applications, if your licenses were tagged to your account (if applicable), technically they should restore automatically once you sign in to the applications. For applications that do not use account based activation, you can search for the emails you possibly got from a particular software company and try to find out the necessary information. 

I am so happy for you.


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## Sabertoothz170m1 (Nov 19, 2022)

itsakjt said:


> Awesome news. Enjoy your upgrade.
> For the licenses, Windows should auto activate itself once connected to the Internet.
> For the other applications, if your licenses were tagged to your account (if applicable), technically they should restore automatically once you sign in to the applications. For applications that do not use account based activation, you can search for the emails you possibly got from a particular software company and try to find out the necessary information.
> 
> I am so happy for you.


Thank you so much for all your help, and I certainly will enjoy this upgrade! 

Long live z170/z270!


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## BobbyBoyGaming (Dec 2, 2022)

@itsakjt
Hello, I ended up buying an OEM "iBuyPower" AsRock z390 Phantom 4s/ac, and I was able to flash the Retail (non-oem BIOS) with some trickery I learned at the win-raid forum. and Now It is basically a retail board and it supports resizable BAR natively.

As for my old Asrock z170 Fatal1ty ITX/ac, I will keep it modded for coffeelake but instead of throwing in my real 9900K i will just put in an Aliexpress modded CPU, which is also suppossed to perform equally to the 9900K or around the same level of performance.

But what I also wanted to add is that I remember you were trying to add resizable BAR to the z170, and I am not sure if you already succeeded in doing this, but it should be fairly easy now if you follow the github guide by xCurio and the Win-raid guide for modding old mobos for nvme support.

LMK if you need links or finding any information I already did it, but since there was an official bios for this motherboard I ended up just crossflashing it with an official release that supports resizable BAR

Here is the link to the post were I add Resizable BAR to my current board, but it also talks about resizable BAR mods which is for any board.








						Z390 Phantom Gaming 4S/ac BIOS mod for Resizable BAR
					

What about just modding the OEM “1.21A” BIOS with resizable BAR? Can anybody help me with that since this is a request forum?  Are there any generic tutorials for me to DIY it? I am getting a bit lost in the forum here.




					winraid.level1techs.com
				




Here is the link to how to apply the resizable BAR mod, but it is incomplete because you need to know how to mod the bios file








						GitHub - xCuri0/ReBarUEFI: Resizable BAR for (almost) any UEFI system
					

Resizable BAR for (almost) any UEFI system. Contribute to xCuri0/ReBarUEFI development by creating an account on GitHub.




					github.com
				




Here is the part where it tells you how to add the Rebardxe.ffs into your current bios for Resizable BAR support








						[HowTo] Get full NVMe Support for all Systems with an AMI UEFI BIOS
					

@ all:  Please read this before posting into this thread:    This thread has been designed by me for users, who want to do the required BIOS modification themselves by following this guide.  Users, who want to get an already modded BIOS, may search for it within >this< Sub-Forum or post their...




					winraid.level1techs.com
				



You have to be careful about a padding error that might happen with uefitool but there is another article that explains how to easily check your resultant mod to see if that error occurred or not, and how to bypass it.


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## itsakjt (Dec 2, 2022)

BobbyBoyGaming said:


> @itsakjt
> Hello, I ended up buying an OEM "iBuyPower" AsRock z390 Phantom 4s/ac, and I was able to flash the Retail (non-oem BIOS) with some trickery I learned at the win-raid forum. and Now It is basically a retail board and it supports resizable BAR natively.
> 
> As for my old Asrock z170 Fatal1ty ITX/ac, I will keep it modded for coffeelake but instead of throwing in my real 9900K i will just put in an Aliexpress modded CPU, which is also suppossed to perform equally to the 9900K or around the same level of performance.
> ...


Hello @BobbyBoyGaming 
Long time. I also got an ASUS Maximus X Formula for the 9700K and am still using my Maximus VIII Ranger with an i7 9700KF. 
I saw the Resizable bar mod from a video posted by Miyconst. This one to be exact. 










I have downloaded the artifacts as well and am just waiting to get some time to perform the mod. Not that I require it since my RTX 3070 is installed on my Maximus X Formula which natively supports Rebar and the 2060 Super is installed on the Maximus VIII Ranger which does not support Rebar anyway but I will still do the mod since it is the only modern feature lacking on that old but awesome motherboard (going to be 7 years old next year February). 

Thanks a lot for the input. I will update this post as well once I perform the mod. 
As far as I understood, the mod will work on any motherboard supporting PCIe 3.0 and Above 4G decoding.


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