Ghetto Mods

[dont whant to set it"']

There could be or would of been a way to .

 

[delshay]

There could be or would of been a way to .

If you want "real world chamges" then I have a Asrock motherboard which has all the ceramic capacitors removed behind the CPU & replaced with over 100 tantalum capacitors. Just like the FX-60 the processor below is also limited by faults elsewhere which is preventing it from high overclocked.

Currently what these tantalum capacitors are doing is giving a 100% guaranteed undervolt of 0.25v at the same clock speed, but is believed to give upto a peak 0.40v undervolt on any 939 CPU that is inserted when compared to a non modded motherboard..

Below is a screenshot of my single core CPU, but that's not it's top speed. It can clock near to 2.9GHz with just 1.2v, but is limited by a fault elsewhere.

 

[Jism]

I'm not sure how advanced "analog" VRM's where back in the days, but increasing the VRM switching frequency to highest possible will actually result in a lowered required voltage for the CPU in relation of overclocking. The only downside? The efficiency usually goes a bit backwards and generates more heat since it's switching at a much higher frequency. Most (high end) boards have a default set of 200Hz or so, while they can go up to 600Hz.

 

[delshay]

I'm not sure how advanced "analog" VRM's where back in the days, but increasing the VRM switching frequency to highest possible will actually result in a lowered required voltage for the CPU in relation of overclocking. The only downside? The efficiency usually goes a bit backwards and generates more heat since it's switching at a much higher frequency. Most (high end) boards have a default set of 200Hz or so, while they can go up to 600Hz.

Asrock motherboard has upgraded MOSFETS with soldered heatsink. There is also a power increase in hardware.

EDIT: I know where the fault is, & I know how to fix it. I just can't get hold of the replacement part.

 

[silentbogo]

Last week I was trying to solve the puzzle of fitting a CSE-812 shield into CSE-512 chassis.
Not sure if it's ghetto or not, but in the absence of aftermarket I/O shields in my parts of the world - that's the best I could do with the cheapest file and shitty wire cutters out of nearby hardware store.
At least it wasn't as terrible as trying to hold in place a low-profile SFP+ card in a full-height slot )))
.

 

[micropage7]

looks normal?
actually not. the paper tray is broken so i use wet tissue as support

 

[Samiam66]

I posted this a few years back

Z400 HP Xeon with Amd Wraith Prism cooler..it made the old girl Pretty....
Small mod with dremel to make amd4 backplate work on 1366 motherboard.
cooler worked great..

Amd machines use H20

 

[bobbybluz]

Where would we be without Dremel tools? I got my first one well over 60 years ago.

 

[witkazy]

Where would we be without Dremel tools? I got my first one well over 60 years ago.

You wanna things go Your way go Dremel.
Cheers.

 

[WhitetailAni]

I should get a dremel.
It'd make my Optiplex 3020 MT case modding a lot easier (I'm getting rid of some stuff in the front for better airflow as I'm planning to make it a Threadripper sleeper build).

Currently I'm just taking some vice grips, clamping them on, and then rocking them back and forth.

 

[Valantar]

I should get a dremel.
It'd make my Optiplex 3020 MT case modding a lot easier (I'm getting rid of some stuff in the front for better airflow as I'm planning to make it a Threadripper sleeper build).

Currently I'm just taking some vice grips, clamping them on, and then rocking them back and forth.

I used cheap metal plate cutters for doing the same on my Optiplex 990 SFF. Faster and cheaper than using a Dremel - steel eats cutting disks pretty quickly. Used my off-brand Dremel-alike and a file to smooth down some of the rough edges and stuff though, and the rotary tool was invaluable for some of my other mods.

 

[micropage7]

I posted this a few years back

Z400 HP Xeon with Amd Wraith Prism cooler..it made the old girl Pretty....
Small mod with dremel to make amd4 backplate work on 1366 motherboard.
cooler worked great..

Amd machines use H20

View attachment 201310

oh, now it has RGB after years

 

[bobbybluz]

I used cheap metal plate cutters for doing the same on my Optiplex 990 SFF. Faster and cheaper than using a Dremel - steel eats cutting disks pretty quickly. Used my off-brand Dremel-alike and a file to smooth down some of the rough edges and stuff though, and the rotary tool was invaluable for some of my other mods.

For precision work a Dremel with a set of high speed carbide cutters is essential. Their diamond cutting wheels, while somewhat expensive, are great on steel computer cases. Their much cheaper (and very fragile) cutting discs are good once you get the hang of using them. I just got some even cheaper off brand cutting discs at Walmart but haven't used any yet.
These pix are of a slot car frame I hand cut from .042 spring steel back in the late 1980's. I cut a lot of steel for these and this was before the diamond discs were available. I went through a lot of the dark red cutting discs over the years and building these was definitely an art that took a few years to master. I lost interest right about the time EDM and laser cut pieces could be bought over the counter. It was a dirty, messy and extremely time consuming task but I could build a frame minus the running gear for less than $2 as opposed to having to buy one for over $100. This one is dirty & rusty because it sat in a box in my basement for over 25+ years after I quit racing them.

 

[Valantar]

For precision work a Dremel with a set of high speed carbide cutters is essential. Their diamond cutting wheels, while somewhat expensive, are great on steel computer cases. Their much cheaper (and very fragile) cutting discs are good once you get the hang of using them. I just got some even cheaper off brand cutting discs at Walmart but haven't used any yet.
These pix are of a slot car frame I hand cut from .042 spring steel back in the late 1980's. I cut a lot of steel for these and this was before the diamond discs were available. I went through a lot of the dark red cutting discs over the years and building these was definitely an art that took a few years to master. I lost interest right about the time EDM and laser cut pieces could be bought over the counter. It was a dirty, messy and extremely time consuming task but I could build a frame minus the running gear for less than $2 as opposed to having to buy one for over $100. This one is dirty & rusty because it sat in a box in my basement for over 25+ years after I quit racing them.

That's impressive work! Looks well suited for rotary tool cutting, given the small size of the workpiece - that lets you avoid the annoying issue of the tool body forcing you to tilt the cutting wheel. Still very impressive getting some of those smaller cutouts done with a rotary tool - am I right in thinking you cut from both sides to avoid the U-shaped cuts the round disk brings with it? I did initially try the bundled generic red-brown cutting discs from my tool, but they always disintegrated within a minute or two. I still went through ... I think three? Dremel brand diamond cutting discs cutting the vents in the side panel for this mod. Dell apparently uses pretty strong steel for their cases, as they never got damaged, just gradually wore down from the cutting until they were too small to use further. But the work described by @RealKGB doesn't sound like precision work to me, but rather bulk material removal, in which case a Dremel(alike) is a poor choice IMO.

 

[bobbybluz]

That's impressive work! Looks well suited for rotary tool cutting, given the small size of the workpiece - that lets you avoid the annoying issue of the tool body forcing you to tilt the cutting wheel. Still very impressive getting some of those smaller cutouts done with a rotary tool - am I right in thinking you cut from both sides to avoid the U-shaped cuts the round disk brings with it? I did initially try the bundled generic red-brown cutting discs from my tool, but they always disintegrated within a minute or two. I still went through ... I think three? Dremel brand diamond cutting discs cutting the vents in the side panel for this mod. Dell apparently uses pretty strong steel for their cases, as they never got damaged, just gradually wore down from the cutting until they were too small to use further. But the work described by @RealKGB doesn't sound like precision work to me, but rather bulk material removal, in which case a Dremel(alike) is a poor choice IMO.

It takes a very light touch and a lot of practice to cut steel with the non-diamond discs. Also, the harder the steel is the easier it is to work with. Soft metals like aluminum get too hot too fast and will bind the discs causing them to snap. When I began building slot car frames in the mid-60's I used brass and piano wire. In 1980 spring steel became the thing to use because it's nearly indestructible. The center sections used .035 to .050 thickness steel, the side pans were usually cut from .023 steel banding. Everything is silver soldered for strength.

Until I got the high speed carbide cutters I had a collection of various sized discs. When they'd begin wearing down I'd stop and save them for more intricate work. The picture above isn't my most complex or impressive work by far but it's the last one I still have. I made literally hundreds of them over the years. When I began modding computer cases in 1999 I used a plasma cutter until an ex-roomie stole it, all my MIG welding stuff and my air compressor from the garage I used as a workshop. They were insured but I never replaced the plasma cutter because I didn't have enough work to justify the cost.

For modding an I/O panel I'd use a diamond cutting wheel and jewelers files. I have a full set of Snap-On sheet metal shears but they bend the source material too easily. Holding the workpiece in a small Vise-Grips would be essential because of heat buildup. Using a Dremel is an art and while I may not have been the absolute best at building steel slot car frames I eventually got good enough at it that the professionals always looked my stuff over closely. Modding computer cases is extremely easy compared to building steel slot car frames. Practice makes perfect and the more you do the more tricks and shortcuts you'll figure out. I have no idea how many cases I've carved up over the past 22 years. Free ones found on curbsides were always the best because even if you destroyed it the price was right and the fun factor was there. I get all my cases cheap off Craigslist these days. I scored a Cooler Master Cosmos II for $20 a couple of weeks ago and finally have it cleaned up enough (it's in far better condition than thought after a thorough cleaning) to cut the holes in the top for externally mounting a Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 AIO.

 

[silentbogo]

I used to dry my socks on top of a router, but now I have something more powerful - a 24U rack(half-empty, but still...)!

 

[freeagent]

Does it do boxers too?

If so I think you may be into something..

 

[silentbogo]

Does it do boxers too?

Not ATM. I need to make a side-rack for it )))
... and add another server for better "efficiency"

 

[freeagent]

Not ATM. I need to make a side-rack for it )))
... and add another server for better "efficiency"

2 servers in push/pull.. excellent!

 

[xBruce88x]

Use some captains tape (the orange stuff) over the solder points, that may help

Here is what looks like poor soldering of extra capacitors soldered to a 939 CPU.

The soldering looks poor because the 0402 capacitors are too small. You have to stretch the solder at both ends of the capacitor in-order to get them soldered in. To make matters worse the height of the solder can't exceed 0.5mm otherwise it will short-out against the IHS.

There are two extra capacitor per array soldered in at each end. I don't really care how it looks as long as it works & shows improvement. It seems to stabilize the CPU but it hard to say if there is any improvement in overclocking as I have faults elsewhere which is preventing the CPU from high overclock. Until this is fixed, this mod is still unknown if it has any real world performance changes.

 

[Valantar]

Use some captains tape (the orange stuff) over the solder points, that may help

Kapton?

 

[delshay]

Use some captains tape (the orange stuff) over the solder points, that may help

It's best to get the soldering correct just in-case kapton tape gets punched with many remounting of heatsink. ...& I just found out one capacitor is not soldered in correctly, but if you look carefully at the photo it looks like a short, but I'm posting with the CPU. ..will fix that in the next big update.

 

[micropage7]

the paper mostly just jammed in this printer so i make a solution by adding plastic sheet over the ramp and so far it run well

 

[HarvesterOfSorrow]

I had mounted 240mm radiator to top of R5 case, which left a gap for dust to enter. So I measured the gap, and cutted two of the included ModuVent covers, that came with the case. Lastly I showed some sandpaper to cutted corner and attached electrical tape to it. Turned out pretty good.

 

[lexluthermiester]

So I've had a bit of a ghetto mod going in one of my Dells. Recently rebuilt it to work better and with a 120mm fan instead of a 92mm fan. Here are the results;

It's basically a wind tunnel with one end wrapped around the back of the heatsink and the other end wrapped around the 120mm fan. The effect is much better cooling and much lower noise than the 92mm fan provided. And even though it's a bit ghetto, I think it looks really cool! No pun intended.

BTW, yes I know the cable management isn't great. It's a T3500 and there's only so much one can do..