Hello, World! :D - Robert B's PC builds - oogle away freely :) - OLD Hardware Emporium

[biffzinker]

I wanted to RetroBright the keyboard but I decided to do this on another project. The owner liked the yellowing of the case and keys.

In future if you need to retrobrite plastic all you need is the sun outside, and patience. Saves the plastic from the harshness of the hair salon hydrogen peroxide that use to be the suggested method.

 

[lexluthermiester]

In future if you need to retrobrite plastic all you need is the sun outside, and patience. Saves the plastic from the harshness of the hair salon hydrogen peroxide that use to be the suggested method.

True, Retro Receipts on Youtube tested this and showed it to be correct and even more effective in enough sunlight.

 

[biffzinker]

True, Retro Receipts on Youtube tested this and showed it to be correct and even more effective in enough sunlight.

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/profile-posts/17625/

 

[sam_86314]

True, Retro Receipts on Youtube tested this and showed it to be correct and even more effective in enough sunlight.

Figure I should throw this in here...
The 8-bit Guy tested a bunch of different retrobright techniques to find what worked the best.

Looks like hydrogen peroxide and heat are the solution.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Figure I should throw this in here...
The 8-bit Guy tested a bunch of different retrobright techniques to find what worked the best.

Looks like hydrogen peroxide and heat are the solution.

David Murray(The 8-Bit Guy) is awesome, his testing methodology was sound and those solutions do work, true. However they can cost a lot of money and can have some side-effects. Sunlight is free and leaves no effects other than the de-yellowing. The down side is it takes a lot of sunlight to work(from a few days to a week), and thus can take alot of time in areas of the world that don't get an abundance of consistent sunlight.

For example, I tested this on one of my old Super Famicom(Japanese SNES), and easy system to take apart. It was very yellowed and took 5 days to get to an acceptable state, but I gave it a few more days to be through. It looks great, better than any of the systems I've retro-brighted with the H2O2 methods! Took 8 days though. IMHO, the trade off of time is worth it as it's been shown that this method will also prevent any future re-yellowing.

 

[biffzinker]

Figure I should throw this in here...
The 8-bit Guy tested a bunch of different retrobright techniques to find what worked the best.

Looks like hydrogen peroxide and heat are the solution.

The only gotcha with using hydrogen peroxide is it weakens the structuring of plastic, and the yellowing will return again. Some older plastics are already in a fragile or brittle stage from the 30+ years they were made.

 

[lexluthermiester]

The only gotcha with using hydrogen peroxide is it weakens the structuring of plastic, and the yellowing will return again.

That depends on the plastic and it's original manufacturing processes. Not all plastics will do this, or be subject to those effects as badly.

 

[Robert B]

Iris - Somn bizar (Official Music Video) - 1996

SDRAM Adventures

As it was the case in the past, this came out of nothing. Like a spiral of cosmic dust, a few scattered bits and pieces have gathered together to make a whole.

You might say that at the root of this episode is my need to find a definitive answer to a question. Once I decide to do something, I level everything in my path. Nothing seems out of my reach and nothing makes me back off. Days spent with my mind between two worlds. Sleepless nights. Questions that eat my mind...the full menu. I think that you know that I'm talking about my passion in regard to PC Hardware but I feel that I should underline this. Don't get another idea.

Some time ago I said that once I'll post the VooDoo 5 5500 episode I'll be taking it easy and I will take a break from old PC components. Well, I did take a break and I'm still on my break. That doesnt mean that I dont keep an eye for interesting pieces or I fall prey to stuff that others wont take a second look.(Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder). So, I decided to increase the interval at which I post something and see if this keeps me in check or it will only make my addiction stronger. The breakneck pace at which I was "working" cant be sustained anymore and one thing that made it so it is called: TIME. Lately my free TIME dedicated to retro HW has gone up in smoke. The reasons are multiple and shouldnt be discussed here. It is nothing too serious or problematic don't worry.

The last month or so, I kept going each Saturday and sometimes even on Sundays at the local flea market. Like an addict I still go there only to see what I can find. The admission fee is trivial and in return I get a "free show". The people are colorful and sometimes you can eavesdrop at what they discuss. You increase your haggling skills. You meet new people. Sometimes you find awesome pieces. All in all it makes me feel alive. Maybe it's just me but when I go there, for little over one hour, I disconnect from reality and after I leave the market I feel like coming back from a parallel universe. My eyes are trained to look for PCBs. I dig through boxes and then I put everything back. It's not good business to upset the vendors.

I'm almost fully immunized but every once in a while I find something that makes me say: HOW MUCH IS THIS ANCIENT PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY? So, my stash gets bigger. As it goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What I like might not be someone else's cup of tea. We aren't the same. Thank God!

Let's return to the matter at hand.

The flea market Gods have bestowed their blessings. A couple of trips have yielded this loot:

1. Enhanced VGA Tseng ET4000AX 1MB - ISA P/N 2142 *** P/N 2142S00105
2. SDRAM 2x256MB PC133 with blue heatspreader - 256UCURTWGBA
3. SDRAM 2x128MB PC150 with blue heatspreader

The list looks unimpressive but as one thing leads to another, you will understand the meaning of "it came out of nothing".

The SDRAM was the one that made me buy a motherboard just for testing duties. My Intuition said something. The Reason said the opposite. In the end I took the sensible route: ALL IN!

First I handled the Tseng ET4000AX.

The card was in excellent shape and it had only a few scratches. My eyes popped out when I saw that it was in a ESD bag. A very uncommon thing at out local flea market.

-I asked how much it was and I received a straight answer of around 8 EUROS.
-I said 4 EUROS.
-8!(aggressively). IF YOU DON'T WANT IT PUT IT BACK FROM WHERE YOU TOOK IT! said the vendor.

At such an answer someone might've given him a piece of its mind but since I'm not 20 anymore I took the card out of the bag and stared at it.

6 EUROS! I said that it had some scratches here and there and we dont know if it works or not.

We shaked hands. 6EUROS. (6 EUROS for an ET4000AX with the maximum video memory of (1MB) is very little.)

She's purring like a kitten. Immortal piece of technology! These old cards have offered me great satisfaction over the years and they keep on working even knee deep in the dead.



gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/2jtmsse5k/


SDRAM 2x128MB PC150 with blue heatspreader *** SDRAM 2x256MB PC133 with blue heatspreader - 256UCURTWGBA


For the four SDRAM sticks I paid 6 EUROS too. Haggled from 8 EUROS. I know the gipsy seller well and I know when he wants to reduce the price or not.

I have tens of SDRAM sticks with capacities ranging from 16 to 512MB. These SDRAM sticks with heatsinks reminded me of RAMBUS memory and they got under my skin so I had to have them. Quite predictible I might say...

After I bought them, nothing was foretelling that I will have to spend an additional sum of 38 EUROS just to get an answer to a question.

The SDRAM sticks were in great shape with very little signs of damage. Being protected by heatsinks they had a big chance to still be alive and kicking.

One of the memory kits, the 2x128MB, is rated to run at 150MHz. This is not a standard JEDEC speed. If we think that 17MHz over 133 represents an increase of 12.7% in a time when maybe DDR 1 was in its beginnings, my decision to buy the kits was an inspired one. It is certain that some PC133 sticks were able to be overclocked at PC150 but nothing beats looking at those fancy PC150 stickers. You will see later that I was able to run them at their rated speed.

First, I cleaned well all of the SDRAM sticks.



The moment for testing came soon. I was well aware that I had limited choice in regard to motherboards capable of using SDRAM sticks with a capacity greater than 128MB. I knew this fact as I already Read The F...ing Manual. . Also the boards are very picky when they are presented with 256MB sticks. Bummer...

I tried a few motherboards to see what's what:

• PC CHIPS/PcCHIPS/PC-CHIPS M800LMR V1.3A
• Asus K7M V1.04
• Gigabyte 6BXC V1.7
• EPOX*EP-61LXA-M/440LX
• EPOX EP-7KXA V0.4
• Amptron/Jamicon/FastFame 650B-ATX Rev1.1 / KM650B / 440BX

Testing on Amptron/Jamicon/FastFame 650B-ATX Rev1.1 / KM650B / 440BX.



None of the above motherboards were able to use the 256MB sticks. So, I was left trying to see if the 128MB sticks work. Unfortunately, the results were mixed. At one power up the sticks were detected. At another start I received just beeps. The behaviour was inconsistent.

I was already thinking that the "mighty" 2x128MB PC150 kit was dead...Something was still nagging me though. One word was coming in my mind: INCOMPATIBILITY. What if it is just a case of an incompatiblity? I said to myself. This was not uncommon back in the day. Hmmmm...

As a last resort I tested the two PC150 128MB sticks in my PIII 800/bus 100MHz - LuckyStar 6VABX2 VER. 2.0. In this case the memory ran at a pedestrian pace of 100MHz. The board knew nothing about 256MB sticks SS or DS so I was already kind of pissed...



I entered the BIOS and I set up some relaxed timings and I was ready for a session of MEMTEST86.

I received some bad knews. Error at 113.9MB. I switched the sticks. Again error at 113.9MB. I may be on to something. Which were the odds to get the same error at the same area of 113.98 on another 128MB stick? I tell you: extremely low.



I enetered the BIOS again and I set up some super relaxed timings and I was able to complete a MEMTEST86 run withou errors. I used Windows 98 for a while and all was nominal.



Error! Error! Error!



MEMTEST86 run completed without errors after entering the required settings in BIOS.



All this detective work didnt provide the answers I needed so I decided to buy a motherboard from the last generation to use SDRAM memory. This way I had better chances of success. I must end this ONCE AND FOR ALL!

I searched on the national OLX site the string "Abit". Immediately I got some results. One in particular was enticing. It was about an Abit KT7 motherboard with the KT133 chipset for AMD Athlon CPUs on a 200MHz(2x100MHz) bus. If it was equipped with the KT133A would've been better, but if we look from another angle, this motherboard is a part from the first generation of Socket A platforms after the Athlon Slot A/KX133. In essence it is the KX133 chipsest in its form for the Socket A aka KT133.

I liked the board a lot so I contacted the seller soon. I managed to reduce the asking price a little, from around 32 EUROS to around 28 EUROS. With the cost of shipping and the tip for the courier I ended up at 38 EUROS. Not a small sum of money. One of my HW suppliers pulled my ears as he said that I overpaid for it. What's a few EUROS + or - when you like something. He should know this better than me.

The KT7 was untested and this fact was specified by the seller. From the pictures I knew that this board will be my first NIB/NOS component. It arrived just in time for Easter. Perfect timing.



As you know, this board was manufactured during the era of bad capacitors. Bad Era Capacitors / Capacitor Plague. A period between 1997-2007 when many manufactures used low quality electrolytic capacitors, which were mainly manufactured by Taiwanese companies. To cut costs, inferior capacitors were used. This "economy" had a ripple effect that led to costs many times greater than the cost of using "good" capacitors. Let's think for a moment at how many motherboards had problems related to capacitors. RMA's. Products returned to factories for capacitor replacement. Well engineered components that have failed just because bad capacitors were used. You already have seen two of my recapping jobs performed on MSI MS-6168 and Epox EP-7KXA. No manufactured was spared by the capacitor plague. The right choice is always the hard choice. Why do a good job when you can cut corners?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

As expected, the Abit KT7 V1.02 arrived according to the rules of the 2000 electronic fashion. Full of TEAPO and JACKCON caps. La creme de la creme...the brown type. I updated the BIOS with the latest version, A9, using my MiniPro TL866A programmer and I braced myself for the testing session that lay ahead.



I was aware that I might wake up in a world of pain...I stared at the capacitors and I waited to see what was in store for me.

On Easter day, Sunday, I decided to go where I keep my parts. At 08.30 nobody was on the streets. A pleasure to drive fast in town.

I powered up the board but the extasy was short lived... As soon as I pressed the button I sensed a funny smell. I thought that it was the smell of the board on its first power up but it wasnt so. Soon I found the culprit. A cluster of JACKCON 1000uf 16V caps were swollen.

I used the board for a few minutes after I saw the bulged caps just to see if the SDRAM stricks were detected. The results were encouraging. The 2x128MB PC150 and the 2x256MB PC133 kits were seen on the first try. YAY! My gut was right all along!



With my heart pounding I inspected the motherboard closely, to see if more caps have lost their head. More good news. The rest seemed or looked OK! (Empirically speaking)

Huh! I really dont want to do another full recap job!

I searched in my bag for some 1000uf 16V caps but I only had 1000uf 6.3V/10V caps...the shops were closed. Bummer...I have to get my answers after Easter...Damn...

Before I was ready to pack all the stuff and go back home I decided to inspect the NB cooler. The plastic push-pins looked kind of...plastic.

I removed them because they didnt hold the heatsink well.

Underneath, shock and awe! What the Fuu.......K IS THAT!? I corrected the error with AC MX-4 and two heavy duty spring loaded push-pins.



The list of the caps that were on the board. The specs (ripple current and impedance) are an aproximation as I wasnt able find the exact models and I cross-referenced different spec sheets.



The original CMOS battery. Drained. NIB/NOS Baby!



Well made in Taiwan??? Really? "Good" caps too bad for the board...



After Easter I found at the local shops only Mr. Chong the same guy that wispered to me in the past: ME FIX YOU! ME HELP YOU! TRUST IN ME! I paid under 1 EURO for the caps. I used this brand in the past and they are "good" if you are in a pinch. If we pause and think a little, the irony is that I put on the board the same "special caps" as I wasnt about to hurt the motherboard's Feng Shui. I might've had an uprising on my hands and I would've had to change them all. One thing is certain: at one point I WILL REMOVE ALL THE JUNK and solder some JAPANESE CAPACITORS!



After I bought the Abit KT7 I saw that I didnt have a single Athlon 200MHz bus CPU. As I didnt fancy a Duron I decided to use an Athlon XP on a 266MHz bus (2x133MHz) with a Palomino or Thoroughbred core. They work on this board even if they arent officially supported.

In the end I settled on a Athlon XP AXDA2000DKV3C CPU rated at 1.667GHz 12.5x133MHz. Due to the limitations of the board it ran at 1250MHz aka 12.5x100MHz and I had some wiggle room when I was about to run the SDRAM at 150MHz.

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K7/AMD-Athlon XP 2000+ - AXDA2000DKV3C.html



The moment for answers came soon. Were the SDRAM kits still alive and kicking? An existential question!

Strike 1!



Strike 2!



I played with some graphic cards:

• AOpen Aeolus GF4 Ti 4200 128MB AGP 8x
• AOpen Geforce 2 Ti VX64
• Leadtek Geforce 2 PRO
• Palit Geforce 3 Ti 200
• Hercules GTS 2 PRO
• Creative VANTA 32MB PCI
• Gigabyte GA-622-16

I installed Windows XP. Here I had a few hiccups as the original CD was scratched and a one hour job turned into a four hour job...installs and (re)installs...fun times with old stuff.



2x128MB PC150 @ PC133



SPD 2x128MB PC150 - I wasnt able to determine the manufacturer of the chips but the sticks are smaller than the 256MB sticks. Probably BGA KINGMAX, TONICOM?



SPD 2x256MB PC133 - Equipped with MICRON chips probably TSOP.



3dmark2000 2x256MB PC133 - stock GF4 Ti4200. No tweaks.



Preparation for SDRAM @ 150MHz - FSB 110. SDRAM 110MHz



Preparation for SDRAM @ 150MHz - FSB 117. SDRAM 117MHz



SoftMenu III was a dream to use. The multitude of BIOS settings allowed me to achieve stability and the magic number of 150MHz for SDRAM. I didnt try for more as this wasnt my goal.



After many hours of usage I didnt encounter more problems related to capacitors. This is not an indication that I wont have headaches in the future tough. For now, I will leave the KT7 to rest in the box.

The motherboard preformed admirably during the several days of testing. After I exterminated some gremlins as this is a requirement of an authentic "retro" experience, all was just smooth sailing.

Did I overpay for the Abit KT7? I think not. It was a case of NO BRAINER! The full box offered me an authentic experience and if I didnt have near me, my Lenovo I7 2600, the HP LP2065 monitor or my smartphone, I could've thought that I was back in the glory days of Good Ol' Socket A. The smell of a new motherboard. The untouched manual. The immamculate CD with drivers. The sealed accessories. The ESD bag that covered the motherboard... What could I say...After I clened the box of dirt and old tape it became shiny and it was a pleasure to touch it. I also managed to "sweeten" some dents and marks that were present on the box and in the end the complete package looked incredible.

My Abit KT7!



Look at how much I had to tell you and all started with a humble kit of RAM. You never know where the road will take you. These retro adventures have a charm that continues to be irresistible to me.

gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/1utq6b0ko/

More later.

 

[Robert B]

SVET. feat. SevenEver - Is It Love

Another GAINWARD wonder ... is it love?

"Is it love, love, love
Love, love, love that I'm feeling?"

Oh boy ... here we go!

Before everything I must confess an obvious secret...I'm a sucker for Gainward cards. I'm referring to the cards released during their glory days and not about the husks we can find on the market today.

Even now I can "feel" the aura emanated by top Gainward cards when back in the day I used to read about them on the internet. Unobtanium in its purest form. You see, back then, I was never able to buy a top of the line Gainward card when they were at their peak. It only took a peek at the painted face or a glimpse of the red PCB and you already knew with whom you were dealing with. Today? Who the F..K is Ali.. ops Gainward...just a shadow of its former self as it is the case with many big names that I grew up with ...

My first Gainward card, took the shape of a Gainward Geforce4 MX460 Golden Sample 64MB AGP and the moment when I took it out of its bag was exhilarating. Good Times! The card came in bulk form but that didn't bother me at all. The PCB color, the coloured heatsink, the sticker bearing the GS initials, the scent, have been stuck in mind ever since. I'm sure that I wont feel the same even if today I would buy a diamond studded 2080 RTX Ti. You see, there is a first time for everything... so you should make it count! If possible ...

Is it love, love, love ? YOU BETCHA!!! Soooo REEEEEDDDD!!!

The moment when I found a new Gainward card was celebrated accordingly. (The details about how I got this card will be presented in full when I'll post the episode dedicated to Abit KN8.)



"How can I do this?
I've never felt this way before
You keep on staring at me
And I can't take it anymore

But I want you to know
I'm looking for a place where we can go
And I can say the words as I'm tryin break through
But you already know that I really want you?

Is it me or is it getting kind of hot in here? Enough lyrics for today!

Let's meet the beauty: GAINWARD Model 6800GS PCI-E 512MB TV-OUT DVI / P/N:NE/6800SXTD52-PM8070-GLH



Some of you might have already seen past the bling bling and maybe frowned a little when they saw the PCI-E connector. Not me! I'm still blinded by love at first sight so my opinion might be "a little" biased...PCI-E or not, for me, this card has a scent of retro. The card is around 14 years old and even if we like it or not, this is a long time ago. Getting older SUX BIG TIME!

The card was in relative good shape. Dusty and dirty. Just another day at the office for me. Status unknown.

I managed to contain myself and I didn't power up the card to see if it is alive as I was set on getting it restored first. As is stood, the card coul'd've already been dead but I didnt take this into consideration for even a second and I just wanted to recreate the hypothetical moment when another me took the card out of its box and plugged it into the motherboard slot, happy for the purchase.

Even if the 6800GS wasn't top of the line, I still love this card to bits, no matter what. To spice thing up, we are dealing with a GLH model aka Goes Like Hell!!! with higher working frequencies than stock models. Core 485MHz vs 425MHz stock / Memory 1300MHz DDR3(650x2) vs 1000MHz stock. Also, the video memory is 512MB vs the usual 256MB. All in all, this card is a keeper!

Dust bunnies!



Dirt? CHECK!



You can leave your hat on!



The cooling system is one of the attraction points of this card. The white fan gives it a distinctive note.



Ready to be made GREAT AGAIN!!!



The first task was the cleaning of the cooling system.



Adherent grime everywhere! To make things worse, cleaning the white fan was quite a challenge but that was just the tip of the icebreg. Don't think that the other white plastic bits were easier to clean...Nooooo SiiiiiiiiiiiRRRR!!!



When I removed the white sticker from under the fan I was met by a dilema. I saw the thick white axle of the fan and I thought that I'm dealing with a layer of white grease under which I expected to see the metal axle but to my amazement I saw that I have met my first fan with the axle made from plastic. The dilema was if it was necessary to take apart the fan or to leave it as it was. It still spun easily and quietly. After a failed attempt to clean it properly without dismantling it, I took it apart and all went better.

As the adherent fine layer of grime wasn't fazed by the IPA 99%, I washed the fan motor and the entire white frame, with hot water and Fairy Lemon dish soap. I took great precautions not to damage the fine copper wires of the coils. The propeller underwent the same treatment. Just to be safe, I also washed the motor with IPA 99%.

The bracket was cleaned with polishing paste and a soft rag. I also cleaned the memory heatsinks.

The results were beyond my expectations.



I put great accent on the cleaning of the plastic shroud of the cooling system. Hot water and Fairy Lemon plus a soft microfiber cloth. I don't need more scratches!



I cleaned each fin of the copper heatsink. Nothing was left to chance.



I mentioned above something about results beyond expectation ...



While I stripped the card down I saw that a white plastic washer that it is used with the nuts that hold the heatsink, was missing, so I took the required actions and I cut a thicker one in two. Problem fixed.



Ready for assembly!



The right amount of silicone grease.



Almost there...



Fine tools needed!



Done and done!



Stored until further orders!!!



The work went at a snail's pace and I enjoyed every moment.



The main course.



Mirror like! Robert B (TM)



Video memory.



While I was cleaning the PCB with IPA 99% one of the labels on the back fell down so I took the required measures to restore the "equilibrium".



Nothing is complete without the utmost attention to detail. Because I was lazy and I didn't protect the ink stamped serial number on the back of the heatsink, from the action of IPA 99%, I had to recreate it. Almost perfect aka As good as it gets!



And now for the Grand Finale!



Better than new!

After a lot of work I held into my hands, the object of my desire, my passion and my love. Soon, the most important question presented itself: Was it all worth it?

Only one way to find out. Fire it up!



Because the Abit KN8 proved incappable to offer what the Gainward card requested, I used the BFG aka the Big F..k..g Gun aka GA-EX58-EXTREME which just had a case of a miraculous recovery. This was a match made in Heaven... The rest is history ...



Ultra Durable indeed!



I absolutely love Gainward cards but at the same time I also like many other components. My passion is all consuming!

I could go on and on and lay down many lines of text but I think that it is better to keep it short. You can read between the lines all that I wanted to say.

Gainward, Beyond Your Senses!

Cya later with the next episode(s).

More later.

 

[Robert B]

Ahmet Kilic & Eyup Celik Snap VS Freddie Mercury - Living On My Own (Massive mashup)

THE SLEEPER!





This PUPPY will be made GREAT AGAIN! Full restoration in progress!!!

Time capsule. Untouched. What's in store for me? Hardship or Smooth sailing? Only time will tell!!!

More later.

 

[biffzinker]

Only time will tell!!!

The suspense better be worth the payoff.

 

[dorsetknob]

The suspense better be worth the payoff.

Having been Impressed with all Roberts previous projects / work we will not be Disapointed

 

[Robert B]

The insides have a few surprises. We arent dealing with something top of the line but you will see. I intend to fully restore it.

It has a P75 ES CPU.

More later.

 

[blobster21]

Sometimes it is better to trust you feelings/gut and dont give up. This not only applies to this instance but to any other situation you might encounter in your life.

There are little bits of wisdom spread all across this thread, i'm browsing it whenever it pops again on the front page !

More later.

YOU BET !

 

[biffzinker]

Having been Impressed with all Roberts previous projects / work we will not be Disapointed

I didn't expect anything else but the best going from past posts in this thread.

 

[lexluthermiester]

It has a P75 ES CPU.

Engineering sample! Very interesting. Nice

 

[Robert B]

Check this out! Funky EDO RAM 2x4MB

TELBUS MCM Design - TM 513201-70 / Si-Die 2195 TI - 03.1995

The casing is made from a hard plastic. The SLEEPER is full of surprises.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Check this out! Funky EDO RAM 2x4MB

TELBUS MCM Design - TM 513201-70 / Si-Die 2195 TI - 03.1995

The casing is made from a hard plastic. The SLEEPER is full of surprises.

Weird! Never seen anything like that before with anything before SDRAM.

 

[Robert B]

The next two stories might not be considered by some to be retro but I felt that they are stories that are fit to be presented here. Even if my soul is back into the '90s my heart is close to many other generations of components old and new.

Anton Ishutin - Show Me (Dmitri Saidi & Vicent Ballester Remix)

Abit KN8 ULTRA the misfortunate or 939 a touch and go affair

Ah s939...

Over the years I never owned a s939 system be it with Good Ol' AGP slot or "the latest and greatest" with PCI-E slots. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? I just can't say for sure.

One thing is certain. Back then, instead of waiting just a little while longer and buy a first generation s939 kit, I decided to buy my 3rd socket A PC. Abit NF7-S with a Barton core Athlon XP 2800+ and a Leadtek 6600GT AGP...bad move to buy something like that, so late into the cycle. The motherboard was EOL and finding it proved to be quite a challenge. To make matters worse, the Barton 2800+ was a poor overclocker. With great efforts I managed to eek out 2.2GHz out of it and even then it was flaky as hell. The motherboard hanged from time to time when I had HDDs connected to the S-ATA ports. Even to this day, to some extent, I still think of that A64 3200+ that I should've bought back then. I got as much as I could from this last socket A PC until 2008 when I managed to buy something really good. A P35 with Core 2 Duo E8400. Good times.

Funny fact. Even to this day, my old NF7-S is still used with Win XP for light browsing at my aunts small shop. Who would've thought. I'm waiting paciently for the moment when I will be called to put her into retirement, clean it and restore it as it deserves. The box of the motherboard is still in my aunts office as I've seen it a while ago. Back in 2008 when I sold that PC, I told them to keep all the boxes.

Enough reminiscing, I should return to the present.

On the 01.06.2019 I was at the local flea market. The weather was temperamental to say the least. It was around 09.00. Me and a few other "special" guys, were there looking for the next score. As the saying goes: "The early bird gets the worm." I can think of a few ways to interpret this but let's leave it at that. My mind is restless.

The day before, I received on WhatsApp, from my best supplier of retro HW, a picture with a mighty Abit AN7 motherboard. My first thought, after I saw the pictures, went towards my old NF7-S. After a restless night, filled with dreams of old HW ,(I know I should go check myself ), I woke up and something was telling me that I might find an Abit motherboard at the flea market. I just could sense something in the air.

The odds were pretty low to say the least. Was I able to find an Abit motherboard on that exact day in a small flea market like that from my city?

Well, I arrived at the local flea market and I saw that there were very few sellers and even fewer buyers. It rained the night before and the weather was gloomy. I said to myself that this will be a day to forget and I wont find anything worthwhile.

I walked absent-minded on the alleys and all I could find were butchered and dismembered components in various states of decay...

I arrived at a small strip of concrete and I saw a white shopping bag from which a bright golden heatsink was visible. On that golden heatsink something was written ... ABIT!

Ueheheh! My eyes poped out and I reached for the bag and I caught a glimpse of what was inside.

While I was looking inside, I heard a man's voice from behind, telling me quite agressively: KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF THE BAG AS YOU ARE GOING TO TEAR IT UP!!!

I was struck by those words as: 1. I wasnt expecting such a reaction and 2. I'm not the kind that tears up shopping bags.

I turned around and I saw that those words came from a short man with a mustache, wearing a knitted vest, a cap and a pair of glasses.

My first reaction was to underline the fact that the bag was on the ground and I thought that it belonged to the woman that was selling a bunch of stuff.

I was assaulted again by a couple of comments about tearing his shopping bag...

I was quite vexed and I was very close to give him a piece of my mind but I managed to compose myself.

I left but I wasnt able to shake off the images of an nVidia 6800 graphic card and the golden Abit cooler.

If only I would've arrived sooner at the flea market...damn...

I completed my stroll through the market but I found nothing else to buy.

Sheesshhh, a red 6800 card and an Abit motherboard complete with an Arctic heatpipe cooler....damn...

Because I didnt find anything to buy and I had a shopping bag with me, I, being the good samaritan, when I found the man from before, trying to stuff more parts into his bag I told him that he can have my bag, free of charge. I was only thinking about the well-being of the components ...

I DON'T NEED IT!!!

What the ... I almost sent him you know where ... but in an instance I managed to remain calm.

- I asked him: How much did you pay for all the parts?
- 4 EUROS. (we're getting somewhere)
- What would you say if I was to buy all the parts from you?
- They are not for sale!
- I give you 10 EUROS for the lot!
- (HDD LED ON for a couple of seconds) Zero reactions.
- Come on, it is more than double what you have paid and I dont need the PSU.

A few moments later I was looking freely inside the bag and the man was also giving me details. This is a PSU with a separate 12V socket...He bought the parts for scrap and the fact that they looked well, attracted him.

I only had eyes for the Abit motherboard and that RED card!!!: GAINWARD Model 6800GS PCI-E 512MB TV-OUT DVI / P/N:NE/6800SXTD52-PM8070-GLH (It was presented before this episode) Sax@cean edit. Rafael Lambert - The Way We Are (Anton Ishutin Remix)

I looked briefly over the Abit motherboard and I only saw an elctrolytic capacitor that had its plastic jacket scratched. Otherwise it looked ok. The mounted cooler was an Arctic Freezer 64 PRO and the CPU was fine and dandy.

10 EUROS for the motherboard, graphic card, RAM, CPU and cooler? No brainer ...

Now the Abit kit and the Gainward card were in MY SHOPPING BAG.

After I gave the man the 10 EUROS, the lady that sold them initially, asked me how much I paid for them. She wasnt too happy when she found out that I paid 10 EUROS instead of the 4 she received.

At that moment I was really happy even if in my bag I held some PCI-E parts that werent so "retro".

I arrived at my car and I took a few pictures.



I removed the cooler thinking that I might score an Athlon FX CPU (I know it was wishful thinking) but I found a common 64 3200+ instead. It seems that over the years this CPU is haunting me. ADA3200DAA4BW



The motherboard model is: Abit KN8 Ultra V1.0. With this occasion I saw that besides the electrolytic capacitor with the scratched plastic jacket, a 13NO3LA MOSFET had been resoldered or changed. I didnt waste too much thought over this. The flea market stuff always has these risks. Even if the motherboard was toast I was still in the green. At that time I didnt take into consideration the fact that the motherboard might be dead.



I put the motherboard on my bench box and I powered it up.



POWER ON! Tense moments ... seconds pass ... just a flatline. ... Hmm ... NO F..KING BEEPS! That can't be a good thing I said to myself ... My PCI debugger card, being some cheap chinese crap, didnt give me a single clue to what was happening.



I updated the BIOS.

The board received power. The leds lighted up. The CPU got warm. Even so, I wasnt able to make it to P.O.S.T.. I tried other CPUs and sticks of RAM but to no avail.

While I was trying to resuscitate the board, one thing was annoying me quite bad. The Good Ol' Abit chipset cooler, board killer in all its might. Loud and almost ceased was yelling at me: DEAD CHIPSET!!! Even to this day I still cant understand why they mounted such crap on a vital component. They could've used an oversized heatsink and call it a day.



While my mind still searched for answers, I decided to address the matter of the chipset cooler. To my surprise, I found out that the golden variant is heavier than the silver one. It had a certain weight to it. The heatsink is up for the task but the fan is the weak part. I cleaned the ball bearing and the sleeve bearing. I didnt want to open up the ball bearing and I used pressurised grease to make the bearing run freely. I also used some fine washers to reduce the play in the fan.

At the end, the cooler was almost new. The fan still had a small noise but I was going to address that later IF the motherboard proved to be alive.



That day all my efforts were futile. The motherboard didnt POST no matter what. No beeps. Nothing.

A few day later I cleaned it well. I washed it with hot water and dish soap, followed by 99% IPA and a session with and air compressor. I wasnt going to waste time making spotless a board that seemed dead.



While I was cleaning the board I checked another thing that seemed out of place. An electrolytic capacitor was too tall and too close from a PCI-E x1 slot. Someone replaced an OST RLX de 1500uf/6.3 cap with a SAMXON KM 3300uf/6.3V cap. The soldering was superb and I had to check the internet to see if the motherboard really had a 3300uf cap there. Taking into consideration that the board didnt POST, I started thinking that maybe those three caps near the chipset were at the root of all my problems.



The OST RLX caps were sold as Ultra LOW ESR and I couldnt just solder whatever I could find . Besides, in order to get my final answers I had to solder something good so that I wont have to return and solder other caps.

I looked in my stash of caps and I didnt find what I needed. I wasnt going to solder some 3300uf Nichicon HM caps in an area where were soldered 1500uf caps, even if that might've worked.

The OST RLX specsheets presented some good numbers if we are to believe them.

http://www.paullinebarger.net/DS/

http://www.paullinebarger.net/DS/OST/OST%20%5bradial%5d%20RLX%20series.pdf

I was in a deadlock.

Days passed.

I cleaned the Arctic Freezer 64 PRO cooler. I used hot water and dish soap followed quickly by an air compressor session. The fan received a little oil. The rubber mountings of the fan have perished and the original owner replaced them with screws. Even so, the cooler is quiet. I also cleaned the memory sticks.



By chance, I found in my city, some solid caps: ULR 1500uf 6.3V which were quickly soldered.



Hours spent trying to revive the board. NO POST! NO BEEPS! NOTHING!

I dumped the motherboard into a box and I forgot about it.

My mind didnt give up so easily though. It still searched for answers.

What if the BIOS chip is toast? The odds were close to ZERO as I was able to delete and reprogram the chip with my MiniPRO TL866A.

Still...

I searched for a replacement BIOS chip and I found it on my dead GA-8TM s423 motherboard.

GA-8TM - SST49LF004A
http://pdf.datasheetcatalog.com/datasheet/SiliconStorageTechnology/mXyzqwqs.pdf
KN8 Ultra - Pm49FL004
http://www.issiusa.com/pdf/Pm49FL002-004.pdf

I checked the specsheets and I arrived to the conclusion that they are compatible and I should try something.

Last shot for glory.



NO CHANGE!!!

In a gesture of supreme frustration I pulled the blue heatsink from the VRM section of the board. If initially it seemed glued and I left it in place while I cleaned the board, now it moved and I was able to remove it.

THE HORRORS!!!



Bad soldering and a replaced MOSFET. There's your problem son! More electrolytic caps with scratched plastic jackets. One slightly burned fan connector...someone before me tried everything to save the board but I think that he shouldn't've bothered...

I tried to remove a MOSFET using my 100W soldering gun but that was something like: pissing in the wind. That soldering gun with modified tips helped me in many situations but not now. My trusty mighty axe is useless here. I need other tools. I hit a brick wall.

This is the end I said to myself. I wont waste any more time searching for another MOSFET or for finding the specs of all the MOSFETS.

Abit KN8 the misfortunate. Most probably a dead chipset.



R.I.P.

gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/mo44vbag/

For me, s939 is still a touch and go affair.

More later.

 

[Robert B]

SOON: X58 the Semi-Glorious

It's me the RED GUY ahem the X58 Gigabyte motherboard. Hello, its... Barbara Streisand! //the red guy//



More later.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Hello, its... Barbara Streisand! //the red guy//

That was messed up!

 

[Robert B]

Borka - Le Vent

X58 - The Semi-Glorious ...

Fond memories tie me to the X58, even if back in the day I have never owned such a beast ... Sky high prices while I was rocking a P35-E8400-DDR2 ... Yep, it is kind of sad to be a "filthy peasant" and not one of the "glorious master race" but what can you do ... For a wide majority of us, joy can be found in the "simple" things, that is if you can stop for a moment and realize this. For a select few, it is exactly the opposite. You see, back in 2011 I joined a forum from my country called lab501. The fact that attracted me to join this particular forum were the great Overclocking Achievements of the founders of that forum/site that culminated with their win of the MSI MOA in 2011 and their excellent articles posted on the their internet page. In fact, the lab501 is the only overclocking team who ever held the GOOC, MOA and HWBOT Country Cup titles simultaneously! Being one of the select few, takes many sacrifices and perseverence. Reading about their achievements was and still is very exciting. From around that time I started to really like X58 stuff even if I never bought one for myself. That has changed recently when I aquired my X58 SG ... Semi-Glorious ...

LAB501 - Romania OC Team - 2008-2011

Despre noi

Visit the post for more.

www.lab501.ro

next lab501 – This is mobile !

lab501

This is hardware !

www.lab501.ro

Some of the readers of this post might already know about Monstru, matose, poparamiro and others that form the lab501 OC team but I'm sure that for a wide majority this information is unknown.

Let's return the to matter at hand. The mystical aura of the X58 made be buy one. Was it a good ideea or a bad ideea? I'll let you be the Judge of that.

In April, this year, I arrived at the logical conclusion , that I MUST own a X58 setup no matter what. It couldn't be just any X58 so I searched high and low. Even from the begining, one fact was quite OBVIOUS. The prices for X58 stuff are still very high and in some instances they are close or even greater than those at their introduction on the market. What the FUUUU.....K?!??! The answer to this rather curious situation soon followed. People are still using them and they are still a viable option so the prices are still pretty high up there. If you want a top end X58 motherboard you better be prepared to fork out the cash. Bummer ...

These X58 beasts refuse to die and enter my collection, damn ...

Another headache was the fact that my X58 had to be made only by Gigabyte. Nothing else would cut it!

If I knew what was in store for me after I bought my Gigabyte motherboard, you can be sure that I wouldn't've bothered. If we look from another perspective if I wouldnt've bought it you would not have something to read so all evens out in the end, I guess ...

I found my Gigabyte EX58-EXTREME v1.0 on the national OLX site. It was equipped with a i7-920 CPU / 6GB DDR3 triple channel. The price was out of my comfort zone so before I decided to buy it I wrote a few lines to the seller and I asked for some details. The seller told me that the motherboard was in good working condition and he had no use for it as he made the switch to a laptop. It had the original box but the package was incomplete. The Hybrid Silent-Pipe 2, the graphic card support, and a few other bits and pieces, were missing from the package. OK, I said to myself. This looks kind of legit? The pictures were a little blurry but the kit looked kind of OK. I was undecided. Out of the blue, a few days later, the seller sent me a message and told me that he is willing to drop the price. This was now around 60 EUROS for the motherboard, CPU and RAM. The price was pretty low compared to other motherboards on sale on the OLX site. For example, a Gigabyte X58-UD3R motherboard was about 80+ EUROS and the price didnt include a CPU or RAM. Even so, I still didnt want to buy the Gigabyte EX58-EXTREME. One day later I received another message from the seller. 50 EUROS for the motherboard, CPU and RAM, after a buyer thought it was s1150 instead of s1366 and returned it, ... So, I decided to pull the trigger. I spoke with the seller on the phone and he seemed trustworthy so I paid 50 EUROS for the kit and 10 EUROS for shipping. He told me that the motherboard is in good working condition so there were no reasons to worry.

This wasn't a bad ideea or was it?!?!? Little did I know ...

I did the classic mistake of not asking for the pictures with the CPU socket.

I waited anxiously the arrival of the package. The first thing I did after I removed the motherboard from the HUGE box in which is sat, was to conduct a close inspection of the CPU socket ...

THE HORROR! ... THE HORROR! ... THE HORROR!!!!!!!



I was numb. Cold shivers ran down my spine. What the FUUUUUUUUUUUUU........K!!!!

Bent and deformed pins. Lint between pins. One missing pin and one discolored pin. How could this motherboard be in GOOD WORKING CONDITION?!?!?! What kind of a man can sell this? I guess Ignorance si Bliss ... too bad I'm not an ignorant person. After so many posts, I guess that you already know that for me attention to detail is EVERYTHING!!! It all comes naturally to me. It is like breathing air, an effortless thing.

Minutes have passed until I was able shake off the negative feelings. NO! NO! NO!

After a little panic, as this was a totaly new experience for me, I reached for my phone and I called the seller. He was swiftly informed about the situation. I told him about all the problems and that I had no use for such a kit. He kept telling me that the motherboard works, that he has entered the BIOS, yadda yadda, etc. etc. etc.

Bent pins are bent pins. THAT IS A FACT!

Besides bent pins, the motherboard had other issues. The stock waterblock had some kind of red sealant at its base, one little heatsink had bent fins an the RAM was anything but true triple channel. Mismatched RAM ... GREAT!!! Add assault to injury ... what could possibly go wrong ... &$@*(&$@*&!)!^$!^)(^$!*)&){!!!!###



In the end I told the seller that all I could do was to buy the i7-920 CPU for the price of the shipping I already paid (10 EUROS) and that he had to pay the shipping back for the motherboard and the 6GB RAM.

Long seconds have passed ... the seller told be that he had no use the motherboard, that the box is too big and takes up space, etc. etc. etc. I told him that I DONT WANT THE MOTHERBOARD and THAT I DONT EVEN WANT TO POWER IT UP.

In the end, the seller came up with the proposition that he will return 40 EUROS if I was willing to send him back the 6GB of RAM and keep the motherboard.

I agreed.

In the end for 20 EUROS I was the pround owner of a damaged motherboard and one i7-920 CPU ... GREAT !!! Yeah right ... now his problem was MY PROBLEM! The motherboard looked like it went to hell and came back ...

After I spoke with the seller on the phone, I said to myself that even if I was to lose 60 EUROS I should stop worrying about this whole situation. This isnt a great sum of money ...

If I take into consideration the trips to the courier, plus stress, plus all the convincing I had to do, plus the days it took the seller to return the money, plus yadda yadda, it would've been better for me to fork out the cash for a nice X58 kit and be like a BO$$!!! Too late now ... bad decisions are BAD DECISIONS!!!

I was close to selling the kit and forget the whole thing.

Time passed and in the end I decided to do what I do best.

LET'S MAKE THIS SORRY A$$ GIGABYTE EX58-EXTREME GREAT AGAIN!!!

I straightened the pins as best I could. I didnt insist too much as they were already traumatized. Please observe in the pics the pulled pins with their tip bent over their head ... Initially, the straightening of the pins seemed difficult but now I can do this any time of the day.

I remember that after I decided to keep the motherboard, I jumped right in, and with a shaky hand while my heart was pounding I started straightening the pins. This was a bad proposition but in the end I DID IT!!! It is not rocket science! Easy peasy!

I recommed that you are ZEN while you straighten CPU pins ... otherwise BAD things CAN and WILL happen ...



The seller told me that the motherboard was in working condition. As I said to him I say to you: I will not power up a board with bent pins! Only after I straightened them out I was ready for a test.

Initialy, I thought that the discolored pin was a result of some shoddy soldering. The answer to this question came later and it was quite obvious after I was faced with another problem with this motherboard.

Surprise! I had no beefy CPU cooler or a mighty PSU and I wasnt going to canibalize them from my daily driver. Bummer ... damn ninja gremlins always busting my chops ... &$(@*(*@$##!!!!

I searched in my stash of parts and I found : A Titan CU5TB cooler and an Antec Eathwatts EA-380D Green PSU.

This looks kind of legit!

A short visit on a site with a PSU calculator and I was ready to start the X58 "garbage".

What graphic card to use?! Hmmm ATI 3807x2?! HELL NO! Too much current needed! Hmmm ... THIS might fit the bill! Creative Labs -CT6950-nVidia Vanta 32MB PCI (CT6954) in the HOUSE!!!

I placed the TITAN CU5TB on the i7-920, after I applied some MX-4 ointment and I was ready for THE DEFINITVE TEST!

POWER UP!!!



DID IT WORK???

ALL CREWS REPORTING SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRR!!!



The CU5TB kept in check a i7-920 CPU that wasnt unleashed. The temperatures varied from 40-41 to 53 degrees Celsius after a few hours of MEMTEST 86+. I say RESPECT FOR the tiny CU5TB! I used a 4GB DDR3 1333MHz Kingston dual channel kit because that was all I had at the time.

The initial tests were encouraging so I decided to restore the board, in spite of all the problems it had.

First I tackled the waterblock. I removed the red sealant after I saw that there were no leaks after a test with water.

I made two plugs that mimicked the factory ones.

I hand polished the waterblock. Patience, polishing cream and soft rags. That's all she wrote!



I removed the cooling system made from a hefty heat pipe.



I inspected the motherboard.

WHAT THE FU...K!!!! What kind of sh.......tttt is this!!??!??!?!!



Remember the missing pin and the discolored one? Initialy I thought that the missing pin was a result of too much straightening and the discolred pin was a result of some soldering iron action. The truth was plain to see. The pins made contact and the motherboard was powered up. As a result, a fuse blew up, a pin was vaporized and another one sticked out like a sore thumb...GREAT!!!

... how can you power up a board with pins that make contact and hope for the best ... I have nothing more to add ...

I stared at the motherboard for many minutes ...



Is still worth it to restore this piece of ... manure ... ???

HELL YEAH!!! When the going gets tough YOU TOUGH THE F..K UP!!!

I removed the body of the blown fuse.



I cleaned the area with some IPA 99%. The question was what kind of fuse to solder there ... what were the specs ?

NEW PICTURES FOUND!

v

Mirror mirror on the wall AM I GOING TO BE GREAT AGAIN? Sure my dear, anything you want!



To remove the blwown fuse I used my trusty soldering gun with a tip adapted for the task.



I needed a Littelfuse X16 fuse but I didnt have a single board that had one. Bummer ... I wasnt able find an equivalent from another manufacturer no matter how much I searched through my boxes of parts. Buying a few fuses was out of the question as the minimum order was in the hundreds of pieces ...

I was DEAD IN THE WATER ... again ...

A couple of weeks later at the flea market I found what I needed. A banged up ASUS P8H67 motherboard, for which I paid under 3 EUROS, had lots of Littelfuse X16 fuses. Lucky ME!!!!



Funnny fact. The damaged ASUS P8H67 had no bent or missing pins. WHAT THE ACTUAL F..K??? How could this be?!?!?? Human error is the worst kind of error!



Removing a Littelfuse X16 fuse from the ASUS P8H67, using my 100W monster, proved more difficult than anticipated. The fuse is very thin and bendy. The fusible element is held between two layers of insulation. After a few tries I managed to remove a fuse that fit the bill.



Final results? Almost good as new!



After so many problems and so much work I started feeling THE TASTE OF VICTORY!!!

The demons had been slain and my gut was telling me that all will be smooth sailing from now on.

I cleaned the motherboard well.



CLEAN! CLEAN! CLEAN!



WARRIORS OF THE NIGHT! ASSEMBLE!!!



The final results were according to the effort put it. This looks just like I REMEBER A X58 should look!!!



Many days have passed after I was able to exorcise the Gigabyte X58 ... and I still didn't have a CPU cooler to conduct a FINAL TEST ...

I wanted to buy a Prolimatech Megahalems or Super Mega CPU cooler and make something special but the price was a little high and in the end I abandoned the idea ...

The flea market came to the rescue again. By a stroke of luck, in a big box of coolers, I found the the missing piece of the puzzle in the form of a stock s1366 cooler. The cooler was in bad shape with a verdigrised copper slug and many bent fins. I paid the asking price of under 3 EUROS and after some elbow grease it was almost good as new.



Arround that time I also posted an add on the lab501 forum in which I stated that I wanted to buy a Gigabyte X58-UD9 or GA-X58A-OC motherboard. I talked with a user on that forum and by another stroke of luck, after he found out about the problems with my Gigabyte EX58-EXTREME, he told be that he had a new Hybrid Silent-Pipe 2 heatsink, a new waterblock and the required screws. LUCKY ME! For 10 EUROS, I was able to return this board to its former glory. NO stupid screaming little fans on this board. ONLY A MANLY HEAT PIPE!!! FTW!!!



AWESOME! I had a motherboard that underwent a miraculous recovery, a CPU cooler, the extra cooling kit, but I didnt have a RAM kit that was up for the task.

The missing piece came in the shape of a CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB 3x2GB 1866MHz ver 2.1 kit for which I had to wait more than a week and I had to pay a little over 22 EUROS.



GLORIOUS on the road to become Semi-Glorious ...



i wanted, ... I wanted, ... I wanted, ... I wanted a 1+KW monster, I wanted a big piece of "iron" to cool that hot i7-920, I wanted to heat up that i7-920, I wanted ... so, the Semi-Glorious seeds have been sown ... the funds needed plus the problems of the motherboard made me back off. Maybe one day ... maybe ...

Only one thing was left to be done. In spite of the missing pin, was the motherboard still at 100%?



To be able to run the 6GB triple channel at 1866MHz I had to increase a little the QPI voltage in BIOS. Initially, I received some errors in MEMTEST 86+ even if the individual sticks turned out to be OK. I started sweating bullets only thinking that maybe the memory kit is bad ... Over the course of testing I was amazed of the heat this monster unleashes. It put my meager Z68-2600K to shame in regard to this aspect. To be honest I must underline that the room temperature was around 24 degrees Celsius.

For testing purposes I still used the Antec de 380W PUS and the PCI Vanta 32MB. I also used a Cirrus Logic 5430 1MB.

The Hibrid Silent-Pipe 2 did its job and I can say that it wasnt just a marketing gimmick.



@100%



Satisfied with the results, I left the motherboard in its box for a few weeks. Until I decided to post this episode I kept staring at the sorry state of the package and I said to myself why don't I do something about it?

I counted my options.

I knew that I could not use just any type of glue and because I had available some transparent silicone based glue, I said to myself WHY NOT?

I used small strips of thin cardboard to strengthen different areas, I managed to repair fringed areas and some holes in the cardboard. All in all as a trial run I got some decent results.

Initially I wanted to take apart the whole box and made a thin under-armour that was to be glued to the original cardboard but the amount of time and work needed were off the scale. I know I can do it it's just that this is a Semi-Glorious project and this is just as it should remain. A testimony of how things shouldn't be done and how thing should be restored.

Enjoy the pics.



As usual, the final part is reserved for the glamour shots.

Smiling to the camera.



Semi-Glorious indeed ...

After a lot of effort I got just a Small Spark instead of a Supernova Blast. Still, a mighty X58 is still a X58 even knee deep in the dead.

I wanted this story to be so much more than what it is. What has started badly didnt end worse but I was left with a sour aftertaste that is quite difficult to get rid off. I'm sure that many of you have been faced with a similar situation but I dont think that there are many that would've bothered to save this board. Only my stubborn nature and my will to get something from nothing made me go in the "wrong" direction until I got "the maximum" I was looking for.

I wanted to replace the CPU socket at a local shop but after some careful thinking I deemed the operation to be to risky.I spoke with them and the conclusion was something like this: IF IT WORKS WHY FIX IT? The cost was arround 40 EUROS including the socket. A decent price, but there were no guarantees that the board will work after the replacement. The odds of something going bad were pretty small but they had to be taken into consideration. A fact underlined by that company aswell.

A plus after this adventure is that in the end, I can safely say that I can restore just about anything. The methods applied on older parts can be successfully applied to restore any component no matter the generation. It is only a matter of will, time and of course money.

gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/3cv33mhew/

More later.

 

[phill]

Much love as always @Robert B !! Love seeing these posts... Reminds me of X58 and the fact I never got away from it until it was really too late lol A pic or two for you sir

I recently bought a Gigabyte X58 board, wow was that a mistake.. I couldn't get it to post and the guy that I'd bought it from said it was due to the fact I'd not installed the heatsink on the motherboard.. I thought I'm sorry but a two minute test with no load on it, there's no chance it wouldn't at least post.. Funnily enough when he contacted me about the parcel going to the wrong address and I'd messaged him back to say well, I have it, what is your address I'll send it back, I've never heard from him again.... Funny that....

Ah well.. I look forward to seeing the next post @Robert B as always

 

[Robert B]

@phill - I saw some of your X58 pieces and I must say that you have something really nice there. Exquisite taste my man!

The next episode will continue along the newer components path but I intend to revert to older tech in the near future.

More later.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I found my Gigabyte EX58-EXTREME v1.0 on the national OLX site.

Given that you got it working stable, I would recommend updating the bios(if needed) and buying an inexpensive Xeon 6 core for that board. An X5650 or X5660 would be perfect as either one can be OC'd on that board very easily and to great effect. I would also get 4GB@1600x3 to get the most out of the triple channel setup.