Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Today was a good day overall, but tonight was even better. I promised a friend i would help him with fitting the new parts in his computer. He bought new motherboard and CPU and i sold him a stick of 8GB DDR3 to go with them.

When he left he said he would either give his old parts away for free or throw them in the bin. He asked me if i wanted them. Of course i said yes.

The system is as follows:

• a Biostar MCP6P8 M2+ mb. Board has 3 bad caps. Likely that is the source of his recent issues with the computer.
• A Phenom X3 CPU, first generation. Stock fan replaced by an Intel one by me about 2 years ago.
• 3GB of DDR2-800.

I still have my HD3870 + Accelero S1 that i used to rock in my heavily oc'd C2D rig. I have recently tested the card in another computer and it wouldn't work, but that was a HP workstation so it might simply not accept it. The card has been sitting around for about an year or so, it might have gone bad for doing nothing, but i kinda doubt it. The mobo has onboard video anyway.

So yeah... free computer. Got recapping to do tomorrow.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

[*]A Phenom X3 CPU, first generation.

First generation of Phenom=You must replace with a model number that ends in "50" (ex. 8750) the "00"s have a defect. IIRC, they were recalled by AMD.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

It's a 8650. So i do not need to replace anything. Besides, if it worked for 5 years, it should work from now on as well.

[Compgeke]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

Is this one that can be unlocked to run as a Phenom X4 rather than X3? I believe some (if not all) could do that providing the BIOS had support.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

Some Phenom IIs could be unlocked. This is a Phenom I so no. Besides, the mobo is a POS - it's got the ##!*%#$ Geforce 6150 for a chipset... I'm actually surprised that isn't dead yet.

It does have some limited overclocking/Vcore options though. I have already replaced the bulging caps btw. The VRM has seen better days, but even though it looks rather nasty, it works. Looking carefully at it, i had replaced 2 other capacitors and did something in the VRM area at some point.

The board seems to run okay with onboard video. I don't have right now a PSU that would take my HD3870. I'll be installing Windows on it and see how it goes.

Edit: BTW, i've also had an i3-2120 lying around for bloody ages, but never could be arsed to get a mobo for it. It's on the short-lived LGA1155 socket, and i checked for some boards out of curiosity. A board that might actually make it do something useful is still over $100. I don't want to pay money for any of that 2 memory slot cheap brand junk and a good board is too expensive fwiw. I know, i know, it's better than this Phenom, and it's got DDR3, and... But it ain't worth buying a board for as it is a dead socket, and i got this stuff for free. I'd rather sell the CPU.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

I stand corrected - if the i3 was a 2120 that would've been great as socket 1155 mobos are still being made and can be upgraded. That's what the box it is in says. The CPU is actually a i3-540 ES, socket 1156.

The Phenom works just fine for now. Figured out why there are no problems with the 6150 chipset - it does not get hot in normal operation, it runs under 60C. I should however put a video card in asap, running FurMark or other 3D-heavy programs on the onboard video gets it over 70C which is dangerous for it.

[3d0]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

It's always nice to have friends throwing things out!

Yes the 1115 socket is second gen. 1156 is the older one (first gen. I guess).
I've bought a mb+pentium G630 cpu for 60 euro, 2 years ago. Always wanted to upgrade the cpu with a i5. It's running XP x86 because I need a rig to use the old printers & scanners with.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

Here's how it currently looks. And yes, that PSU is so old it doesn't even have an ATX12v connector! Has been running great after i replaced 2 bad caps in it tho. Full input filter and pi filter on all rails, plus thermally controlled fan making it real quiet.

It is 5v-heavy tho, the 12v rail sags as low as 11.07v if i run IntelBurnTest, but with a 9A rating on 12v that is not surprising. Upgrading the 12v rectifier and some feedback tweaks should take care of that. I'm curious of whether it will run my HD3870 though, but it just might do it after upgrading the 12v rail.

The board's VRM looks like it has seen better days, but IIRC it burned a couple years ago and i replaced one ceramic cap and it's been working fine since then. Notice the nice T vents of the Panasonic FL in between all those OSTs, those are the caps that i replaced. A couple of them have been replaced by me 2 years ago, the 3 next to the chipset and one on the VRM in i did last night. What bothers me is that it won't overclock worth a turd for some reason, but hey, at least i got the memory to run DDR2-800 with 5-5-5-15 timings (it defaulted to 667, no idea why as both sticks are 800) and that's good enough.

I'll be buying a microATX case to stick this in, then i have decided to hold off upgrading till next year, coz DDR4 is already out and will get cheaper, and some new CPUs should come out by then as well.

[shovenose]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

If you need a cheap but capable 1155 board I've orderd several of these with no problems. I've been using them 24/7 in some servers for a while now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231350379474...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I got them specifically because they aren't the lame ass H61 chipset, and they have four memory slots. The seller does kinda ship slowly, though.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

I was mistaken, the CPU is socket 1156 so it's the 1st gen i3. Only the box is from a 1155 CPU. So there really isn't much i can do with it.

[shovenose]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

I was mistaken, the CPU is socket 1156 so it's the 1st gen i3. Only the box is from a 1155 CPU. So there really isn't much i can do with it.

Wait, so it's not an i3-2120 because that's definitely a 1155 CPU.
Do you really have like an i3-530 or something?

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

A i3 540 ES actually. I mentioned that above.

[c_hegge]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

I'm very much in the same boat at work. We have more spare s1156 CPUs than we know what to do with. And we can't easily get motherboards for them. I already have two s1156 PCs in service at home (a Core i5 660 and a Core i3 530). There's a few used or refurbished on fleabay, but they charge at least $90 + shipping for them, which is is more than some of them were worth when brand new. We don't generally pay more than $50 for a used/refurbished motherboard.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

There's a few used or refurbished on fleabay, but they charge at least $90 + shipping for them, which is is more than some of them were worth when brand new. We don't generally pay more than $50 for a used/refurbished motherboard.

Yeah, that's exactly my line of thinking.

Btw, i found out why the board wouldn't overclock.
First of all, the BIOS overclocking is totally and absolutely broken. Overclocking with nVidia system tools works fine.
Second, the board defaulted to 1T command rate for the memory, which it cannot sustain much above stock. Going to 2T allowed a bit more headroom.
Third, i really need to fix the 12v rail of the PSU i am using. The VRM was getting upset and scorching hot, until i split the ATX12v load with another power supply (actually a modified laptop brick). That gained me another few MHz HTT.
Fourth, replacing the remaining two KZG on the VRM in is probably a good idea.

Unfortunately i updated the BIOS before finding out that the OC options are broken. The latest BIOS has removed the higher voltage settings, which were very limited anyway (max 10% extra for the CPU, max +0.3v on the HTT, max 0.12v on the chipset). Now it only gives 3.3% extra for CPU, +0.1v on the HTT and 0.04v on the chipset. The other two i don't think i need to touch, but moar Vcore would've been nice.

[Pentium4]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

Nice! That's a good score. What are the brands and model of the RAM modules you're using? Have you run a memtest on them after changing the timings?

And honestly man, if you pay for shipping I will send you a recapped PSU with a 6 pin PCIe connector. I have a few of them just sitting

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

I have two PSUs with 6 pin PCIe. A modular 500W Enermax and a FSP BlueStorm II. Both just need recapping, i've been simply too lazy to do them. So don't worry about that.

The RAM is 1 stick of Kingston HyperX and 1 stick of something called Silicon Power. I have run IntelBurnTest in Windows after tightening the timings and there's nothing wrong with them. IBT (actually just a GUI for Linpack) tests both CPU and RAM. The RAM isn't what's limiting me, it's the CPU and the board's VRM.

Currently running stable at 220 HTT (2553 MHz).

[3d0]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

Currently running stable at 220 HTT (2553 MHz).

Nice, whats the temp. of cpu and the nvidia chipset?

[Pentium4]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

I have two PSUs with 6 pin PCIe. A modular 500W Enermax and a FSP BlueStorm II. Both just need recapping, i've been simply too lazy to do them. So don't worry about that.

The RAM is 1 stick of Kingston HyperX and 1 stick of something called Silicon Power. I have run IntelBurnTest in Windows after tightening the timings and there's nothing wrong with them. IBT (actually just a GUI for Linpack) tests both CPU and RAM. The RAM isn't what's limiting me, it's the CPU and the board's VRM.

Currently running stable at 220 HTT (2553 MHz).

Gotcha Did you already reapply the thermal paste on the chipset? Also, I'd love to see some pics of the inside of that PSU What's it using right now for 12V output?

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

Nice, whats the temp. of cpu and the nvidia chipset?

CPU maxes out at 70.5C in IntelBurnTest. The chipset runs at around 55C usually, less if the CPU is stressed as the CPU fan spins faster and more air reaches its heatsink as well. The VRM gets scorching hot however, it could use some heatsinking.

Gotcha Did you already reapply the thermal paste on the chipset? Also, I'd love to see some pics of the inside of that PSU What's it using right now for 12V output?

Not yet because i'm out of paste atm. As for the PSU, i honestly can't remember, but it's due for an upgrade anyway.

[momaka]

Re: Friend upgraded, got a computer for free

Fourth, replacing the remaining two KZG on the VRM in is probably a good idea.

Definitely replace them, even though they are on the high side. Actually, if anything, the caps on the high side of the VRM are just as important. I've seen VRMs do funny stuff when they get bad high-side caps. And with all of that heat, those KZGs could be dried up and out of spec but just not showing it.
Also get rid of those OSTs next to the RAM. My observations are that OST does NOT like buck VRMs.

Great score otherwise!