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Intel MS440GX Dual Slot-2 Build

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    Intel MS440GX Dual Slot-2 Build

    Quote pulled from the 'cheap/free scores' thread: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...postcount=5695

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    The board has arrived. It has been identified as an Intel MS440GX; dual slot-2. It was apparently used in some ancient Gateway server & Seimens server as well as being sold stand-alone. I have the 'stand-alone' version based on the BIOS revision on it, it has an Intel splash @ POST. The gateway version used one with their 'splash' in it, and had a different string according to retro web. It came with a pair of P2 Xeons @ 450MHz, 512k L2. I don't know if it'll run the 900MHz Cascades chips or not....I'm not robbing my other build to test this... I'll see if I can locate another pair....but if nothing else, simply bump it up to the same Xeon @ 450 with the 2MB L2's.....

    The board is in working order, BIOS updated to the latest that research revealed, and it's in the 'oven' right now. The updated BIOS changelog does show PIII Xeon support, which is a good sign for Cascades support.
    There's been some discoveries & updates, so time to break it off into its own thread. I don't have any kind of build in mind yet, I have to find a case for it; it's an eATX.....but as I 'got to know' this board, it turns out that it was a quite unique transitional for the slot-2.....so lets get into this one!!

    The board; just as I received it....





    The CPU's included are a pair of 'Drake' core Xeons @ 450MHz, the fastest of the core. These are the Pentium2 equivalent of the Deschutes core....but had L2 cache sizes up to 2MB.





    Time to light this candle.....and well...BIOS password....



    Intel's lovely 'maintenance menu'; which is activated by a jumper.



    No more password!



    I tracked down the last release BIOS for this, which fixed a ton of stuff compared to the revision that was on the board and added official P3 Xeon support.....which we'll get back to later.....but for now:

    This for some reason always makes me nervous on such old hardware, even though 'the oven' is on a UPS....



    ...but no problems....BIOS updated.





    Tossed a little more RAM in it, which slows the POST screen to a crawl checking/addressing all this...



    Now for some CPU experimenting.....but first, the fasteners that hold the brackets to the board were missing....maybe they were attached to a backplane in the original case (most likely).....but these fasteners needed to be replaced.



    Hardware from the stash.





    ...and done!!





    This board does not support Cascades cores; which are the equivalent of a Coppermine. The VRM won't allow it, it maxes @ 2v VCORE, the Cascades is a 2.8v chip. It would POST with Cascades, but it would not run right.....so the only pentium3 Xeons this can run are Tanner cores, which are 2v VCORE; the equivalent of a Katmai P3 with a big (1M) full speed L2.....and that's where this is at. I can up this to a pair of Tanner 550/100 with a 1M L2 or a pair of Drake 450/100 with a 2MB Half speed L2....and that's all. This is why I say transitional, boards that support Cascades won't have a socket for a VRM, they'll always be onboard.

    The choice of CPU is obvious. The bigger but half speed cache of the 450MHz Drake would definitely be a step down from the full speed 1M cache of the 550MHz Tanner. I found a pair of them for $36 shipped; not a huge demand for them.....but for now, the originals reinstalled.



    Just some testing....this board is 3.3v heavy, which increased of course when I went from 1x 128mb module to 4x 512mb modules....



    Back in the maintenance menu, which is where CPU speeds are set. The original BIOS I had did not go above 450MHz.....but since the update, I now have the full range to the max Tanner core.



    This one is still a work in progress. This would be a nice voodoo3 retro gamer with its AGP; an unusual feature for any slot-2 board....they pretty much all were proprietary server boards with no AGP and onboard video (ick)....but this one was intended as a workstation in its day with the AGP and onboard audio.....more to come.
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    #2
    Re: Intel MS440GX Dual Slot-2 Build

    ...and here we go...fastest CPU's anyway. Scored a pair of Tanner 1mb L2 P3 Xeons @ 550/100; the fastest the board can take.....



    I swapped the heatsinks out from the P2 450MHz Xeons over to these.....and yay post! In Maintenance menu, speed set.



    I robbed 2gb ECC RAM from another board that hasn't been built into a system yet....and all testing good....



    This board is now maxed. Can't add any more RAM or any faster of CPU's..... I still don't have a case that will fit this......but I'm always looking.........





    To be continued....
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      #3
      Re: Intel MS440GX Dual Slot-2 Build

      Looks awesome, as always.

      Any OS in mind for this build, when you do get to it. I'm guessing Win2k... and I imagine it will probably work quite well too. I put 2k on a bunch of PII 400 MHz laptops, and it picked up all of the drivers automatically. Didn't have to lift a finger for a single item. They run stable too. Speaking of which, I probably need to pull them out of their box and maybe try to sell a few. They've been sitting long enough where they are actually worth something now.

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        #4
        Re: Intel MS440GX Dual Slot-2 Build

        Originally posted by momaka View Post
        Looks awesome, as always.

        Any OS in mind for this build, when you do get to it. I'm guessing Win2k... and I imagine it will probably work quite well too. I put 2k on a bunch of PII 400 MHz laptops, and it picked up all of the drivers automatically. Didn't have to lift a finger for a single item. They run stable too. Speaking of which, I probably need to pull them out of their box and maybe try to sell a few. They've been sitting long enough where they are actually worth something now.
        It has USB, so definitely Win2k. Originally it probably ran NT or some form of *nix....but W2k would run really well on this. It could probably handle XP....but I think it'd be a bit drag-assy.....
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