Old HWBot warhorses makeover - fixing bent pins and other past sins

[J7SC_Orion]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...I did a fair amount of extreme oc @ HWBot w/ LN2, DICE and so forth. I haven't done that now in years, but the sin bin, the island of broken toys, the old warhorse barn of various GPUs, CPUs, mobos and so forth used in XOC was sitting on the bottom shelf in one of our store rooms - seemingly waiting for a second life, after some 'necessary operations' I had put off...and off. Then MrRetro '486' and I start talking about some older equipment, and before long, it was finally time to fix the retro stuff.

 

A quick disclaimer. Per usual, if you decide to try any of the tips and methods I describe here, you do so at your own risk.

 

A quick pic of the materials I used (apart from the usual screwdrivers, pincers, pliers etc) for all the steps below. Btw, sorry about the quality of some of the pics, I was too busy to get my better camera out of the car in the garage 30 storeys down . Below are most of the special items I used: A magnifying glass, a bottle of 'isopropyl alcohol 99', a toothbrush with SOFT (!!) bristles, and a very fine stitching needle, along with a carpet knife that has a long thin razor blade (not shown). In addition, a conductive pen, such as the 'circuitscribe' pictured, is also useful for certain steps:

 

 

​

 

 

 

I already mentioned the Gigabyte Z170 SOC Force in other threads. It wasn't really broken, but after a long pause, I gave it a through cleaning (removing LET, art eraser, Vaseline and other insulation materials applied before for LN2). It's now running a nice low-voltage 6700K 'ES' and DDR4000 - but only at 4.7 as I still have to mount a water-cooling setup....and yes, the elastic bands on the two fans on the air cooler are a nice touch, but not permanent (they work great, though )

 

 

 

 

Next came the X99 Asus Rampage V Extreme...it was full of LET and art eraser insulation, had several bent pins (when a 5960X ES slipped out of my hands the last time I used it ) and as a result was only running one of four RAM channels. The 2011 v3 socket itself had Vaseline in it from subzero prep over five years ago, and of course now dust and dirt had settled on top...in short, it was the biggest mess, the biggest challenge...

 

First, several liberal applications isopropyl into the socket were in order, then turning it upside down and letting the resulting gunk drip out over night. Then another round of isopropyl, but this time !CAREFULLY! brushed across all 2011 pins with the soft-bristle toothbrush. Finally, I could see which pins needed attention...Normally, I would enjoy a glass or two of my fav Malbec or CabMerlot when doing this after hours - but not for these next steps...

 

Using good lighting and the magnifying glass, you can quickly identify which pins need the most attention. My method is to very !CAREFULLY! place the thin razor blade of the carpet knife between the pin in question and the closest to it (others may have a different method and in any case: please see the above disclaimer). I actually fix the handle of the carpet knife with a piece of duct tape onto the desk lamp so that I have two free hands - one holds the magnifying glass, the other a very fine needle - I use the tip of the needle to VERY VERY !CAREFULLY! straighten out the pins in question...it is better to do it a little bit at a time instead of trying to get it all done in one go...those pins can break off easily. In the past, I have also used very thin surgical pincers to straighten pins, but not this time, given that the pins were not only bent but folded over.

 

Pre-operation of the Asus Rampage V Extreme:

 

 

 

 

...all said and done, it took two days of this...and of course repeated testing. After the cleaning, it still only had one out of four RAM channels working, then I got it to two after several tries fixing some of the bent pins, then some more quick testing with the CPU installed...and I got to three channels after some additional pin operations, and things were looking up ! Finally, I got the last one fixed, and voila - Quad Channel happy days are here again for that board and CPU, per pic of the monitor below (running an old Win 8 pro bench drive).

 

 

 

...then I tried all the onboard USBs, the LAN and also mounted two old 780 Ti Classifieds to test out the PCIe channels....everything worked. I almost blew it though as the two GPUs were used for extreme oc before I put them aside...so years later when I re-mounted their air-coolers, I forgot to switch the GPUs' bios back from that 300% KingPin XOC & EVBot bios Fortunately, I noticed the orange instead of the green LEDs lighting up...

 

The temp air cooler is actually an Arctic Threadripper model (good one, btw) and it will be replaced by a nice w-cooling setup in the near future...Now, these days, a 5960X @ 4.5 giggles is nothing to write home about, but it is 8c/16t and more importantly HEDT (quad channel, more PCIe lanes). Also, the 32GB of DDR4 Samsung-B I ended up mounting is already at 3333 MHz w/o any errors - I might get it to a higher speed and tighter timings once I get the cooling updated.

 

 

 

The next resident of the barn of old warhorses is a Z97 Maximus VII Formula...it has a great 'sought-after batch' 4790K that ran in the mid-5s w/o much effort or excessive volts at mild ( -40C) sub-ambient back in the day...it really just needed cleaning. Per above, Vaseline in the socket and the same removal process. No bent pins - those only ever happened to me with 2011 / v3 sockets. For some strange reason, the Z97 Maximus VII Formula still doesn't like the XMP setting for the TridentZ DDR3 / 2666 MHz RAM, but I have chased down a lot of RAM tuning rabbit holes before, so I set everything up nice and tight at @ 2666 MHz manually.

 

I still need to put the mobo cladding back on along with its built-in VRM w-cooling

 

 

 

I'll skip over other mobos that just needed cleaning off from the gunk of XOC years back but otherwise required no major operations, such as a Rampage IV Extreme that now carries a (lousy-clocker) 4930K and 64GB of Ripjaws RAM for some office server back-up duty (i.e. during regular upgrades of front-line equipment).

 

There was however one final problem child, and it it was one of my favourite-CPU-and-mobo combos from the early days: A 3770K in a Maximus V Extreme mobo (early Thunderbolt onboard, plus ROG OC Key, Wifi, bluetooth, Intel 1GB Lan etc). This was really my first 'serious oc' mobo and the good news is that the mobo is fine - it just needed a thorough cleaning. However, the 3770K, capable of 5GHz at 1.32v on water and with a strong IMC, had lost one of its 1155 little gold pads underneath the CPU (picture forthcoming)...subsequently, it got continuously stuck during the boot cycle.

 

To fix that, other experienced OCers had recommended a few methods, among them using the above-pictured 'circuitscribe' conductive pen. After cleaning the underside of the 3770K CPU with isopropyl alcohol, I used clear tape to mask off the contact pads right around the missing one, making sure that only the missing pad area was exposed, and then applied the conductive pen. To my great relief, it worked and here is the mobo, awaiting deployment as a fun thing somewhere in my home-office...

 

 

 

 

Well, that's about it for the old warhorses finally brought back for a better life on a nice digital pasture. Perhaps I follow this up one day with 'how I baked my GPU' to reflow soldering and lived to tell about it...

 

Edited July 22, 2020 by J7SC_Orion

[ENTERPRISE]

Nice ! Bringing back old hardware from the brink is always thrilling...that or I am sad lol..maybe both. However I have to say, that pin cleaning method would have me sweating but I can see how it works !

 

Oh and the elastic band method = Golden. If only they did not perish over time lol.

[Steven]

nice batch of motherboards there! I'm currently modding an ASUS VIII Maximus Formula for a 8700K for the EHW test bench, the high end ASUS motherboards are really no joke!

 

After owning so many motherboards in the past 10 years from basically all brands, these high end ASUS boards are my favorites.

[486]

A fine tale indeed!

 

OP read like dramatic prose, love it ... The carpet knife duct taped to the desk lamp is my favorite "MacGyver"

 

Nice to see "old" (is this stuff really that old already that it would be covered in dust..?) instruments of HWBot lore being resurrected. A job well done!

 

Glad you didn't 'splode the 780Tis. I know a guy who probably would do such a thing

 

 

 

 

 

[J7SC_Orion]

Thanks gents.

 

Re. the elastic bands, I found a perfect supply - ordering take-out 'butter chicken' from my fav restaurant. Their take-out has those elastic bands around the containers, and those elastic bands are tough - I have frozen them, accidentally washed them and even heated them up...they last. In any case, as a bonus, they allow for infinite height adjustment for both fans individually, i.e. for DRAM clearance. Besides, fresh supplies are only half a block away...their butter chicken (extra hot) is superb, too

 

 

 

 

 

Re. the top Asus boards, they used to be my automatic go-to choice, though these days, I also really like Gigabyte/Aorus and MSI. The Asus X99 OC pin stuff was a bit flaky, or at least the accompanying bios...early versions would load up 1.4+v on 'auto VCCSA' in some circumstances and there were other issues, though most got fixed later.

 

Re. the equipment being so old that it was covered in dust - well, six years or so for some of it is not short and dust-free. However, the Vaseline coating inside the socket (applied w/ a hair dryer and used to guard against condensation during freezing) made it much worse - it attracts and accumulates the dust. Once the top cover of the box was removed for whatever accidental reason and not replaced, time & dust started their relentless march...

Edited July 17, 2020 by J7SC_Orion

[Steven]

You should mod that Gigabyte board for coffee lake!

[486]

Thanks gents.

 

 

Re. the equipment being so old that it was covered in dust - well, six years or so for some of it is not short and dust-free. However, the Vaseline coating inside the socket (applied w/ a hair dryer and used to guard against condensation during freezing) made it much worse - it attracts and accumulates the dust. Once the top cover of the box was removed for whatever accidental reason and not replaced, time & dust started their relentless march...

 

Understandable.. Just hard for me to believe it's 2020 and the happenings of the last decade are already buried in dust. Makes me think of the Ferris Bueller movie.. "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while -- you could miss it!" (meanwhile that's 35 years old)

 

Re above post totally! Jack one of those up to a 9900K.. Not very retro!!

[J7SC_Orion]

...debating that per posts here

[Steven]

...debating that per posts here

 

if you want any help just lmk, it's quite straight forward when you know what to do!

[J7SC_Orion]

 

if you want any help just lmk, it's quite straight forward when you know what to do!

 

Tx much, I will follow up on that...now that I have quite a few extra functional mobos fresh out of the operating room, one of those can do NUC duties and the Z170 SOC Force (22 phase VRM set up for w-cooling <> lots of headroom) can enjoy a nice oc'ed 9900 coffee lake mod.

 

 

[Steven]

 

Tx much, I will follow up on that...now that I have quite a few extra functional mobos fresh out of the operating room, one of those can do NUC duties and the Z170 SOC Force (22 phase VRM set up for w-cooling <> lots of headroom) can enjoy a nice oc'ed 9900 coffee lake mod.

 

 

I'll be doing my third motherboard soon, when I get everything in order, I'll be doing it live from start to finish.

[J7SC_Orion]

...did I read that there's there some sort of inlay available now for the pins /pads to be blocked for the Z170 <> 9900K mod, or is it still clear-tape-and cover diy ? In any event, are you going to stream your mod @ EHW ?

[Steven]

...did I read that there's there some sort of inlay available now for the pins /pads to be blocked for the Z170 <> 9900K mod, or is it still clear-tape-and cover diy ? In any event, are you going to stream your mod @ EHW ?

 

indeed I am! and yes, there's a seller on ebay that sells pre-cut stickers (thick kapton) and adhesive copper foil with conductive adhesive. (no need for conductive pens anymore!)

[J7SC_Orion]

^^sounds good re. pre-cut / thick kapton and your upcoming Z170 > 9900K stream !

 

 

...I finished the clean-up and build-up of the formerly broken Asus Rampage V Extreme 'ex sub-zero', per above. If you look closely, there's still some insulation grease left around the socket, but it won't hurt anything, and trying to get that off all the little caps is a bit too risky...even with a soft-bristle toothbrush...

 

 

 

The back of the mobo also still has some LET (Liquid Electrical Tape) on it, but it can stay there - no harm, no foul..

 

 

 

I dropped in a 5960X, 'lapped it to the max'...

 

 

 

 

...seems to have worked well enough, judging by the temps (Cinebench R20 'max'). This CPU is not the best clocker but has a decent memory controller, running 32GB CR1 DDR4 / 3333 MHz @ 1.35v....it's all nice and crisp now with SSDs.

 

However this older gen of Haswell-E HEDT is a bit of a 'wattoholic' - its 8c/16t use 249W for a Cinebench R20 run, while my 2950X 16c/32t uses 279W for 205% of the score. Still, I couldn't be happier that the Rampage V Extreme / 5960X is out of storage with all memory channels working and now running just fine for daily use...

 

 

 

 

I am still going to have to do something about those RGB, but functionally, it's now were I like it...

 

 

 

 

I also cleaned up an old PS2 keyboard used for sub-zero, not to mention the recipient of a few coffee spills...WD40 (first regular, then gel as the final) baths always work for me. If you look closely, those whitish spots on the bottom of the keyboard will be a permanent reminder of my follies - those spots were caused by acetone for DICE...

 

 

 

 

The Rampage V Extreme has now replaced the 4960X / Asus X79-E WS combo (including PSU, case, GPUs and custom loop setup). The Asus X79-E WS is one of my fav old war horses and I dug up an older white Stryker case (still has protective foil on the window ) and a little-used AIO...new frontiers await that setup...

 

 

Edited July 21, 2020 by J7SC_Orion

[Steven]

Get an E5 1680 V2 for it! That's what I got for my sabertooth x79!

[Steven]

Oh and I settled on an i5 9600KF for now.

 

edit : would tomorrow 8pm EST work for you?

[J7SC_Orion]

Oh and I settled on an i5 9600KF for now.

 

edit : would tomorrow 8pm EST work for you?

 

...for the Z170 stream @ EHW ? I am on Pacific NW time and tomorrow won't work for me re. prior appointments. Thursday or Friday at that time could work, but I do not want to be the reason you have to delay. Would EHW not have a YouTube of it ?

[ENTERPRISE]

With all that awesome hardware you could have a HWBOT rig Hall Of Fame haha.

[Supercrumpet]

Oh man a CM Stryker! Really wanted one of those back in the day when I just got into PC building, around 2013-14. Thought they looked so much cooler than my 932 (which was already hilariously overkill).

[J7SC_Orion]

Oh man a CM Stryker! Really wanted one of those back in the day when I just got into PC building, around 2013-14. Thought they looked so much cooler than my 932 (which was already hilariously overkill).

 

 

...yeah, I kind of lucked out on that. It's like new and was only used for a short time as we bought and used several Anetc 302s as they're smaller (now Dremel-modded with side air inlet per above), but the CM Stryker goes into a different location at my home-office anyway.

 

 

[J7SC_Orion]

...Finish Line ! ...Now I'm all retro'd out for a while...

 

I built up and thoroughly tested the Asus X79-E WS with a unique 4960X ES...it's very low voltage and at 4.7+ GHz, Cinebench R20 only peaks at 103W, according to HWInfo - way less than half of what the 5960X wattoholic slurps down at 4.5 GHz (mind you, with two more cores and four more threads). The whole thing sits in the aforementioned CM Stryker ('hardly used, like new old stock')

 

Also, like the 5960X, using Strap 125 instead of Strap 100 makes a big difference <> almost 30k MB more memory writes / second, as well as lower vCore requirement for a given speed. For cooling, I normally do custom loops, but the H150i Pro 360mm AIO we had laying around is doing quite well and just fit @ the front of the CM Stryker case w/o dremel mods.

 

This setup will be part 1080P retro-gamer, part NAS - the X79-E WS is great for both.

 

Edited July 25, 2020 by J7SC_Orion

[ENTERPRISE]

That is a solid build you have there, certainly is worth it to build rigs like these out of revived parts rather than them going to waste. The other thing you can us it for is for server use. You could even run the Plex server client on that machine if home media streaming is of interest to you.

[J7SC_Orion]

That is a solid build you have there, certainly is worth it to build rigs like these out of revived parts rather than them going to waste. The other thing you can us it for is for server use. You could even run the Plex server client on that machine if home media streaming is of interest to you.

 

Thanks. I also just saw @Laithan 's link above for the X79-E WS win-raid updated bios for NVME & bifurcation ...now I can plug in that 4x M.2 MSI Xpander Aero card that came with the X399 Creation and see what's what. Whether Plex, NAS or (2nd) retro gamer with EVGA Classies, this combo offers a lot of versatility.

[Laithan]

 

Thanks. I also just saw @Laithan 's link above for the X79-E WS win-raid updated bios for NVME & bifurcation ...now I can plug in that 4x M.2 MSI Xpander Aero card that came with the X399 Creation and see what's what. Whether Plex, NAS or (2nd) retro gamer with EVGA Classies, this combo offers a lot of versatility.

 

I'm also curious how that works out

[486]

Them feels when J7SCs retro machine giggles at my main PC hehehehehe

 

though, in light of recent happenings, I grimaced when I saw the lack of backplates on those 980 Classys.. I can't believe they didn't include backplates on such a high end beast. Ergh!