Modding and Improving the OCZ DDR Booster for DFI, Chaintech, ETC, with 3 Ram Slots

Ok guys I have been given the go ahead to post up an Official "Void Your Warranty" Mod for the OCZ DDR Booster.

Disclaimer: THIS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY! OCZ WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY EQUIPMENT DAMAGE CAUSED BY THIS MOD, THE DDR BOOSTER OR ANY ERRORS IN YOUR WORK OR IN THIS POST. OCZ WILL NOT PROVIDE TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR THIS MOD. DO NOT CONTACT OCZ.

Not that you guys care. :)

Note: Always check the DDR Booster Compatabilty Page on the OCZ site before using the Booster on any motherboard.

On many socket 754 boards the 3 RAM slots are jammed in tight and the DDR Booster will not fit into slot #3 due to the Booster's Molex connectors and heatsinks. I developed this mod early on and it will allow use on the DFI UT NF3-250GB and the Chaintech VNF3-250 among others.

A strong fan MUST be used to directly and actively cool the Booster. Failure will result if this is not done.

Mod:

I personally highly recommend replacing the 1 turn metal pot with a 15 turn Cermet 10k OHM pot or similar 10k OHM pot. This greatly improves the adjustability and stabilty of the Booster. The Booster is a well deisgned product that does it's job well, but comprimises had to be made to keep costs down as is the case with all consumer products.

Desoldering can be tricky. You will need moderate soldering skills and or a couple of boosters just in case. To desolder the metal potentiometer I recommend cutting it off first. the metal acts like a huge heatsink and desoldering is difficult. If you plan to reuse the pot (which I don't recommend due to heat related damage from removal) tehn you must just desolder it.

Do not over heat the PCB as this may damage it, rendering your Booster useless.

It is not necessary to replace the 10k pot on the Booster or even to move it. It will fit over the top of most heatspreaders without a problem an dbe perfectly functional.

Thiis is mainly a pictoral guide but I will add a few comments:

When placing the molex connectors on the back side, you will notice that a resistor interferes with one iof the Molex connectors. You must use a knife or Dremel to remove plastic fron the corner. You will see a picture below of the resistor and the modified Molex.

Another Xtremely Important Point! The wires on the Yellow molex connector MUST be removed and have the order reversed. Look closely at the pictures. I used a prototype without the yellow dot on the Molex connector. Make sure you note which one goes where or just refer to the finished booster pic.

Thumbnail #1 is the unmodded Booster with the heatsink CAREFULLY removed.

#2 is the desoldered booster from the "front" (LED side).

#3 is the desoldered booster fron the "back".

#4 is the Booster pre-assembled and ready for soldering (front side view).

Post #2

Thumbnail #5 is the Booster ready to solder from the "back" (non LED) side.

#6 shows the trimmed Molex connector and the capacitor that will interfere as I explained above.

#7 shows the finsihed mod using the original pot. Note that this is from the "back" side and that the wires in the yellow Molex have been carefully removed and install in reverse. I suggest taking a photograph of the Molex before removing the contacts from it to help with orientation.

#8 shows the finished Mod installed in the Chaintech VNF3-250.

Thumbnail #9 shows the 15 turn Cermet pot that I used to relace the original metal pot. As I stated above this will greatly improve the adjustabilty of the Booster.

As I stated above the wires on the yellow Molex must have the order reversed. Not doing so will absolutely fry something. look at the pictires carefully after a good night's sleep. ;)

You can also desolder and reversethe MOSFETs, and then attach screw-on heatsinks on them, just like the kind Zalman uses to cool theirs (on the fan controller).

Thanks allot Andy.

reversing the mosfets and keeping a heatsink is a great idea , those mosfets get super hot without cooling

wow nice guide.. shame i can't solder/desolder if my life depended on it

bought some soldering gear to learn, and using old PCI 8mb AGP card to practise on... couldn't even tin a wire LOL

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A strong fan MUST be used to directly and actively cool the Booster.

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Are we talking about a 92mm tornado strong or just a decent 80mm strong?

i just got mine recently ad ive been thinking of doing something like this, with a xp-90 installed its hard to see the leds and adjust and see them at the same time. anyone have any ideas into making some sort of a break out box to maybe move the leds and pot to the front panel or maybe just keep it inside so no unrully people can play with it while its on.

Have had one that I did above long time ago :) Be careful with mosfet and putting sinks on afterwards as some board will still have problem due to location of their caps. Broke one mosfet without looking closely and had to get replacement from mouser.

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Originally Posted by thephenom

Are we talking about a 92mm tornado strong or just a decent 80mm strong?

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A medium power 80mm fan mounted with 1 inch of the mosfets will do. I use 2 fans over the Booster and RAM to keep the heat from becoming an issue.

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Originally Posted by eva2000

wow nice guide.. shame i can't solder/desolder if my life depended on it

bought some soldering gear to learn, and using old PCI 8mb AGP card to practise on... couldn't even tin a wire LOL

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I'm shocked!! :banana:

Im with Eva, cant solder if life depended on it. Good post Andy and big thanks. Will this "mod" one day become official/retail anytime soon? Say.... Before new years? lol

50Cent is an advocate of this mod.

if you can solder you could run wires from the board to the leds , just dont confuse the sequence

I am a little confused when you keep saying to reverse the wires. What wires? Maybe I am just tired. :shrug:

BTW, thanks Andy for putting in the time to explain this mod! I can solder pretty good, but I am not good with understanding electronics. I can solder any mod, but need pic's and directions to do it! :am:

The "wires" are on the yellow Molex that plugs into the Booster that comes from the 20 pin connector. When you move the Molex to the back, the wiring is now wrong. You simply take the wires out of the yellow Molex and wire it the opposite way. Look again at the pics. :)

Get some sleep. ;)

Or say screw to molex and just hot wire there :)

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Originally Posted by jinu117

Or say screw to molex and just hot wire there :)

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http://www.free-image-host.org/image...8336emot-q.gif hey there hotwire buddy

Man, if only I could do this mod by myself~! :(

Hope a revision of the Booster comes out soon :)

BTW thx for the info Andy.

P.S I might actually try this mod. Too much temptation.. ;)

Andy, as asked before will this mod become the way that the booster is made from now on?

I would think it would make sense to flip around the entire booster. Make it so that all of the compenents are on the back side. That would improve compatiblity in general i would think. Correct me if im wrong.

Not only compatibility, but general thermal issues as well. On an MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum, the Booster's pot sits right on top (touching) on the module placed in DIMM slot 2. And we all know how hot the metal part of those pots can get.

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Originally Posted by MaxxxRacer

Andy, as asked before will this mod become the way that the booster is made from now on?

I would think it would make sense to flip around the entire booster. Make it so that all of the compenents are on the back side. That would improve compatiblity in general i would think. Correct me if im wrong.

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I am not sure what's in store for the Booster. There would have to be a "right and left" model made to suit all boards. Cost was the original reason for going with one just one model.

Considering the low cost of the Booster and the fun factor of modding it, we thought a guide might help those that normally might not feel confident to try.

it works for me :D

well i kinda think the booster is for those who dont want to vdimm mod their boards becuae they cant solder well or are scared too. Atleast thats the impression i got.

But I have to admit that im a solder junkie and i would rather have the booster over modding the board. Just a heck of alot easier...

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Originally Posted by MaxxxRacer

well i kinda think the booster is for those who dont want to vdimm mod their boards becuae they cant solder well or are scared too. Atleast thats the impression i got.

But I have to admit that im a solder junkie and i would rather have the booster over modding the board. Just a heck of alot easier...

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agree with ya~! :D

nice simple mod, looks like it could be done in a few minutes, with little to no worries, if you just follow the directions.

I never had a problem with the booster fitting in my boards yet though...

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Originally Posted by andyOCZ

The "wires" are on the yellow Molex that plugs into the Booster that comes from the 20 pin connector. When you move the Molex to the back, the wiring is now wrong. You simply take the wires out of the yellow Molex and wire it the opposite way. Look again at the pics. :)

Get some sleep. ;)

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You know when I re-read your how-to this morning, I understood it. Guess a few hours sleep did wonder's. Phew, only 2 more day's till Christmas, and I finally get a day off! :banana4: :toast:

Great stuff on the guide andy :toast:

I'l do this mod when using a booster on a A8N-SLI mobo ;)

One of the strong points for me is that my booster does work in most boards just fine with the mod. It still works in my MSI and Gigabyte NF3 939 boards after the mod, so I have not lost anything and can go from board to board when I test or upgrade with a problem. :)

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Originally Posted by LikwidKool

You know when I re-read your how-to this morning, I understood it. Guess a few hours sleep did wonder's. Phew, only 2 more day's till Christmas, and I finally get a day off! :banana4: :toast:

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Somehow I knew you would be tired and that's why put in the part about getting some rest before doing the mod before you read it. :D

Can the booster be used on DFI nF3 with only 1 stick of RAM without modding?

what about DFI NF2 ?

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Originally Posted by TEDY

what about DFI NF2 ?

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Sorry my friend, that's strickly a board issue that can't be worked around. :(

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Originally Posted by Moos3d

Can the booster be used on DFI nF3 with only 1 stick of RAM without modding?

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Yes, 1 stick works great.

Lucky me. Now I'm even closer to really being able to use my one stick of BH5 I bought and the booster I got for Christmas. I still need a new PSU though. Does OCZ plan to make a PSU without LEDs? I would love an OCZ PSU but I hate LEDs because I sleep in the same room with my computer. Also another question, does the booster work fine on a PSU such as a Fortron 530W that doesn't have adjustable pots or will I only be limited to 3.3V without adjustable pots on the PSU?

Andy, thanks for the topic.

I have 2 questions;
1-Can anyone offer me any mod for the 24 pin power adapter connection?
2-Can anyone offer me any mod to increase the voltage at booster?

take care.

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Originally Posted by Moos3d

Lucky me. Now I'm even closer to really being able to use my one stick of BH5 I bought and the booster I got for Christmas. I still need a new PSU though. Does OCZ plan to make a PSU without LEDs? I would love an OCZ PSU but I hate LEDs because I sleep in the same room with my computer. Also another question, does the booster work fine on a PSU such as a Fortron 530W that doesn't have adjustable pots or will I only be limited to 3.3V without adjustable pots on the PSU?

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The booster will NOT work with fortron 530.

But as the booster draws Vdimm from the 5v line you can use it on any PSU that is compatible.

Fortron units wont power up with my booster and DFI UT board, the issue is still unresolved although im looking into it.

Moos3d
I think booster uses 5V rail, so you can get 4V out of it easy on any PSU.

Why don't you get some tape and tape the leds on the PowerStream? ;)

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Originally Posted by IvanAndreevich

Moos3d
I think booster uses 5V rail, so you can get 4V out of it easy on any PSU.

Why don't you get some tape and tape the leds on the PowerStream? ;)

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No problem then since I couldn't even conceive a situation where I would need over 3.8V so that is good to hear. I don't happen to have a Fortron though so no problem on that front since right now my main choice is the Antec TrueControl. Also about the LEDs, I would want them to be completely gone so then I would have to open the PSU and then I would void the warranty and it just isn't something I want to have to do.

Moos3d
Why not cover the leds externally with tape? Simple enough heh.

It's just leds - shouldn't be a choice-making point.

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Originally Posted by IvanAndreevich

Moos3d
Why not cover the leds externally with tape? Simple enough heh.

It's just leds - shouldn't be a choice-making point.

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i guess he refers to the fan - and it would be hard to tape that one off :)
also the fortron 530w has pots, just on the inside of the casing, if i'm not mistaken. anyway, can anyone verify the issues holst has with the fsp 530w and the booster? thx

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Originally Posted by IvanAndreevich

Moos3d
Why not cover the leds externally with tape? Simple enough heh.

It's just leds - shouldn't be a choice-making point.

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It is the fan LEDs that concern me and not the pot LEDs. LED fans emit WAY too much light for me to have in the same room I sleep in.

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Originally Posted by meke

1-Can anyone offer me any mod for the 24 pin power adapter connection?

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Hello. I think I have a similar question. I take it that you mean that the lead that comes with the booster is only 20 pin on both the male and female side, whereas all the new nforce4 boards and power supplies that are coming out are 24 pin. This means that anyone wanting to use the booster can only have 20 of the pins actually working and supplying power to the board, not the full 24 pins. Is that what you mean Meke?

Is there anyway around this? (i hope that makes sense)

my humble implementation

I have used the booster with the fortron - no problems at all.

Anyone know what size trimpot to use when replaceing the stock one with a 15turn?

Thnx

Thumb is pointing where to look ( bottom of pot) - notice the '10k' :D

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Originally Posted by Dissolved

Anyone know what size trimpot to use when replaceing the stock one with a 15turn?

Thnx

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Originally Posted by mad mikee

Thumb is pointing where to look ( bottom of pot) - notice the '10k' :D

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yea, i actually saw that about 5mins after i pulled my booster out. i soldered a 10k vr on it. works better.

But, in bios i get 3.0v then to windows/memtest it goes to 2.8~2.9.. Its odd. sometimes i get 2.8 then its 2.9 (this was before and after the mod) :\

Great mod! I've wondered why OCZ hasn't offered an opposite-hand booster. It seems like the components are on the wrong side. Is that because I use AMD stuff and most things are design for Intel? I wonder...

Karl

Need to get mine modded sometime, have a feeling this PQI likes volts :D Seems to be loving 2.85 atm, pitty the booster wont fit 'cos of the rams spreaders.
Need the power cables modding to a the powerstreams 20-24 pin ATX as well, and any other mods Persivore can find for it ;)

bump

how high does vdimm go on dfi ut 250?

Stock 3.2v, with the booster up to 3.8v or so. Maybe higher! 8^)