New Removable 8800GTS G92 Vmod + mini LCD readout

[lachinois]

Hi all!

I've been working on this mod for the past few days, and I thought I would share the results with you

This is a 100% removable vMod (yes, no soldering!) . There is no screws, no solder and its 100% removable .

There is a 500Ohm pot that controls the voltage, a switch that turns the mod on or off and a LCD digital readout of the voltage of the GPU.

The plate is fixed with very strong neodesium magnets that go on the 4 screws of the 8800GTS (so no go if you use another cooler.... for now, until I find a better solution). As such, it requires quite some strength to move the plate, I can install and remove the card from the PC and it will not move, unless you really bang (backspace backspace backspace backspace) jolt it.

Here are a few pictures of the mod :





I have 1 of these made, and it works great If you are wondering what the green cable is for, it simply plugs in the motherboard adapter to fetch a negative rail (-12v) I need for the LCD, since there is no negative voltage on the card (well I have not found one yet).

I'll update this tread with a few more details and better pictures of back/from of the plate. And also an action shot.

Right now I have 1 of these made, but I'm planning on probably making a few for my friends, so if anyone would like one at the same time just let me know.

If you have any comments on how to improve it, any help is .

I think the LCD would be better off on the top of the card, because its too thick for a SLI setup if all your slots are full, and its harder to read there than on the top of the card. However, in the plate, its much cleaner since all the wires under it are well hidden.

lachinois

[fireandice]

Good job man. Can i get some part numbers and a guide? The 8800GT is pretty muich the same layout right? I would love to do this to my 8800GT.

[firebane]

Good job man. Can i get some part numbers and a guide? The 8800GT is pretty muich the same layout right? I would love to do this to my 8800GT.

Agreed.

This is an awesome project and if it would work on the 8800GT I'd be most def interested.

[f117]

perfect man

[lachinois]

Humm... I'm going to make another revision of this mod, but I would need a vote, who votes for :

a) LCD and Pot together outside of the plate (connected by 3 wires, of varying length, to the plate). This way we could even have the LCD + POT on the front of the PC. (I do not know how far I can go with the LCD before I get noise in the reading that prevents a stable readout)

b) Only LCD outside of the plate (most probably on the top of the card, fixed with velcro).

c) Everything on the plate (like in the picture)

?

I personally vote for b).

lachinois

[systemviper]

LOve it count me in, I would love one of these.

[oublie]

I want one! I was going to order a pot and mod the card myself but this seems a lot easier if your selling em pm me im definately interested.

[oublie]

One suggestion is to shorten the length of the perspex you use. It seems to get quite close to the gpu socket and id guess you dont need quite so many magnets to hold it on. Since I and others are likely to be needing this because we will be using more exotic cooling (im using a modded vapochill) the less intrusion near the back of the gpu socket the better.

[r4st4m4n]

Very good idea.

Can we have a close up picture of the parts that make contact with the points on the PCB where you would normally solder the wires ? What are you using to make contact ?
How do you make sure that the contact with these points are good ?
How do you make sure the alignment of the plate is good ?

[fireandice]

i would pay good money for a Vmod like this. Have it pre set up and just pop it on and pwoer it up. Suprised no one thoght of this earlyer. To bad some comp. is probly allready started the ball on mass produceing these and stealing his idea.

[lachinois]

My digital camera is really poor for closeup photos, but I will try to get some pictures of the contacts when I get back home tonight.

Basically, I use 2 types of contacts, small springs (watch type springs) for lateral contact and industrial pins for vertical contact. We have tons of those where I work, they are extremely small cylinders that can shrink when squeezed. the are maybe 1mm in diameter or less, very small stuff.

How do you know the contacts are ok? You can actually see through the plate so its easy to make sure contacts are ok. The spring will move when the contact is ok for the lateral one and for the vertical pin you can see exactly where its located through the plate. You cannot miss. At first it takes a bit of practice but after a few minutes you can snap one on in a matter of seconds. Then you just plug it in the PC and start OCing .

I've got a few PM's asking me when this would be ready. I'm planing on doing a final prototype this w-e and I will update the picture in this thread. After that I will be able to do probably 5-6 plates up to a max of 10 plates before I pass on to something else. As for the 8800GT I'm unsure if all the models have screws like the GTS (thinking galaxy) so it may not be compatible with all of them.

No Sales outside of classifieds

lachinois

[Merkk]

Dude, you should give us a tutorial I'm doing a vmod myself on an 8800GTS G92, and I'll wait for a tut just so I can do this

[lachinois]

Someone suggested that I sell this in a DIY kit rather than assembled and you can then assemble it yourself . Seems like a really good idea, since the mod does require specialty parts. It would cost a lot less than me building it. Its also a lot easier for you to have all the right pieces at the same time.

Here are the parts I can provide you with, including a :

a) 1x Miniature VMeter
b) 1x Plexi plate (4.5mm width) cut to size or not.
c) 4x PCB contact points (spare ones if you screw up, only 2 needed)
d) A few resistors
e) perfectly sized magnets with very thin ones to correct for mistakes (eh!, thats if you don't feel like starting over again).
f) -5V voltage regulator
g) sockets and connectors to plug cables together.
h) 500Ohms pot 20 turn
i) mini Switch
j) 1x 24pin 6 inch motherboard extender from which I get the -12v rail
k) Of course, an instruction manual on how to build this, what errors not to make etc...

If you prefer to have this mod completely independent from the PSU (no green cable to connect), I can switch your VMeter for a 2-3mm wider one that does not need the negative rail (you will be able to power it from the PCI-Express molex). But its more expensive (about 15$ more than the original miniature one I'm using).

To assemble you need these tools :

a) Soldering iron (you need to know how to solder)
b) Vertical drill to make the holes for the magnets
c) Some kind of tool to cut out the middle of the plexi
d) Hot glue (for the magnets and other components)
e) A Real volt meter to calibrate the miniature one
f) And of course some wire

For those of you who would like to do this 100% yourself, I do not think I will be able to write a detailed tutorial soon, but I'm sure that you could reproduce this at varying degrees, you get the basic idea here. All you need are some very small springs, a LCD meter (you can get those biggies at 9.99$ on eBay, it would works, but its just not miniature) and a small contact point for the vGPU pad.

Just follow the original vMod and add the vMeter to it using contact points. I'd be really pleased to see another version of this mod so go ahead and show me your final result



I will upload a final picture of the mod this w-e when I do a last revision (and cleanup a bit all those cables!). After that I'll start taking orders for the 10 units I'll be building. For those who have PM'ed me already for one (or will) you will be offered the choice first.

Lachinois

[Movieman]

Puts on Mod hat:
hmm,we have a little problem here.
Selling outsde the FS section is not allowed.
Not trying to be a stinker here as you look to have a good product and mean well but the rules are the rules,designed to protect all of us.
Thanks for reading.

[lachinois]

Oh! I'm really sorry. I guess thats what happens when you have like 4 posts...

I just wanted to share this mod idea since I think its really cool I would of liked to be able to help people who cannot or do not have the tools to make one. It can be pretty hard to make one by yourself and just getting all the right components is already hard. Point taken, so I will not promote any selling of these outside the FS section. But if I understand correctly, I will need 100 posts to get to the FS section ? So I guess you guys will have to wait a bit for this to get to the FS section

Lachinois

[r4st4m4n]

My digital camera is really poor for closeup photos, but I will try to get some pictures of the contacts when I get back home tonight.

Basically, I use 2 types of contacts, small springs (watch type springs) for lateral contact and industrial pins for vertical contact. We have tons of those where I work, they are extremely small cylinders that can shrink when squeezed. the are maybe 1mm in diameter or less, very small stuff.

How do you know the contacts are ok? You can actually see through the plate so its easy to make sure contacts are ok. The spring will move when the contact is ok for the lateral one and for the vertical pin you can see exactly where its located through the plate. You cannot miss. At first it takes a bit of practice but after a few minutes you can snap one on in a matter of seconds. Then you just plug it in the PC and start OCing .

lachinois

Ok, I see. Very clever design

[THRASHER2]

You have any pic's of the LCD in Action

[gurusan]

Would you mind snapping some pics closer up of the contact springs and connections?

[Luka_Aveiro]

Would you mind snapping some pics closer up of the contact springs and connections?

I would really like to see the mod working, seems great

[lachinois]

Ok ok , I got it. I'll take some time tonight to snap up some action pictures even if I'm not yet done with the final revision (due this week-end)

Stay tuned!

Lachinois

[lachinois]

Ok, here is an action picture of my card. I got 3 pictures in before my battery died on me. I don't know why my camera is so bad at taking closeup pictures

In person, I can say it looks much nicer than this though , you can read the voltage, its at 1.368v right now (idle).

[SaII]

does your camera have a macro mode, which is usually represented by a flower.

use that mode to take close up pictures

on topic: I would buy one if you make them available!

[jason4207]

Macro mode on my camera is basically just zoomed in. You get a little further away from the source so the camera can focus, but you use the zoom to get in on the details. You really need to steady the camera on something, though, b/c the slightest movement will cause it to blur.

[ultimeus]

Amazing mod, I really hope a full tutorial part to part.

[scottc19]

Awesome idea! Where do you get these Vmeter voltage lcd things or is there another name for them? These would be very helpful to my cards...