adding a PCI slot on mobo

[tiro_uspsss]

the mobo in question: see sig, RE: sossaman

the problem:
the IGP on said mobo is a POS..
the mobo only has 2 slots: a PCI-X & a PCI-Ex8..
the PCI-Ex8 will hold my A1210; the PCI-X will hold a HD2400..

this leaves no slots & consequently, no home for my i-RAM!

if u look @ pics of the mobo, there are plenty of 'blank' places on mobo for extra slots, esp. PCI..

any idea if I could solder on a PCI slot?
keep in mind, the slot will only be there to a) hold i-RAM b) provide power to i-RAM
there will be no data transferrals happening on the new PCI slot

so any ideas/tips etc etc?

[mpilchfamily]

It all depends if any of the power trases to the blank slots are active and where they make contact to the pins of the PCI slot. If the power is on on of the inner layers of the board it will be next to imposible for you to get it solderd. Not to mention if you use too much heat you could damage the board. I suggest finding an alternate way of powering the card.

I suggest looking up the pinout of a PCI slot to ID what voltages are on what pins. Then ID the pins in use by the card. Then run wires from the PSU to a PCI slot or dirrectly to the card and your all set.

[tiro_uspsss]

It all depends if any of the power trases to the blank slots are active and where they make contact to the pins of the PCI slot. If the power is on on of the inner layers of the board it will be next to imposible for you to get it solderd. Not to mention if you use too much heat you could damage the board. I suggest finding an alternate way of powering the card.

I see where ur coming from.. heres how I think it works: imagine the mobo & the actual physical PCI slot holder thingy in the manufacturer factory.. imagine it on the assembly line.. the mobo would be sitting there, the PCI slot thing hanging above it.. if 'depth' were an issue, I reckon it would be kinda difficult to have it soldered on by machines with all those traces running about inside mobo layers.. I reckon the a machine with multiple solder points simply comes along, goes thru/inside the slot, as the slot is placed on mobo, & *bam* slot is soldered in place.. is that explanation of my crazy imagination clear enough?

edit: another reason I believe this is how its done is 'cause if u grab a mobo, look @ the backside @ PCI slots, (to me) it looks as if all PCI slot pins go all the way thru the mobo

I suggest looking up the pinout of a PCI slot to ID what voltages are on what pins. Then ID the pins in use by the card. Then run wires from the PSU to a PCI slot or dirrectly to the card and your all set.

thats the 'un-fun' way me wants to be xtreeeeeme!

[mpilchfamily]

I have no doubt all the connections are there and all you need is the slot but there are multiple layers in a board. Many of the traces are not visible and are in the middle layers. Often its the power leads that are in the middle layers. As i mentioned its exstreemly hard to get those pins soldered by hand. If the power traces where on the surface it wouldn't be a big deal.

[cirthix]

Solder some wires to power and ground form the mobo header (you need 5vsb which is only present on the mobo's header) to the card. 12v, 5v, 3.3v, 5vsb, and gnd. It does all data communication via the sata port (iirc), so you only need to power it.

[tiro_uspsss]

sooo.. the mobo in question is ur typical boring pcb green with white slots.. should I solder a white pci slot on to it - or a DFI yellow one?

[m0da]

dfi bright green, NO DOUBT!

no joke though. check out the (lanparty) p35

let us know how it goes, definitely a weird mod, very innovative though.
and it has to look good!!

[tiro_uspsss]

dfi bright green, NO DOUBT!

no joke though. check out the (lanparty) p35

let us know how it goes, definitely a weird mod, very innovative though.
and it has to look good!!

dont have green - only have avail to me in the form on dead mobos - so that leaves me with white PCI slots, or yellow ones

[tiro_uspsss]

some vague progress; i found that this Intel mobo is a very close 'relative':

http://202.100.98.115:8080/yifei/ima...7520BD2/03.jpg

[celemine1Gig]

... imagine the mobo & the actual physical PCI slot holder thingy in the manufacturer factory.. imagine it on the assembly line.. the mobo would be sitting there, the PCI slot thing hanging above it.. if 'depth' were an issue, I reckon it would be kinda difficult to have it soldered on by machines with all those traces running about inside mobo layers.. I reckon the a machine with multiple solder points simply comes along, goes thru/inside the slot, as the slot is placed on mobo, & *bam* slot is soldered in place.. is that explanation of my crazy imagination clear enough?

...

I don't think that the slots are physically cut off power. Most likely it'll suffice to just solder one in place and perhaps it'll work right away. BUT, it could also be possible that a BIOS update/mod is needed to make it work.

And BTW, your thoughts about how the slots are placed and soldered in the factory, are a bit off.

This is how it really works:

A bunch of women, who get paid far too less money, sit in front of the actual assembly line, where the boards pass them by piece by piece. At this point, the SMD components are already placed on the PCB and what is left are the slots, the caps and so on (THT, through hole technology; i.e. simply speaking, all the bigger parts). The slots are put in by hand, by one of the women on the assembly line, because it's too difficult for a machine to align the slots properly without damaging some of the contacts. After all the needed parts have been placed on the PCB, the boards roll on to soldering. In short, it's like a solder bath. The boards' backsides are literally flooded with liquid solder, while being moved slowly through the solder stream. That's how it's really done.

And IMHO, with a bit of solder flux and patience it shouldn't be too big a problem to get good connections.

[STEvil]

the real problem is applying the heat without burning the board and knocking off other components.

[tiro_uspsss]

UPDATES

[tiro_uspsss]

if the mod is successful, I will add a PCI-Express x8 slot to the mobo

[tiro_uspsss]

UPDATE

'side B' has all its pins in:

[tiro_uspsss]

here are a couple pics of the 'pins', there are 2 types..

[tiro_uspsss]

ok, all pins in plastic slot - just have to straighten them so that they all go into the holes in mobo easily! :/

[STEvil]

Hope it works

[Movieman]

You crazy Aussie you, but good luck.
Is this on the sossaman board?

[yankee]

Wow, nice work tiro.

That's gonna be awesome if it works.

[tiro_uspsss]

Is this on the sossaman board?

sossaman? what/who is that??

[Nosfer@tu]

LOVE the fact that you are trying

the real problem is applying the heat without burning the board and knocking off other components.

Naaa shouldent be a problem.
if you had a 900Watt soldering iron and fingers like a hippo maybe

[m0da]

good luck buddy!

Seems like a lot of hard work you put into that.
It would drive me crazy if that didn't work for me!

[tiro_uspsss]

good luck buddy!

Seems like a lot of hard work you put into that.
It would drive me crazy if that didn't work for me!

the only aspect of failure that i'm worried about is ruining the mobo! - I dont mind that 'all that effort' goes to 'waste' - but if the mobo dies - its an instant USD$120 I have to spend to get a replacement! & I'm currently unemployed!

[SquidgyB]

Lol, respect is due! That's my favourite kind of mod!

[2fink]

any updates?
good luck