LGA 771 Repurpose Build

[Ceros_X]

I recently came across a bunch of old server stuff in a scrap heap at work. A lot of it is old school systems sporting DDR2. I have however unearthed an old IBM System x3650 - socket 771 with a Xeon processor and (9) 4GB DDR3 ECC modules. Also an LSI Raid card and some other stuff.

Out of curiosity I started looking around to see what I could transplant this into - I briefly envisioned trying to do some Micro ATX SFF server build. In my journeys I found you could use premade stickers to mod an LGA 771 Xeon processor to fit in a LGA 775 MB, opening up a lot of possibilities.

So, should I proceed down this rabbit hole? I need a SFF server like I need a 50" Tube TV, but it still seems interesting.

Any recommendations on good MBs to use? Looking for something small with a bunch of ram slots, can be 771 or 775, preferably cheap. What say ye!

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

I'm using an XFX MI-9300-7AS9 with my Q6600. Been rock solid for the past 9 years. Very stable motherboard with the fastest LGA775 iGPU, a Geforce 9300 .

 

[Ceros_X]

I'm using an XFX MI-9300-7AS9 with my Q6600. Been rock solid for the past 9 years. Very stable motherboard with the fastest LGA775 iGPU, a Geforce 9300 .

Looks like that's a DDR2 board, so a no go for my purposes (as I've already got 36GB of DDR3 ECC). Glad to hear it has been running smooth though (I actually have a few 775 boards back in the US, but none of them are DDR3 I believe.... E8400 in a Shuttle PC with DDR2).

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

Didn't know their was DDR3 LGA775 boards.

 

[eutholevonik]

Didn't know their was DDR3 LGA775 boards.

Indeed there are!

I had this Asus board back in the day, has 4 slots for ddr2 and 2 slots for ddr3 (not to be used at the sametime of course). Was a pretty nifty board.

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

I used an Asus P5G41T-M LX Plus with a Q9550 and 2x4g Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3 1866mhz - it worked until I brought it on the plane to China and now it won't even power on...... You will need to do the LGA771 mod but i think it's a pretty stable and cheap board.

 

[eutholevonik]

Just make sure which ever motherboard you choose works with the sticker mod. I remember reading up on it a year or so back and not all motherboards were compatible.

Would be a fun little project if you have the money to spare.

 

[Ceros_X]

Just make sure which ever motherboard you choose works with the sticker mod. I remember reading up on it a year or so back and not all motherboards were compatible.

Would be a fun little project if you have the money to spare.

Yeah the article I linked goes into detail on chipset, TDP, and skims over updating the microcode. It is proving difficult to get DDR3 and more than 2 ram sockets.

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

Does even the DDR3 boards support over 8gb of RAM? I think mine won't recognize any more than 2x4gb

 

[confusis]

X7DWT, you know you want to

 

[Ceros_X]

X7DWT, you know you want to

Uses DDR2, but not bad otherwise :V

 

[confusis]

Uses FB-DIMMs, not quite DDR2 first gen quad channel memory!

 

[Ceros_X]

Uses FB-DIMMs, not quite DDR2 first gen quad channel memory!

Yeah but the point is moot when I've already got 9x sticks of DDR3 lol. I also scrounged up an ASUS P5KPL-AM EPU motherboard that is uATX and uses DDR2. Had a Dynatron P199 1U Copper CPU Cooler (supports up to 135W TDP) on it already and is pretty low profile. Need to see what processor it uses and look up compatibility of the Xeon chip with this chipset. Also scrounge some DDR2 from some of the other garbage systems (had 2x 1GB Kingston sticks in it...).

 

[eutholevonik]

Yeah the article I linked goes into detail on chipset, TDP, and skims over updating the microcode. It is proving difficult to get DDR3 and more than 2 ram sockets.

Yeah I have been looking around some but can't seem to find anything with more then 2 slots for DDR3.

I also believe IntoxicatedPuma is right about those boards not supporting more then 2x4gb.

 

[Ceros_X]

I'll probably just give the conversion up and look at this new ASUS setup - it came in a 1U server case, thinking about chopping it down or trying to mount it into a KVM box. Already found (2) 2gb sticks of DDR2. Would need to go DC PSU because the FlexATX PSU that came with it... broke.