Xeon Quad into LGA775 (core duo) Motherboard - CHEAP UPGRADE!

Wallyt99 on 14/01/2015 - 09:20

Although this hack is over a year old - I am certain it will help someone.

Xeon processors from the wolfdale era use a socket 771 - but internally are essentially the same as the core 2 / 4 processors (socket 775).

Thing is - a Core 2 Quad 9650 (which is still on par with (all but the fastest of) todays i3 processors) and better than some early i5 / 7 cpus costs around $180 used. Its equivalent Xeon can be had for $50!

Often the Xeon can o/c up to 4ghz making it a perfectly acceptable processor for most current games including Cpu intensive ones.

It is a fairly simple mod where you need to make a slight mod to your cpu socket (cut out restricting tabs) and add a sticker (from ebay) to the Xeon to change the pin outs.

In order for the CPU to be 'recognised' you may need to flash your Bios - although it will work regardless of that step.

Full information is available here:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1431723/mod-lga775-support-for-lg…

Suggest you search the thread to see if others with you motherboard have had success.

Computing

Comments

  • ESEMCE on 14/01/2015 - 10:43

    Very Interesting…

  • frondono on 14/01/2015 - 12:32

    I have a q6600 and an asus p5k. what xeon do i need to buy to get the max?

  • bjdchwr on 14/01/2015 - 13:13

    My current PC got a ASUS P5Q motherboard with 2G*4 Ram, E5200 CPU installed.
    I am using MBP most of the time but I still need a PC.
    The CPU has been OC from 2.5G to 3.5G and worked like a charm. Will have a look at this.

  • Wallyt99 on 14/01/2015 - 13:21

    The x5470 is the best I think for overclocking (e0 stepping) ~ $110-130

    Other Quad Xeons are available at ~$50 - but may not overclock as well due to not bein e0 E.G: X5460

    • tonyjzx on 14/01/2015 - 13:59
      +1

      while i think this is ingenious and technically interesting, i realise that the $100+ you want to spend on this is better off being used put into a s1150 mb cpu and ram which will give you a LOT more performance than a $100 xeon in a 775 system

      • Wallyt99 on 14/01/2015 - 15:59

        Possibly

        Cheapest i3 build: $246

        i3-4160: $145
        4G Single 1333 Patriot-S: $44
        ASRock H81M-DGS $57

        Vs even the $50 Xeon CPU

        http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-X5460-vs-Intel-Core-i3-43…

        If you have a good 775 MB and RAM…. it is worth doing.

        • Wallyt99 on 14/01/2015 - 16:08

          Passmark also ranks the Xeon ahead of the i3 - Oh and prices sourced from MSY. EBay obviously cheaper.

        • scrimshaw on 14/01/2015 - 18:31

          What about the power usage though? I imagine a 120w TDP Xeon will slurp power like a thirsty camel with water, and will run quite a bit hotter. Compared against a Haswell era processor which is 53 TDP. The forum also mentions some of these older Xeons will have been heavily used and have a lot hours under their belt, so degradation is a possible issue.

          think I'll stick with my trusty old E8500, it's only 2 threads but good enough for the odd MKV / Handbrake job and it's also running nearly 15 hours a day.

        • tonyjzx on 14/01/2015 - 19:05

          yeah the whole platform is a drag

          dont get me wrong, i still have an e8400 and a q6600 etc and they are plenty fine for general windows stuffing around but i dont play games on them

  • Wallyt99 on 14/01/2015 - 20:34

    I have a q9650 (not overclocked) which played far cry 3 very well. Struggled in one level of last light… Would struggle with some even newer ones though.

  • grb1234 on 15/01/2015 - 08:58

    Core 2 quad or core 2 quad extreme would be supported with no hardware mods and is also very cheap these days.

  • skillet on 15/01/2015 - 16:20

    Hi all,

    I have been on this setup for more than a year now. The reason for I am cheap, I don't use my home PC much, most work done on my laptop. So I spent around $35 on this upgrade, I already have the motherboard in the first place. I have a Xeon L5420 45nm 50W 12MB L2 cache on a Asus P5KSE/EPU. The mod requires a flex circuit sticker which swaps the pin on the Xeon. Next a penknife to remove the alignment tabs on the mobo cpu socket, you need steady hands, if you slip you will damage the pins. This is the high risk part so make sure the cutting force direction is away from the pin contacts, this will eliminate the risk. Once it's done, you will have to mod the BIOS for the Xeon microcode.

    The research took quite sometime because I am not Xeon expert and there was lots of things to consider, for eg power consumption and thermal. I was finally confident because at most it's going to cost $35 if I screw up. I can always resell the Xeon if plans didn't turn out right. I am glad I did it. The whole operation took probably 30 minutes with a little troubleshooting. FYI, I am an IT admin so if you are not confident seek help from friend with computer knowledge.

    I choose L5420 because it is a low voltage cpu and runs cool. There is no need for huge noisy fan. There are lots of Xeon options out there, great upgrade if you are tight on money even for today. The stability is great however, the CPU temperature reported maybe slightly off.

    Please refer to the link below, I find the wealth of info helpful. There is a list of compatible motherboards.
    http://www.delidded.com/

  • blandest on 16/03/2015 - 09:53

    I'm in the market for a similar CPU. Any ideas of places to buy apart from ebay/gumtree?

    • scrimshaw on 16/03/2015 - 10:34

      OCAU forums. Be a forum member for I think, over 90 days, and you will be able to acces the trade/sell/swap forums.

      Has anyone in this forum done the upgrade successfully, with no issues?

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