yep, but I only want the board
SGI: Hardware
600MHz O2 Is Up And Running!! - Page 2
I wanted to answer this earlier but I have been out of town for the last couple of weeks for work.
radrob wrote
The first thing to do is get an O2 300MHz or 350MHz cpu board. The cpu boards I have upgraded have both been FAB no 034-1451-004 rev A (this is the p/n of the cpu board itself, not the entire cpu board assy with parts) I know there is at least one other rev of this cpu board (it looks slightly different) that I have seen on eBay, I see no reason why it would not work to be upgraded, but I can make no promises.
Contact PMC-Sierra http://www.pmcsierra.com/ and they will put you in contact with your local agent. You will need an RM7000C 600MHz chip, they are about US$140 each + S&H.
Contact me through my e-mail (Nekochan.net members can find this under the "memberlist" link at the top of the page) and I will sell you a preprogrammed PROM chip (for the 600MHz cpu), or you can arrange to send me the cpu board and I will put the chip on for you.
You will need to adjust the core voltage regulator from 2.50V to 1.20V by changing the resisters (R50 and R46) on the cpu board. If you arrange for me to put the PROM chip on the board, I will do this at the same time.
Contact a pcb repair shop and explain to them you have a pcb that you need to replace a "BGA" (ball grid array) cpu chip, you have the chip, and you will expect a guaranty of their work. This should cost about $100 - $175 per board + S&H.
Put the heatsink back on the (new) cpu and you should be ready to go.
In theory you should be able to reverse this mod, but there is a finite number of times you can solder and unsolder from a pcb.
I would ask for the original parts back, ther belong to you.
I have seen no problems at all (floating point or otherwise) from either the 400MHz or 600MHz boards and they have been running pretty much 24/7 since I received and installed them in my O2s.
The samples of the 900MHz chip are going to "big" customers, something about thousands of chips bought per month.
My plan is to document this upgrade process on my website, this is a very busy work time of the year for me so I will do this as quickly as possible.
I am starting on my next project which is to upgrade the R10K 175/195MHz cpu chips to R12K 300MHz chips on the O2 cpu boards. I found a cache of new old stock R12K 300MHz chips for a very good price and this looks like a very "doable" upgrade, I will keep everyone posted.
Joe
radrob wrote
but i think a lot of o2 users it's still thinking:
..if i'll want upgrade my o2 RM5200 cpu board...
-what i must do?
-the mods it's reversible? ...i'll get back the parts changed?
-have you detected "floating point" problems?
-what's the price?
-news from the 900mhz ?
The first thing to do is get an O2 300MHz or 350MHz cpu board. The cpu boards I have upgraded have both been FAB no 034-1451-004 rev A (this is the p/n of the cpu board itself, not the entire cpu board assy with parts) I know there is at least one other rev of this cpu board (it looks slightly different) that I have seen on eBay, I see no reason why it would not work to be upgraded, but I can make no promises.
Contact PMC-Sierra http://www.pmcsierra.com/ and they will put you in contact with your local agent. You will need an RM7000C 600MHz chip, they are about US$140 each + S&H.
Contact me through my e-mail (Nekochan.net members can find this under the "memberlist" link at the top of the page) and I will sell you a preprogrammed PROM chip (for the 600MHz cpu), or you can arrange to send me the cpu board and I will put the chip on for you.
You will need to adjust the core voltage regulator from 2.50V to 1.20V by changing the resisters (R50 and R46) on the cpu board. If you arrange for me to put the PROM chip on the board, I will do this at the same time.
Contact a pcb repair shop and explain to them you have a pcb that you need to replace a "BGA" (ball grid array) cpu chip, you have the chip, and you will expect a guaranty of their work. This should cost about $100 - $175 per board + S&H.
Put the heatsink back on the (new) cpu and you should be ready to go.
In theory you should be able to reverse this mod, but there is a finite number of times you can solder and unsolder from a pcb.
I would ask for the original parts back, ther belong to you.
I have seen no problems at all (floating point or otherwise) from either the 400MHz or 600MHz boards and they have been running pretty much 24/7 since I received and installed them in my O2s.
The samples of the 900MHz chip are going to "big" customers, something about thousands of chips bought per month.
My plan is to document this upgrade process on my website, this is a very busy work time of the year for me so I will do this as quickly as possible.
I am starting on my next project which is to upgrade the R10K 175/195MHz cpu chips to R12K 300MHz chips on the O2 cpu boards. I found a cache of new old stock R12K 300MHz chips for a very good price and this looks like a very "doable" upgrade, I will keep everyone posted.
Joe
Joe, you are a GOD among men...
Hope you don't mind my comment.
Hope you don't mind my comment.
Shtoink wrote: Joe, you are a GOD among men...
Hope you don't mind my comment.
ditto
Shtoink Wrote
That's a nice thing to say, but hardly the case.
It has more to do with the lil' woman working 3rd shift as a pharmacist, so now my afternoon / evening hobbies have to be quiet ones so she can sleep.
I would have said the same about all of you that port and post all this great software, I just can't seem to pick it up. I've been told that, in general, people either "get" hardware or software, it is pretty rare to be very good with both. I guess it just goes to show that it does take all kinds to make the world go 'round.
Joe
Joe, you are a GOD among men...
That's a nice thing to say, but hardly the case.
It has more to do with the lil' woman working 3rd shift as a pharmacist, so now my afternoon / evening hobbies have to be quiet ones so she can sleep.
I would have said the same about all of you that port and post all this great software, I just can't seem to pick it up. I've been told that, in general, people either "get" hardware or software, it is pretty rare to be very good with both. I guess it just goes to show that it does take all kinds to make the world go 'round.
Joe
I wonder if these techniques can be applied to an Indigo2 R10K 195MHz -> R10K 250MHz or an Octane R10K -> R12K?
The limiting factor for the I2 I have seen is everything between the GFX, HDD, and CPU. Once again, that crack pipe might be looming about and clouding my judgment.
No reference to any software this time
No reference to any software this time
Shtoink wrote: The limiting factor for the I2 I have seen is everything between the GFX, HDD, and CPU. Once again, that crack pipe might be looming about and clouding my judgment. :D
No reference to any software this time :wink:
Yeah, I know the memory speed on the I2 is awful-- I've got two of 'em. They're showing their age, but I still love them. My R5K-200 O2 is almost as bad.
But it would be funny to see such an upgrade. I'd be compelled to rip the R10K out of my Octane and plug a R12K in there instead. It's just the prices for R12K CPU's are still high.
warerat wrote
In the O2s, the R10K and R12K (up to 300MHz) cpu chips use a surface array pin system and fit into a socket of sorts, so they are not soldered to the cpu board like the R5K and R7K chips. This would make changing the cpu chips themselves an easy task. The R10K/R12K boards use the same PLL and xtal setup for the external cpu clock but they use a set of 64 tiny resistors tied to the input pins of the cpu to set the initial conditions of the cpu. (the same thing the PROM chip does on the R5K/R7K cpu board) The catch is: the resistors are tiny and not labeled so I am having to map the the individual resistors to the cpu pins so I can figure out which ones to change to set the correct cpu speed. I have taken apart my Octane R12K 360MHz cpu board and it is the same type of setup, just that all the resistors are in different places.
I would guess that the I2 cpu board works the same way. So upgrading the O2 or Octane cpu board (at least to an R12K 300MHz) should be a reasonable project. If someone wants to take the cpu board out of their I2, remove the heatsink assy and take some high res pictures, I would be interested to see if it is setup the same way as the O2 and Octane cpu boards.
Joe
I'd be compelled to rip the R10K out of my Octane and plug a R12K in there instead.
In the O2s, the R10K and R12K (up to 300MHz) cpu chips use a surface array pin system and fit into a socket of sorts, so they are not soldered to the cpu board like the R5K and R7K chips. This would make changing the cpu chips themselves an easy task. The R10K/R12K boards use the same PLL and xtal setup for the external cpu clock but they use a set of 64 tiny resistors tied to the input pins of the cpu to set the initial conditions of the cpu. (the same thing the PROM chip does on the R5K/R7K cpu board) The catch is: the resistors are tiny and not labeled so I am having to map the the individual resistors to the cpu pins so I can figure out which ones to change to set the correct cpu speed. I have taken apart my Octane R12K 360MHz cpu board and it is the same type of setup, just that all the resistors are in different places.
I would guess that the I2 cpu board works the same way. So upgrading the O2 or Octane cpu board (at least to an R12K 300MHz) should be a reasonable project. If someone wants to take the cpu board out of their I2, remove the heatsink assy and take some high res pictures, I would be interested to see if it is setup the same way as the O2 and Octane cpu boards.
Joe
For my O2 (175mhz R10k) this would be a HUGE increase in speed, and also a huge asset, as upgrades for those machines are expensive, if you can find them.
Octanes on the other hand, a 300mhz R12k can be gotten for about 400-500 (and this from resellers) so I don't know if the price and work involved would really end up saving you much...just on a time-basis (though I may be wrong here, if it IS just a few resistors to de-solder/re-solder and swapping out a chip that's under $200...)
Octanes on the other hand, a 300mhz R12k can be gotten for about 400-500 (and this from resellers) so I don't know if the price and work involved would really end up saving you much...just on a time-basis (though I may be wrong here, if it IS just a few resistors to de-solder/re-solder and swapping out a chip that's under $200...)
dear chcago-joe
< ---= THANKS !! =-- >
..mmm i've an o2 r12k@270 ...too
could be easy to upgrade to r12k@300 ...or more??
</ ---= THANKS !! =-- >
rob
< ---= THANKS !! =-- >
chicago joe wrote:
I am starting on my next project which is to upgrade the R10K 175/195MHz cpu chips to R12K 300MHz chips on the O2 cpu boards. I found a cache of new old stock R12K 300MHz chips for a very good price and this looks like a very "doable" upgrade, I will keep everyone posted.
..mmm i've an o2 r12k@270 ...too
could be easy to upgrade to r12k@300 ...or more??
</ ---= THANKS !! =-- >
rob
vegac wrote: Octanes on the other hand, a 300mhz R12k can be gotten for about 400-500 (and this from resellers) so I don't know if the price and work involved would really end up saving you much...just on a time-basis (though I may be wrong here, if it IS just a few resistors to de-solder/re-solder and swapping out a chip that's under $200...)
Is this a question of saving money, or just having the talent to make the mod? Sure you can buy an Octane R12K CPU module and just plug it in. But what about finding a cheaper R12K module from some other computer (O2, Origin, Onyx) and modding it for an Octane (of course I doubt 2/3 of those options are cheaper). Is it possible to buy a R12k CPU by itself?
Octane Wrote
I just knew it, someone would come along and bring up ideas like "value" and worse yet "practical", it always happens.
The new old stock supply of R12K-300MHz chips I found are US$133 each + S&H. These should drop right into any of the 175, 195, 225 or 250MHz R10K cpu boards for the O2 so far as I can tell, you would also need to change a few resistors and adjust the core voltage regulator. It looks like the same situation for the Octane cpu boards, so I think value wise it makes a lot of sense (esp. for the O2) as you would be getting a lot of bang for the buck. The upgrade to a 600MHz R7k chip is going to be more like $300 - $350 plus the 300/350MHz doner card, but you would have an O2 with more performance than the SGI stock R12K-400MHz cpu.
I did the original mod on the O2 to learn how to do it and understand more about the hardware, but now there is NO way I could go back to the 200MHz chip. My O2 is now a very usable day to day machine (dare I say responsive) even with Mozilla.
In lots of 45, the R12K-300 chips are $110 each, if the upgrade goes well and there is enough interest, I might try and organize a "group buy" of the remaining chips (I bought 5 and there are 45 left) so that everone can get a better deal.
Joe
Is this a question of saving money....
I just knew it, someone would come along and bring up ideas like "value" and worse yet "practical", it always happens.
The new old stock supply of R12K-300MHz chips I found are US$133 each + S&H. These should drop right into any of the 175, 195, 225 or 250MHz R10K cpu boards for the O2 so far as I can tell, you would also need to change a few resistors and adjust the core voltage regulator. It looks like the same situation for the Octane cpu boards, so I think value wise it makes a lot of sense (esp. for the O2) as you would be getting a lot of bang for the buck. The upgrade to a 600MHz R7k chip is going to be more like $300 - $350 plus the 300/350MHz doner card, but you would have an O2 with more performance than the SGI stock R12K-400MHz cpu.
I did the original mod on the O2 to learn how to do it and understand more about the hardware, but now there is NO way I could go back to the 200MHz chip. My O2 is now a very usable day to day machine (dare I say responsive) even with Mozilla.
In lots of 45, the R12K-300 chips are $110 each, if the upgrade goes well and there is enough interest, I might try and organize a "group buy" of the remaining chips (I bought 5 and there are 45 left) so that everone can get a better deal.
Joe
chicago-joe wrote: In lots of 45, the R12K-300 chips are $110 each, if the upgrade goes well and there is enough interest, I might try and organize a "group buy" of the remaining chips (I bought 5 and there are 45 left) so that everone can get a better deal.
Joe
I was trying to point out that most people do not mod computers to save money, but rather for the joy of modding. Anyhow, count me in on one of the R12k chips if you manage an Octane upgrade.
hmm... swaping the pair of 195 r10k's in my octane for a pair of r12k 300's that would be so worth it. Im assuming if its easy to mod a dual module the same way as a single.
Octane Wrote
Sorry, that was my bad attempt at making a joke. That was my point exactly, I did it for the challenge (and for a faster machine).
SparcV Wrote
That is something I had not thought of, I have seen several dual 195MHz Octane cpus on eBay for $100 - $200 over the last few months. This seems well worth looking into!
Joe
I was trying to point out that most people do not mod computers to save money, but rather for the joy of modding.
Sorry, that was my bad attempt at making a joke. That was my point exactly, I did it for the challenge (and for a faster machine).
SparcV Wrote
hmm... swaping the pair of 195 r10k's in my octane for a pair of r12k 300's that would be so worth it. Im assuming if its easy to mod a dual module the same way as a single.
That is something I had not thought of, I have seen several dual 195MHz Octane cpus on eBay for $100 - $200 over the last few months. This seems well worth looking into!
Joe
IIRC you modded the new chips onto the old CPU-boards. I would imagine that the changed clock frequency could do some serious damage to any electrolytic capacitors (elca) on those boards and probably on the motherboards as well. Usually the manufacturer uses elcas suited to the environment. If you use a faster processor which also generates more heat (and most elcas sit very close to the CPU for efficiency reasons, causing them to receive a lot of heat) you will probably shorten the lifespan of those elcas considerately.
More info (including a cop-and-robbers-story on faked elcas):
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/re ... /ncap.html
http://www.ttiinc.com/MarketEye/Aluminum_Cap_Issue.asp
More info (including a cop-and-robbers-story on faked elcas):
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/re ... /ncap.html
http://www.ttiinc.com/MarketEye/Aluminum_Cap_Issue.asp
Hi Assram (?),
no pun intented but if you had read the article completely you would have noticed that the new processor doesn't emit much more heat compared to the old one.
Joe,
you mentioned the prices for R12K processor. What is needed to find out if an R14K could be fited ? Dual R12K 300Mhz cann be had realtivly cheap on ebay these days. Converting to a more modern CPU would be far more interesting ...
Reagrds
Matthias
no pun intented but if you had read the article completely you would have noticed that the new processor doesn't emit much more heat compared to the old one.
Joe,
you mentioned the prices for R12K processor. What is needed to find out if an R14K could be fited ? Dual R12K 300Mhz cann be had realtivly cheap on ebay these days. Converting to a more modern CPU would be far more interesting ...
Reagrds
Matthias
Life is what happens while we are making other plans
Let's keep this freindly and not get another thread locked. We don't need any name calling in here, or any other kinds of slander.
vegac wrote: For my O2 (175mhz R10k) this would be a HUGE increase in speed, and also a huge asset, as upgrades for those machines are expensive, if you can find them.
Octanes on the other hand, a 300mhz R12k can be gotten for about 400-500 (and this from resellers) so I don't know if the price and work involved would really end up saving you much...just on a time-basis (though I may be wrong here, if it IS just a few resistors to de-solder/re-solder and swapping out a chip that's under $200...)
yes, but think of the possibility of upgrading a dual processor r10k (maybe $60 on ebay) to a dual 300 or 360?