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http://www.falconfly.de/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl General Section >> General Discussion >> Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter http://www.falconfly.de/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1386098580 Message started by Komponent on 03.12.13 at 20:23:00

Title: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by Komponent on 03.12.13 at 20:23:00

I always wanted to own an AGP2PCI or AGP5 adapter and play with it, but no way I could ever afford to pay 100+ Euro on one. Solution? Build one myself.

Step one: construction of the adapter:
Connecting signals, power and ground.
http://abload.de/thumb/201312030013apfw.jpg
Adding insulating wrapping.
http://abload.de/thumb/20131203004qkoxm.jpg
Adding metal foil shielding connected to ground.
http://abload.de/thumb/20131203005fiqit.jpg

Step 2: Modding motherboards BIOS for compatibility:
http://abload.de/thumb/s2466_1x3qft.jpg [/url]

The adapter allows using AGP 3.3v cards plugged into PCI-X slot. The only motherboard with 3.3v PCI slots I have is Tyan S2466 that is known for being incompatible with AGP2PCI type adapters, so a BIOS hack was performed.
Function is 100% stable. There is a small performance drop as expected, for example tested with a 128Mb Voodoo5 AGP, 2326 3DMark2001SE points versus 2645 when tested into AGP slot, but more than acceptable due to bus sharing.

I know, it's ugly, but it works, it's cheap and easy to build.

Title: Re: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by osckhar on 03.12.13 at 20:44:22

Amazing work once more! :)

Using PCI-x motherboard you should get more or same using a V5 PCI-x than V5 AGP.

- Oscar.

Title: Re: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by Komponent on 04.12.13 at 18:22:52

Alright, some tests were needed. In fact, just the perfect excuse to serve to my wife so she will not object me playing with my 128Mb Voodoo5 cards for an hour. ;D After all, they are the first of their kind in the world, so taking them out for a spin always makes me feel proud :D
Motherboard is Tyan S2466. OS: Win ME. CPU: A1900+

Voodoo5 5500 PCI 128Mb in PCI33 slot:
http://abload.de/thumb/pci33rssza.png

Voodoo5 5500 PCI 128Mb in PCI66 slot:
http://abload.de/thumb/pci66nksxx.png

Voodoo5 5500 AGP 128Mb in AGP slot:
http://abload.de/thumb/agpy4snd.png

Voodoo5 5500 AGP 128Mb in AGP2PCIX adapter in PCI66 slot:
http://abload.de/thumb/agp2pcixyesr1.png

I'll also take this opportunity to thank Rolo01 for the support in this successful project! :)

Title: Re: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by goriath on 04.12.13 at 19:22:04

Could I be blind but I don't see any difference between the two screenshots about the bios mod. Am I missing something?

Title: Re: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by Komponent on 04.12.13 at 19:30:08

Second column from left to right, second row from bottom to top. ::)
Forgot to mention the parts required to build the adapter: one PCI and one AGP riser ;D

Title: Re: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by Komponent on 15.12.13 at 15:38:06

Presenting the second REV of AGP2PCIX:
Finished soldering:
http://abload.de/thumb/15122013002ploh3.jpg
Protective wrapping added:
http://abload.de/thumb/15122013006d2rx6.jpg

Changes from first REV:
Reduced height by more than 1cm.
Universal PCI keying.
3.3v VDDQ taken from PCI 3.3v supply.

Does it work? Yes! Perfectly! ;)

Title: Re: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by Geri on 16.12.13 at 21:27:24

congrats. you should manufacture more and sell them. you will earn lot.

Title: Re: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by Komponent on 17.12.13 at 07:47:33

I strongly doubt that. So many hours of work go into building one that the price would have to reflect that. Would be talking of about 45 euro including shipping...

Title: Re: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by m14radu on 17.12.13 at 17:41:58

Great adapter Komponent !

Title: Re: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by Geri on 18.12.13 at 03:04:48

Komponent: thats great, becouse the competitor's converter costs above 200 euro. i think you can start selling it for 65 euro, then you will see if you will able to lower the time (price).

Title: Re: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by Komponent on 21.12.13 at 04:29:05

In keeping the good tradition of guiding how to replicate my work, here is the pinout I used to build the adapter:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4383540/DIY%20AGP2PCIX%20adapter/agp2pci.xls
Thanks Oscar for uploading it to your server!

Title: Re: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by Komponent on 30.12.13 at 11:19:17

Christmas Voodoo3 and AGP2PCIX retro hardware test:
Motherboard: MSI 6168. CPU: Pentium3 450Mhz. RAM: 128Mb. O.S.: Win ME

Voodoo3 8Mb 143Mhz AGP (Voodoo3 2000 AGP onboard):
http://abload.de/thumb/8mbv3agponboardyakup.png

Voodoo3 8Mb 143Mhz AGP + AGP2PCIX in PCI33 (Velocity100):
http://abload.de/thumb/8mbv3agp2pcixiijlk.png

Voodoo3 16Mb 166Mhz PCI in PCI33 (Voodoo3 3000 PCI):
http://abload.de/thumb/16mbv3pcifwkym.png

Voodoo3 16Mb 166Mhz AGP + AGP2PCIX in PCI33 (Voodoo3 3000 AGP):
http://abload.de/thumb/16mbv3agp2pcix51kyw.png

Title: Re: Poor man's solution: homemade DIY AGP2PCIX adapter
Post by Komponent on 01.01.14 at 14:54:12

Happy New Year!

Had a short time available to play with a fairly new motherboard ASRock > ALiveNF6G-VSTA:
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=ALIVENF6G-VSTA
The BIOS had to be hacked and I did it as quickly as I could, maybe I could have done it better, but it worked none the less.

Voodoo4 PCI in PCI33 slot:
http://abload.de/thumb/v4pci3ns40.jpg

Voodoo4 AGP plus AGP2PCIX in PCI33 slot:
http://abload.de/thumb/v4agp2pcixdasps.jpg

ASRock ALiveNF6G-VSTA 1,8Ghz CPU Win XP SFFT 1.9