Dell SC420 with P4 520 @ 3.73GHz?

D

Dew

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
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Here is the scenario:
The Dell SC420 goes on sale all the time for $300 with a 2.8GHz P4 520. The SC420 uses a server version of the 925 chipset, I think. It has a PCIe x8 slot that can easily be modded to accept a x16 card. So this has me thinking, Gaming rig in disguise.

Here are the questions:
1. Can I wire/solder mod the P4 520 to use 1066FSB as the default? (BSEL for 6xx and 5xx for 200MHz FSB is identical, BSEL for 266MHz is listed as reserved on 5xx datasheet)
2. Assuming #1 is a yes, will the chipset on the SC420 run with this config?
3. Assuming #2 is a yes, will the chipset on the SC420 auto adjust the ram/PCIe divider based on SPD and default 100MHz PCIe? If not(on the ram), am I better off buying PC2-3200 (400MHz) that can most likely scale to 533MHz with ease?

6xx datasheet: http://download.intel.com/design/Pentium4/datashts/30638201.pdf
5xx datasheet: http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/area-51m_7700/PDFs/30235102.pdf
 
I have an SC420 with a modded PCIe slot. No idea about the other mods, and not really sure how I could check. Let me know if there's a way I can help, other than physically soldering stuff myself though. That's a little too [H]ard for me. :)

-Nate

 
I'm thinking that this is a dead end and I would be better off spending an extra $150 on a 3.4GHz P4 for the 420. I did some more research, turns out the 420 uses the server variant of the 915P chipset.

Considering the situation, I would actually be better off with a 8400 on sale. I know the 630 can be modded to do 4GHz, plus the 8400 often includes a LCD.
 
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