Skalabala wrote on 2024-04-02, 01:54:

Hello everyone, hope you are doing well 😀

Not bad 😀
I did a quick search and my conclusion is that L2 + TAG were desoldered.
Pics have either 1 or 2 L2 chips installed (512 or 1MB).

Odd but not uncommon solution if it was used for spares at some point.
Unless I'm utterly wrong 😀

No L2 should make it hang possibly. Strange

Nexxen wrote on 2024-04-02, 02:33:

Not bad :) I did a quick search and my conclusion is that L2 + TAG were desoldered. Pics have either 1 or 2 L2 chips installed ( […]
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Skalabala wrote on 2024-04-02, 01:54:

Hello everyone, hope you are doing well 😀

Not bad 😀
I did a quick search and my conclusion is that L2 + TAG were desoldered.
Pics have either 1 or 2 L2 chips installed (512 or 1MB).

Odd but not uncommon solution if it was used for spares at some point.
Unless I'm utterly wrong 😀

No L2 should make it hang possibly. Strange

Spares board would be my initial guess too, I cant really think of many other reasons for removing both Cache and Tag ...Im guessing it may run just fine with L2 disabled in BIOS and using a K6-2+ or K6-3 / + since they have their own L2 and dont need L3 to work.

I wonder if this was just a quality control issue? If those chips were removed, someone did a very neat job of it.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2024-04-02, 02:39:

I wonder if this was just a quality control issue? If those chips were removed, someone did a very neat job of it.

Yeah, very clean job .. too clean one might say.

Looking at other 1.2a boards they all have two Cache chips .. so an exceptional job in removing both that clean.

I think the obvious answer is this was a board revision for a low cost system integrator that wanted to save a few bucks on cache chips.

kingcake wrote on 2024-04-02, 03:11:

I think the obvious answer is this was a board revision for a low cost system integrator that wanted to save a few bucks on cache chips.

Maybe but the FIC VA 503+ was a high end board back in the day, not a board I would have ever chosen for a low cost system, even with no Cache the board would have still been more expensive than other low cost budget boards already on the market at the time.

Not saying you are wrong here just adding a counter point.

Trashbytes wrote on 2024-04-02, 02:41:

Repo Man11 wrote on 2024-04-02, 02:39:

I wonder if this was just a quality control issue? If those chips were removed, someone did a very neat job of it.

Yeah, very clean job .. too clean one might say.

Looking at other 1.2a boards they all have two Cache chips .. so an exceptional job in removing both that clean.

I did the same in the past days and you couldn't tell something was soldered there.
Pic in bay is blurry, not a sharp HD.
This is a TRW job to sort 😀

kingcake wrote on 2024-04-02, 03:11:

I think the obvious answer is this was a board revision for a low cost system integrator that wanted to save a few bucks on cache chips.

Well, only buyer will tell what's the answer 🤣
Retro mystery!

Nexxen wrote on 2024-04-02, 03:18:

I did the same in the past days and you couldn't tell something was soldered there. Pic in bay is blurry, not a sharp HD. This i […]
Show full quote

Trashbytes wrote on 2024-04-02, 02:41:

Repo Man11 wrote on 2024-04-02, 02:39:

I wonder if this was just a quality control issue? If those chips were removed, someone did a very neat job of it.

Yeah, very clean job .. too clean one might say.

Looking at other 1.2a boards they all have two Cache chips .. so an exceptional job in removing both that clean.

I did the same in the past days and you couldn't tell something was soldered there.
Pic in bay is blurry, not a sharp HD.
This is a TRW job to sort 😀

kingcake wrote on 2024-04-02, 03:11:

I think the obvious answer is this was a board revision for a low cost system integrator that wanted to save a few bucks on cache chips.

Well, only buyer will tell what's the answer 🤣
Retro mystery!

I have a DFI K6XV3+ /66 that needs another Cache chip ...they are very similar in design to these ones .. how hard are they to add to a board ? Just curious about difficulty before I jump in.

Trashbytes wrote on 2024-04-02, 03:22:

Nexxen wrote on 2024-04-02, 03:18:

I did the same in the past days and you couldn't tell something was soldered there. Pic in bay is blurry, not a sharp HD. This i […]
Show full quote

Trashbytes wrote on 2024-04-02, 02:41:

Yeah, very clean job .. too clean one might say.

Looking at other 1.2a boards they all have two Cache chips .. so an exceptional job in removing both that clean.

I did the same in the past days and you couldn't tell something was soldered there.
Pic in bay is blurry, not a sharp HD.
This is a TRW job to sort 😀

kingcake wrote on 2024-04-02, 03:11:

I think the obvious answer is this was a board revision for a low cost system integrator that wanted to save a few bucks on cache chips.

Well, only buyer will tell what's the answer 🤣
Retro mystery!

I have a DFI K6XV3+ /66 that needs another Cache chip ...they are very similar in design to these ones .. how hard are they to add to a board ? Just curious about difficulty before I jump in.

Depends on how much room you have to solder. I used solder paste and a soldering iron, not hot air. 217°C and 183°C temps.
It's way faster than solder dragging and way faster for touch ups. My 2 cents.

Othrewise flux and soldering iron is good but requires more patience.

Not difficult, just slow, steady and patience.

Patience is the key and... I sound like I'm selling door to door 😀

🤣 got the tip?

Hmm Interesting ! The back stickers are not same as my two retail boards. The one green inspection tag has only 3 squares, mine have 5 like pic at trw and other ebay pics.

Nexxen wrote on 2024-04-02, 03:29:

Depends on how much room you have to solder. I used solder paste and a soldering iron, not hot air. 217°C and 183°C temps. It's […]
Show full quote

Trashbytes wrote on 2024-04-02, 03:22:

Nexxen wrote on 2024-04-02, 03:18:

I did the same in the past days and you couldn't tell something was soldered there. Pic in bay is blurry, not a sharp HD. This i […]
Show full quote

I did the same in the past days and you couldn't tell something was soldered there.
Pic in bay is blurry, not a sharp HD.
This is a TRW job to sort 😀

Well, only buyer will tell what's the answer 🤣
Retro mystery!

I have a DFI K6XV3+ /66 that needs another Cache chip ...they are very similar in design to these ones .. how hard are they to add to a board ? Just curious about difficulty before I jump in.

Depends on how much room you have to solder. I used solder paste and a soldering iron, not hot air. 217°C and 183°C temps.
It's way faster than solder dragging and way faster for touch ups. My 2 cents.

Othrewise flux and soldering iron is good but requires more patience.

Not difficult, just slow, steady and patience.

Patience is the key and... I sound like I'm selling door to door 😀

🤣 got the tip?

Soldering iron with solder paste? What's your method? When I do high density chips I either drag, or use paste + hot air and board heater

🤣 same seller has a msi 6905 slocket for $229. wtf I seen enough..tards 😁

I have seen a cacheless PA-503+ on Ebay before (with better pics).
I think it was, like kingcake said, a cheapo version.

You can add the chips indeed, but 1MB cache is the maximum here (due to 28-pin TAG limitation):
2 chips (or 1 chip) 64K x 64 (4nS) and a 32K x 8 TAG chip (8nS). There are probably also a couple of resistors around the TAG chip missing.

Trashbytes wrote on 2024-04-02, 03:17:

kingcake wrote on 2024-04-02, 03:11:

I think the obvious answer is this was a board revision for a low cost system integrator that wanted to save a few bucks on cache chips.

Maybe but the FIC VA 503+ was a high end board back in the day

That's a bit of a stretch. Super Socket7 boards were mid-range at best.
I bought the VA 503+ when it came out, and I paid 89 bucks for it.

kingcake wrote on 2024-04-02, 04:04:

Soldering iron with solder paste? What's your method? When I do high density chips I either drag, or use paste + hot air and board heater

It's just what's faster and easier to do the job, for me.
Also being L2 cache I don't find easily, I avoid hot air if possible.

Solder paste makes touch ups really easy on such small leads.

I say the date code is a giveaway. Either its cheap or something got fixed in the chipset like ALi with Rev G and H
This is the 2003 board.
https://allegro.pl/oferta/fic-va-503-plyta-gl … mii-14876863407

The late ALi chipset revisions made the northbridge´s on-chip TAG-RAM usable, but you would still need the cache chip(s).