Sphere478 wrote on 2024-07-07, 03:33:

I have a xeon 3.33 10x modded for 775. What wild cool thing should I build with it?

I’m thinking a modern/retro crossover build with windows xp/windows 11

But what hardware should I put around it?

Something other than mini ATX motherboard with only a single PCIE slot. 😉

More seriously, an Asus P5K variant would be a nice option, IMHO. I gifted friends a P5K Deluxe WIFI-AP with a modded Xeon E5450. That thing is still in use with a 2GB GTX 1050 (possibly a TI, not sure). and 8GB of DDR2-800. If you can source compatible unbuffered 4x4GB DDR2 DIMMs, you can apparently take it to 16GB RAM (seems like the kind of challenge you might enjoy, maybe).

I would probably give up on the Windows 11 dual-boot idea; 24H2 has new real CPU instruction requirements that I don't think any LGA775 processor can meet.

And while, say, an Ivy Bridge is supposed to meet those requirements, I so far have been unable to get 24H2 to install on an Ivy Bridge/BIOS setup. (And I would think you really want 11 booting in BIOS mode for a dual-boot with XP) It's installed fine on Haswell/UEFI though...

One thing that is not clear - do you have a motherboard for this project already?

I'm running the lesser Xeon x3320 2.50Ghz on my primary XP and Asus P5N-D motherboard.
Pair of GF GTX590's for some SLI fun, overpowered for anything in XP but have Win7 to give the GPU's some work from time to time.

I've an E5450 clocked to 3.6GHz (400MHz FSB) running on a ASUS P5Q-VM paired with 8GB DDR-2 and Win 10. (GPU is just some HD7750 I had lying around.)
Runs like hell, literally.
Necessary steps besides modding the CPU's "pins" are either modifying the socket for a 771 CPU or, what I've done, mechanically mod the CPU to fit into socket 775.
Also, the BIOS needed a little microcode update to recognize the Xeon. Besides that it's a really nice combination.

Please report your CPU temperature readings if you proceed that far. I have the feeling they are a bit off from the real ones. Think I've read somewhere this is kind or "normal" and just a display thing but without much confirmation.

Edit: re-read your first post, obviously you're already done making it fit to 775. So you can skip to the BIOS thing, or get a board where that's not necessary.