Can I add PCIe slot?

[PCUser333]

I have DELL motherboard ( GX520) and there on motherboard are two PCI slots and one PCIe x1 slot. Above PCI slot there is place for PCIe x16 I think. Down is my photo of slots. Why DELL do that? Can I embed new slot? Thanks for every answer! ( sorry for my bad english?)

[Sineater]

I feel like it's not worth the effort. I would just throw in a new motherboard. 

[NelizMastr]

This thing is super old. Don't bother, it can't make proper use of a PCIe slot anyway.

[PCUser333]

2 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

This thing is super old. Don't bother, it can't make proper use of a PCIe slot anyway.

I know. I use this only for testing

[Jsuperchild]

I don't think that the PCI Bus is any good

[Crazycatman]

4 minutes ago, PCUser333 said:

I know. I use this only for testing

If you do it, video it. I would watch it for sure. Looks interesting.

[Jurrunio]

There arent even solder in the holes. I doubt if there are metal traces connecting the slots physically even.

[PCUser333]

5 minutes ago, Crazycatman said:

If you do it, video it. I would watch it for sure. Looks interesting.

Maybe I will try...

[PCUser333]

I have two slots for RAM (DDR 2), and there are two more slots for RAM similar PCIe x16 slot. Why DELL do that?

[Crazycatman]

1 minute ago, PCUser333 said:

Maybe I will try...

GX620 is in picture. I would look up in DIY and Fourms on Modding the GX520, because it's impossible someone wouldn't not try to do it. If I had one I couldn't resist that. I modded my MSI Z270 SLI with a RGB header, cause it was the PLUS version that only had it, but the ports were still there. Free RGB.

[PCUser333]

4 minutes ago, Crazycatman said:

GX620 is in picture. I would look up in DIY and Fourms on Modding the GX520, because it's impossible someone wouldn't not try to do it. If I had one I couldn't resist that. I modded my MSI Z270 SLI with a RGB header, cause it was the PLUS version that only had it, but the ports were still there. Free RGB.

Interesting, you're making me do it.

[Crazycatman]

2 minutes ago, PCUser333 said:

I have two slots for RAM (DDR 2), and there are two more slots for RAM similar PCIe x16 slot. Why DELL do that?

If the GX520 was a downgrade of a GX620, I would look into if they have the same Bridge Chip Set. (South Bridge/North Bridge, forgot what Intel did with those) in that case, you can mod it and use it as such. Because they are physically connected. It's basiclly a less intimidating process of a Socket Re-solder.

[PCUser333]

3 minutes ago, Crazycatman said:

If the GX520 was a downgrade of a GX620, I would look into if they have the same Bridge Chip Set. (South Bridge/North Bridge, forgot what Intel did with those) in that case, you can mod it and use it as such. Because they are physically connected. It's basiclly a less intimidating process of a Socket Re-solder.

What do you think the GX520 replaces with the GX620, just move the Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz HT, and RAM

[PCUser333]

Just now, PCUser333 said:

What do you think the GX520 replaces with the GX620, just move the Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz HT, and RAM

Of course, if it's compatible

[Crazycatman]

4 minutes ago, PCUser333 said:

Of course, if it's compatible

Only thing the GX520 can't support is the Pentium D. But both the 4's and Celeron work.

[BarackOBatman]

5 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

There arent even solder in the holes. I doubt if there are metal traces connecting the slots physically even.

I bet its electrically wired for the slot.

I can't really tell from the picture, but the holes look plated to me. 

 

Its good that there isn't solder in the holes! having solder in the holes would make it more challenging to install a PCIex16 in the slot since he would have to melt the solder while inserting the connector. It'd be much easier in my experience to first insert the connector and then solder it afterwards.

 

Not sure if it'd work though, considering the bios or chipset may not know how to communicate with it.

[BarackOBatman]

5 hours ago, PCUser333 said:

Interesting, you're making me do it.

If you do this...

 

A. A video would be very cool

B. I think this connector would fit the pinout. Its a 164 position PCIe through hole connector with staggered leads for soldering. You may want to look more into this before you buy for sure. Good luck! https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/amphenol-fci/10018783-10203TLF/609-1980-ND/1002295

 

Here is link to my original Digikey search. https://www.digikey.com/products/en/connectors-interconnects/card-edge-connectors-edgeboard-connectors/303?FV=1140050%2C16000c6%2C85c0002%2C934013b%2Cffe0012f&quantity=1&ColumnSort=1000011&page=1&pageSize=25

[Kalm_Traveler]

you can do this, but aside from the difficulty of soldering in the full connector (doable, but will take some time), it's possible that the BIOS has that slot disabled. If you add the slot and it doesn't seem to work, you may need to either see if there's an unlocked version of that BIOS or perhaps a higher model of PC with the same base motherboard which has it.

On an old HP Pavilion in the late 90's I added a serial port because I needed one for a Playstation memory card reader and there wasn't one by default, but the header existed on the motherboard. However, in that case the BIOS still had the option to enable it even though out of the box there was no connector or header pins installed.