Pegatron IPXIP-GS, let's bring it back into the light together
Welcome back to the lab! Today, we are going to analyse a YASHI PC that was donated to us with the aim of making it useful for our everyday use, and we are going to analyse the Pegatron IPXIP-GS, a motherboard that is no longer to be found on the web.
Index
- Introduction
- Original Specifications
- Upgrades
- About the motherboard
Introduction
Every now and then, PCs arrive at the workshop destined for the scrap heap to be upgraded and brought back to life. These PCs can still give a lot, because very little is needed sometimes to completely change the performance of systems that are undoubtedly a few years old, but which for office use or light tasks are still very valuable machines.
Today, this YASHI mini-PC arrived in the lab, of which nothing can be found online, and the manufacturer's technical support team dismissed us by telling us that the product has been EOL (End Of Life) for over 14 years.
(Fun fact, the motherboard came out precisely 15 years ago, so it has received very little support, if any, but more on that later).
Intrigued by this machine with no information, we begin our research work with a view to making upgrades
Original Specifications
The newly arrived PC was disassembled for the purpose of analysing it more thoroughly, immediately noting a certain compactness in the design of the case and its contents. Removing the CD-DVD drive, one immediately notices a Pegatron IPXIP-GS mini ITX motherboard, two slots for DDR3 RAM modules, one of which is populated with a 2GB stick, a PCI-E slot and a 500GB mechanical hard disk.
Worthy of note is the power supply moved to the front of the pc with an IEC extension cable to connect it to the power supply. The I/O ports are very good, with a USB 3.0 (perhaps one of the first given the age of the PC), HDMI output, a Gigabit RJ45 port, audio outputs of all kinds, a DVI port for a possible second monitor, and even an E-SATA port to directly connect external HDDs.
Searching online for motherboard specifications, we found nothing, it seems as if the Web has forgotten about this model, so let's proceed with booting the PC to get to the bottom of it
After inserting another 2GB ram stick, we started up the computer, looking for more information. From the BIOS screen we discover that the processor is a Intel Pentium G6950, a 2.8GHz dual core on socket 1156, equivalent to the first generation Intel Core. There is no operating system, and the buffer battery of the RTC is most likely empty, since it marks an error in the CMOS CheckSum.
Upgrades
To bring this machine back to life as a first step, a new SSD was installed, on which Windows 10 runs, thanks to a 3D printed stand to accommodate it in place of the old 3.5″ mechanical disc
In addition to the new drive, we cleaned the processor from the old thermal paste, with Arctic's new MX4, to keep the processor as cool as possible, especially considering the case's small size and poor airflow.
This was also a good opportunity to clean all the fans of dust, replace the BIOS buffer battery CR2032, and tighten the wiring with cable ties to optimise airflow.
We also replaced the CPU with a higher-performance I5-650 running around the lab, still a dual core but capable of reaching 3.4 GHz in turbo boost and featuring hyperthreading technology. Speaking in synthetic benchmarks* this resulted in a doubling of the PC's performance, guaranteeing greater longevity and making the system breathe better, not bad for a free upgrade.
*NB, as they refer to a synthetic test (i.e. stressing the CPU with load simulation programmes) the actual differences vary even heavily from programme to programme, with some software showing a performance gain of more than a doubling, while others showed no significant improvement
About the motherboard
Let us now move on to the most interesting part of the build, namely the motherboard, a Pegatron IPXIP-GS, a board for which nothing can be found on the web.
The IPXIP-GS is based on socket 1156 (Intel Core First Gen) with an H55 chipset. Finding nothing about its HW support for CPUs, we tested several possible configurations and came to the solution that only processors with a TDP of 73W are really supported by this motherboard.
We do not know whether it is a question of BIOS to be updated or not (the manufacturer does not have it in the archives either, let us know if you find it), so we went by trial and error with BIOS version 0115
| CPU | Cores/Threads | Frequency | Frequency in Turbo | Score PassMark |
| Pentium G6950 | 2/2 | 2.80 GHz | / | 1238 |
| Pentium G6951 | 2/2 | 2.80 GHz | / | 1383 |
| Pentium G6960 | 2/2 | 2.93 GHz | / | 1433 |
| Core I3-530 | 2/4 | 2.93 GHz | / | 1500 |
| Core I3-540 | 2/4 | 3.06 GHz | / | 1536 |
| Core I3-550 | 2/4 | 3.20 GHz | / | 1609 |
| Core I3-560 | 2/4 | 3.33 GHz | / | 1662 |
| Core I5-650 | 2/4 | 3.20 GHz | 3.46 GHz | 2247 |
| Core I5-655K* | 2/4 | 3.20+ GHz | 3.46+ GHz | 2017+ |
| Core I5-660 | 2/4 | 3.33 GHz | 3.60 GHz | 2394 |
| Core I5-670 | 2/4 | 3.46 GHz | 3.73 GHz | 2533 |
| Core I5-680 | 2/4 | 3.60 GHz | 3.80 GHz | 2647 |
* Overclocking functionality is not supported by the motherboard, so performance refers to the CPU at stock settings, the '+' indicates the possibility of raising parameters on other boards that allow the functionality of changing frequency, FSB and core voltages
By searching the internet archives, we were also able to find the basic motherboard manual with the reference layout for connectors and jumpers, which we leave here for free reference in case you get your hands on this motherboard.
If you find further material about the Pegatron series, please let us know in the comments!
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