Slot A vs Slot 1 retention mechanism

[debs3759]

In my wanted thread, frag suggested I may be able to use a Slot 1 retention mechanism on a slot A board. Can anyone confirm whether or not they are interchangeable?

I received a "New" slot A board off eBay that was not in an original box, had no cables etc or retention mechanism. I have of course emailed the seller (bought from Italy) but am expecting to have to file a dispute as it is obviously not supplied with all the new parts. If I have to buy another board to get the retention brackets, I can get a slot 1 for under £10 or a slot A for £25. Naturally it will be nice if the retention brackets are the same

[KK_Fin]

I have used Slot 1 retention mechanism in Slot A board, so they are interchangeable, however, I'm not sure if every Slot 1 retention mechanism will work in Slot A board, but many will work. And I have spares too.

[debs3759]

Cool, I'll PM you...

[debs3759]

Looks like I don't have grounds for a dispute. The board was listed as "New", but I think it should have been listed as "New, Other" because of the missing parts (no retention mechanism, backplate or cables, not in original box, may be RMA part judging from box). However it seems i should have translated the Italian description as the seller said it comes without drivers, accessories, etc. Fortunately it does have the manual and driver disk (although I could have downloaded them)

In future i know not to just believe when sellers say goods are new. I've been lucky in this instance as the only missing part I really need is the retention mechanism, which kk_fin has been able to offer me.

[KK_Fin]

I made some tests with MSI K7 Pro and it looks like every retention mechanism suitable for PII fits also for Slot A Athlons. Mechanisms made for Celerons are also ok, if they are ok for SECC cartridges (= PIIs).

I also noticed that Slot A is a mirror of Slot 1, eg. you can put Intel CPU in Slot A (or vice versa) if you turn it 180 degrees.

[CPUShack]

yup, tis why AMD did that, originally they were going to use the Alpha Slot B, but was cheaper to use the same PII slot turned around, as they were already in production and cheap

[debs3759]

Thanks KK_Fin

[KK_Fin]

After some more playing with Slot retention mechanisms, I managed to found one type Slot 1 mechanism which doesn't work for Slot A. It's likely the oldest version of retention mechanism (it was in 440LX board), so not every retention mechanism fits directly (in case of emergency using a knife little will make that oldest mechanism also usable ).