2U Rackmount snag

[Ardan]

Hello!

I need help, experts. I don't have THAT much rack experience, let alone with them and the latest hardware. A friend of mine has a 2U 900Mhz Athlon server on an ATX motherboard and some people helped him build up enough money for an upgrade and he bought the parts. What the tech at the datacenter didn't tell him was what he needed, and he was told the stock CPU cooler on the Socket 754 Athlon 64 doesn't fit in the case and the video card is also incompatible with the case.

This is my question: if he needs a new rack, what does he need? Can he just get a more updated 2U rack solution, or does he need a 3U rack? The tech says he really doesn't want a 4U rack in his space, so if nothing is possible, then I guess he's in a real big pickle! What are his options to solve this issue? I'm open to hearing ANY solid advice, or questions. He says he's willing to get a decent 3U or 2U rack for the technician, but he doesn't know what exactly he would need. Anyone have an answer they could explain? Please don't trouble yourself with putting it into 'normal' terms, because neither of us are new to hardware.

Thank you for ANY help anyone could provide.

 

[MustISO]

The "U" is basically telling you how much space the server case takes up in the rack. A 1U case takes up one space in a rack, a 2U double that. I'm not sure how tall the Stock HSF is but I'm surprised it won't fit in a 2U case. I have some Dell 2650's at work (they're 2U) and they have massive HS on them with fans on the sides instead of the top. Depending on the layout of his case, he'd be better off with a motherboard with built in everything (video and lan) so that cards won't be an issue. If you need to use full size cards, you can use riser cards which position the PCI cards horizontally. Again the layout of the case makes all the difference here. Hope this helps.

 

[Ardan]

So do you think he should probably return the graphics card, buy a PCI-based one and use the riser card? I just found online Athlon 64/FX fans that say they are specifically for 2U rackmount servers. Would that do? The link is here: http://www.dynatron-corp.com/p...ooler_model.asp?id=36#
It says it is AMD Recommended and is suitable for 2U Rackmounts.