Question Any way to adapt a Supermicro X8DTI-F Dual Xeon Socket LGA1366 E-ATX Motherboard for gaming?

[jamesdsimone]

A friend of mine was given a computer that some told him was a "gaming" computer. He finally brought it by for me to look at yesterday. Turns out it is a straight up server with a dual cpu Supermicro board and 20 gb ECC memory. It has a hardware RAID board with hard drive docks. I told him I didn't think it would support a gaming video card but I have never messed with a server.

 

[Shmee]

It could work, probably depends mostly on the CPU(s) used, OS installed, and the chassis. Most boards will have room for a PCIe video card, but if it doesn't fit in the chassis, that's no good.

Still, even with an optimal CPU setup and Windows 10, it is older hardware. You could put in an RX 6600 or something, but even with one or two Xeon X5690 CPUs, you would probably be CPU limited. Also, any GPU with extra power requirements may not work depending on the server PSU.

 

[jamesdsimone]

It could work, probably depends mostly on the CPU(s) used, OS installed, and the chassis. Most boards will have room for a PCIe video card, but if it doesn't fit in the chassis, that's no good.

Still, even with an optimal CPU setup and Windows 10, it is older hardware. You could put in an RX 6600 or something, but even with one or two Xeon X5690 CPUs, you would probably be CPU limited. Also, any GPU with extra power requirements may not work depending on the server PSU.

The power supply definitely needs to be replaced but I have a 750w unit that is just sitting around. The case is a mid tower but the RAID setup takes up all the bays. It has 2 E5620's installed now. There is no OS as of now. I tried to boot from a Linux thumb drive but it went to the Mint screen and never got to a desk top.

 

[Shmee]

Ok, E5620 isn't bad, they are also Westmere EP, but you could check to see if the board supports the X5690, which will give 2 extra cores per CPU and higher clocks. Here is a pair for $45. https://www.ebay.com/b/Xeon-X5690/164/bn_7023380273

If the board has onboard SATA ports, you could remove the RAID card and add a video card. Most likely you could just add in a 2TB SSD to one of the onboard SATA ports and call it a day.

 

[jamesdsimone]

It does have onboard SATA ports but they are SATA 3.0. It only has a PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot and USB 2.0. Removing the RAID card isn't the problem. Taking apart the drive bays might be. There is a fan and another board interfacing with the hard drive racks.

 

[Shmee]

In this case, it may be better suited as a TrueNAS or similar. Obviously gaming wasn't in mind lol.

 

[zir_blazer]

It could have been a fine gaming computer... a decade ago. Today is just an ancient server, so treat it like that.
For gaming, Nehalem ST performance is abysmally low by today standards, and don't even get to power consumption cause having Dual Processor isn't particularly energy efficient. You may get more mileage from it by using it for home server duties than adding a Video Card.

 

[jamesdsimone]

In this case, it may be better suited as a TrueNAS or similar. Obviously gaming wasn't in mind lol.

I recommended not bothering. I was going to suggest using it as a media server.