Good card for Server 2K8

[Kelman]

I'm building a new workstation that will be running Server 2K8. However, I would like a good video card. The stock graphics on MB's doesn't cut it so I would like something better. The problem is I know little about video cards and most don't list Server 2K8 drivers so I don't know if I can make Vista64 drivers work or not.

I'm looking for a card that provides dual-DVI and is relatively silent for $150. Any suggestions out there would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and preferably low-profile.

 

[taltamir]

you want to play video games on a windows server 2k8 machine? why exactly?
Server and games should be kept seperate.

There is ONE driver for nVidia and ONE driver for AMD. Both work for every card made with chipsets from the last 3+ years from either company (for example, nvidia geforce 6,7,8,9, and GTX200 series). And NEITHER official supports windows server 2008. (although you might be able to install the vista driver on it, I am not sure, does it take vista drivers?).

I had a friend who used windows server2003 for gaming. You would have to manually enable directX and other features needed for gaming, as they are disabled by default in MS server operating systems.

There is no such thing a good low profile card, it doesn't exist. There are low profile versions of low end cards, and they are more expensive then their full sized counterparts, usually. Sometimes they cost the same or have a replaceable bracket.

Relatively silent require quality cooling, it costs more to get a card with quality 3rd party cooling preinstalled. Or you can replace the HSF on your video card youtself.

Almost every card above 20$ has dual DVI today.

 

[nanaki333]

onboard video or even a geforce 4 mx would be more than fine for a server

 

[Kelman]

I don't game. I'm just trying to consolidate equipment and save on energy costs. I've got a server running SBS2003 and then my current workstation. By moving them both to VM's and leaving the underlying system (2K8) untouched I would also be able to consolidate storage. iSCSI with something like OpenFiler isn't an option either as that would still leave me with two running computers instead of one.

My plan is to run Vista in a VM and I would like a graphics card that doesn't bog down on the basic stuff. My current workstation is 2K8 with a Q9450. The on-board G35 graphics runs noticeably slower when the Aero candy things like taskbar previews and such are turned on. I'm assuming the problem will be as bad if not worse when I convert to a Vista VM and am just looking to circumvent that.

It's also nice to spin up new VM's to try new software rather than clutter the register of my day-to-day OS space. I used to run VMware workstation instead but it won't coexist with Hyper-V and I want to use the MS product simply since I want to keep abreast of where they are going in the marketplace.

My reasoning for the low profile card is because I'm going with this case and power supply and I'm little concerned the power cables might crowd the card:

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811144231

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817814015