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(PCI?) video card to drive 2560x1600 DVI on older box running linux?

T

ThisIsMe

Junior Member
I have acquired an older Dell server than I want to convert to a linux workstation (number crunching, 2D plotting, software coding); I'm looking for a card to drive a 27" Shimian LCD @2560x1600 that only takes a DVI in.

system:
• Dual 2-core AMD Opteron (4 total cores)
http://servers.productwiki.com/dell-poweredge-t605/
• Integrated ATI ES1000 graphics card 16MB, VGA out
• desired resolution: 2560x1600 DVI
• redundant Dell 675W power supplies
• large server case (can handle long cards), already loud as hell with plenty of fans

purchase details:
• looking to spend less than $100 (USD)
• no preferences for manufacturer, but this is a linux only machine (running latest CentOS now, but willing to switch to latest Fedora or Ubuntu), no dual boot
• willing to drive slightly smaller resolution, but it would be a shame, resolution is more important than FPS, looking for screen real estate for multiple IDEs and plotting, no plans to overclock or do any gaming


My issue is that the slots on this box are a bit weird:

PCIEx4 available (meant for DRAC)
PCIEx4 used for RAID card
PCIEx4 used for network card
PCIEx8 available (same short physical shape as the x4 slots)
PCIX available (this is apparently a 3.3V 64 bit)

I'm guessing I need a PCI card to put in the PCIX slot? I've looked online but haven't found the magical combination of the interface, resolution, and evidence of linux compatibility. I'm also wondering about the 3.3V vs 5V.

Anybody understand these slots and have recommendations?
 
I don't know of any pcix video cards and don't think they do the smaller slot PCIe either?, I was going to suggest a USB to dvi video adapter but not sure if you can get drivers for Linux...
Maybe if you used a hypervisor host then build the Linux box as a VM...hypervisor might provide a emulated driver for it....
 
Why not get a pci express card and put it in one of the unused pcie slots? They don't need to be 16x and you can just Dremel a slit into the end of the slot so the card slides in. PCI is going to have poor performance at that resolution for things as simple as scrolling through web pages that have a fair amount of content. The bandwidth just isn't there, worse yet the bandwidth is shared between all peripherals on the PCI bus.

EDIT: I've run into several Dell servers that will not POST on anything but the on-board video controller.
 
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