Video Card for DELL Server

[zephyrprime]

Originally posted by: rrahman1

Originally posted by: zephyrprime
Save yourself the trouble and just sell this server and use the money to buy a consumer pc. A server has special features that have an economic value that are useful only to businesses that use servers as servers. For you to hang onto to this computer is not in your best economic interest.

i got the server at one helluva price, much better than some of those high end desktop systems (~ $1,000 less than what DELL is currently offering it for). I think I'll hold on to it for a little longer.

I wanted to use this machine primary for home use and gaming, and eventually use it for a business that I'm planning on starting. Regardless, I decided that the video card is a nice-to-have, wanted it for gaming purposes, watching DVDs, and running vista Aero. I have a desktop, PS3, XBOX360, and Wii.... so gaming is not a major issue

It doesn't matter how much you got it for. That has no impact on it's current market value. Any consideration for how much you got it for is just a psychological fallacy in your decision making process at this point since the cost is already sunk.

High end boxes from Dell are a rip off but there are many other places where you can get a good price.

 

[Peter]

I agree in that you have the wrong tool for the task. Sell it on, move it to its planned destination, and get something adequate to the task in question.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: dclive
So there are two drivers that can be used:

1. The in-box drivers, WHQL certified and known good....or
2. The "beta" drivers from www.nvidia.com

The drivers from NVIDIA are also WHQL based on HCT/WLK test versions for Vista RC2 that either have been or will soon be retired. In fact, most of NVIDIA's buggy driver releases between January and May with non-working or incomplete feature support were also WHQL.

WHQL does not mean the driver is fully functional, stable, with all features supported. It means 'this driver shouldn't cause some potentially catastrophic problem and might even work.'

 

[subguru]

PNY VCQ4440NVS-PCIE-PB Quadro4 NVS440 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x1 Video Card

 

[cacasodo]

Hi RRahman,
Did you ever get this issue resolved? I bought an SC1430 and am in a similar situation..
'sodo

 

[SandEagle]

Originally posted by: cacasodo
Hi RRahman,
Did you ever get this issue resolved? I bought an SC1430 and am in a similar situation..
'sodo

unfortunately, no. i ended up using my money to put an additional 4 GB RAM into the system. (total 8 GB now) I'm using the box now to test VMWare and will throw SharePoint 2007 and a SQL Server database on there soon. Enterprise apps don't require much as far as video memory, however, it is definitely a nice-to-have.

I will eventually pick up the VC in the link below to see if it works:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161079

Good luck and let me know if you find anything.

 

[cacasodo]

Thanks for getting back.

Unfortunate indeed. If I can return it, I may pick up something similar (dual dvi card.. preferably NVidia based) at Best Buy and see how I do. I will continue my research online to see if anyone has had any luck with a third-party video card as well.

cheers.

 

[vhx]

6200 PCI.

 

[cacasodo]

From reading some more, I was able to find someone who actually got his PCI video card (a VisionTek x1550 PCI card) to work in the machine. The trick (so far) is to use the first slot on the box. I went home and tried my old ATI Rage XL PCI card from my 400SC in the first slot. Lo and behold, I am now writing this entry to you by viewing the video from the adapter that is now using that slot. However, that card is even less powerful than the ATI ES1000 motherboard video, so it wouldn't playback any media at all.

Yet to be determined as working is PCI Express. I tried to snag one from work as a test, but no go. The workstations my company uses are all integrated motherboard video.

So, at a bare minimum, it looks like a modern PCI card with the PCI-X like three sets of connectors should work using the first PCI-X slot. Next stop..the PCI Express!

 

[SandEagle]

Originally posted by: cacasodo
From reading some more, I was able to find someone who actually got his PCI video card (a VisionTek x1550 PCI card) to work in the machine. The trick (so far) is to use the first slot on the box. I went home and tried my old ATI Rage XL PCI card from my 400SC in the first slot. Lo and behold, I am now writing this entry to you by viewing the video from the adapter that is now using that slot. However, that card is even less powerful than the ATI ES1000 motherboard video, so it wouldn't playback any media at all.

Yet to be determined as working is PCI Express. I tried to snag one from work as a test, but no go. The workstations my company uses are all integrated motherboard video.

So, at a bare minimum, it looks like a modern PCI card with the PCI-X like three sets of connectors should work using the first PCI-X slot. Next stop..the PCI Express!

hey, good to hear that you at least had some luck. when you say first slot, are you talking about the PCI slot (white in the middle) or the PCI-e slot (black towards bottom)?

https://dcse.dell.com/IFR/Powe...images/sysbrd_full.jpg

i had no luck with the PCI slot. thanks

 

[cacasodo]

Sorry for the ambiguity..the one labeled SLOT6_PCIX..closest to the power supply. And yes, I had no luck with the traditional PCI slot (SLOT4_PCI), either.

 

[SandEagle]

Originally posted by: cacasodo
Sorry for the ambiguity..the one labeled SLOT6_PCIX..closest to the power supply. And yes, I had no luck with the traditional PCI slot (SLOT4_PCI), either.

cool, thanks. btw, i'm curious to know how he fit a PCI card into the PCI-x slot. Did he have to make any mods, i.e., cut that little notches in the slot? Do you have a link to that discussion? I know PCI and PCI-x are compatible, but they're reversed on the mobo.

 

[cacasodo]

Hi.
I'm a little confused on the differences between PCI and PCI-X cards, but looking at the Rage XL that worked for me, it has three separate sections of connectors like the card in this picture:
http://secure.anthill.com.au/s...ge.php?productid=22136

I thought the connector layout would indicate that my Rage XL card is PCI-X.

But note that the VisionTek has the same connector layout and is sold as a PCI card:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/app...pNo=3101644&CatId=1603

I guess connectors alone do not tell us that a card is PCI or PCI-X? I don't know! Adding to the confusion, TigerDirect is calling this style of connector a PCI Cardbus Connector, as shown in this photo of a different card:
http://images.tigerdirect.com/.../TC3H-1114-out5-hl.jpg

But no sawing required!


And I'd still like to determine whether or not a PCI Express video card will work in this thing.

Finally, here is a nice diagram of the different types of PCI cards and pinouts:
http://pinouts.ru/Slots/PCI_pinout.shtml

 

[cacasodo]

Unfortunately, I tried every trick in the book (changing IRQs, disabling one thing at a time in the BIOS and then everything in the BIOS and then switching to a different PCI or PCI-X slot on each change), but my BFG NVidia 6200 OC 256MB PCI won't come to life. This thing seems to like ATI, not NVidia.

I'm going to email my Dell rep to see if there is anything they can do for us.

 

[SandEagle]

Originally posted by: cacasodo
Unfortunately, I tried every trick in the book (changing IRQs, disabling one thing at a time in the BIOS and then everything in the BIOS and then switching to a different PCI or PCI-X slot on each change), but my BFG NVidia 6200 OC 256MB PCI won't come to life. This thing seems to like ATI, not NVidia.

I'm going to email my Dell rep to see if there is anything they can do for us.

hey cacasodo, i owe you BIG time man. i went out to circuit city and picked up the Visiontek x1550 for $94.99. I installed it into SLOT5_PCIX (2nd one down from the power supply and lo and behold.....the system recognized it! I then downloaded and installed the Vista x64 drivers from Visiontek's website and disabled the onboard video from Device Manager.

Everything is working great! Aero is running and the Graphics and Gaming Graphics component in Windows Experience Index went from 1.0 and 1.0 to 3.0 and 3.5, respectively. System runs quiet too. btw, Vista Dreamscene is sooooo cooool.

Thanks a trillion!!!!!

 

[cacasodo]

Sweet dude! Enjoy! Now if I can only get my NVidia to work..

 

[coolied]

a little creative filing to the end of the pci-e slot (the part that would prevent a x16 card from plugging in) and a x16 card would work fine, it would just use x4 lanes............... i've personally run a FireGL x16 card in a HP workstation with a x4 slot (the end was open) and also in a x1 slot (same deal).............. worked fine, benchmarked SLIGHTLY slower in the x4 and quite a bit slower in the x1............... but it worked fine!!!!

 

[electronicmaji]

if you need a pci video card I got a radeon 9500 I'll give you just pay for the shipping..

 

[SandEagle]

cacasodo,

btw, i know information is scarce for the SC1430, but if you're looking at adding audio, I got the Audigy Soundblaster to work. it utilizes a USB connection. i have it connected to a 5.1 Creative system.
http://www.soundblaster.com/pr...egory=204&product=9103

 

[cacasodo]

Hey rrahman,
That's funny. Yesterday, I went with a friend who works at BestBuy and he got me the SoundBlaster Audigy SE PCI card for the box:
http://www.soundblaster.com/pr...gory=205&product=14257

Lo and behold, it DID work in slots 4 through 6.


Thanks electronicmaji; however, I decided to beg off the NVidia for right now, bit the bullet and got a VisionTek x1550, too (in that same Best Buy session)! There's only so much fussing with this stuff that I can put up with. I want to edit video, dammit!


Coolied,
Yes! I've heard tell of such magical feats. However, I am going to play it safe on this one, as I think the power of the box should make up for the lack of graphics adapter support.

thanks for the idea, though!

 

[cacasodo]

Just an update on this issue:
So I've been on a quest to get a modern PCI Express card working in the SC1430. With this goal in mind, I had ordered a PCI Express 8x to 16x Adapter like this one off of eBay:
http://www.orbitmicro.com/glob...ox16adapter-p-755.html

As you know, the SC1430 has 8x connectors (running 4x speed PCI Express). In the hopes that it would work in the box, I bought a BFG GeForce 8500 GT card from BestBuy (roughly $150):
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...&cp=1&id=1177112416236

Now, I understood that the adapter would raise the card in the slot. The Dell has a hinged metal door that holds all the expansion cards in place, but I noticed that that little door can be left open while the case is closed. This would allow me to use the card for a while until I had the chance to machine a new bracket for the card.

Last night, I attached the adapter to the new BFG card (with a satisfying "click", no less) and put it in the first PCI Express slot (SLOT1_PCIE) of the Dell. I left the hinged door open, but was able to close the case. I hooked up my FP1901 to the digital output and my FP1907 to the analog output. I can tell you I was quite surprised when I started the server and the FP1901 that was connected to the digital output came to life!

I booted into runlevel 3 (nongraphical, multiuser mode) in Fedora and grabbed the latest NVidia driver installer for my 64-bit OS via lynx. I ran the installer. There was not a default kernel module for my particular kernel, so the installer created one and then asked if I wanted to create a new xorg.conf for the X Windows. I said yes and the installer finished. I was very elated to see X startup with the NVidia splash screen! I soon had Twin View setup and GLXgears gave me 6200FPS! Unlike the ATI card I had running in the box previously, mplayer and xine ran my HDV videos like champs! Hoohah! Can't wait to try a game!

I tell you, if you run Linux, NVidia drivers are an absolute joy to setup and use. ATIs Linux drivers are riddled with bugs; hence, I returned the VisionTek x1550.

In sum, the BFG 8500 GT 256MB DDR2 card works in the Dell with a PCI Express 8x to 16x adapter card. If you use a PCI Express adapter, be aware that the card will be raised in the slot when it is seated.

'sodo

ps - Now I just have to debug and fix a nagging audio noise with Fedora and the Dell and I will be one happy dude.

 

[SandEagle]

hey man, congrats on getting that to work! there is hope! before getting the x1550, i had picked up an x4 to x16 connector from Orbit Micro by mistake. I think I may end up trying the one you have (x8/x16) with the 8800 GTX sometime in the future.

btw, orbitmicro RMA sux. after several emails, they sent me an RMA # one day before the 30-day return policy expired.

 

[PingSpike]

Try adexelec.com for the adapters...the one I bought was the exact same thing (looks identical based on the picture) as the one at orbitmicro, but I got it for $25+shipping. I'm pretty sure adexelec.com is their supplier. I shied away from orbitmicro because their resellerratings weren't to great IIRC.

I had a similar adventure. My last post is pretty wordy, but I just wanted a well documented case out there since I had trouble finding many examples on google of this kind of setup. So, I guess I just wanted to leave a record for other people.

Are you guys using video cards with external power connectors? The pci-e spec for anything under 16x is suppose to be 25watts to the slot...while most graphics cards require more. For all I know though, most motherboards have the full 75watts run to all slots. My test cards all have external power so I can't really test.

I know that another dell server that other people modded to use its 8x slot for graphics cards was pretty picky about which cards it would work with. Oddly, it seemed to have trouble with stuff like the x300 while working fine with higher power cards like the x700pro. (Neither of which have external power)

 

[Peter]

You are correct. The power allowance from an 8-wide slot is much lower than from a 16-wide graphics card slot, and it can't be done much differently simply because the "bigger" the slot is, the more power pins does it have to deliver the higher juice without burning the contacts. So unless your graphics card pulls its power over its own PSU connection, be careful with that.

 

[PingSpike]

I saw some one mention on the thread about the Dell server with the modified 8x slot that the power leads were all on the 1x portion of the 16x slot. It was mentioned in passing so who knows? I had a diagram of the pin-out once, but cannot find it now to confirm. (That is to say, I found one on google) An odd thing about my 16x to 1x adapter is that there is a small wire that runs from the last pin of the female 16x slot to the last pin of the male 1x card insert. I don't know what its purpose is...since that pin should not be used I would think?

The Dell server experiment in that thread was of limited usefulnes to me...since it was a non-standard slot (it was physically a 16x slot with extra notches to prevent the installation of 16x cards, 8x electrical connections) and the mod seemed to frequently be performed crudely resulting in clear and possibly unclear damage to pins. People had mixed results with all types of cards...with some failing and working more consistently then others.