Best graphics card for 1U server

[Techmo2]

I recently purchased a Supermicro 1021M-T2RV server for a good price online. I thought it would be an interesting project to convert the server into a workstation of sorts. The server has a Supermicro H8DMR-I2 motherboard with 2 pcie 4x slots, which are connected to 2 pcie 8x riser boards. I was wondering what would be a good graphics card that would fit in the server($60 or under)? Or if the server would allow a graphics card at all? A radeon 6770 would seem to be a good fit. I will be cutting out the back of the slots on the riser boards to for a 16x card.

 

[bambiboom]

Techmo,.

The Supermicro 1021M-T2RV motherboard-is shown as

http://www.supermicro.com/Aplus/motherboard/Opteron2000/MCP55/H8DMR-i2.cfm

> but which shows a single x8 slot

I've never done it, but there might be a way to add a proper x16 graphics card to a 1U server using an x8 riser slot without modifications to the slot:

StarTech PCI Express Riser Card x8 to x16 Left Slot Adapter for 1U Servers Model PEX8TO16R > > $23

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0ZX2C34421&cm_re=x8_to_x16-_-15-158-291-_-Product

> which is specifically or this purpose. I'm not sure if the x4 to x8 riser can then be converted again with one of these to X16, but you might look into it.

There may be a performance penalty for this kind of adapter and I also don't know if the power supply will be the same as for a native x16 slot.

You didn't mention the applications you'll be using, but if it's Autodesk or Adobe visualization, you might consider a Quadro K620, or a used Quadro 4000, but if it's computational like Matlab, a Firepro with plenty of double precision, perhaps a used W5000 would be a good all-round card.

An interesting project. I was given a Dell Poweredge 2600 and had thought at one time to make a many-cored simulation system to sit in the corner and think about gas flow and acoustic modeling.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

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