Graphic/3d card for PowerEdge 2900

[braziliandiva]

Hello Everyone!

I purchased a Dell PowerEdge 2900 last year...Now, Instead of using it for just for storage I am making it my personal PC. I installed Windows XP x64. It's working great! Now I would like to install a graphic card so that I can play games on it. What card would you suggest? I am totally lost now, please help.

Gabrielle

 

[WR2]

Can you tell what open slots you have for a video card? You might only have PCI-e x4 or PCI-e x1 slots.

There aren't many choices for X4/X1 video cards and they can hardly be called a gaming card and are a lot more expensive than the X16 version.
ATI 1550 video card x4=$100 & x16=$37

 

[braziliandiva]

Hi WR2! hanks for your reply....
I have PCI-4 x4
Any suggestions on what to do? or get?
Thanks in advance!

 

[rmwang]

HIS Radeon X1550 PCIe X1 would fit your system.
Check this page:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3477260&CatId=1560

There is another one from ATi called FireMV 2400 for PCIe X1 but it is unreasonably expensive - 1600X1200 max DVI & no 3D. 4 DVI outputs though.

I couldn't find any graphic cards for PCIe X4, X8 or PCI-X (extended).

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

FireMV is a multi-monitor workstation card not meant for gaming. There are 1X HD2400s but they seem to be limited to OEM and shipped in box for DELL and HP.

 

[braziliandiva]

Thank You so so much guys!!!!

 

[dan02120IT]

I am thinking about getting the graphics card for my 2900, just wanted to see how it is working out for you guys first?

 

[power3dge]

If you cut out the end of the PCI-E slot you can use several cards (google search will reveal many people who have done this to other poweredge systems. Both the Nvidia 7600GT and ATI HD 4650 work fine. I tried an 8800GT and it did not work. They key seems to be choosing video cards with low power requirements. I plan to upgrade to an HD 4770 when they are released next month. You can get a second Optical drive power cable to provide some more molex plugs (PC189 ASSEMBLY, CABLE, POWER, CD, P2900)

Have fun

 

[tejaswee]

Hello BrazilianDiva,

The most powerfull card I got it to work with Poweredge 2900 is Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512 mb which is a PCIe 1.0 any thing PCIe 2.0 will not work. You can buy any PCIe 1.0 1x - 8x (Nvidia or ATI).

What you do is get an 8x to 16x raiser card http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=11776 or http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=11465

buy Nvidia 7800GTX from ebay add you raiser card install you graphics card and you are done, this card can play almost all the game and you have dual DVI bonus.

Be carefull about the height of the card that is why i prefer flexible 8x to 16x raiser card.

My spec is, I brought it second hand what a bargain,

Dell poweredge 2900 III
dual Quad Core Intel® Xeon® X5470, 3.33GHz, 2x6MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB, 120W
48GB Memory, 667MHz (12x4GB Dual Ranked FB DIMMs)
8TB HDD
Nvidia GeFource 512Mb 7800GTX
Dual 24" monitor
Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop Edition

Performance of a monster and reliability of a server class hardware one thig annoys me is the sound.

Performance is mind blowing I use it for 3D modelling, playing games, virtulization, simulation. By far this is the most power full PC I have ever used for a desktop. I really enjoy it.

Cheers
Tej

 

[badgolfermike]

An Nvidia GeFource 512Mb 7900GTX works also, I bought a re-manufactured card from Compuvest.com for $100 that came with drivers, DVI to VGA adapters, and the power cable. This is not for the faint of heart, but I just verrrrrry carefully

cut off the extra pins from the card with a Dremel an popped it in the 8x slot.

Works great!

Dell Poweredge 2900 III
16GB Ram
2.5 TB Raid 5
Dual Quad Core Intel® Xeon®
Nvidia GeFource 512Mb 7900GTX

 

[braziliandiva]

Thank You So Much Guys!

Sorry for the later reply. I have been sooooo busy!

I will try your suggestion. And keep you posted. I got 2 Nvidia cards, just in case I mess up one..LOL

xoxoxoxox

 

[elguevon]

buy Nvidia 7800GTX from ebay add you raiser card install you graphics card and you are done, this card can play almost all the game and you have dual DVI bonus.

Be carefull about the height of the card that is why i prefer flexible 8x to 16x raiser card.

Hi Tej,

I have all the components and pieced them together...now my question to you is how did you fasten the card inside the server? Did you buy a Dell kit or something? If you could provide a picture inside your server case that would be great!

Thanks,

El

 

[Zaqueu_1]

Hello BrazilianDiva,

The most powerfull card I got it to work with Poweredge 2900 is Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512 mb which is a PCIe 1.0 any thing PCIe 2.0 will not work. You can buy any PCIe 1.0 1x - 8x (Nvidia or ATI).

What you do is get an 8x to 16x raiser card http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=11776 or http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=11465

buy Nvidia 7800GTX from ebay add you raiser card install you graphics card and you are done, this card can play almost all the game and you have dual DVI bonus.

Be carefull about the height of the card that is why i prefer flexible 8x to 16x raiser card.

My spec is, I brought it second hand what a bargain,

Dell poweredge 2900 III
dual Quad Core Intel® Xeon® X5470, 3.33GHz, 2x6MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB, 120W
48GB Memory, 667MHz (12x4GB Dual Ranked FB DIMMs)
8TB HDD
Nvidia GeFource 512Mb 7800GTX
Dual 24" monitor
Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop Edition

Performance of a monster and reliability of a server class hardware one thig annoys me is the sound.

Performance is mind blowing I use it for 3D modelling, playing games, virtulization, simulation. By far this is the most power full PC I have ever used for a desktop. I really enjoy it.

Cheers
Tej

Good morning, friend, how did you succeed by putting an off board? I bought an offboard board with low power consumption and the GT710 of 2gb evga consumed only 19w was the lowest consumption I found (- http://techreport.com/news/29643/affordable-and-slim-geforce-gt-710-cards-hit-store-shelves -), I did not have to cut the slot because it is already physically 8x, but in the server setup in the IRQ boot it appears Unknown vga adapter, how do I disable the onboard board? Because so when I turn it onboard, I can not start the offboard.