Does the PowerEdge R420 support Video Card?

This should work right?

[View:www.amazon.com/.../ref=sr_1_1]

BUMP :(

Support is a funny word :emotion-1:

Dell may not support a specific configuration as Dell may not have validated that specific configuration. An unsupported configuration may still work and work well, but if you want an expect Dell support then you may have to realign your expectations... 

Does R420 support a video card... NO
Will a GPU actually function within a R420, most likely YES...

The R420 spec sheet indicates that this server has two x16 PCIe slot that allows half length full height PCIe card to be installed. The R420 owners manual indicates that you can disable the embedded video conroller within BIOS (from my experiance with a T610, normally a graphics card needs to be inserted to access this BIOS setting but this fact is not stated anywhere within Dells docs).

The Owners manual also indicates that differant expansion card raisers exist depending on the configuration ordered (one or two CPU system) but in either case you always have a x16 slot available (slot 2). How much power the PCIe slot can provide is not elaborated anywhere... There is also warnings about damage due to unauthorized service impacting warranty...

The R420 Technical Guide indicates that GPUGPU can be installed using a Hardware Interface Card (HIC) and a C410x PCIe Expansion Chassis... a costly but supported solution if you need lots of GPU compute power but i guess not an ideal solution just to get better graphics... Again this doc makes no mention of how much power the x16 PCie slot can feed the card...

Compared to graphics capable PCIe slots which can supply upto 75W, normal PCIe slots are a little anemic... IIRC, normal PCIe slots muct be able to supply a minimum of 25W according to PCIe specs but an OEM may reduce the allowed power envelope from a cooling perspective. Again there is no clear statements as to what the PCIe power/cooling capacity is per slot/slots within the R420 Dell docs i've briefly looked at. You can use google and check the power needs of each of the NIC/HBA's that are certified for your R420 and determine the allowed overall PCIe cooling capacity but i doubt any of the certified cards would use more than 25W and expect most to be around 15W... This means it would not be a good idea to install an unsupported 75W graphics card into your server BUT a 25W graphics card may work well... 

So, you could try and install any half length full height graphics card (that will fit) and which consumes no more than 25W, then disable the embedded video controller in BIOS and boot up. You should see the boot sequence without issue. You can then install the appropriate graphics driver for your OS (if there is one or driver from a close relative if there isn't one) and the graphics card should then work without issue... 

Have i done this on a R420 server... NO.. but i have done it on my T610 server and have had no issues...

Building such unsupported configurations depens on how much you value 'Dell support' and in part how much you value 'Dell warranty'... If you value support and warranty, maybe installing a graphics card is a little on the wild side...

Good luck.

Hi Enderbean656, did you found any video card that works for the r420? they support 75W ?
Thanks.

Thanks bud it works.

I worked with gt710 ddr3. It worked perfectly.