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Rex Winn

6 Posts

65636

January 27th, 2007 01:00

Dual Video Cards - PowerEdge 2900...

Dell PowerEdge 2900 (20 days old)
Dual Quad Core Processors
4 Gigs Ram
Windows 2003 Enterprise Server R2
 
I need to know if anyone knows a way for me to run 2 video cards in a new Dell PowerEdge 2900? I can install them (2 identical ATI 9250) fine. After I install the driver the server locks up when the Windows system is loading. I can remove one card or the other and Windows comes up fine. If I leave both Cards in I get a CPU Error E1410 and it just halts while loading. That's it. Hard kill and nothing works.
 
Things I have tried:
- Using an NVidia 6800 on a PCIe Slot - No driver support for Windows 2003 Enterprise Server which is odd as I have another Enterprise Server (Win2K3) running two 6800's just fine.
- Installing 1 9250 at a time. (Install card 1, reboot. Install card 2, reboot.)
- Removing all drivers and installing both cards at the same time.
- I have gone in and moved the IRQ's around for the SATA, USBHCI, NIC, PCI devices but no joy there. There is no evidence of an IRQ conflict.
 
Issues Worthy of Note:
Technically there is no PCIe support on the motherboard. If you want to run PCIe you have to order an adapter (which I did) couldn't get it to load the drivers for the 6800 and it just wouldn't load the ATI 1600 at all.

I think I'm completely and this box will not work for me. I'm a developer that writes very high-end software and really needed the Power and expansion this hardware offered. If anyone can help me get two video cards working able to support 3 monitors then I'm good as gold and forever in your debt. If nobody can help I'm and have to return the server (or start the process by tomorrow). I would even buy 2 different video cards that someone knew worked.
 
Thanks,
 
Rex Winn
 

krisnikk02

19 Posts

February 6th, 2007 00:00

I think that you need to  buy a Workstation, not server...
 
DELL does not support Video cards in server unless the are installed from factory.
 
and if you order a server from DELL, a PE2900 for example... a Video card is not an option.
 
 

Rex Winn

6 Posts

February 6th, 2007 02:00

Well, no. I actually no my needs very well. I got the cards working and I'm in hog heaven. So it's all good.

Rex Winn

6 Posts

April 4th, 2007 03:00

Here are the two cards I'm using. I had to get a riser that converted the PCIx8 to a PCIx4 from another site that was $65.
 
3D Accelerator                                    ATI Radeon 9250 (RV280)
3D Accelerator                                    ATI Radeon X1600 Pro (RV530)
 
I had to follow a very careful process of installing the 9250 first and the complete ATI Management Suite. Then I installed the driver only for the 1600. If you do this you should not have to munge with IRQ's at all.
 
I'm also using a Creative Labs 32-Bit USB sound card and it works wonderfully.

Niren

6 Posts

April 4th, 2007 03:00

Hi, Could you provide some details as to which cards you used? And if you had to do anything special regarding the drivers. I'm about to order a 2900 to use as a development server and would like to add another graphics card for dual monitor support. Did you try any other cards? Or know of any others that may work? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance, --Niren.

Rex Winn

6 Posts

April 4th, 2007 04:00

Can I also just mention that I absolutely love this machine! It's by far and away the very best thing I have ever worked on and I'm very impressed with it. If you order make sure you get the faster memory you can. I also put in 10,000 RPM drives to make sure I pushed performance as far as I could. I beat the heck out of my sales person and got free shipping and roughly $2000 off my purchase price thanks to some Dell discounts that were given to me at the point of purchase on the website.
 
This box should have been called "The Dell Envy" it is such a nice rig.:smileyvery-happy:

Rex Winn

6 Posts

April 4th, 2007 04:00

Yes, the onboard video does disable itself when you add the other cards. I should point out the 9250 is a PCI card and I was foolish enough to think I could just get another 9250 and put it into the 2nd PCI slot. It didn't work for me at all I got processor errors on boot and couldn't get past the Windows 2003 is loading screen before it crashed.
 
I actually don't know about those other cards either. I got 2 working and while they are not the best cards in the world I need the memory, disc and processor abilities way more than the graphics card abilities. I figured if I waited long enough better, compatible cards would be released.
 
Keep in mind that Dell will refund your money within 20 days of an order for any reason. You have to pay the return shipping but that's getting off easy in my book. The video issue is a bit of a stumper but there are other options as well.
 
Any Google search for "matrox" will show you video cards that support up to 4 high resolution displays at a time. They use older processors in the cards so do your homework.
 
I'm happy to answer any other questions you have. I'd have given my right arm to have even one person to talk to on this issue so I don't mind trying my best to help you. I'm also traditional computer science with tons and tons of hardware, network, server experience so conversations can get as technical as you want and I'll do my best to be accurate.
 
- Rex

Niren

6 Posts

April 4th, 2007 04:00

Thanks for that quick response :-) ... really appreciate it. Quick couple of other questions if you don't mind. Does the onboard video disable itself when you add the other cards? And is there an option on the bios that lets you control this? There are also a couple of newer pcie x1 or just pci cards that may also work ... but of course nobody seems to have any info on that. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161079 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103031 This video issue is the only thing that is preventing me from ordering the darn thing. :-)

Niren

6 Posts

April 6th, 2007 23:00

Thanks Rex ... this info in invaluable. It helps so much.

I called up my sales guy today .. and it looks like that Dell does not ship the drive carriers if you don't order the drives and they don't sell those separately either. That is an issue for me because the drive costs are crazy if you get them with the server ... they want something like $500 for a 500GB drive :-)

So, I'm thinking abt the 1900 now since that has a non-hot-swap drive system. I'm hoping the bios will act similarly to the 2900 and I can put a PCIe x1 based graphics adapter.

whbraun

1 Message

February 27th, 2008 14:00

I do not need dual graphics cards, but I do need a card with higher display resolution (at least 1920 x 1200).

Can you tell me what riser card you purchased?

Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

Dev Mgr

4 Operator

 • 

9.3K Posts

February 27th, 2008 16:00

The forementioned X1600 videocard can probably run that resolution.

incognito_user

189 Posts

February 28th, 2008 00:00

Rex -

 

I want to do the same thing you did with the video, though I am hoping for a more modern card to put in the PCI-e slots.  If you were doing this today, what would you do?  I want (2) wide screen monitors.

 

I also want to put in a 2nd DVD burner and an IDE removable hard drive tray.  That would be (3) ide devices, if I am doing the math right.  I'd guess that the DVD's are going to work and I'll have to put in a pci ata/133 card to run the hard trive tray...  Am I right?

 

Are the 3 5 1/4 openings capable of actually holding 2 DVD's and the removable tray (same size as a cd rom)

 

The removable tray would be for temporary IDE drives that I'm tryin to pull data off of.  Often these drives are bad and the usb enclosures don't move data fast enough.

 

For sound, I'd assume my creative extigy usb extrnal would do the trick?  It's just sitting in a corner anyway...

 

Any guidance you might give would be appreciated!

 

John

 

 

 

 

Message Edited by incognito_user on 02-27-2008 09:22 PM

SatireWolf

41 Posts

October 13th, 2008 22:00

Rex,

 

What ports do you have the cards installed in? I'm having trouble getting two FireMV 2250's to work, but I can get one to work just fine.

 

Thanks in advanced. 

Solarwinds

11 Posts

February 9th, 2017 21:00

I often wonder why people want to perpetuate the myth that you can't use a server as a workstation.  They're basically the same hardware, but servers are often more robust and built to last through years of constant use.  The main differences are servers often have redundant hardware such as power supplies.They also usually use error correcting hardware such as memory.  The main drawback I've run into is that servers generally come with low end stock processors,memory and video adapters.  Once upgraded to high end hardware a server is just as capable of being used as a high end workstation as any PC.  Trying to use a PC as a server can often be problematic, if the server is to be used for high loads, but for a home server a desktop computer is fine for use as a server. 

USING A SERVER AS A HIGH END WORKSTATION IS PERFECTLY FINE AND ESSENTIALLY THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE...

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