PowerEdge 1650 PCI Devices Questions

PowerEdge 1650 PCI Devices Questions
1.       What Dell supported PCI cards will work with my system?

2.       What PCI Audio, Video, USB, or Firewire controller cards will work with my system?

3.       What are my system's PCI specifications, and why won't my older PCI cards fit properly?

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1.       What Dell supported PCI cards will work with my system?

Below is a list of validated PCI cards for the PowerEdge 1650 system, preceded by their Dell part numbers.
Click on the controller card to be directed to documentation for that card:

Scsi / Raid Controllers
340-2192       Adaptec AHA-39160 U160 SCSI Controller Card
340-2549       LSI Logic PERC3-DC (Dual Channel) RAID Controller Card
340-2548       LSI Logic PERC3-QC (Quad Channel) RAID Controller Card
340-9631       LSI Logic PERC4-DC (Dual Channel) RAID Controller Card
340-3619       PERC3-DI (Dual Channel Integrated) ROMB Kit

Network Interface Cards
430-0542       Intel PRO 100s 10/100 with IPSEC Network Interface Card
420-4026       Intel Intel Pro 1000MT 10/100/1000 (copper) Network Interface Card
420-4029       Intel Intel Pro 1000MF 10/100/1000 (fiber) Network Interface Card
430-0562       Intel Intel Pro 1000MT 10/100/1000 (Dual Port copper) Network Interface Card
4R672             Broadcom NetXtreme 10/100/1000 (copper) Network Interface Card

Please note that the contents of the above part numbers are subject to change over time, as is availability of those parts. We recommend contacting our Spare Parts department at 1-800-372-3355 for pricing, availability, and purchasing of all the above parts.

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2.       What PCI audio, video, USB, or Firewire controller cards will work with my system?

Officially, Dell has not validated or tested the installation or configuration of any PCI Audio, Video, USB, Firewire, or Parallel/Serial cards with the PowerEdge 1650 (or, for that matter, with most of the PowerEdge line of servers), and therefore has limited support available for such cards.

PowerEdge 1650 servers are designed purely with server functionality in mind, and are not intended to function in a similar fashion to workstation or desktop systems.

For the purposes of file server functionality, however, we have validated and tested certain SCSI and RAID controller cards as well as network controller cards and can provide technical assistance with the configuration and usage of such cards.

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3.       What are my system's PCI specifications, and why won't my older PCI cards fit properly?

The PowerEdge 1650 provides 2 PCI expansion card slots via a riser card. There are two options for the riser card:

One with two 64-bit/66MHz slots on PCI bus 2. This riser will take any standard 3.3V (volts) PCI card. PCI card slots are "keyed" in such a way in order to accept 3.3V or 5V. This riser only accepts 3.3V PCI cards, and is thus keyed only to accept those.

One with 1x64-bit/66MHz slot on PCI bus 2, and 1x32/33Mhz on compatibility PCI bus 0. This 32bit PCI slot can be used for 5V PCI add-in cards, and is required for Dell Remote Assistant Card (DRAC) 3.

• No ISA slots are provided on the PowerEdge 1650
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• The system supports one full length PCI card in top PCI slot.
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• The bottom slot only supports a half-length PCI add-in card.
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• PCI slots are not hot-plug capable
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• Before the Riser board can be removed from the system all PCI cards must be removed.

More information on the PowerEdge 1650 Expansion Card / PCI Riser.

Additional information on the newer 3.3V PCI standard can be found at various Internet sites through the use of a search engines such as:

www.Google.com
Ask Jeeves
AllTheWeb.com
Yahoo

While the following link is not officially supported or endorsed by Dell, it does offer more detailed information as to the PCI design change:
       PCI Technology Overview

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