Video Card for Dell Power Edge SC1430

[baadil]

Hi Everyone,

I have a Dell Power Edge SC1430 server running Server 2008 R2. All seems to be working fine except that my Dell Wide Screen monitor’s native resolution is 1680*1050 which isn’t supported by my server’s on-board video.

I am thinking about adding a video card and looking at another thread I found the following recommendation which will work for me (I think).

Gigabyte GV R435OC-512I – graphics adapter – Radeon HD 4350 – 512 MB

Could someone please let me know if this will work in my server or not? When checking config, my server shows following slots:

Two PCI Express™ (x4), two PCI-X® (100MHz/64 bit)

I have another regular PCI slot as well but that one is in use by the sound card.

Thank you for any help.

[halladayrules]

You need a PCI Express x16 card to adequately support that high resolution, problem is your motherboard doesn’t contain an x16 slot. You will need to buy a PCI Express X4 to X16 Adapter which will run you around $50. Next you can buy a decent but not so crazy PCI Express X16 card that supports your native resolution, but don’t go too crazy because your card will only perform at the bandwidth of the x4 pipeline. An x4 bandwidth single channel is only capable of 800MBps while a x16 card can handle 3.2GBps. I assume you are not going to be gaming so this shouldn’t be an issue.

Also, don’t forget that the adapter will raise your card on the board about a half an inch so the connectors could interfere with the chassis I/O expansion slots. Hopefully this won’t be a problem.

[Anonymous]

You need a PCI Express x16 card to adequately support that high resolution, problem is your motherboard doesn’t contain an x16 slot. You will need to buy a PCI Express X4 to X16 Adapter which will run you around $50. Next you can buy a decent but not so crazy PCI Express X16 card that supports your native resolution, but don’t go too crazy because your card will only perform at the bandwidth of the x4 pipeline. An x4 bandwidth single channel is only capable of 800MBps while a x16 card can handle 3.2GBps. I assume you are not going to be gaming so this shouldn’t be an issue.

Also, don’t forget that the adapter will raise your card on the board about a half an inch so the connectors could interfere with the chassis I/O expansion slots. Hopefully this won’t be a problem.

[baadil]

Thank you for your reply.

Do I have any other options? I was looking to spend the minimum I could. This is not a gaming system and I need that resolution just so that I can see images etc without them being stretched etc.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your reply.

Do I have any other options? I was looking to spend the minimum I could. This is not a gaming system and I need that resolution just so that I can see images etc without them being stretched etc.

Thanks.

[halladayrules]

I’m sorry but your only other option is to just buy a regular PCI card and unfortunately your board only has 1 PCI slot. It is possible to use a regular PCI card in a PCI-x slot but they must be the same voltage. You can tell 32-bit vs 64-bit PCI by looking at the bus… one has a short slot followed by a long slot, while the other has a long slot followed by a short one: Your PCI slot is only 32-bit while your PCI-x is only 64-bit. They are keyed differently to prevent legacy cards from fitting into them.

Picture courtesy: http://www.tomshardware.com
I see your motherboard does not have on-board sound so you would have to sacrifice sound for video if you wanted to use a regular PCI card. They are capable of supporting your resolution, but would it be worth to sacrifice sound? Your best option is probably buying the adapter and x16 card.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry but your only other option is to just buy a regular PCI card and unfortunately your board only has 1 PCI slot. It is possible to use a regular PCI card in a PCI-x slot but they must be the same voltage. You can tell 32-bit vs 64-bit PCI by looking at the bus… one has a short slot followed by a long slot, while the other has a long slot followed by a short one: Your PCI slot is only 32-bit while your PCI-x is only 64-bit. They are keyed differently to prevent legacy cards from fitting into them.

Picture courtesy: http://www.tomshardware.com
I see your motherboard does not have on-board sound so you would have to sacrifice sound for video if you wanted to use a regular PCI card. They are capable of supporting your resolution, but would it be worth to sacrifice sound? Your best option is probably buying the adapter and x16 card.

[baadil]

Thank you halladayrules. I guess now I need to decide whether I want the video resolution, sound or perhaps this monitor 🙂

[Anonymous]

Thank you halladayrules. I guess now I need to decide whether I want the video resolution, sound or perhaps this monitor 🙂

[Author]

Posts