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I have a Dell Poweredge R900 that runs great with only one complaint. I can't add in extra video. I have searched around for how to do this and so far I ran into multiple threads that address everything but what the asker is looking for.

I am looking for ways to force the bios to actually see the extra video cards, which it doesn't even show a grey out option for them.

Else I am looking for a server that will take my 4 x7460 CPUs and my 32 sticks of ram that I already have for the R900, and also support (or can be modified to support) addon video cards. I don't have a wad of cash to toss to a new system so I have to go this route for my development projects.

Otherwise I am open to suggestions of a server that is relatively cheap similar specs or better than the R900 I currently have that supports extra video. I can't spend a fortune else I'd get the R930 and solve all my issues.

It is said that it is a pointless venture to turn a server into a desktop but no one addresses the "how".

For my purposes it would be 100% perfect to utilize this machine as more of a multi monitor desktop. So I am basing this question on this criteria:

1) It is my furnace for my house. Even tho it kicks out about 1/3 the recommended BTU, it keeps the house comfortable. I have it tied directly into the heating system with a large bank of server fans pushing the air into the heating system. So heat is not a concern. (This shaves off $200 from my heating bill by not using the real furnace)

2) I like the noise. I sleep better with white noise. (I also run 2 Xservers in my room).

3) It has 24 cores at 2.66GHz and 64GB ram. FAR more than my desktop. I do more multi application/multi monitor work than I do gaming, so performance is not a key issue. I code, compile, web design which requires for convenience to have upwards to 6 monitors or more running. (Which the desktop can almost do, but then it's a CPU/RAM issue)

4) The extra PCIe cards I would use are 1x Nvidia 610. So Voltage/wattage is not a concern. As well as plenty of performance for minimal gaming. WoW and EverQuest runs on a Xserve embedded video just fine which if I recall is the same as the R900. So the addon cards would be even better.

For CPU performance my 4x 7460 xeon cpu rate MUCH higher than my I7 on Passmark tests. (xeons score around 12k, whereas my I7 scores around 8.7k with a overall rank of the quad xeons being twice that of the I7)

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  • So. You are looking for: A board that will seat 4x x7460 CPU's, has 32x DIMM slots, and supports GPUs. Or, in lieu of that, a similar server. – NZKshatriya Jan 12 '17 at 17:47
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    from what I can tell, as your chip is end of life, and the fact that PGA-604 socket boards seem to be out of stock where ever I look.....It may be hard to find anything that matches what you are looking for. – NZKshatriya Jan 12 '17 at 18:14
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    Ill look into it, am working on making a bunch of new patch cables at present though :P – NZKshatriya Jan 12 '17 at 21:33
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    Sorry for the delay. I found an HP thread that seems to be on the exact same topic, located here. Seems it will take add on video, but nothing to write home about performance wise.... – NZKshatriya Jan 14 '17 at 22:21
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    Answered using a datasheet specific to the Gen 5 – NZKshatriya Jan 15 '17 at 0:42
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From what I have been able to find, using an HP datasheet on the Gen 5.

On the Expansion Slots section it is stated:

Expansion Slots:

More PCI-Express slots with up to eleven available with option card Eight slots standard: (4) full length PCI-E x8, (1) full length PCI-E x4 and (3) half length PCI-E x4 slots; Optional card adds (3) PCI-X or (3) PCI-E x8

Now, what this "option card" is completely eludes me, as I have not been able to find any information on this on my own.

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