Adding a new video card to PE T610

In the bios under intergrated devices disable the intergrated video controller.

exit and save the changes and reboot.

If you dont have video you can set the bios back to the default settings (video enabled) by changing the jumper on the motherboard.

NVRAM_CLR

The configuration settings are cleared at the next system boot (pins 1-3)

I'm having this exact problem on a 1950 with a nvidia Quadro NVS 290.

I can't disable the video in the bios, and I get no output from the NVS or see them in display config. However - the card is reporting as working perfectly in device manager

.

Matt,

Did you ever get this resolved? I am in the same situation right now. Please update this if you figured it out.

Thanks

Satish

thinking about doing the same, did it end up working?

THANK YOU!!

I was quite frustrated that my high-end server had such low-end graphics.When I spoke to Dell support, they said there were no supported video cards or upgrade options. I was stuck with the onboard 32 meg of ram. (I think my watch has more video ram.)

I was able to find a 1x PCIe video card with 512 meg. (Everything else available was 16x, but the motherboard only supports up to 8x.) Unfortunately, the video card will not physically FIT into the expansion slots because of the layout of the server. I had to buy a jumper that connects between the motherboard and the video card.

I had tried disabling the onboard video in the BIOS, but was unable to get the new board to work. Now I realize that I didn't shut down the computer at the reboot splash screen and restart again. That apparently was what it needed.

Now the video board is driving a 20" monitor at high resolution. Fantastic!

THANK YOU, Skylarking!!!

If anyone needs to know the video board I used or the source of the jumper, post your request  it here.

Glad you found my post useful Foveator.

I was also frustrated at such archaic graphics on my T610 server and expected better from Dell. I found the lack of assistance somewhat disappointing but i could understand Dells reluctance to support such a configuration. For me, the simple solution is for Dell to acknowledge that by adding PCIe graphics to your server, some iDRAC features are lost with the consequence that remote management isn't up to Dells designed levels along with other potentially undefined stability issues at play in such a non certified configuration. Dell could then explain there would be no Dell support while in this configuration (much like using non certified drives) and offer some constructive solutions like a specific PCIe graphics card that can be easily be modified to fit the x8 slot in the server (modification instructions would have saved me some research time). 

FYI, I used an XFX GeForce 7600 GS which i modified as shown below.

In case you can't read the text in the pic, it says i used a hacksaw to cut away pins 50, 51 & 52 so as to slip into an 8x PCIe slot while using tape to cover the rear part of the card (connector). This card works in both 8x PCIe (8 lane & 4 lane) slots of my PE T610.

In my case, as i modified the card, i didn't need any jumpers, extenders or 16x/8x PCIe wear adapters :emotion-5:

You really expect Dell to provide documentation on a hack job like this?  I'm glad it worked out for you, but to expect Dell to provide this type of documentation is ridiculous and unrealistic.  Why not expect graphics card makers to provide it - or provide a card that will work with every system, every time?  I've seen lots of stories about people cutting the slot to accomodate a longer card, but to cut the card?  System mods are 100% the user's responsibility to figure out and to implement.

The only reason all this is necessary to begin with is because dell explicitly does not allow you to disable onboard video. The only loser in that equation is the customer who bought the server.

Since the onboard for mine was a ATI card, I had zero success loading the nvidia drivers alongside it for my quadro (that fits without modification).

There is more to this than the card fitting

This graphics board I used was a Zotac GT218- ION graphics card (512MB DDR3 memory, PhysX by NVIDIA, Open GL 3.2, Dual-Link DVI, 64-bit ) PCIe x1. You don't have to hacksaw off anything because the PCIe x1 physically doesn't fit into the motherboard, it doesn't even reach the motherboard. You need a riser/jumper (PCIe x1) to jumper the 2 connectors. After installing, follow the instructions from skylarking.

I really like the enhanced graphics now.

The riser I used was from Logic Supply.  

EXP1-362-10

PCI Express x1 Flexible Riser Card

theflash, 'hack job' is dismissive of the research i did to perform this 'quality modification'  :emotion-5:

If a company wants to stay successful in business, they must both support and react to their customers needs when developing new products. I guess we will see what if anything Dell has learned about simple issues like modern integrated graphics capabilities, physical x16 PCIe slots on the m/b along with bios options to disable on board graphics and allow insertion of x16 PCIe graphics cards across their entire new range of PE servers when they are finally released.

But Dell isn't alone in being passive to their customers needs as i also contacted a few graphics card manufacturers and could not get past the script techs to ask simple questions of the hardware designers. To have these companies recognize that a low power 8x PCIe graphics card is rather simple to produce and may hit a niche market adding something to their bottom line is like relieving oneself in the wind.

Now based on the fact that better graphics on servers is an often asked question on this forum, at least in the short time i have been here, there does seem to be a niche market. And having discussed this issue with Dell customer service and technical support i hope they take it on board, though i have my reservations.

But i do indeed expect warranty and support with any systems or product i have purchased.

For the T610, Dell provided a bios disable feature for integrated graphics, so it's hardly 'unrealistic' to expect them to support their customer and take the small extra step to provide a part number to a x1 PCIe graphics card that should work with this server. But they would not do that, nor could they state what consequences or lost feature would occur should i install a PCIe graphics card (no crash screen capture via idrac, etc). I was left out in the cold and had to resolve the issue on my own.  This is very poor support indeed.

And judging by my other experience with Dell support, your correct to say it is 'ridiculous' to expect Dell could cope with providing some real technical information for what is a very simple modification to a x16 PCIe graphics card, let alone the even simpler requests i have made.

After all, i had such issues trying to get plastic hdd blanking plates for the front of my T610 because i had to removed 4 of my 15K 300GB SAS drives which i wont/cant have installed as they make the system fans spin like crazy. Seems Dell just can't understand that the sound of a jet is 'ridiculous' but they will not fix it, as 'its a server'. Never mind that many use these pedestal servers in offices. As such, the end result is considerable funds tied up with 4 unused SAS drives sitting in my cupboard because of Dells inability to react to their customers needs and release new firmware fixing this noise/cooling issue. Yes ridiculous indeed.

And FYI, modifying an expensive motherboard by cutting the PCI slot means i take full responsibility and loose warranty for the motherboard. Whereas modifying an old unused and unloved graphics card was a no brainer and Dell is still responsible for T610 warranty and system support.

Along with the design of their new PE servers, Dell also needs some further work on its support organization.

Yablargo, you'll have a tougher time as you can't disable your on board graphics in BIOS. Have you tried an ATI based PCIe card?

I'm not saying it is unrealistic or ridiculous for Dell to support after-market or add-in graphics (indeed I wish they would) ... what I said was unrealistic and ridiculous was that Dell not only support but provide documentation and instruction on modifying the system or add-in hardware as you have described.  It's like expecting Ford to provide documentation and support for adding a NOS booster to a Mustang - it's not their responsibility.

I'm not saying they don't need to work on a great many things, but let's keep perspective.  How many legitimate uses for a server require higher-end graphics that what come onboard?  I'm not one to define "legitimate", but most servers are set up and run quietly [no pun intended, I agree they SHOULD run quietly) in the background, being access very infrequently - especially directly.

This isn't to say that they can't be "repurposed" to do something other than typical server functions, but as that was not their design, using it for something other than what it was designed for is not Dell's responsibility to make it work, but the user's.  By calling it a hack job, I didn't intend to belittle what real research and effort went into it, but let's call it what it is - a hack job (I have a Barracuda firewall box running Windows 7 as a PC for my kids - it's a hack job).  There's nothing wrong with it - in fact, I admire this sort of thing - but we can't expect the manufacturers of these devices to support these types of things by providing documentation on doing so.

We do agree on much and thanks for the smile your unintended pun gave me :emotion-1:

I do like your vehicle analogy but what i can add to it is that vehicle manufacturers do provide a wealth of detailed technical information to aid their customers with some aspects of their modifications. Obviously they don't warranty any customer made mods but it's not uncommon for them to recognize a market niche and take such mods on board releasing new products incorporating them (though vehicle manufacturers work at a slower than glacial pace).

My gripe is that Dell and others just shuts the door on any request for technical information and leave you on your own and out in the cold.

One must remember that PCs are in theory an open architecture but manufacturers continue to try to put that genie back in the bottle. Standards which cost $$ and an NDA agreement just to view them, modification of standards to make system components incompatible between vendors, signed boot loaders under the guise of added security, DMCA laws that make repurposing legally questionable. It's getting worse and the march continues with the end game being that even simple mods or repurposing will be impossible. We'll all be forced to hand over more money and buy another system or be made criminals for hacking. 

In the area of your speciality, i am amazed that vendor specific protocols seem to exist which results in vendor specific firmware for raid cards and hdd forcing people to compromise support if able to use non vendor hdd. Such RAID specific protocols should have been standardized so that any hdd can be purchased from any vendor and plugged into another vendors raid card in your system and work with all error codes and conditions being correctly handled by the standard ptotocol. In Dells case, it was only after a large backlash from customers that they released firmware to allow non certified drives on our dell raid controllers but no standardization has taken place. Standardization is not rocket science but part standardization is a business strategy that denies all of us the best feature sets with the only aim being to lock us in. It's abhorrent and something which should be resisted in the most strongest way.

Back to graphics, the number of legitimate users of a server requiring better graphics, is not relevant. As a legitimate owner of a server, Dell provided me with no help for even a part number for a PCIe x1 graphics card, or an extract from a PCIe spec or any other technical info so your correct to say that Dell needs to work on a great many things. But to expect a technical doc that specifies how to mod a card, even a simple mod, is unrealistic and ridiculous :emotion-7:

About the RAID ... there is standardization of settings but not of configurations.  Standardization exists in the available settings on the disks and controllers, but each of the dozens of settings are configurable ... things such as timeout, retries, error recovery, timings, cache settings, etc. that are all configured at the factory based on what it is going to be used for.  Consumer drives, for example, generally have no redundancy, so their timings and error recovery settings must be more lenient ... they must be much tighter when used in a high performance RAID controller.  Each OEM (not just Dell) tweaks these settings (just like the auto analogy car makers all have similar engines, they just tweak the injection, orientation, capacity to what they feel is a superior configuration) to be a better performing system (cutting edge settings) or more reliable system (safer settings) ... and one could argue these points either way.  With these tweaks to the controller though, drives must be tuned to respond/interact with the controller in the way that the controller expects for it to work properly.  Retail controllers are usually configured with "average", "generic", unconfigured, and/or versatile settings, allowing most retail drives (with similar generic/unconfigured drive settings) to work ok with them.  I'd be kidding myself to think that OEM's are only thinking of the customer when configuring their controllers and drives - one only needs look at the prices that OEM's charge for their drives to see that they are taking advantage of the situation, even if the situation itself is valid ...  but there are real differences in the settings and using the wrong drives can have a negative affect on performance/reliability.  The price the OEM charges for their drives (often 20-40% higher than the same drive from reputable resellers) is what really irks me about this.

"My gripe is that Dell and others just shuts the door on any request for technical information and leave you on your own and out in the cold."

This goes for Dell employees too ... support staff (including levels 2 and 3) do not have access to the types of documentation and specs we sometimes look for/need.  Not sure what the information block is coming from engineering.

Take care.