Help me pick the right desktop
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@creayt said:
In the meanwhile, does anyone know how I can tell ahead of time what graphics cards will be compatible w/ my T110.2? It has a Thermaltake Tr/2 600W power supply, but none of the modernish cards I tried would boot. The pre-boot screen would sit and hold a solid underscore on a black screen or flash the underscore.
Thanks!
Might be to low of wattage for modern mid to highend cards. Also Possible there is a whitelist only for the Dell, though I would hope not. Lenovo and others have been known to whitelist only hardware.
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Tried the NVidia Quadro, which doesn't have a separate power connector. Same issue, solid black underscore before any boot options or screen and it never gets past it.
If it's a wattage issue, would upgrading my power supply help? @thecreativeone91 @MattSpeller
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@creayt poke around in the bios to see if there's any options related to video. Also check and see if it has the most recent bios. Sounds like a compat issue
Edit: 600w PSU shouldn't have any issues running even a greedy gfx card + all the other bits.
Edit2: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
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@MattSpeller said:
@creayt poke around in the bios to see if there's any options related to video. Also check and see if it has the most recent bios. Sounds like a compat issue
Edit: 600w PSU shouldn't have any issues running even a greedy gfx card + all the other bits.
Edit2: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
Will do. Could it be related to the fact that I boot off of an add-in SATA 3 card? And any important change in the hardware breaks it? I'll scan the bios tonight, thanks.
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Any chance that the issue is the motherboard? The T110.2 is a SMB tower server meant to be run without a graphics card in general I'd presume. The mobo doesn't even come w/ Sata III.
4 PCIe 2.0 slots:
Two x8 slots
One x4 slot
One x1 slotI wonder if the cards that failed all required a 3.0 slot, or a x16?
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@creayt shouldn't matter, at least I know my setup works with a 3.0 card in a 2.0 slot
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@creayt said:
Any chance that the issue is the motherboard? The T110.2 is a SMB tower server meant to be run without a graphics card in general I'd presume. The mobo doesn't even come w/ Sata III.
4 PCIe 2.0 slots:
Two x8 slots
One x4 slot
One x1 slotI wonder if the cards that failed all required a 3.0 slot, or a x16?
No PCIe X16 could be the issue. Most card will run at lower speeds in 2.0 slots but, they might need the lanes of the x16 slots.
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So there was a setting in the BIOS to change the integrated video from standard to distributed, which I changed to distributed. The only other card I have handy is the Quadro K220 which has no power connector and expects its fuel from the PCIe slot. The graphics slot on this board only gets you 25w though so that may be the issue w/ that one. I might try purchasing another card off of Amazon or something to try it out, though it's doing the same thing w/ the solid underscore instead of any boot sequence. Sure wish I had another card lying around.
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The weird thing about this board is it's a PCIe G2 x8 slot w/ x16 connectors and a max of 25w.
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I think I'll discard the unchewed bullet and stick it out until I build the new system as-is. I'm technically able to run all 3x 2560x1440 monitors w/ the 5750 running one through display port and a D3100 dock running the other 2, but the 2nd monitor through the dock is only running at 50 Hz and it's killing me. Some people say it shouldn't be perceptible ( some programmers even claim to work on a 30Hz 4k setup, wtf? ) but to me it's completely palpable w/ the cursor tracking and keyboard input appearing. I'm going to hunt down a dual-link DVI cable and see if the 5750 can't power 2 at 60Hz.
But then as soon as the new procs and mobos are out, it's upgrade time.
For the record, the 14 core Precision actually felt less responsive than this t110.2. It was very noticeable for me. So SCREW any processor w/ a baseline speed of less than 3.3.
Again, thanks everyone for your help and input on this. @MattSpeller, I'll definitely be spamming you for advice and insight as I dig into the puzzle of jaw-dropping performance on a budget.
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Also if anyone has any tips on where to start in learning to system build the GF is going in on it w/ me and we'll be building our own desktops side by side, and she'd like to start w/ 101. Thanks.
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@creayt pcpartpicker.com --> has compatibility filter built in, makes it harder to screw up and faster to build out stuff
tomshardware.com --> best ___ for the money monthly charts are awesome, example below
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html -
@MattSpeller said:
@creayt pcpartpicker.com --> has compatibility filter built in, makes it harder to screw up and faster to build out stuff
tomshardware.com --> best ___ for the money monthly charts are awesome, example below
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.htmlVery nice! I didn't realize it had compatibility validation. That's hardcore. Thanks.
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Eureka. Apparently you have to.. wait for it... downgrade the bios.
http://level7systems.co.uk/en/dell_poweredge_t110_ii_and_pcie_video_card/
Going to try this and then throw the Quadro back in there. Fingers crossed.
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Did a bit of soldering and wired 4 of those M2s together into a Raid 0.
JK. That's an 850 Pro in rapid mode.
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That's completely insane. 4.5GB/s!!
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@creayt said:
Eureka. Apparently you have to.. wait for it... downgrade the bios.
http://level7systems.co.uk/en/dell_poweredge_t110_ii_and_pcie_video_card/
Going to try this and then throw the Quadro back in there. Fingers crossed.
The bios downgrade didn't work, but further research suggests that the PCIe slot is only 8x ( but has connectors for 16 to fit a graphics card ) and provides a maximum of 25w through the slot. Because the Quadro I tried doesn't have a 6 pin power connector I'm thinking that's the problem with that setup, it just can't get enough juice through the slot.
I'm going to order two other cards off of Amazon, one with a low wattage and one w/ a 6-pin hole and see if either works.
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Well F my F-ing life even the 26w card didn't work. Fan spun off of the power from the PCIe slot, but same BS w/ the solid underscore instead of boot sequence. Guess it's time to build a new rig.
:rage4:
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That sucks. Sorry.
