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nVidia 9600 GT installed in a Dell SC1430 Dual Quad Core Server
02/23/08
Purpose:
The Dell SC1430 server like most servers has limited video capabilities because the computer is usually not used as a workstation and doesn't require high-end graphics.. The SC1430 can accept PCI-X, PCI or PCI-Express cards. PCI-Express cards are limited to an 8x slot and to make matters more confusing, the slot is wired 4x. This article shows how to install the nVIDIA® 9600 GT 16x PCI-Express video card into the SC1430. More information about the server and Windows Server 2008 can be found here and here.
Technical Information
Specs on server
| Component | Specs |
| Processor | Two Intel Xeon Quad Core E510 processors ( 2x4 MB cache, 1.6 GHz) |
| Memory | 6 GB 667MHz (2x1 GB and 2x2 GB) dual ranked Fully Buffered ECC DIMMs |
| Bus Speed | 1066 Front Side Bus |
| Drive 1 | WD 80 gig SATA II |
| Drive 2 | Seagate 500 gig SATA II |
| Video | eVGA e-GeForce 9600 GT SSC superclocked edition |
| Expansion | 1 PCI Slot |
| 2 PCI-X | |
| 2 PCI-Express (8x connector wired as 4x) | |
| Ethernet | 1. Broadcom Gigabit ethernet (integrated) 2. D-Link DGE-560T Gigabit ethernet (PCI-Express) |
Background:
The nVIDIA® 9600 GT is part of nVidia's new line of mid-range and decently priced video cards. The card is a single slot solution that is almost as fast as the current 8800 GT.
More information on this card can be found here.
Installation:
In order to install the 16x video card in a 8x slot, an Orbit Micro (model PEXP16-SX-16/8) 16x to 8x lane reducer was used. This adapter inserts onto the bottom of the card and provides an 8x compatible connector. 
The adapter slightly increases the height of the card which causes any rear connectors near the top of the card unusable. One nice thing about nVIDIA® cards is that the s-video connector sits at the top followed by the DVI connectors. One issue for use in the SC1430 is that there is a proprietary card securing bar in the case and also another case attachment that will need to be removed since the card height with adapter prevents it from closing over the expansion card bay.
The image below shows the video card installed in the SC1430 PCI-Express slot. Usually there would be screws securing the card to the case, but the SC1430 has threaded risers that one would need nuts for if the securing post was not used. The cards are secured by a door that flips closed over the backplane. The metal and plastic part that fits on the door had to be removed as well as the blue plastic arm that secures the drive bay and sits above the expansion cards.
The card was secured using motherboard riser screws that have a threaded nut at the top. Two of the motherboard risers and a bolt were used to secure the card. The other expansion cards were secured with small nuts that fit the threaded pins in the backplane that secured the cards. The cards requires 2, 12v power connectors or a PCI-Express power connector. I used 2, 12V power connectors. There was a PCI-Express power connector, but the cable was too short to reach the video card. I may get an extension cable in the future.
Performance
Many of you may be wondering why use a high performance x16 card when one is just utilizing 1/4 of its available bandwidth. It is correct that the true benefits of the card won't be felt, but compared to any other graphics solution for the SC1430 board, this would give the best bang for the buck.
| AGP 8X | 2.1 GB/s |
| PCI Express 4x | 2 GB/s |
| PCI Express 8x | 4 GB/s |
| PCI Express 16x | 8 GB/s |
*Since PCI-Express is a serial technology, data can be sent both ways as opposed to PCI which is a parallel technology that only allows transmission one direction at a time.
The SC1430 will have superior performance at 4x PCI-Express than a 8x AGP card because of the added performance benefit of being a serial technology.
Upon booting up the SC1430, it took a couple of seconds for the computer to switch video from the on-board video to the 9600 GT. The computer doesn't have jumpers or BIOS settings to select on-board or add-in video. I installed the Vista x64 drivers which are compatible with Windows Server 2008. The video response was very fast and smooth compared to the previous ATI x1300 PCI video card I had in the computer previously.
Now its time to play some Crysis!
02/24/08:
With resolution set at 1280x1024 and all setting on high, I get an average framerate of 27 FPS on the Crysis demo. On the real deal, it should be better since the demo didn't have full multiprocessor support enabled (per the forums). The game looks great and the framerate is acceptable. I'll have to get the retail game and see how the performance differs.
In comparison, a Pentium 4, 3 GHz with 2 GB RAM running an ATI X1650, 512 MB card AGB 8x gives an average framerate of 6 FPS running the Crysis benchmarks while the Dual Quad with 6 GB RAM, running 1 active VM on Server 2008 in the background and with nVIDIA 9600 GT gave an acceptable average framerate of 27 FPS.
Terracode copyright 2008