Adding GPU's to media server.

[rgod14]

Hey all,

I'm running a media/file server on my old Dell E521 and am curious about adding mining power to it since its on running 24 hrs/day as is. I'm seeing a couple limitations right away and had some questions.

There are 2 PCI-e slots (a x16 and a x1 - irrelevent, I'm pretty sure for strictly mining) and I was thinking about grabbing a couple cheap 5830's. The old Dell has a stock 300W PSU and is in a fairly compact case.

I guess the questions I have are:

1) What are the lengths of a 5830 and if they are too long for a standard case are PCI-e extenders a solution?
2) How big of a PSU am I going to need to upgrade too?
3) Do you think this will have any effect on streaming media from the server?

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks!

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[alexdrans]

1. Don't know
2. I would go with at least a 500W PSU
3. Depends what kind of CPU you have in there. Make sure you set any media players to not use hardware acceleration i.e. not use the GPU and you shouldn't notice any lagg so long as you're not streaming HD content.

[Alaron]

  Funny you ask, I have that exact system, and I just ordered a 5830. I should be installing tomorrow evening sometime. I do have a 550w PWS that I might use instead, I'll let you know how things go. I'm not running a media server on it, but it does act as a game server for minecraft, and murmur voice.

[rgod14]

  Funny you ask, I have that exact system, and I just ordered a 5830. I should be installing tomorrow evening sometime. I do have a 550w PWS that I might use instead, I'll let you know how things go. I'm not running a media server on it, but it does act as a game server for minecraft, and murmur voice.

Yes please let me know. I'm interested to see if a card that size actually fits in the case!

[Freakin]

Gonna put my 5770 into my HTPC after upgrading everything else to a 5830.  Should push me over the 1GH/s mark.

[Alaron]

 I tried in my old Dell e510, and had a problem that seems to be the same on the e521, at least the model I have.

 The 5830 (as opposed to the 5770) has DVI ports on both slots, upper and lower, the problem is the dells off the PCI-e port only has holes for the lower slot. Ie. the back of the card doesn't have any space to come out.

  Check your Dell and make sure it has the space, otherwise it won't work at all. My Dell 9200 has the right slot so I kind of got lucky I didn't just waste money on this 5830.

  Good luck.

[rgod14]

Thanks for the update. I'll take a look tonight. You couldn't fit it either PCI-e slot?

[PcChip]

(With regard to question 3)

My experience tells me this: OpenCL miners will only recognize the gpu that has a monitor attached to it, so if you only have one monitor you will either need dummy plugs or will have to swap the monitor to the card you want to start mining on.  Once the miner is started you can swap the monitor to the other card.

Why am I telling you this?

Because if you still want to watch movies on the media server while mining and not have stutters or a drop in hashrate, you will have to watch the movies on a seperate video output.  For example - hook the display to the new 5830, start the miner, then unplug the display and move it to the output you're currently using now to watch videos (i.e. onboard gpu). That way the 5830 will be fully loaded from Phoenix/phatk and won't have to deal with any display.

[Calavera]

(With regard to question 3)

My experience tells me this: OpenCL miners will only recognize the gpu that has a monitor attached to it, so if you only have one monitor you will either need dummy plugs or will have to swap the monitor to the card you want to start mining on.  Once the miner is started you can swap the monitor to the

You can get by this by either not using Windows or by installing the crossfire bridge and enabling crossfire. 

[PcChip]

What about in my case where I have a 5850 and a 5830, will enabling crossfire still let me treat them as two separate cards as far as independent clocking and running phoenix on each one?

[Calavera]

What about in my case where I have a 5850 and a 5830, will enabling crossfire still let me treat them as two separate cards as far as independent clocking and running phoenix on each one?

I don't have a clue.  Obviously crossfire wasn't designed for that but on the other hand you're just using it as a trick to get the other card enabled (much like the dummy plug).  It may refuse to be enabled.  You should be able to use Linux though, assuming this is a dedicated rig.