Can this be used as a PC?

[TheGreatSatan]

Can this (http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=VERARI-SERVER-5B&cat=SYS) server blade be used as a PC if you install Vista on it? Will Vista even work?

[FuzzyPlushroom]

Couldn't tell you, but this (http://www.weirdstuff.com/cgi-bin/item/62015) might be an even better deal if you've got a spare hard drive around and don't need a lot of RAM.

[mtekk]

If there are Vista drivers for Rage XL it may "work". I'm positive that the Rage can't handle Aero glass, it's only a DirectX 6 GPU. I'm sure intel integrated graphics are higher performance than that Rage XL (the rage is a nine year old gpu now).

[Luke122]

I agree with Mtekk on this.. you might have some driver issues with the hardware, but other than that, theres no reason that you couldnt use it as a PC. :)

[FuzzyPlushroom]

I'd always figured you could, aside from the driver issues, but didn't want to commit to the answer. :D +rep

[BuzzKillington]

I wonder what TGS has cookin'... will this be a future mod?

[mtekk]

It says it has a PCI slot, so you could put a PCI graphics card in it, probably limited to a Geforce 7300 or something like that, but that will run Vista just fine. Of course, you could just run XP or a flavor of Linux (I've done both with a Rage 128 Pro card) without problems.

[nevermind1534]

It says it has a PCI slot, so you could put a PCI graphics card in it, probably limited to a Geforce 7300 or something like that, but that will run Vista just fine. Of course, you could just run XP or a flavor of Linux (I've done both with a Rage 128 Pro card) without problems.

You can get newer than that with PCI. Look on newegg.

[mtekk]

You can get newer than that with PCI. Look on newegg.

I take that back then, the best you can get looks like a Geforce 9400gt (assuming it's better than a radeon 2400pro). The last time I looked the 7300 was the best you could get.

[TheGreatSatan]

So XP would work?

[Luke122]

4 Pci Express slots, 1 PCI slot. :D

Some searching around says yes, there are drivers for the video. Even if you cant get it to work, the availability of other slots would allow for use of a card.

I say if the price is right and you have the cash, go for it. :D


# General Features:
# No Server Operating System!
# Dual AMD Opteron 246 HE 2.0 GHz processors
# 4 GB DDR RAM
# 120 GB IDE hard drive
# ATI Rage XL integrated video
# Broadcom BCM5704 Gigabit Ethernet
# Intel 82551QM 10/100 LAN

# Motherboard Features:
# AMD-8111 chipset
# Four (4) PCI-X slots (one on a riser)
# One (1) PCI slot
# Eight (8) DDR DIMM sockets
# Four (4) SATA connectors

# I/O Ports:
# Two (2) PS/2 ports
# One (1) 15-pin VGA port
# One (1) 9-pin serial port
# Three (3) USB ports (two on back and one at front)
# Three (3) RJ-45 Ethernet jacks

# Case Features:
# 1U server chassis
# Two (2) 3.5-inch drive bays
# One (1) 5.25-inch drive bay (screws not included to mount a drive)
# Five (5) cooling fans (three by CPU and two in power supply)
# 400-watt power supply

[DaveW]

If you can't make it work on the hardware, you can probably run a virtual machine on the system and run XP in that. If course, I wouldn't recommend that...and there's bound to be a way to run XP on the hardware.

-Dave

[mtekk]

4 Pci Express slots, 1 PCI slot. :D

PCI-X != PCI-E (PCI Express)

Yes, XP should work just fine on that hardware.