I am in the process of configuring my new home server, specs as follows:
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
64GB ECC DDR4
ASUS ProArt B550 Creator
Crucial P5 Plus 2TB *2
2* 120GB Sata SSD (OS)
2* Toshiba N300 16TB HDD
Nvidia GT210 (Inno3D)
Intel Arc A750
Seasonic Focus PX850
I am using TrueNas Scale as the host OS, and the version is 22.10 (carried over boot drives)
I intend to use the GT210 for the host and the Arc A750 for a VM with this card passed through to it.
This motherboard has 3 x16 slots, 2 of which are out of the CPU: PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_2
These slots can operate in x16 mode or x8/x8 mode depending on whether PCIEX16_2 is populated.
Since I intended to use the GT210 as the main display for the host, I put the GT210 in PCIEX16_1 and the A750 in PCIEX16_2.
However, in this configuration, only the A750 is detected, even in the OS when running the lspci command.
If I remove one of the cards, the other one will be detected without issues.
If I switch the cards around, both of them will get detected.
Ideally I would like to have the GT210 as the main display out during bootup, but I canât since it wonât get detected if I put it in the top slot with the Arc A750 in the other slot.
Bios is the latest version as of writing this (2023 Dec 19).
Hmmm this a very odd issue. My guess here is that there is a weird issue being induced by the ARC card or the PCIe Slot is not properly switching to Gen 1 on the GT 210. I would try setting that in the bios for PCIEx16_1 to PCIe Gen 1 mode(if it can). Beyond that newer card like GT 1030 could also verify this hypothesis.
You may also be able to set the second PCIe slot to be your primary display output with the Arc in the PCIEX16_1.
Look for a setting like âmulti-monitor supportâ, enable it, see if POST screen displays on both.
My old server board does that by default on all 3 GPUs I have installed right now.
it is funny when seemingly ancient tech has better features than a brand new thing. you are mostly correct about them not having to agree, except that Truenas Scale actually has a weird âhost must have the GPU i say it doesâ requirement. Most hypervisors could deal with this, and Scale does support KVM virtualization, but it is non-standard.
According to techpowerup it does. But it is positively ancient, extremely low performing and energy inefficient, despite the price. Unless you need that VGA and DVI outputs of course.
Both should be available for < 100 USD new, probably even less used.
They are:
< 30W power
about 5 times more effective performance if needed, compared to GT 710
10 year old architecture vs 5/3 year old one
modern litography also helps
supports modern hw acceleration for audio/video transcoding
can handle 4K@60hz displays without a sweat if needed
Other than those models, I dont think neither NVIDIA or AMD bothered anything new in this segment since those cards.
Unsurprising however, given almost ubiquitous igpus these days.
We sourced P400 and 1030 to upgrade older pcs for 4k monitor usage at @oldjob , and these cards were solid performers. Also they are of no interest to miners or scalpers, so you should be able to get them now without any troubles.
EDIT: T400 can be had for 85 USD used from united states. Attaching screenshot just in case forum mangles the hyperlink again.
both the gt210 and gt710 are capable of having UEFI, but most vendors did not include it. it is possible to grab a ROM file and flash a replacement ROM, though OP does not seem thrilled with this option.
honestly i keep coming back to âuse a different host OSâ as putting a p400 or 1030 in a box to provide only console so that Scale will allow passthrough of the second GPU seems wasteful.
it is definitely not a hard line on models with and with out it. i have had some ancient radeons that had it, but the initial run of Radeon VIIs did not have it.
