I have a spare Dell R510 that I’m not going to really use as a 510 I don’t think. I have wanted a dual processor build, lots of ram, lots of cors and threads… Its perfect. Its just EATX.
So… What all do I have to look at in order to do this?
Would you be looking for a regular tower case large enough for the existing motherboard, with the right space at the back for the special power supply, and active CPU coolers that might be compatible for the sockets on the board?
I can’t really help you, but I’m sure others might have suggestions if they know what you are after?
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This is coming from a filthy casual who is aware that you are a seasoned regular on this forum
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Goal is plop it in a case, cooler change out, have my current 3 drives in my machine (all sata) in the new one, be able to take my RX 580 and drop it in, throw linux on it, and do muh shiz. Would make a lot of stuff easier I think.
And no you’re right, I just don’t really know what all has to be done or what there is to do. I would assume you have to change the coolers but past that I really havej no clue.
Full tower conversion is my goal. If I can use the PSU’s with it even BETTER.
Maybe watercool it. That was an option when they were new, but the plumbing is different for servers… But if I can get the plates…
Water cooling might be a nice way to go, if you can find a case big enough for the rads and the mobo, or even if you mount the radiator on the outside of the case?
Do the Dell servers use custom power connectors?
I didn’t think they take the regular 28pin jobbies one would usually use in a desktop is all, unless the power supply is simply longer, but with regular screw holes at the back
Server PSU’s are interchangeable. One dies, pull it out and slot in a new one and keep going. I dunno the pin out I’d have to take the case apart.
Cooling will be the biggest hassle I think. I should start there.
If it were me I might just keep it in the original case. It would be functionally the same provided that you don’t plan on upgrading outside the limits of the case.
I mean the case is a limitation in and of itself. Its way to big and heavy.
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Just curious, have you tested the RX580 with this board? I know some workstation systems can have issues running modern graphics cards: maybe this applies to server boards as well.
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This- I have an old z800 that was going to be my ‘do everything’ box, can’t even Rock a 4 port nic, already out of bios memory for the firmware.
I guess that the thing also has a bank of noisy fans that would not be fun sitting next to…
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Well… yeah that too.
If you know it is EATX I’ll take your word for it, but I would not assume that the motherboard conforms to any standard. You will probably need to drill and tap holes for it.
You also won’t have an I/O shield, but I suppose you don’t really need one.
Depends on which server.
The R510 does have (what looks like) a regular 24-pin ATX power connector and 8-pin CPU power connector. Servers like the R510 which can be purchased with a non-redundant cabled PSU generally do. Then in the units which ship with a redundant hotswap PSU configuration the power connectors are supplied by a separate PDB which the PSUs plug into.
On some other servers the PSUs plug straight into the motherboard.
There is a standardized power supply mount for servers which is rectangular and a bit larger than the ATX mount, but only white box 3U and larger cases use it.
I really wouldn’t recommend it, but I’ll go over what you would need to do:
- Cut a hole in the back of your case so that the PSU shroud can mount flush to the top or bottom of it.
- Drill and tap holes for the PSU shroud and PDB.
- Cut off the backplane/optical drive power connector.
- Solder on whatever new power connectors (PCIe 8-pin, full-size SATA, Molex, etc.) and whatever length of wire you need.
- If the PSU fans are too loud and you choose to disregard your safety, open the PSUs and replace their fans with slower ones.
The next problem you’ll have is that the PCIe x16 slot is nowhere near the back edge of the motherboard. You’ll need a case that allows mounting the GPU off the motherboard with a PCIe extender cable.
The front panel connectors might also be a problem, there’s really no reason why they would have to be standard or for Dell to publish the pinout.
And finally, the fan connectors are nonstandard. You could use a separate fan controller but it would be worthwhile to make sure the system will POST with no fans installed before you go further.
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Actually I decided against this after watching someone else do this. It’ll just stay a server and I’ll get an HP Z series machine to play with and resell it.
Thank you for the pointers though.