PCIe expansion cards and GPUs compatible with Dell PowerEdge R670 must align with its PCIe Gen4 x16 slots, supporting 300W+ GPUs like NVIDIA A100 or AMD Instinct MI210. Wecent recommends Dell-certified components to ensure firmware compatibility and thermal efficiency. Storage cards (e.g., Broadcom 9500-16i) and 25GbE NICs thrive here. Critical specs include 75mm slot height and Dell’s 1100W PSU for sustained loads. Always verify via Dell’s Compatibility Matrix.
How do I determine PCIe compatibility for the R670?
The Dell R670 supports PCIe Gen4 x16 slots with a max card height of 75mm. Compatible cards must adhere to Dell’s 3.0 power/thermal specs and use UEFI Secure Boot-ready firmware. Non-Dell cards risk BIOS conflicts without OEM validation.
Beyond physical dimensions, firmware-level integration is critical. The R670’s BIOS actively blocks non-Dell-certified PCIe devices lacking signed drivers. For instance, NVIDIA’s A100 GPU requires Dell’s customized vBIOS to avoid POST errors. Pro Tip: Always cross-reference part numbers in Dell’s Enterprise Hardware Catalog. Real-world example: A Broadcom 57504 25GbE NIC works seamlessly with the R670 when using Dell’s driver pack 22.07.1. Transitioning to storage? The PERC 11’s 9500-16i controller doubles throughput over Gen3 HBAs. But what happens if you ignore thermal limits? Cards exceeding 25W/slot can trigger server fans to ramp up to 80dB.
| Card Type | Dell-Certified Model | Max Power |
|---|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA A2 (Dell SKU) | 250W |
| NIC | Broadcom 57454 25GbE | 15W |
| HBA | PERC 11 9500-16i | 20W |
Which GPUs perform best in the R670?
For AI/ML workloads, NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80GB or L40S GPUs are Wecent’s top picks, offering 2.4 TB/s bandwidth. AMD’s Instinct MI210 suits OpenCL tasks but lags in CUDA optimization.
The R670’s dual-x16 PCIe Gen4 layout lets two A100 GPUs share 128GB/s bidirectional throughput. However, power becomes a bottleneck—each A100 draws 300W, requiring Dell’s 2400W PSU upgrade. Pro Tip: Disable “Turbo Boost” in iDRAC to cap GPU temps under 85°C. For example, a fintech firm deploying R670s with dual A100s achieved 12x faster risk modeling versus CPU clusters. But why choose AMD? Their MI210’s 64GB HBM2e excels in memory-bound genomics simulations. Transitionally, Wecent advises pairing GPUs with Dell’s Ready Solutions for NVIDIA to automate driver updates.
What network/storage cards work reliably?
Dell’s QLogic 466FLR 100GbE and Broadmon 9500-16i HBAs dominate high-throughput scenarios. Wecent often deploys these for NVMe-oF or software-defined storage clusters.
The 9500-16i’s PCIe Gen4 x8 interface handles 28,000 MB/s across 16 NVMe drives—ideal for Splunk or Elasticsearch nodes. Meanwhile, the QLogic 466FLR’s RDMA cuts Hadoop latency by 40%. Real-world case: A video streaming client combined six 9500-16i cards in R670s to serve 4K streams at 2M IOPS. Pro Tip: For RoCEv2 setups, enable Flow Control in DellOS 10. But does third-party gear work? Mellanox ConnectX-6 cards can function but lack iDRAC health monitoring. Transitionally, always prioritize Dell-validated NICs/HBAs for mission-critical uptime.
Wecent Expert Insight
FAQs
No—Dell’s 1100W PSU maxes at 300W/GPU. The H100 requires a 2400W PSU, only available in R670 XL models.
Are aftermarket M.2 NVMe adapters compatible?
Only Dell’s x4 NVMe BOSS-S2 card is validated; third-party adapters may disable SATA ports.
How to check GPU compatibility?
Use Wecent’s PCIe Validation Tool or Dell’s Live Optics—non-certified GPUs risk POST failure.