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I'm a complete noob when it comes to server virtualization and GPUs, so please bear with me.

Are there any decent AMD GPUs that are easily compatible with the Dell PowerEdge r710? I'm looking for something cheap that I can use for virtual machines with graphical environments (only 1 VM at the moment). My server is configured with redundant 870w PSUs, so I'm not concerned about power.

In addition to this, I am wondering if the r710 supports multiple GPUs (AMD or Nvidia), as I would like to have 2 or more in the future, but I have a preference for AMD, as they have better free/open source Linux drivers.

My final concern is being able to access the graphical environment on the virtual machine. Currently, the only way I know of is with a remote Xwindow desktop over RDP or VNC to the virtual machine's display manager (OpenSUSE). Can I instead access it through the GPU's display port or straight from the host hypervisor (Debian 10 with Xen, no desktop environment)?

I apologize for the long post, but any advice you have is much appreciated! Thanks!

GNULinuxOnboard
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I'm not concerned about power

You should be a little bit concerned because by default a R710 (or any PowerEdge) doesn't have any PCI-e 6-pin power connectors. It also doesn't have standard molex or SATA power cables so you can't use adapters to steal power from elsewhere in the system. This restricts you to a graphics card that doesn't use ancillary power or finding that power from somewhere else

I am wondering if the r710 supports multiple GPUs

It does not support SLI if that's what you're asking, but you can jam as many your thermal and physical profile can take. However IIRC R710's only have x8 PCIe slots electrically connected (although x16 in size)- although that's probably not as bad as you're thinking.

For reference I have an R720 with two GTX 1080's installed. Dell sell a PCI-e power option for the R720s so we could get PCI-e power. They are just founders edition regular off the shelf cards, but they are used for CUDA processing, not any GUI stuff.

being able to access the graphical environment on the virtual machine

Out of my wheelhouse on this one, sorry

Mark Henderson
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  • So the r710 will take an x16 PCIe card, but it will only perform as well as 8x? I believe if I only have one PCIe card, it will do x16 but I only get one x16 card. – GNULinuxOnboard Dec 12 '19 at 21:38
  • Yeah, I should be able to utilize x16 if I only have one card, according to this pdf: (search for "pcie" in your browser and you will find it) https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/server-poweredge-r710-tech-guidebook.pdf – GNULinuxOnboard Dec 12 '19 at 21:45
  • After some research, I have found that I will need a card that supports GPU virtualization for my needs, which rules out most options. – GNULinuxOnboard Dec 13 '19 at 00:53