Minimal video card

fivemack · 2019-06-30, 06:36

What is the right video card to get if my metric is 'purchase price plus electricity consumption at idle for three years'. I need the card only to see BIOS messages at boot and to watch the Ubuntu installer; the system currently has a GTX970 which is not power-efficient enough to be worth running GPU-ECM on, and which (according to nvidia-smi) uses *46 watts* at idle, so I'd have a budget of over a hundred pounds for a card that uses no power at idle.

The machine is prone to rebooting into the BIOS config screen after unclean shutdown, and has no serial console, so I don't think that pulling the card out entirely is an option - do X99 motherboards even boot without a video card?

M344587487 · 2019-06-30, 07:10

There might be a setting in the bios so that it doesn't put you in the config screen after an unclean shutdown. Failing that if it's the same screen every time you can navigate away from it blind if you write down the steps required. Failing that PCIe hotplug is a longshot possibility to disable the GPU after boot from the OS if your motherboard supports hotplug. Failing all of that, passive GPUs pulled from old servers can be had on ebay for ~$10 that are barely powerful enough to display a desktop.

edit: You're probably right that a GPU is required. Some consumer motherboards allow you to run headless even without an iGPU but most don't.

Batalov · 2019-06-30, 07:14

There are likely some 710s still on sale - with TDP of 19w and price under $40.
Many of them are fanless, so little power they use.

ET_ · 2019-06-30, 08:39

I have a Nvidia GT 710 that happily runs my Ubuntu desktop at 1920x1080, while the RTX 2060 is crunching in background. Runs fine and with a very low energy requirement.

fivemack · 2019-06-30, 08:52

Fanless GT710 procured for £19 from eBay, should get here sometime next week. Thank you for your advice.

It looks as if a GTX970 still has some resale value on eBay so I might even make a profit on the deal, at least if I can find a suitable box to post it in

lavalamp · 2019-06-30, 08:57

Worth noting that it is also possible to undervolt and underclock many cards to reduce idle power further. On Windows I would try MSI Afterburner, on Linux I do not know.

xilman · 2019-06-30, 19:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by fivemack

Fanless GT710 procured for £19 from eBay, should get here sometime next week. Thank you for your advice.

It looks as if a GTX970 still has some resale value on eBay so I might even make a profit on the deal, at least if I can find a suitable box to post it in

This may be an example of the sunk costs fallacy, but I still use a GTX-470 on one of my machines. It aint broke and I've no intention of fixing it.

kriesel · 2019-06-30, 20:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by xilman

This may be an example of the sunk costs fallacy, but I still use a GTX-470 on one of my machines. It aint broke and I've no intention of fixing it.

Meh. At 29W idle, you could do better, but also a lot worse.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/a...tx-470/28.html
FYI, a GTX1060 drops to about 8 watts at idle.

2019-06-30, 06:36	#1
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 2·7·461 Posts	Minimal video card What is the right video card to get if my metric is 'purchase price plus electricity consumption at idle for three years'. I need the card only to see BIOS messages at boot and to watch the Ubuntu installer; the system currently has a GTX970 which is not power-efficient enough to be worth running GPU-ECM on, and which (according to nvidia-smi) uses 46 watts at idle, so I'd have a budget of over a hundred pounds for a card that uses no power at idle. The machine is prone to rebooting into the BIOS config screen after unclean shutdown, and has no serial console, so I don't think that pulling the card out entirely is an option - do X99 motherboards even boot without a video card?

2019-06-30, 07:10	#2
M344587487 "Composite as Heck" Oct 2017 1110110110₂ Posts	There might be a setting in the bios so that it doesn't put you in the config screen after an unclean shutdown. Failing that if it's the same screen every time you can navigate away from it blind if you write down the steps required. Failing that PCIe hotplug is a longshot possibility to disable the GPU after boot from the OS if your motherboard supports hotplug. Failing all of that, passive GPUs pulled from old servers can be had on ebay for ~$10 that are barely powerful enough to display a desktop. edit: You're probably right that a GPU is required. Some consumer motherboards allow you to run headless even without an iGPU but most don't. Last fiddled with by M344587487 on 2019-06-30 at 07:12

2019-06-30, 08:52	#5
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 14466₈ Posts	Fanless GT710 procured for £19 from eBay, should get here sometime next week. Thank you for your advice. It looks as if a GTX970 still has some resale value on eBay so I might even make a profit on the deal, at least if I can find a suitable box to post it in Last fiddled with by fivemack on 2019-06-30 at 08:53

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2019-06-30, 07:14	#3
Batalov "Serge" Mar 2008 San Diego, Calif. 24035₈ Posts	There are likely some 710s still on sale - with TDP of 19w and price under $40. Many of them are fanless, so little power they use.

2019-06-30, 08:39	#4
ET_ Banned "Luigi" Aug 2002 Team Italia 5×7×139 Posts	I have a Nvidia GT 710 that happily runs my Ubuntu desktop at 1920x1080, while the RTX 2060 is crunching in background. Runs fine and with a very low energy requirement.

2019-06-30, 08:57	#6
lavalamp Oct 2007 Manchester, UK 10101011111₂ Posts	Worth noting that it is also possible to undervolt and underclock many cards to reduce idle power further. On Windows I would try MSI Afterburner, on Linux I do not know.