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Dell PowerEdge R530 Owner's Manual

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Expansion card installation guidelines

Your system supports PCI Express Generation 2 and Generation 3 expansion cards.

Use the following table as a guide for installing expansion cards to ensure proper cooling and mechanical fit. The expansion cards with the highest priority must be installed first using the slot priority indicated. All other expansion cards must be installed in card priority and slot priority order.

Table 1. Expansion card slots available on system board onlyOn riser 1, the PCIe slot 1 is mapped to processor 2. This slot supports low profile, half lengthx8 expansion cards. This is an x8 slot. On riser 1, the PCIe slot 2 is mapped to processor 1. This slot supports low profile, half lengthx16 expansion cards. This is an x16 slot. On riser 1, the PCIe slot 3 is mapped to processor 1. This slot supports low profile, half lengthx16 expansion cards. This is an x16 slot. On riser 2, the PCIe slot 4 is mapped to processor 1 with Platform Controller Hub. This slot supports low profile, half lengthx1 expansion cards. This is an x1 slot. On riser 2, the PCIe slot 5 is mapped to processor 1 with Platform Controller Hub. This slot supports low profile, half lengthx4 expansion cards. This is an x8 slot.
Location PCIe slot Processor connection Height Length Link width Slot width
System board 1 Processor 2 Low profile Half length x8 x8
System board 2 Processor 1 Low profile Half length x16 x16
System board 3 Processor 1 Low profile Half length x16 x16
System board 4 Platform Controller Hub (Mapped to Processor 1) Low profile Half length x1 x1
System board 5 Platform Controller Hub (Mapped to Processor 1) Low profile Half length x4 x8
Table 2. Expansion card slots available on system board and optional expansion card riserOn riser 1, the PCIe slot 1 is mapped to processor 1. This slot supports Full height, full lengthx16 expansion cards. This is an x16 slot. On riser 1, the PCIe slot 2 is mapped to processor 1. This slot supports Full height, half lengthx8 expansion cards. This is an x8 slot. On riser 1, the PCIe slot 3 is mapped to processor 1. This slot supports low profile, half lengthx16 expansion cards. This is an x16 slot. On riser 2, the PCIe slot 4 is mapped to processor 1 with Platform Controller Hub. This slot supports low profile, half lengthx1 expansion cards. This is an x1 slot. On riser 2, the PCIe slot 5 is mapped to processor 1 with Platform Controller Hub. This slot supports low profile, half lengthx4 expansion cards. This is an x8 slot.
Location PCIe slot Processor connection Height Length Link width Slot width
Expansion card riser 1 Processor 1 Full height Full length x16 x16
Expansion card riser 2 Processor 1 Full height Half length x8 x8
System board 3 Processor 1 Low profile Half length x16 x16
System board 4 Platform Controller Hub (Mapped to Processor 1) Low profile Half length x1 x1
System board 5 Platform Controller Hub (Mapped to Processor 1) Low profile Half length x4 x8
NOTE: The optional expansion card riser is installed on PCIe slot 2 on the system board.
NOTE: When your system is installed with the optional expansion card riser in PCIe slot 2 on the system board, you cannot install an expansion card in PCIe slot 1 of the system board.
NOTE: When x16 card installed in PCIe Slot 1 on expansion card riser the PCIe Slot 2 on the expansion card will not function. The expansion card riser can be used only with two x8 PCIe cards or with one x16 PCIe card on PCIE slot 1.
NOTE: Only slots 1, 2 and 3 support Generation 3 PCIe expansion cards.
NOTE: The expansion cards are not hot-swap.
Table 3. Expansion card installation priority on system board onlyCard priority 1 is assigned to Graphical processor unit card. Card priority 2 is assigned to RAID integrated storage. The slot priority for RAID integrated storage is the integrated slot and a maximum of 1 card is allowed. Card priority 2 is assigned to RAID external storage. The slot priority for RAID external storage is 3, 2 and 1, and a maximum of 3 card is allowed. Card priority 3 is assigned to 40 Gb network interface controllers (NICs). The slot priority for the NIC card is 3, 2 and 1, and a maximum of 3 cards is allowed. Card priority 4 is assigned to FC16 HBA. The slot priority for the FC16 HBA is 3, 2 and 1, and a maximum of 3 cards is allowed. Card priority 5 is assigned to 10 Gb network interface controllers (NICs). The slot priority for the NIC card is 3, 2, 1 and 5, and a maximum of 4 cards is allowed. Card priority 6 is assigned to FC8 HBA. The slot priority for the FC8 HBA is 3, 2, 1 and 5, and a maximum of 4 cards is allowed. Card priority 7 is assigned to 1 Gb NICs (Broadcom Dual port). The slot priority for the 1 Gb NICs is 3, 2, 1, 5 and 4, and a maximum of 5 cards is allowed. Card priority 7 is assigned to 1 Gb network interface controllers (NICs). The slot priority for the NIC card is 3, 2, 1 and 5, and a maximum of 4 cards is allowed. Card priority 8 is assigned to Non-RAID. The slot priority for the Non-RAID is 3, 2 and 1, and a maximum of 3 cards is allowed.
Card Priority Category Slot Priority Max Allowed
1 RAID integrated storage Integrated Slot 1
RAID external storage 3,2,1 3
2 40G NICs 3,2,1 3
3 FC16 HBA 3,2,1 3
4 10Gb NICs 3,2,1,5 4
5 FC8 HBA 3,2,1,5 4
6 1Gb NICs (Broadcom Dual port)     3,2,1,5,4 5
1Gb NICs 3,2,1,5 4
7 Non-RAID 3,2,1 3
Table 4. Expansion card installation priority on system board and optional expansion card riserCard priority 1 is assigned to Graphical processor unit card. The slot priority for the GPU card is 1 and a maximum of 1 card is allowed. Card priority 2 is assigned to RAID integrated storage. The slot priority for RAID integrated storage is the integrated slot and a maximum of 1 card is allowed. Card priority 3 is assigned to RAID external storage (Low profile).The slot priority for RAID external storage is 3 and a maximum of 1 card is allowed. Card priority 3 is assigned to RAID external storage (Full height).The slot priority for RAID external storage is 2 and 1, and a maximum of 2 cards is allowed. Card priority 4 is assigned to 40 Gb network interface controllers (NICs) (Low profile). The slot priority for the NIC card is 3, and a maximum of 1 card is allowed. Card priority 4 is assigned to 40 Gb network interface controllers (NICs) (Full height). The slot priority for the NIC card is 2 and 1, and a maximum of 2 cards is allowed. Card priority 5 is assigned to FC16 HBA (Low profile). The slot priority for the FC16 HBA is 3, and a maximum of 1 card is allowed. Card priority 5 is assigned to FC16 HBA (Full height). The slot priority for the FC16 HBA is 2 and 1, and a maximum of 2 cards is allowed. Card priority 6 is assigned to 10 Gb network interface controllers (NICs) (Low profile). The slot priority for the NIC card is 3 and 5, and a maximum of 2 cards is allowed. Card priority 6 is assigned to 10 Gb network interface controllers (NICs) (Full height). The slot priority for the NIC card is 2 and 1, and a maximum of 2 cards is allowed. Card priority 7 is assigned to FC8 HBA (Low profile). The slot priority for the FC16 HBA is 3 and 5, and a maximum of 2 cards is allowed. Card priority 7 is assigned to FC8 HBA (Full height). The slot priority for the FC16 HBA is 2 and 1, and a maximum of 2 cards is allowed. Card priority 8 is assigned to 1 Gb network interface controllers (NICs) (Low profile) (Broadcom Dual port). The slot priority for the NIC card is 3, 4 and 5, and a maximum of 3 cards is allowed. Card priority 8 is assigned to 1 Gb network interface controllers (NICs) (Low profile). The slot priority for the NIC card is 3 and 5, and a maximum of 2 cards is allowed. Card priority 8 is assigned to 1 Gb network interface controllers (NICs) (Full height). The slot priority for the NIC card is 2 and 1, and a maximum of 2 cards is allowed. Card priority 9 is assigned to Non-RAID. The slot priority for the Non-RAID is 3, and a maximum of 1 card is allowed. Card priority 9 is assigned to Non-RAID. The slot priority for the Non-RAID is 2 and 1, and a maximum of 2 cards is allowed.
Card Priority Category Slot Priority Max Allowed
1 RAID Integrated storage Integrated Slot 1
2 RAID External storage (Low profile) 3 1
RAID External storage (Full height) 2,1 2
3 40G NICs (Low profile) 3 1
40G NICs (Full height) 2,1 2
4 FC16 HBA (Low profile) 3 1
FC16 HBA (Full height) 2,1 2
5 10Gb NICs (Low profile) 3,5 2
10Gb NICs (Full height) 2,1 2
6 FC8 HBA (Low profile) 3,5 2
FC8 HBA (Full height) 2,1 2
7 1Gb NICs (Low profile) (Broadcom Dual port) 3,5,4 3
1Gb NICs (Low profile) 3,5 2
1Gb NICs (Full height) 2,1 2
8 Non-RAID (Low profile) 3 1
Non-RAID (Full height) 2,1 2

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