It does affect performance. I tested the 1650 in an i5 system (PCI-e 3.0 and full 16x lanes) and it is faster. However, even on PCI-e 2.0 and 8x lanes (what the Proliant has) it's still capable enough to run games and such with quite good performance. So far, the GTX1650 is still the fastest option for a graphicscard that doesn't need extra power connectors in the Proliant.

Sometimes the powermanagement of the BIOS (or Windows) have the bad habit of setting a 'power down harddrive' after a few minutes (usualy on a very short timer). This usualy does more damage than it does any goed (too many head park / spin ups can cause damage, and can cost more than the power it's supposed to save). Power off harddrives is usualy on by default (unfortunatly) in Windows, especialy the older ones (Win95, 98 etc). I also found that some of my older drives, the powerconnector (on the drive, or from the PSU itself) go a bit lame (if that is the right term for it, doesn't fit propperly anymore). Then the drive would power down and spin up again at random, usualy caused by it's own vibrations (from the heads moving or the spindles). The somewhat lower speed spindles in the drives tend to cause more vibrations. Sometimes they're also getting to old I guess. Got a Western Digital that can barely get the motor that drives the spindels going (at times it takes so long, the BIOS doesn't even recognise the drive).

@@Nemesizzonline does this for me in dos. But compaq provided a patch to prevent this. Sp1010.exe

It needs DDR3 with ECC or ECC-Reg. Normal (desktop) DDR3 (so without the error correction, ECC) is not supported and will probably not work (haven't tried it, but I doubt it's going to work). When using the non ECC-Reg modules you can't use all the slots either, there should be a sticker on the inside of the sidepanel which says which slots to use then. On the second hand market, DDR3 ECC and ECC-reg are usualy cheaper than normal DDR3 (desktop) RAM because they are harder to sell because they can't be used in normal desktops. But like normal desktop RAM, it's recommanded to use the same type of modules (one brand, one type, to decrease the chances of compatibilty problems between the modules themselves).

@@Nemesizzonlinethank you so much friend! Greets from Belarus

A PS/2 keyboard and mouse should work, if not the ports might be damaged. In the case of USB mouse and keyboard, it can be that it's disabled until you are in the OS itself. I didn't have problems myself using an USB keyboard and not sure if there is an option in the BIOS that can disable it (normal desktop PC's usualy had an option for USB to be OS controlled or Legacy mode, so it would also work in the BIOS or DOS based enviroment).

At times I wondered about that myself, but... never checked why they did. Now your question came up, and I was like "hmm, right, I wondered about that myself as well". But it apears it's for multiple reasons. The early modems it was mainly used to hear when something went wrong (like wrong number, handshake issues etc). You actualy had to dial a number on your phone and place the horn of the phone on the modem so it could comunicate with the modem on the other side. Later that wasn't needed anymore, but the audible noises could still be used to hear (literaly) where something went wrong in the connection. The first few attemps when I tried to record the sound, it wouldn't fully work, the last bit of the sound never completed and it (the modem) tried another attempt. So I could actualy hear the 'handshake' part (last bit) of the dialup process was where things went wrong. A lot of modems already had a silent option (so no audible indications of what it was doing) but.... what's the fun in that? ;) So in short, in the early days you could actualy get a person on the phone when dialing the wrong number (when you had to place the horn of the phone on the modem it self), but mostly to detect where in the dialup process something went wrong (for troubleshooting).

@@Nemesizzonline i actually got an yt suggestion with exactly what happens during the process between 2 modems with "subtitles" 🤣 but yeah thanks

Thanks.

How did you check the sectors. I have the same drive, but it doesnt have S.M.A.R.T.

@@Der_Radiotechniker i just used some scan tools like norton disk doctor, some ones on a modern PC with a IDE SATA to USB adapter, spinrite, scandisk, etc.

I usualy use HDTune. The non-pro version is free, and works with drives up to 2TB (above needs the pro version). Works better than Microsofts build-in harddisk scan.

Thank you very much, that helped

About 6 pin and 8 pin connector, get a cheap adaptor, and get new molex pins, cut some extra sata yellow (3) and black (5) and put new pins on the cutted cables, then assemble it on the adapter 8 pin plastic form,that way you get connector straight from the psu and no adapter, good psu, I'm using on as rock 450 and ryzen 3 a modified ml150 psu, with rx 5500 something from amd, it has 8 pin connector.

The ML150 and 350 are still good machines. Energy however is quite expensive over here, so I can't use them as 'daily driver' , but still use my ML350's from time to time. Currently using a sata SSD instead of the SAS drives, so it saves me about 80 watts on power.

Those are some nice upgrade you made. The ML350 G6 is still quite a capable machine dispite it's age. I still like to use it, and it doesn't feel slow at all. I still find it tempting to try those hexa cores, but not sure if they'll work and the shop where I used to get most parts doesn't sell them anymore. The BIOS updates used to be behind a paywall, but I only found out recently that they removed that because of the critical updates needed against Spectre/Meltdown. So you can indeed now update the BIOS again without the need of an active service contract.

For 50e it should be a nice deal. Few things to take in account though; dispite what the CPU support list says on the HP website, there are a few different revisions of motherboards used in the ML350 G6, some do not support the Xeon 5600 series (which I find weird why HP no longer states that on their website, the older website did mention different motherboard revisions and saying that some did, and some did not support the 5600 series). Which ones do or do not support is unclear as well (read different things on forums). So at least that's something to be aware of. RAM needs to be at least ECC, or recommanded to use ECC Reg modules. Normal PC/desktop RAM may not be accepter by the machine. Some GTX 1050Ti models draw all their power from the PCI-e power connector (not the PCI-e slot), worth checking if your model does that (I know some MSI models did), because you most likely need an adapter as most ML350s don't have the 6-pin PCI-e power connector (it's there, it's very very hard to find, and most didn't come with it). You have to use a 2x molex to 6-pin PCI-e converter, and those aren't recommanded when it draws too much power. Normaly a 1050Ti wouldn't be a problem (about 90W power needed), however, when it draws all power through the power connector, 90W becomes a bit dangerous for those adapters as they are not realy meant for that much and can potentionaly fail (melt or catch fire).

I have another ML350 G6 for that purpose. This one is for fun or experimental stuff ;)

@@Nemesizzonline I have a few myself. Playing with the old servers is good cheap fun ;)

Iam have one ml350 g6 server dual sixcore xeon L5640 24 cores with hypertreding nvidia quadro p5000

The motherboard has indeed a PCI-e gen 2.0 slot with only 8 lanes. Gen 2 impacts performance of the RX6400 way too much (as it realy needs the bandwith of gen 4 to compensate for it's lack of lanes). Windows 10 runs fine, but I had to set the Power Regulator option in the BIOS to 'OS controlled' , the default setting would cause the CPU speed to be stuck at 1600Mhz (never did that in other Windows versions, but it does in Windows 10). Boost wouldn't work properly, but it works. The Linux alternative is something I wanted to try, but my knowledge of Linux is very limited (too much used to Windows). I tried serveral times over the years on different systems, a lot works well, but as soon as you want to do something that doesn't work 'out of the box' it's a real headache to get something working (it took me hours just to find out how to get to my Dosbox Emulator options, which were hidden and no one mentions that on support forums :P ). It has me a bit worried though, as Windows 10 is going EOL in about 2 years from now, and this system is not supported by Windows 11. I guess I have no choice but to switch to Linux, or pull the network plug and go back to Win 7 (which can be anoying, as too many software requires some sort of online connection to a server, which is not safe with an OS that doesn't get security updates anymore).

@@Nemesizzonline I completely understand where you are coming from with Linux. I have used Windows since 3.1. I briefly tried Linux on a liveCD in around 1999. I hated it and went back to Win 98. Win XP and 7 are my all time favourite OS's and if it wasn't for my issues and the impending EOL, i'd still be on Windows. But for me personally, i have had no issues moving to Linux, even my 3 in 1 canon printer over the network was discovered and drivers installed no problems. I think Linux may be the only alternative if you want to remain secure and online after Oct '25. I suppose there may be a small chance that microsoft may increase EOL, they've done it before and Win 11 adoption rates aren't too impressive at the moment. Shame really. If you ever do move to Linux, don't feel pressured to install a certain distro. The trouble is so many different flavours of Linux it hinders the possibility of increased market share and adoption in my opinion. But i would recommend Ubuntu or a Ubuntu based distro like Mint, Zorin or PopOS as they have really great driver and hardware support. PopOS is what i use on my machine, it has good Nvidia driver integration and my dual CPU system works great. Here's hoping for many more years of service from our old machines....

I've tried mostly Mint from time to time. Even downloaded a new version of it, just didn't had the time to try it yet. Some people did get Win11 running on unsupported machines, but with every (major) update you have to do a complete reinstall as it refuses to update. Which is in my opinion is just a pain to do every time. But I sure am not planning to just throw these machines in the garbage bin when Microsoft ends Win10 support (got multiple machines that are 'too old' for Win11 to be supported) ;)

A GTX 1650 Super should indeed be possible with the molex adapters (power consumption is low enough to safely use those). However, over here at least, the 1650 Super is way too expensive or not available (the ones available still got the 'mining bubble' pricing ). The 6-pin power cable is indeed available, but I never managed to actualy find one (aside from the fake imitation ones, but those are not safe), and IF there is actualy one, it's overly expensive, easier to use (proper quality) molex > 6-pin adapter. I however actualy bought a non-super variant of the GTX 1650 and placed it in the Proliant (just for fun, see if it could run games properly) and it works like a charm. Bit 'cripled' by the 8-lanes and gen 2 PCI-e slot, but it ran stuff suprisingly well (shot some footage of it, but ran into some issues while editing it, might upload it... later).

I had paid 160 €

After your comment I tried to find a 1650 Super, but the only prices / shops that popped up were from Amazon Marketplace (usualy from a scam seller) and they were around 275 to 285 euro. Other (legit) shops only have the normal GTX 1650, and they range between 160 to 290 euro (the 290 are the 'old' GDDR5 models or the low-profile models). When I bought mine it was around 180 euro (bit expensive, but I was afraid they would go out of stock and few months before they were still around 300 euro because of that crypto-mining craze).

@@Nemesizzonline I bought my card for two years.

It's true they're not very energy efficient compared to modern computers. However, the ones I have, are not used on a daily basis, and either used for storage or just a bit of fun once in a while.

The red flashing light is a 'critical system error' warning. There should also be a couple of leds on the mainboard (right side, near the RAM slots / power connector) that should / could indicate what the problem is. The CPU could indeed be bad, or not supported , check the cpu support list and make sure both CPU's are the same model (both must have the same model number, you can't mix different models). Also make sure the RAM is spread evenly between the 2 CPU's, so going from 1 CPU, you also need RAM in the slots for CPU 2, and for the best performance it's recommanded to have the same amount of RAM for both CPU's (for example, if you have 12GB, it's best to have 6GB for CPU 1 and 6GB for CPU 2). It is also possible that the socket itself is damaged (unfortunatly not uncommon with LGA sockets), carefully inspect the pins in the socket if they're not damaged (using a bright light shining on the socket makes it easier to check the pins).

I don't miss the lack of speed...however, it did had a nice ring to it those dialup modems.

It's an ordinary aircompressor, I think they're sold all over the world (different brands and models though) ;)

@@Nemesizzonline okok I ended up using a leaf blower 💀💀

Ah well, works as well didn't it? ;) Just a little less controll on the airflow but get's the job done. Just make sure to block the fans of the PC or else they get damaged by spinning up too fast from the airflow.

@@Nemesizzonline thanks for letting me know!! I didn't block the fans when I did it but it's working fine so I guess I got lucky haha. The leaf blower actually worked pretty well, it was super satisfying seeing all the dust and stuff go bye bye :P

Thank you for your comment. Both AMD tests PC's don't have those options, the P4 might just have it but not sure. It sort of worked on a 486 but like I said in the discription it crashes. Now quite some time later I might know what caused the problem; the disk was formatted in Windows, and doing that it won't boot if you install DOS or Win 3.11 on it. I could probably get it to work on the 486 by using a bootdisk and use Fdisk to partition and format it. Still, there is a single damaged block which could interfere... Autodetect does work on the 486 by the way.

The smaller graphicscard should all fit. Only the big high-end ones (which isn't recommanded to use anyway) like RTX 3070 won't fit because of the size (I had one, tried if it would fit, and it didn't :P). But pretty much all the mid-range or low-end GPU's should fit, plenty of space.

@@Nemesizzonline Thank you so much for the reply and clarification.

These server got quite a lot of fail-safes and can be picky with parts. So with no fans connected, it probably not start because of a fail-safe (though I've seen people using custom fans, not sure how they got that to work). Memory needs to be at least ECC, non-ECC most likely won't even work (and recommanded is to use ECC-Reg). Also, it can take a few seconds before anything shows up on the screen (at times, 30 to 50 seconds after changing hardware isn't unusual).

In a lot of cases (what I've seen) when those LGA Intel CPU's with their stock cooler get extremely high temperatures (even in idle) is that one or more pushpins aren't connected properly. Either 1 or 2 pushpins didn't connect properly, or in a lot of cases, people set the pushpins in the unlock position (turning the pins in the direction the little arrows on the pins are pointing, which should only be done when removing the cooler not when installing it). So you can use the best thermalpaste in the world, but if the cooler is installed incorrectly, it doesn't matter :P First thing to check would be the pushpins, as I think there might be something wrong there (asuming your dad's cpu uses the stock cooler, which is quite likely considering it's a g2020).

@@Nemesizzonline Actually only just seeing this reply because I had to change my notification settings but yup stock cooler and two of the push pins weren't in all the way and the thermal paste job was pretty horrible, holes in it everywhere and looked about a decade old too lol. Temps are idling around 44c now so all good. Thanks for the reply.

Dialup modems do have a nice ring to it ;) I miss the sounds but not the (lack of) speed, files of a few megabytes could take quite some time to download (and the angry look when our parents got the phonebill at the end of the month).

Sounds fine to me.

@@Nemesizzonline the sounds were not that low and had that volum difference for very short period like a blip . That blip is a indicator of bad speaker

The fan-frame (blue thing holding the fan) fits only 1 way, make sure it's alligned correctly (at times I had it the wrong way and wouldn't fit). It does require a bit of a push at times to click it into place. If you are referring to the big plastic 'wind tunnel' frame (transparant plastic frame that goes over the RAM ánd CPU's), that I do not know. I didn't have that with both Proliants, I only have the small baffles that click on the fans that go over the RAM.

@@Nemesizzonline thanks for the message i got it in the end. just had to move the wires out the way.

Good to hear you got it sorted. Had a few times with installing the fans that the cables got in the way, at times it can be a bit of a tight fit (at the top of the chassis). I also tried to find images of the whole fanduct thing, but mostly it are just advertisements of the duct itself but seeing one installed was quite hard to find. Found one on a overclocking forum who had a picture of it installed.

@@Nemesizzonline thanks a lot for the help now im having trouble with getting the thing running. endless problems lol

Things can be a bit trickier with (old) server PC's compared to ordinary house-hold PC's (if that is the correct English term for it...). When booting, it may take some time before anything is shown on your monitor (it can take up 30 to 50 seconds), especialy after changing hardware in the machine, the pre-boot initialisation can take some time (should be shorter after that). When using 1 CPU, make sure it's in socket 1 (obviously, but you never know, sometimes people put the cpu in just a socket not looking if it's socket 1 or 2). And if using 1 CPU, make sure the RAM is only in the slots for CPU1 (and if using 2 CPU's, try to have the RAM spread evenly for CPU 1 and 2 so both have the same amount). Make sure the CPU (or CPU's) are the same type and on the support list. Tricky thing is, not all ML350 G6's support the later 5600 series Xeon, there used to be better notes about it, but HP removed that from their site and I can't find the documents for that anywhere anymore. But there was a clear difference in motherboard type which stated that one would only support the 5500 series Xeon, and the other both 5500 and 5600 (uncluding the hexacores). RAM should be ECC and preferbly ECC Reg, as far as I know normal (non-ECC) is not supported. When using non-reg modules, not all the memoryslots are usuable (should be a sticker on the inside of the sidepanel that has some instructions about memory population, also for non-Reg moduels 'unbuffered dimms' ). There should also be small leds near the mid-right side of the motherboard, which gives post-codes through some green coloured leds. Maybe that can give an indication on which point of the POST it has issues. The front of the chassis also has some simple led indicators, but they will only tell if you have power issues (PSU insufficient it will turn orange/amber, powerboard issues it wil turn red, and with normal operation it should remain green). Hope this info will help you a bit with the troubleshooting ;)

Thank you.

It's hard to tell since I don't have your machine physically here. Like normal PC's it could be anything from a defective part or something as simple as a dead battery (CMOS battery). If you mean that you added a GPU, but it's not working, it could be that it's not compatible. Some of the modern GPU's only work with UEFI systems, while others work with both UEFI and the old 'legacy BIOS'. Machines from the G6 (like I have) or G7 (about same era) don't always work with UEFI only parts. It at times depends if the manufacterer (of the GPU) made the card able to handle UEFI ánd legacy BIOS, and unfortunatly it's not clear which do and which don't.

The ML350 G8 is a bit different than the G6, as the PCI-e lanes of a G8 come from the CPU and not like the G6 from the chipset. So if your G8 for example has 1 CPU, and the GPU is in the PCI-e slot connected to the 2nd CPU socket (and it's empty) it won't work. So you could try if the card works in another PCI-e slot (connected to CPU 1). If the system does have 2 CPU's, it's still worth trying to see if it works in another PCI-e slot. Some models of the GTX1050ti are a bit different than the original (or stock) GTX1050 with their powerdraw. Normaly it would use 75W from the PCI-e slot and about 25-ish W from a 6-pin PEG connector. However, some manufacterers (MSI for example) have their powerdraw differently and draw about 90W from the PEG connector and hardly anything from the PCI-e slot. That can at times cause some problems with some systems. You could also check settings in the BIOS if there is an option so it can use PCI-e graphicscards. Some may be set to only use onboard graphics. Unfortunatly I do not have a ML350 gen 8 myself, so can't check that out myself.

Yeah, but it's hard to see. It's not like it's got lights flashing, or fans moving or anything, might as well been a photo with some audio of a dialup modem ;)

The Xeon X5690 is not on the support list. It goes up to the x5675. From what I can see, the highest 6-core CPU that is supported has a 95W TPD, the one you mention has a 130W TPD, so most likely the VRM's on the motherboard can't handle the high TDP. So even if you'd try, and for some reason it would boot (I seriously doubt it considering all the safety features), it most likely will thermal throttle under full load.

@@Nemesizzonline thank you very much for the information!

If you use an aircompressor to clean out the machine, you are supposed to block the fans from spinning (else they might get damaged). If you mean that the fans are running at 3900rpm (seems an awfull lot) because the system is running hot, then it might be a good idea to clean the system, but it shouldn't be 'dangerous' for your components (the system itself can't cause damage to the fans on anything for 'running too fast' , it can't go beyond what the fan can do). I hope it makes sense ;)

@@Nemesizzonline Hmm,Yeah it makes sense 🤔 i could try now apart from cleaning,also change the thermal paste, hmm,yes 3900rpm is horrible xD,but I'm already kinda used to it ;). Hmm, then yeah I'll try to clean it a bit more deep and see what happens