Introduction

I recently picked up a couple of used Dell T602s for my homelab for AI/ML project work. Dell Tower form factor servers are very attractive to homelabbers due to their availability, their low costs, the fact that they are rather low noise, and due to the fact that they are easily expandable. For example, the DVD rom drive in one of my machines is a standard 5 3/4″ form factor, which I replaced with an DVD burner I had laying around.

One issue with utilizing a non-ATX powered server for AL/ML is the lack of additional power and cooling options for GPUs. The 16x PCI slots in the T620 provide 75w of power, enough for some older GPUs (like the Tesla T4 – which I will try to install later), however in the case of the T4 it is passively cooled so additional cooling is required. We will deal with additional cooling in another post in the future, for now let’s focus on getting the power we need for a certified GPU (more on this down below).

What you need is a Dell GPU Power Supply Expansion Module (VDY5T) (and cables PN=3692K). However, it’s almost impossible to obtain one specifically for the T620 (VDY5T), however you can pick up one up for the T630 (X7C1K) on ebay. I have read that others have been successful when doing so. So I picked up one for myself along with a couple of cables to see if I had the same results…

As a matter of fact, after a cursory glance, and some google-foo, I am not convinced that these parts are not interchangeable. Below you see an ebay item listed as compatible with either machine (not that you should trust ebay sellers). I will continue to do research and once I test my machine I will add more information to this post in the near future. For now, let’s get to the installation steps.