https://dawning.ca/tags/dell-690/Recent content in Dell 690 onHugo -- gohugo.ioenCopyright © James SnellWed, 09 Aug 2017 01:12:19 +0000https://dawning.ca/posts/vmware-esxi-hypervisor-on-unsupported-dell-690/Wed, 09 Aug 2017 01:12:19 +0000https://dawning.ca/posts/vmware-esxi-hypervisor-on-unsupported-dell-690/ <p><figure> <picture> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="" class="image_figure image_internal image_unprocessed" src="https://dawning.ca/uploads/2017/08/690-1024x768.jpg" /> </picture> </figure> I picked up a Dell 690 from an e-recycler for $11. I picked it out knowing that I can kit-it-out with 64GB of slow DDR2 FBDIMM RAM for about $80 and I can replace the CPUs to get to 8 threads for another $30ish. I somewhat foolishly assumed VMware ESXi 6.5 would just run on this rig. I was wrong, kind of.</p> <p>Annoyingly, this motherboard seems fully electrically compatible with CPUs that are both dirt-cheap and supported by ESXi, however after a fair search of the internet, I found that the bios does not support such CPUs. The most <a href="https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-DELL-Precision-690-microcode-update?page=4">conclusive findings I encountered were these</a>.</p>