Dean, if you want a PCI video card, don't buy one!  Look in Craigslist and 
you'll find folks giving away old PC's--one of these would for sure have an 
old video card.  Or, I can send you one for free...
Dan
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dean Kukral" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 3:45 PM
Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] Running Without a Monitor or keyboard - Windows Home 
Server


> Thanks, Mark, but, unfortunately, the BIOS do not permit disabling the 
> monitor.  I am not really concerned about the keyboard, as it
> uses negligible power I am sure, but using a usb keyboard is a good idea. 
> I have no old video cards that would fit in a PCI slot;
> they have long since been given away or discarded.  Of course, I can 
> always buy a new card, but I suspect that the cost would pay
> for quite a bit of electricity.
>
> I have discovered, using the APC unit with a wattmeter built in, that this 
> server uses about 260 watts (not doing any work).  When
> the monitor goes into sleep state, that goes down to about 185 watts.  If 
> I turn off the monitor, it only uses about 177 watts.  The
> screen saver with a black screen only saves a few watts.  (Note that the 
> video card that I have is 256 MB PCI Express.)
>
> Dean Kukral
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mark Rode" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 9:46 PM
> Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] Running Without a Monitor or keyboard - Windows 
> Home Server
>
>
>>1.  Does anyone know if there is a way to run the computer without a
>>video card?
>
> Sure, first try to disable the video card  in the BIOS, there is
> often a setting for this.
>
>>I guess the same question will occur for the keyboard,
>
> Just remove the startup check in the BIOS, so it  POSTs
> without  checking for anything.
>
>>2.  If the monitor is unplugged and the screen saver is on, set to
>>black, does the video card use much power?
>
> no, not an old AGP or PCI card with less then 16 megs of RAM. Your
> watt meter will let you know exactly how much, but I bet it is 
> insignificant.
>
> However, I would install an old video card, and use a USB keyboard
> and mouse.  You can unplug the monitor, mouse and keyboard once you
> are up and running.... and then plug them back in without a reboot if
> you need them. If, or should I write when, you have a problem, it
> will be really nice to have some kind of video, mouse and keyboard 
> support.
>
> Mark Rode
> The Nospin Group
>
>                         PCBUILD's List Owners:
>                      Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
>                        Mark Rode<[log in to unmask]>
>
> 

                         PCBUILD's List Owners:
                      Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
                        Mark Rode<[log in to unmask]>