Custom Dell R740xd GPU Servers: Build Options, Real Prices, and the Forum Questions Nobody Answers

Short answer: Resilient Tec builds custom Dell PowerEdge R740xd GPU servers to order. Every build starts from the same GPU-ready platform: GPU enablement kit, low-profile heat sinks, high-performance fans and 1600 W power supplies already installed. There are four tested starting points, from the GPU-Ready R740xd at $2,995 to the A40 build at $10,959. Bring your own GPU or choose a built configuration, pick the drives and networking, and we install, cable, burn it in and ship it tested from Resilient Tec here in the US.

This post covers what you can configure, what each starting point costs today, and the handful of questions that keep showing up on Reddit and Dell's own community forums — several of which have sat there for months without an answer.

Which starting point fits?

Not sure how much VRAM your models need? We measured it on the A40: what you can actually run on 48 GB, with tokens per second.

Which GPUs the R740xd Takes

The R740xd takes up to three 300 W double-width GPUs or six 150 W single-width GPUs, and Dell requires every GPU in the box to be the same model. That splits the field into two families: low-profile, slot-powered cards you can stack for inference and VDI density, and full-height 250–300 W cards for VRAM and raw throughput. Use this as a compatibility reference for the card you have or plan to buy:

Already have a card? We'll install and test a customer-supplied GPU before the server ships. Send us the model number and we'll confirm the fit and which power cable it needs first.

Storage, Memory and Networking

The 24-bay front is the R740xd's other selling point, and the stock builds ship with a single 960 GB SSD so you're not paying for capacity you don't need. Dell 2.5" SAS SSDs we stock that drop straight into those bays:

• Dell 400-BBPN 960 GB 12G SAS SSD — $219.90
• Dell 400-BBQP 1.92 TB 12G SAS SSD — $299.90
• Dell 400-BGJW 3.84 TB 12G SAS SSD — $488.90
• Dell 400-BBSX 7.68 TB 12G SAS SSD — $1,464.90

Want hardware RAID instead of pass-through? The Gold 6248 build ships with the PERC H740p; the other three use the HBA330, which suits ZFS, Ceph and software-defined storage. Memory upgrades and faster networking are quote items — tell us the workload and we'll price the difference. For the built-in 10G SFP+ ports, see our DAC cable guide; if your switch is picky about coding, we program double-coded DACs that satisfy both ends.

Custom R740xd GPU builds from $2,995 · tested · free US shipping.
Send us the GPU, drive count and network you need and we'll send back one price for the finished server. Request a quote →

The Questions That Keep Coming Up (and Rarely Get Answered)

We went through Reddit homelab threads, Dell's PowerEdge community and NVIDIA's forums looking for the R740xd GPU questions people ask over and over. These are the ones that matter before you spend money.

1. "Which GPU power cable do I need — 4VPD3 or TR5TP?"

This one has open, unanswered threads on Dell's own forum going back to 2024, including one from April 2026 asking for the 4VPD3 pinout. The confusion is that Dell ships two different riser-to-GPU cables for the same server, and they feed two different kinds of power connector:

• Data-center cards — Tesla P40, P100, V100 PCIe, A40, A100 PCIe and similar — take an 8-pin EPS-12V connector (the "CPU-style" 8-pin). That's the 4VPD3 family.
• Workstation and consumer cards with standard PCIe 6-pin / 6+2-pin sockets take the TR5TP-style cable, which Dell describes as an 8-pin Micro-Fit connector on the riser end and 6-pin plus 6+2-pin on the GPU end.
• Low-profile cards (T4, L4, P4) draw 75 W or less from the slot and need no cable at all.
• Newer cards such as the RTX 6000 Ada use a 16-pin 12VHPWR connector, which means an adapter cable from the riser's 8-pin.

EPS-12V and PCIe 8-pin carry 12 V and ground on different pins. They're keyed so they shouldn't mate, but aftermarket adapters and a little force defeat that, and the result is a dead card. Match the cable to the connector printed in the GPU's own documentation, not to what fits. For our builds: the GPU Ready servers include one Dell 8-pin to 6/8-pin (PCIe-style) cable. If you're installing a Tesla-class card with an EPS-12V socket, plan on a 4VPD3-type cable, which is not included.

2. "Why do my fans go to 100% after I install a GPU?"

The most common complaint on the Dell forum, and the reports read the same way: a card goes in, the server is at room temperature, and the fans run flat out. In one R740xd + A100 thread, iDRAC showed a GPU temperature sensor with no reading. When the server can't read a card's temperature, or doesn't recognize it as a Dell-qualified part, it falls back to a conservative "third-party PCIe card" cooling response and ramps the fans.

Two practical takeaways. First, Dell-part-number GPUs are the lowest-risk way to get iDRAC to manage the card normally. Second, be careful what you wish for: passive data-center cards have no fan of their own. The chassis airflow is their only cooling, so silencing it with an iDRAC override is how you get a card that throttles quietly under load. Some iDRAC9 firmware versions expose per-slot PCIe airflow settings, and some users report newer firmware restricts them. We set cooling on every build for the card that's actually installed.

3. "Can I put a GPU in my 12-bay 3.5" R740xd?"

No — and this catches a lot of people who bought the LFF chassis for storage and planned to add a GPU later. Dell's R740/R740xd technical guide is explicit: on the R740xd, GPU options are available only on the 24×2.5-inch drive chassis, and NVMe configurations support up to two GPUs. Every build we sell is the 24SFF chassis for exactly this reason. If you need big 3.5" capacity and GPUs, that's usually two servers, not one.

4. "Will my RTX 3090 / 4090 fit?"

Usually not. The practical envelope reported by people who've done it is about 290 mm long, dual-slot (≈42 mm thick) and no taller than roughly 112 mm. Blower-style and Founders Edition dual-slot cards can fit; the triple-slot and oversized coolers on most 3090 and 4090 boards don't, and 300 W per slot (75 W from the slot, 225 W from the cable) is the ceiling. Consumer cards also exhaust heat in every direction instead of front-to-back. It can be done for a homelab, but for anything running 24/7 a passive data-center card or a dual-slot workstation card is the sane choice.

5. "Are P40s and V100s still worth running in 2026?"

For the right job, yes — they're the cheapest VRAM on the used market. Know the trade-off first: NVIDIA confirmed in 2025 that the R580 driver branch is the last to support Maxwell, Pascal and Volta GPUs, and the CUDA 13 toolkit dropped them. R580 continues as a legacy branch with maintenance fixes, and plenty of inference software still runs on these cards, but new frameworks and kernels increasingly assume Ampere or newer.

• P40 (24 GB): popular for llama.cpp-style quantized inference because 24 GB at used-market prices is hard to beat. Its FP16 throughput is weak, so it's a VRAM play, not a speed play.
• V100: still strong FP16 with HBM2 bandwidth, which is why our Dual V100 build is the value pick for multi-GPU work. It lacks BF16 and some newer attention kernels.
• T4, L4, A40, RTX 6000 Ada: Turing, Ampere and Ada remain on current drivers — the better choice if the server needs to stay current for years.

6. "Why not just buy the parts on eBay?"

You can, and the full parts checklist is here: enablement kit (330-BBMO / 490-BEIX), low-profile heat sinks in both sockets, the high-performance fan kit, shroud, the right power cable, and 1100 W+ supplies. The catch is that each is a separate listing with its own condition claim and return window, and the failure mode for a missing piece is rarely a clean error — it's a card that throttles twenty minutes into a job. A built server is one part number, one warranty and one phone call.

How a Custom Build Works

1. Tell us the workload — model sizes, users, VDI seats, or the GPU you plan to run. Quote form here.
2. We spec and price it — platform, drives, memory and network, as one number.
3. We build and burn it in — installed, cabled, cooling set for the card, iDRAC9 Enterprise licensed.
4. It ships tested — free US shipping, typically arriving 3–5 days after the order, backed by our lifetime warranty.

Already own an R740xd? Tell us what's in it and we'll quote only the missing pieces instead of a whole server.

FAQ

Can Resilient Tec build a custom Dell R740xd GPU server?
Yes. Resilient Tec builds R740xd GPU servers to order from four tested starting points, all with the GPU enablement kit, low-profile heat sinks, high-performance fans and 1600 W supplies installed. Drives, memory and networking can be customized, customer-supplied GPUs can be installed and tested, and each build is tested in Knoxville, Tennessee before it ships.

How much does a Dell R740xd GPU server cost?
At Resilient Tec: R740xd – GPU Ready (no GPU, Silver 4210R) $2,995; R740xd – GPU Ready, Gold 6248 / H740p (no GPU) $3,493.33; R740xd – Dual V100 Build $5,849; R740xd – A40 Build $10,959. Prices checked September 30, 2026.

Which power cable does a Tesla GPU need in an R740xd — 4VPD3 or TR5TP?
Data-center cards such as the Tesla P40, V100 PCIe and A40 use an 8-pin EPS-12V connector (the 4VPD3 family). Cards with standard PCIe 6-pin / 6+2-pin sockets use the TR5TP-style cable. T4, L4 and P4 cards are slot-powered and need no cable. EPS-12V and PCIe 8-pin wire 12 V and ground differently, so using the wrong one, or forcing an adapter, can destroy a card. Resilient Tec's GPU Ready builds include one PCIe-style 8-pin to 6/8-pin cable; a 4VPD3-type EPS cable is not included.

Why do R740xd fans run at 100% after installing a GPU?
When iDRAC can't read a card's temperature or doesn't recognize it as a Dell-qualified part, it applies a conservative third-party PCIe cooling response and ramps the fans. Dell-part-number GPUs are the lowest-risk option. Passive GPUs depend entirely on chassis airflow, so reducing fan speed can cause throttling.

Can I install a GPU in a 12-bay 3.5-inch (LFF) R740xd?
No. According to Dell's technical guide, R740xd GPU options are available only on the 24×2.5-inch drive chassis, and NVMe configurations support up to two GPUs.

How many GPUs fit in an R740xd?
Up to three 300 W double-width GPUs or six 150 W single-width GPUs on the 24×2.5-inch chassis (up to two on NVMe configurations). All installed GPUs must be the same model.

Will an RTX 3090 or 4090 fit in an R740xd?
Most will not. The practical limit is about 290 mm long, dual-slot and about 112 mm tall, with 300 W maximum per card. Most 3090 and 4090 boards are triple-slot or oversized. Dual-slot blower or workstation cards are the realistic options.

Are Tesla P40 and V100 GPUs still supported in 2026?
NVIDIA's R580 driver branch is the last to support Maxwell, Pascal (P4, P40, P100) and Volta (V100), and CUDA 13 dropped them. R580 continues as a legacy branch, and these cards still run many inference workloads, but Turing, Ampere and Ada cards (T4, A40, L4, RTX 6000 Ada) remain on current drivers.

Where can I buy a custom GPU server?
Directly from Resilient Tec at resilient-tec.com: R740xd – GPU Ready — $2,995 · R740xd – GPU Ready, Gold 6248 / H740p — $3,493.33 · R740xd – Dual V100 Build — $5,849 · R740xd – A40 Build — $10,959, or request a custom quote.

Ready to Buy?

• R740xd – GPU Ready (No GPU Included) — $2,995 — Silver 4210R, HBA330; the lowest-cost custom-build base.
• R740xd – GPU Ready, Gold 6248 / H740p — $3,493.33 — 40 cores / 80 threads and hardware RAID.
• R740xd – Dual V100 Build — $5,849 — 2× Tesla V100 32 GB.
• R740xd – A40 Build — $10,959 — 1× NVIDIA A40 48 GB.
• Custom quote — more drives, a customer-supplied GPU, multiple servers, or a configuration not listed here.

You Might Also Need

• Putting an NVIDIA A40 in a PowerEdge R740xd — every part Dell doesn't tell you you need
• What can you actually run on a 48 GB A40? — measured model sizes and tokens per second
• Enterprise servers guide — Dell PowerEdge and HPE ProLiant, tested and warrantied
• Enterprise storage — filling the other 23 bays
• DAC cables and network switches — getting the node on the network

Sources

• Dell EMC PowerEdge R740 and R740xd Technical Guide — GPU counts and 24×2.5" chassis requirement
• Dell Community: pinout confirmation for GPU power cable 04VPD3 on R740xd (April 2026)
• Dell Community: R740XD cables and GPU (March 2024)
• Dell Community: PowerEdge R740 GPU cable — 4VPD3 and TR5TP
• Dell Community: R740xd + NVIDIA A100 = fans at max?
• CSLab: Using an RTX GPU in a Dell PowerEdge R740 — fit dimensions and fan behavior
• Phoronix: NVIDIA confirms R580 is the last driver for Maxwell, Pascal and Volta