Best 10 Gb RJ45 NIC for PCIe x4?

Quartz · 1 Nov 2022 at 22:17

I'm finally in the process of upgrading my home LAN to 10 GbE, having given up on my original plans. The NAS's motherboard is on its way and I have a dual 10 Gb NIC for it but I need NICs for my PCs. There are v3 x4 slots available in both. Which NICs do you recommend?

I'm aware of the OWC 10g ethernet PCIEe network adapter which is PCIe v4 x1 and that's an obvious choice for my upcoming PC should I have a v4 x1 slot available if it passes muster with you lot.

sandys · 2 Nov 2022 at 11:03

There are a couple of Intel x550 T2 dual port NICs that are x4 but even the older x540 x8 cards will run in an x4 slot and give dual 10Gb, I ran one previously in a B450.

Quartz · 2 Nov 2022 at 11:59

sandys said:
There are a couple of Intel x550 T2 dual port NICs that are x4 but even the older x540 x8 cards will run in an x4 slot and give dual 10Gb, I ran one previously in a B450.

Yes, I have an Intel x540 dual port NIC for my server, but I don't fancy forking out several hundred quid a time (even second-hand) for an x550 card when there are alternatives available brand new for £100 or less. I was most surprised to find that Windows did not autodetect the x540.

I'm not in an especial hurry. It seems my network switch is on a very slow boat from China, though I've enquired about air shipment.

sandys · 2 Nov 2022 at 12:09

Yep you need to get the proset drivers from Intel

What dual 10Gb card is available for £100?

Quartz · 2 Nov 2022 at 12:31

sandys said:
Yep you need to get the proset drivers from Intel

What dual 10Gb card is available for £100?

Not a dual card - single port. I only need single port cards for my PCs.

Quartz · 17 Nov 2022 at 14:22

OCUK sell two cards; which is the better?

Rainmaker · 17 Nov 2022 at 19:47

Both the cards are Aquantia chipsets, and I'd rather spend more or not bother. They're flaky at best, suffer from detection errors, and are bottom of the barrel jobs. Yes it's an extra ~£80, but for copper grab something X550 (and update the NVM aka firmware). If you can go SFP+ then Mellanox Connectx-3 are worth a look, with decent drivers, and are much cheaper than any of them on the auction market.

Quartz · 17 Nov 2022 at 20:35

Rainmaker said:
They're flaky at best, suffer from detection errors, and are bottom of the barrel jobs.

Noted.

Rainmaker said:
Yes it's an extra ~£80,

More like an extra £100. Each, and I need two. At £200+ for the NIC for my main PC I might well buy a motherboard with an onboard 10 Gb NIC.

Rainmaker said:
(and update the NVM aka firmware).

Do tell.

Rainmaker said:
If you can go SFP+ then Mellanox Connectx-3 are worth a look,

I want to keep it simple.

Do you have any thoughts on the OWC x1 NIC?

Rainmaker · 17 Nov 2022 at 20:54

Quartz said:
More like an extra £100. Each, and I need two. At £200+ for the NIC for my main PC I might well buy a motherboard with an onboard 10 Gb NIC.

You pays your money and you takes your chance. They're cheap for a reason, in this case. Honestly, if you're paying to upgrade to 10 gig, do it once and do it right. Even if that means waiting for funds down the line, or whatever. A 10G network at home will last you years. The difference is a tenner a year for the next 20 years+ you'd have problem-free 10G networking.

You did ask for advice, and that's mine. If you're going to cheap out anyway, then any of the cards you listed will be equivalent; but all have potential to drive you insane. Be aware they can also get hot, so plan accordingly. What's £200 extra for two Intel NICs + the £200 you'd already wasted on two crappy Aquantia or Marvell cards, when you finally give up?

Quartz said:
Do tell.

Quartz said:
Do you have any thoughts on the OWC x1 NIC?

Marvell AQC113CS. See: Aquantia. The driver is hit and miss, non-existent for ESXi (if you care about that) and they have no interest in improving it, it seems.

Quartz · 17 Nov 2022 at 21:39

That's great advice, thank you. I've spent so much these past few months, so what's an extra few hundred?

Duke · 18 Nov 2022 at 10:37

Swapped out several NICs at work with X550's and been flawless so far (in ESXi).

matja · 25 Nov 2022 at 12:40

The best ones are those that work flawlessly, and they're X550 and Mellanox ConnectX-4/5/6 - in my experience

The Mellanox SFP28 ones are nice - upgrading to 25GBASE-SR later is 40 quid tops for the module.