Cheap 10GB NIC?

[Richeh]

I have just been able to upgrade from 2GB to 5GB up/down for around 25p extra per month on my FTTP connection (yes I was paying more due to being an early adopter prior). My motherboard is limited to 2.5GB network ethernet so am looking for a card capable of using the full speed. I thought going 10GB would be better for the 'just in case' scenario that may occur later.

I don't need anything special, just something that works and delivers the full speed. Any recommendations on decent 10GB NIC? It seems to be £60-70 has the most options but anyone tried a cheaper alterantive that works fine?

 

[Broken Hope]

They will all mostly use the same Realtek chip so doesn’t really matter, get something with a decent heat sink.

 

[Armageus]

Any of the cheap cards based on Realtek RTL8127 will generally be fine for home

The Arrival of CHEAP 10GbE Realtek RTL8127 NIC Review

We review the cheap 10GbE NICs, the Realtek RTL8127, bringing 10Gbase-T to small, low-power, PCIe Gen4 x1 NICs

www.servethehome.com

Edit:
or the other one Marvell AQC113

10GbE in 2026 is Finally Hitting the Tipping Point

Why 2026 will be the tipping point for 10GbE networking at the edge, and what we are doing about it at STH

www.servethehome.com

 

[Snapshot]

It might be worth asking in the MM if anyone's got something suitable.

 

[Avalon]

Copper or SFP+? If copper, I used to prefer older Intel eg x540/550, though they don't support NBASE-T (2.5-5Gb) unless it's the higher end x710, which is usually way more expensive, and RealTek have upped the game in the 2.5-10Gbe offerings for a lot less new. If SFP+, then Intel is still a reasonable shout, but Mellanox (Nvidia) Connect-X 3 or 4 SFP+ card is vastly superior, and a sub £30 budget Chinese 2xSFP+ and multiple 2.5Gbe interfaces is still my go-to. I run fiber to each floor and then break it out to 2.5Gbe, future upgrades only need a switch swap to bring 10Gb.

 

[RavenLunatic]

There are a lot of X520 or X540 intel NIC's for good money however they do not have signed Windows 11 drivers. I found out this the hard way, luckily I have moved onto Linux so its not an issue for me now.

The Windows 10 drivers work but it breaks secure boot.

 

[Richeh]

Thanks for all the replies. I am just after a simple put it in with no special connectors type of thing and it works so gravitating towards the earlier posts but appreciate all the help.