Motherboard dual port ethernet, which to use?

[Meddling-Monk]

OK, so I've got the Asus Proart X670E incoming, and it's a dual port ethernet motherboard, 2.5gb Intel and a 10gb Marvell Aqtion. Whilst I haven't upgraded the networks main switch to above 1gb yet (or have another device for 10gb yet, the Synology ds923+ is not available to purchase in UK just yet), I have seen that there's a QNAP 6 port switch that offers 2x 10gb and 4x 2.5gb that I can swap in for the gigabit switch I've got in place right now.

So I wanted to check in with everyone on which nic to use from the motherboard, the 10gb one? Or the 2.5gb one?

Logic would suggest the 10gb will have the greatest bandwidth, but I'm wondering (since I'm going to be gaming a might bit more than needing a large throughput to transfer files; for now at least...) if the 2.5gb one might actually be the faster one for gaming? And actually should be the one that's used for gaming and internet? In my particular case, if I do grab that QNAP 10gb + 2.5gb switch, the new rig will end up using the 10gb port on the switch anyway, just going from the 2.5gb on the motherboard if it's the better one to use instead.

I do suppose that it's just a quick port swap with the cat6 ethernet cable if it was slower to use the other one, but just wondered if there's an obvious answer to this or not that I'm not seeing.

Thanks all for any info on this.

 

[Meddling-Monk]

I'm aware that it'll go to the slowest link. That's not really the question I was posing, although I suppose I didn't really phrase it well enough so that's my fault there.

Assuming I have the 10gb Synology DS923+, then obviously the NAS and this motherboard both being connected to the 10gb ports would yield the greatest speed between each other. On the Internet site of things with only 1gb at the modem stage, obviously that'll only go at 1gbps no matter if I'm using the 10gb or the 2.5gb port on the motherboard connected to whatever port so long as it is 1gbps or higher.

My question was really more if anyone is aware of if the Marvell Aqtion 10gb connection here, might experience issues compared to the Intel connection, as sometimes stuff like drivers or how they were intergrated onto the motherboard may create unexpected slowdowns during use compared to "each other". :: edit :: As @Orcvader mentioned there as I was typing this.

But as Orcvader said, might be something I'll just have to test out when I grab the switch and the new NAS to see if there's any real impact by going the 10gb Marvell connection over the Intel 2.5gb.

 

[Meddling-Monk]

I'd expect the Intel one to have superior drivers, lower CPU usage and slightly lower power consumption, but I've never seen any testing done on this so could be talking nonsense. Asus also don't state what Intel LAN they're using (as far as I can see) which makes me suspicious it is the previously problematic I225-V and they don't want to tell you

Yeah, one of the worries I had that lead to this line of questioning, was that I read that the Marvell Aqtion supposedly was linked through the USB4 bus instead of directly to the PCI bus, etc, which sounded like it might have added latency or other issues on compared to a LAN connected direct to the PCI bus. Hence the questioning (some games might be more adversely affected as an example when I do game, which will be more often now. But it sounds like from what everyone is saying that "shouldn't" be an issue on that front). I still haven't found any info on what Intel LAN they're using (for either one), so I guess I'll find out what that is on Wed when my RAM arrives and I can start up the system to find out and pick the appropriate LAN connection to use and what the network setup should change to (as suggested by @pc-guy and @sandys )

Thanks everyone.

 

[Meddling-Monk]

So, a quick browse into Device Manager, and I see that the 2.5gb Intel NIC is none other than a I225-V but thankfully it's revision 3, so anyone who grabs one of these boards (X670e Proart) will escape the fate of some other recent motherboards that use the previous versions. *shudders*

As for the 10gb connection (I can only tell you it's revision 3 as well according to the Device Manager, and the name is Marvell AQtion 10gb Network Adapter), I don't have all devices on hand yet, but given @MacRS4 also using 10gb via Thunderbolt (so somewhat similar to that used on this motherboard) then it's unlikely to be a noticeable factor then when in use. So I'm glad to have heard no issues from someone in a somewhat similar situation (network to usb4/thunderbolt to pci, etc).

 

[Meddling-Monk]

Meh....10Gbit really necessary for a domestic NAS outside of huge data transfer?

I would use the Intel NIC because it's Intel.

I'd agree. I'd have been happy to stick at 1gb to be honest . It might take longer, but it's fast enough to still get things done. But I'm ever more being requested by (slightly) extended family to help archive material as well (and restore if possible), whether it's photos or videos (and somehow they keep finding more and more such items and bring them to me to work on), and this can add up quickly in what I need to transfer over from the capture devices storage to a storage pool on the NAS. Or pull from again when they're requested to be returned to family or a copy returned so it's still archived there on the NAS.

The major issue is however, the NAS. It's a DS215J, with terrible encryption read and writes, meaning I'm looking at 15-25MB speeds at best. A far cry from ~110MB (at least 4x slower), which I know the NAS can do without encryption. So as I was set on upgrading the NAS so I could transfer faster (on 1gb network), the old main rig died and I was looking for a new one. Out of the available motherboards, the Asus Proart X670E was the only one worth the money really, since it had USB4 and 10gb as well as the other features of the X670E chipset. And by the time the new rig was settled on and obtained, the DS923+ was released. So as I was going to have two devices that were 10gb capable (as I found out the DS923+ is available and can be fitted with 10g), and the hardlines are Cat6 already, so that's why this upgrade was more of a chance thing that came together.

As for the Intel NIC, I'm likely to do something similar to what you and everyone have suggested, and go with a direct connection to the NAS via 10gb and go with general network (+internet) access via the Intel 2.5gb. Although I may need to check on the number of available hardlines that I had lain down, as there may not be enough to do that without a further addition as I certainly wasn't expecting to go (partially) 10gb so soon at home.