Possible stupid question regarding NIC's

RobotXander · 4 Mar 2011 at 09:04

Will a Pro 1000 MT PCI-X card work in a standard PCI slot? even at a reduced speed?
There seems to be allot of contradictory info online and am wondering if anyone has any experience of this?

RobotXander · 4 Mar 2011 at 09:06

Apologies....this did NOT need a new thread. Could a mod please close it? I can post this in the thread I already started regarding ESXI

PistolPete · 4 Mar 2011 at 09:55

Not used specifically a 1000MT, but I used 2 quad port PCI-X cards in a PCI slots with the extra bit hanging over the end in an ESX test server for years.

It always connected at 1000, but you'd never actually get 4x 1000 throughput as the PCI slot simply can't supply the bandwidth.

There are 3.3v and 5v types of slots and cards. If you have a notch towards the front of the slot (closest the backpanel) it's a 3.3v, if it's towards the back of the slot (away from the backplane) it's 5v. Some cards are notched for either, some are only one of the other. If it physically fits (I had no capacitors or anything behind the slot) it'll work to some degree. If it doesn't fit due to the notches, they are incompatible voltage wise anyway.

RobotXander · 4 Mar 2011 at 13:48

This is indeed a learning experience. I guess the small footprint with regards to the bare metal install doesn't lend itself well to driver support

Thats for the info mate