10Gbit/s pci-e 4.0 x1 nic?

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RobstarUSA

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Sep 15, 2016
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Since I bought a CRS317 as my main switch, I've been equipping most of my desktops & test servers with 10Gbit/s nics and blowing an x16 slot to fit them. I usually have x1 slots left over with nothing in them.

With x570 being pci-4.0, x1 should have enough bandwidth to handle 10Gbit/s no problem. Has anyone made any pcie-4.0 x1 nics? I'm ok with either copper or fiber, but prefer fiber. Currently I've been buying the realtek RTL8125 based nics for $20-$40 for these boxes, but if something better is out there I'm all ears.
 

Tom5051

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Jan 18, 2017
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I doubt one will exist until Aquantia / Marvell makes a 4.0 version of their chip.
It wouldn't surprise me if intel never makes a single port 10gbe 4.0 chip. Their market is firmly commercial. Commercial is going 25gb. And single port was probably not very popular in commercial
The widespread use in 10gbe in consumer space is all the Aquantia chip. It's the only cheap option but used Intel or Melanox/Nvidia cards.
 
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Falloutboy

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Oct 23, 2011
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I doubt one will exist until Aquantia makes a 4.0 version of their chip.
It wouldn't surprise me if intel never makes a single port 10gbe 4.0 chip. Their market is firmly commercial. Commercial is going 25gb. And single port was probably not very popular in commercial
The widespread use in 10gbe in consumer space is all the Aquantia chip. It's the only cheap option but used Intel\Melanox cards.
Aquantia is no longer as far as I am aware, owned by Marvell. Melanox is now Nvidia and I was not aware they had an AQC on board any product afaik Mellanox is all custom IC. I also have not seen a mellanox offering in pcie 4 x 1 or less than pcie3 x 8 I think there might be a x4 mechanical but don't quote me on that.
 

Scarlet

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Jul 29, 2019
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I also have not seen a mellanox offering in pcie 4 x 1 or less than pcie3 x 8 I think there might be a x4 mechanical but don't quote me on that.
The Mellanox ConnectX-3 Single Port 10G card (MCX311A) ist PCIe 3.0 x4 mechanical and electrical. I bought this one for my PC because most consumer boards have at most PCIe 3.0 / 4.0 x4 available without cutting the slot for the graphics card from x16 to x8.

I would also like to see a PCIe 4.0 x1 10G card - have not done the math if the bandwith would be enough for 10G as PCIe 3.0 x4 should be twice the bandwidth of PCIe 4.0 x1.
 

i386

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I would also like to see a PCIe 4.0 x1 10G card - have not done the math if the bandwith would be enough for 10G as PCIe 3.0 x4 should be twice the bandwidth of PCIe 4.0 x1.
PCIE 4.0 x1 is 16GT/s which is ~1,6GByte/s, enough for a single 10GBE port
 

RobstarUSA

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Sep 15, 2016
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But there are no PCIe4 x 1 cards and if you put a PCIe3x1 into a 4x1 it will operate at 3x1 not 4.
That is true, however even worse is trying to fit an x8 card into an x1/x4 slot. it doesn't work at all unless you physically cut the end of the slot.
 

Falloutboy

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Oct 23, 2011
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That is true, however even worse is trying to fit an x8 card into an x1/x4 slot. it doesn't work at all unless you physically cut the end of the slot.
For a network card if it's x8 and you put it in a x1 or x4 slot it's not going to work anyway as far as I am aware unless that network card is x8 physically but only uses 4 lanes.
 

RobstarUSA

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Sep 15, 2016
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For a network card if it's x8 and you put it in a x1 or x4 slot it's not going to work anyway as far as I am aware unless that network card is x8 physically but only uses 4 lanes.
It should drop down the number of lanes. I've had x8 electrical cards in x16 physical, x4 electrical work just fine, at reduced speeds.
 

NablaSquaredG

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It should drop down the number of lanes.
That's generally true, but I've heard of exceptions, i.e. cards that don't work below a certain number of lanes (be it because you put it inside an x1 slot or because the x4 slot is only an x1 electrically)
 

Tom5051

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Jan 18, 2017
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If you have any Thunderbolt 3 ports, you could get a 10G dongle from Sonnet or Qnap... I have a Sonnet 10G SFP+ hooked up to my laptop and it silent, works at the full 10G (QNAP unit has a small fan), they both use Aquantia/Marvell chips so well supported. Might be easier to find a PCIe 4.0 Thunderbolt card in 1x than a NIC.
 
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Think

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Jul 5, 2017
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Old thread, but as I just had the same problem as well, maybe this helps others: I tried an ASUS XG-C100C (PCIe 3.0 x4) and an OWC 10G Ethernet Adapter (PCIe 4.0 x4 interface) on my board with a PCI 4.0 x1 slot, open in the back. Both cards fit physically and work. The ASUS yields about 6Gbit, the OWC full 10G (9.x with iPerf).
 

kirkyg

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Jan 27, 2023
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Is this the card that you used?

It says its pci e x4 but it looks to me like a x1 slot, no? Or is it a difference ethernet adapter you bought? What company/chipset is used on these NIC's and what cpu utilization have you witnessed? I read that they do have linux drivers which is important to me since i would be installing this in a pci e 4.0 x1slot AMD zen 3 system running proxmox for virtualization. If it is x4 does that mean you had to cut out the plastic on the end of the slot to make it work or does your board have open ended x1 slots?
 

jdnz

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Apr 29, 2021
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It says its pci e x4 but it looks to me like a x1 slot, no? Or is it a difference ethernet adapter you bought? What company/chipset is used on these NIC's and what cpu utilization have you witnessed? I read that they do have linux drivers which is important to me since i would be installing this in a pci e 4.0 x1slot AMD zen 3 system running proxmox for virtualization. If it is x4 does that mean you had to cut out the plastic on the end of the slot to make it work or does your board have open ended x1 slots?
the owc product page states it's aqc113cs based ( no surprise - only low cost pcie4 10gbe solution ) and you can see it's physically x4 ( so to use in an x1 slot you'll need an open ended slot )

 

kirkyg

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Jan 27, 2023
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the owc product page states it's aqc113cs based ( no surprise - only low cost pcie4 10gbe solution ) and you can see it's physically x4 ( so to use in an x1 slot you'll need an open ended slot )

I thought x4 cards are wider on the none power section of the electric circuit connector that goes in the slot. The picture of the card from owc shows them both the same size (very small) is this not what the card actually looks like?
 

Think

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Jul 5, 2017
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Yes, I have the OWC card. It’s physically x4 in terms of its size, but works very well here in a x1 slot that is open at its back.
 
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jdnz

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I thought x4 cards are wider on the none power section of the electric circuit connector that goes in the slot. The picture of the card from owc shows them both the same size (very small) is this not what the card actually looks like?
the image on their website has the 'extension' too long to be x1 but too short to be x4 - the product page states 'x1 for pcie4 and x2 for pcie3' but also lists that card as physically x4 - I suspect it's likely actually gone for the seldom seen x2 connector


I've got a asus c100c-v2 sitting on the shelf here ( asus' new aqc113 based card ) and it's definitely x4 ( same as the aqc107 based v1 ) - since both the owc or asus will require an open ended x1 slot to physically install so you might as well go with the more available/cheaper c100c-v2
 

kirkyg

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Jan 27, 2023
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the image on their website has the 'extension' too long to be x1 but too short to be x4 - the product page states 'x1 for pcie4 and x2 for pcie3' but also lists that card as physically x4 - I suspect it's likely actually gone for the seldom seen x2 connector


I've got a asus c100c-v2 sitting on the shelf here ( asus' new aqc113 based card ) and it's definitely x4 ( same as the aqc107 based v1 ) - since both the owc or asus will require an open ended x1 slot to physically install so you might as well go with the more available/cheaper c100c-v2
Thanks that is super helpful. I have a board msi Meg unify x570 that has nvme drives next to the slots so I don't have much clearance. I might be able to get away with x2 if I cut the edge of the slot but it would not work for a x4 it would run into the nvme heat sync I think.
 

Think

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Jul 5, 2017
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Maybe I had an older version of the ASUS here. I tried both in my PCIe 4.0 x1 slot, and only the OWC yielded full 10 GBit speeds. The ASUS topped out at 6-7 GBit. iPerf:

ASUS

[SUM] 0.0-10.0 sec 7.18 GBytes 6.16 Gbits/sec

OWC

[SUM] 0.0-10.2 sec 11.0 GBytes 9.29 Gbits/sec
 

kirkyg

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Jan 27, 2023
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the image on their website has the 'extension' too long to be x1 but too short to be x4 - the product page states 'x1 for pcie4 and x2 for pcie3' but also lists that card as physically x4 - I suspect it's likely actually gone for the seldom seen x2 connector


I've got a asus c100c-v2 sitting on the shelf here ( asus' new aqc113 based card ) and it's definitely x4 ( same as the aqc107 based v1 ) - since both the owc or asus will require an open ended x1 slot to physically install so you might as well go with the more available/cheaper c100c-v2
What kind of. Cpu usage can I expect from a 8-16 core zen 3 using this adapter during network use?