CX4111A Mellanox Connectx-4 LX SFP28 PP10R 25GBE Single-Port - USD $24.95

[foureight84]

Pardon Our Interruption... Seller offered 10% off so I assume they'll take $20-$22. Low profile bracket only but I am making a printable full height. I don't actually have the card on hand yet so there might be necessary tweaks.

Updated:
- I don't have the card on hand yet so there will be tweaks later on if the dimensions on this model is incorrect.
- Added unflatted model for SLS printing
- Flattened version thickness increased to 1.5mm instead of 1mm. So far I've tested with PETG and ASA.
- Removed mesh pattern to increase rigidity

 

[luckylinux]

Pardon Our Interruption... Seller offered 10% so I assume they'll take 20-22. Low profile bracket only but I am making a printable full height. I don't actually have the card on hand yet so there might be necessary tweaks.
View attachment 44104View attachment 44105

NOT a super Deal IMHO considering that for a little more you should be able to get the 2 Port Version (MCX4121A-ACAT).

In Europe I got a few Sets of MCX4121A-ACAT for the Equivalent of 17 USD / Piece (plus Shipping / Import Duties / Taxes / VAT / etc).

 

[RDshift]

I bought this specific card because the single port version has lower power consumption.
Firmware update instructions: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...ctx-4-firmware-update-issue.43460/post-469011

 

[foureight84]

I bought this specific card because the single port version has lower power consumption.
Firmware update instructions: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...ctx-4-firmware-update-issue.43460/post-469011

Yea same reason why I am buying it. It also works on x4 PCIe 3.0 without any issues (I assume).

 

[RDshift]

Yes, with the expected bandwidth limitations. I use it in 10Gbps mode too, with a DAC, but I'm x16 on x10DAi. Minimum local latency FTW.

 

[luckylinux]

I bought this specific card because the single port version has lower power consumption.
Firmware update instructions: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...ctx-4-firmware-update-issue.43460/post-469011

Uhm OK ... I doubt the Power Consumption difference is that huge if the NIC shuts the other Port Down (IIRC you can also force it via mlxconfig).

Power Consumption Difference will be completely irrelevant if you do NOT have ASPM working. And these Mellanox ConnectX-4 NIC only seem to work with ASPM if the NIC is placed in a PCH-connected/DMI-connected/Chipset-connected Slot, NOT to a PCIe Slot that is directly connected to the CPU !

Keep that in Mind and don't be surprised if you get stuck at PC3 or even PC2 ...

Unless you are doing throughput 10GB+ continuously all the Time, in which case ASPM doesn't really make sense.

EDIT 1: 25gbps NIC I'd go with an Intel XXV710 if you want ASPM to work in a CPU-connected PCIe Slot. And make sure to check Multi-VC [hidden] Setting in BIOS if you have Issues.

 

[Koop]

Not worth it. Just get the dual port and have flexibility.

 

[Cruzader]

Not bad if you only need a single port, id expect them to accept 18-20 if needing multiple.

Think it was 16$/ea i paid for my last dual port cards (also dell).
Pretty much just buying dual port by habit tho, could have put that iscsi traffic on same port as rest.

 

[martona]

making a printable full height

Don't print these from plastic, lol. It ends up being way too weak and does not give you chassis ground.



I had the above printed from steel for $4. Your usual maker-youtuber-sponsoring shops from China can be extremely useful at like no cost if you have a bit of patience.

 

[luckylinux]

Don't print these from plastic, lol. It ends up being way too weak and does not give you chassis ground.

View attachment 44106

I had the above printed from steel for $4. Your usual maker-youtuber-sponsoring shops from China can be extremely useful at like no cost if you have a bit of patience.

I ordered 10 Pieces from Aliexpress (for the dual Port Mellanox) for 30 USD so approx. 3 USD / Piece including Shipping to Europe.

As usual both eBay and Aliexpress Search sucks big Time and they are NOT very easy to find.

I had a quick Look for the single Port Bracket but I couldn't find much unfortunately.

 

[foureight84]

Don't print these from plastic, lol. It ends up being way too weak and does not give you chassis ground.

View attachment 44106

I had the above printed from steel for $4. Your usual maker-youtuber-sponsoring shops from China can be extremely useful at like no cost if you have a bit of patience.

I designed it so it should work any material. Just gotta bend the tabs before attaching. I'll make another design change later so you can embed a copper wire to make contact betweek the SFP port and chassis.

 

[luckylinux]

Examples for the Dual Port Brackets

10PCS 2U FOR MCX4121A-ACAT MCX512A-ACAT MCX4111A MCX512F MCX621102A MCX631102A | eBay.de

I can provide a large number of spare parts for old PCs.

www.ebay.de

Bitte entschuldigen Sie die Störung...

But I mean ... you could maybe just "plug" the non used one with some Ductape or something

 

[martona]

I designed it so it should work any material. Just gotta bend the tabs before attaching. I'll make another design change later so you can embed a copper wire to make contact betweek the SFP port and chassis.

Yeah I saw and the bendy part is pretty clever actually - but will the stiff stuff not crack if you bend it? Like if you print it from PCCF or PACF? And floppy stuff like PP would just do a bad job at holding the card?

I'm not trying to shit on it, it may very well work, but every time I printed one of these brackets at home they felt super flimsy. The only reason I chimed in was because having a service print small metal parts costs next to nothing, and I guess most people don't realize that.

 

[luckylinux]

Yeah I saw and the bendy part is pretty clever actually - but will the stiff stuff not crack if you bend it? Like if you print it from PCCF or PACF? And floppy stuff like PP would just do a bad job at holding the card?

I'm not trying to shit on it, it may very well work, but every time I printed one of these brackets at home they felt super flimsy. The only reason I chimed in was because having a service print small metal parts costs next to nothing, and I guess most people don't realize that.

Is it really THAT cheap to get it printed in Metal ?

I ordered some I/O shields on Craftcloud and going from PETG to Metal would have meant AT LEAST a 10x increase in Cost.

From 2 USD / Piece to 20 USD / Piece basically ...

 

[foureight84]

Yeah I saw and the bendy part is pretty clever actually - but will the stiff stuff not crack if you bend it? Like if you print it from PCCF or PACF? And floppy stuff like PP would just do a bad job at holding the card?

I'm not trying to shit on it, it may very well work, but every time I printed one of these brackets at home they felt super flimsy. The only reason I chimed in was because having a service print small metal parts costs next to nothing, and I guess most people don't realize that.

That definitely needs testing. I've only tested on PETG and ASA, they seem to hold up fine if you just bend it once and install it. Also, which service are you using for metal printing? I want to print it out of metal as well. I can add another file for metal printing.

EDIT: @martona, the original post has been updated to include a non-flatten version for SLS printing. I also removed the mesh pattern, they were not good for rigidity.

 

[nilfisk_urd]

I designed it so it should work any material. Just gotta bend the tabs before attaching. I'll make another design change later so you can embed a copper wire to make contact betweek the SFP port and chassis.

You could also print it in conductive filament, e.g. Prusament PETG 40% Magnetite.

 

[richard.dzavoronok]

Conductive filament is highly resistive. You want path of the least resistance to ground. Much safer is simple wire from screw to chassis.

Edit: I think the better usability/price ratio custom solution is to get it plasma cut from sheet metal, it usually is very cheap

 

[martona]

s it really THAT cheap to get it printed in Metal ?

I ordered some I/O shields on Craftcloud and going from PETG to Metal would have meant AT LEAST a 10x increase in Cost.

From 2 USD / Piece to 20 USD / Piece basically ...

For small prints that fit into the printer volume anywhere it really is that cheap from China. I went back to my order history to make sure, and I was off: it did cost me $10. The $4 was just a quote from another place that wanted 3 weeks to do it.

Also, which service are you using for metal printing?

It almost always ends up being PCBWay. JLCPCB are very comparable but PCBWay are plain awesome. Not always the cheapest but I just don't bother shopping around anymore, kinda became loyal to them I guess. Had a fair few projects run through their company and they always treated me super well - a $10 3D print or a $2000 CNC job, it literally doesn't matter, they just flat out care. Right now I'm emailing back and forth with them over a $120 project, 5 fully assembled PCBs. I ****ed up a component in the BOM and the pick&place file, and they're treating it like they're about to make a thousand of these. "They're very sorry but it will take 2 weeks for the new parts to come in, their vendor is out of stock. Would I like them to store the wrong components they got in so I can use them in the future?" I'm like dude, it was my fault, it's 5 random SMD connectors, less than $2 total, please throw them out.

Magnetite

Not to turn this into r/3dprinting but that's a pretty bad filament for anything but "i need this to be magnetic". Very heavy, bad layer adhesion, very expensive. All those are understandable, I mean almost half of it is metal powder. No hate on Prusa, but making things out of it is not its strong suit. I got some of it for fun and yeah it works to add "a magnet needs to stick here" spots to things with a multimaterial printer, but isn't very good otherwise. And even for the magnetic part... you need some strong magnets because over half of the thing is plastic.

 

[martona]

the original post has been updated to include a non-flatten version for SLS printing. I also removed the mesh pattern, they were not good for rigidity.

It looks great, thanks! For SLM the mesh would have been fine, but it's OK either way.

 

[luckylinux]

For small prints that fit into the printer volume anywhere it really is that cheap from China. I went back to my order history to make sure, and I was off: it did cost me $10. The $4 was just a quote from another place that wanted 3 weeks to do it.

I cannot imagine that being cheap.

On PCBWay Website -> 3D Printing:



You can only choose between Tool Steel ("regular Steel" ???), Aluminum (cheap), Stainless Steel (expensive) and Titanium.

I hate it that they don't give you an estimated cost directly online just like CraftCloud does though ... You need to do an RFQ for that .