Intel X710 Variant Question: How to Tell Them Apart?

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
J

John T Davis

Member
Nov 19, 2022
50
8
8
Hello,

I'm in the market for an X710, and have an Amazon gift card that made me decide to start my shopping there.

Now, I'm a bit confused by the variants that I'm seeing, and could use some advice. I've run across these variants:

  • TL2: 2x RJ-45 ports
  • DA2: 2x SFP+ cages
  • DA4: 4x SFP+ cages
  • BM1 and BM2: I think these are actually chipsets, not port configurations? Also, I'm not sure which one I should be looking for. I assume BM2 is newer and better/more power-efficient, but that's just a guess. Is BM1 undesirable?
Is that correct?

Thanks!
 
MountainBofh

MountainBofh

Beating my users into submission
Mar 9, 2024
390
283
63
I'd avoid the X710 40gb variants, they're picky on transceivers in my experience. The SFP+ ones are solid, though I much prefer Mellanox 4x.
 
J

John T Davis

Member
Nov 19, 2022
50
8
8
Honestly, even though I know SFP+ is better/lower power/etc., I'm strongly tempted to grab the TL2 (2xRJ-45) variant.

The AT&T Fiber gateway I have is built to send RJ-45 downstream, and I've already got all the wiring in place for that. All I'd have to do is swap out a card on my OPNSense box, and I'd get an instant network upgrade.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nexox
N

nexox

Well-Known Member
May 3, 2023
1,494
719
113
If you've got CAT6 runs then it's usually preferable to get the 10GBaseT card rather than SFP+ with 10GBaseT transceivers, because you get more power to drive longer links and much better cooling, plus it's almost certainly cheaper.

...unless you're like me and every single 10GBaseT link (including the fiber terminal) goes to a switch, in which case save up for a bunch of transceivers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: John T Davis
MountainBofh

MountainBofh

Beating my users into submission
Mar 9, 2024
390
283
63
If you only need 1 RJ45 10gb port, I'd consider one of the AQC113 cards. Lower cost, lower power draw. Or if 5gb would work, a realtek 8126 (just make sure to use the latest drivers).
 
  • Like
Reactions: name stolen
J

John T Davis

Member
Nov 19, 2022
50
8
8
My AT&T installer actually ran a CAT6 drop from the closet where the fiber drop is, inside the wall, and out a jack in my office where the OPNSense box is.

RJ-45 would absolutely be the simplest thing to keep using. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: nexox
J

John T Davis

Member
Nov 19, 2022
50
8
8
I do need two: one from the fiber gateway to the OPNSense box, and a second from the OPNSense box to the core switch.

Unfortunately, OPNSEnse is completely not on with the Aquantia NICs. Just flat out not supported. Realtek doesn't work well, either, but it's less of a disaster; it might work, but it's known to be unstable and you're on your own if there are issues.

I stick to Mellanox and Intel for OPNSense.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nexox
C

ca3y6

Active Member
Apr 3, 2021
312
212
43
Last edited:
pimposh

pimposh

hardware pimp
Nov 19, 2022
390
225
43
ca3y6 said:
Also happened to me (Synology wouldn't accept the fake one).
Click to expand...
afair synology os has a limited PID/VID list thus what not synology usually has no kernel module loaded just for this very reason.
 
J

John T Davis

Member
Nov 19, 2022
50
8
8
ca3y6 said:
One thing to be careful about though is that Intel ethernet cards is one of the products notorious for having lots of fakes on amazon, so not sure I would advise that distribution channel.



Also happened to me (Synology wouldn't accept the fake one).
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up. Ordered it today; I guess we'll find out soon.
 
W

WhiteNoise

Member
Jan 20, 2024
48
12
8
@John T Davis I was in somewhat similar situation and these are my recommendation:

For 10GBaseT Native NIC, I suggest
- X550-T2: cheapest, I have it, it works ok.
- X710-T2L: I have it, it works ok. Lower power consumption, better power management. Some more features wrt X550.
- E610-XT2 (Unreleased yet). Should have significantly lower power consumption than everything else.

For NIC and SFP+:
- ConnectX-4 LX: Can be bought for cheap. I think it's an OKAY all around card.
- X710-DA2: Can be bought for cheap. I think it's an OKAY all around okay card.
- ConnectX-6 LX: Much More expensive but more modern and has more "features/accelerations". If you know you need them/know how to use them.

SFP+ to 10BaseT:
- Buy Transceivers based on the Broadcom BCM84891, they are significantly more power efficient then all others right now. They are usually marked as 80m or 100m variant (depending on PCB quality) and do not play well with 2.5G/5G.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: pimposh
J

John T Davis

Member
Nov 19, 2022
50
8
8
Got my NIC from Amazon today that was marked as X710-T2L.
tl;dr It's a Lenovo OEM part. Not sure if I need to cross-flash to Intel standard for OPNSense.

Markings on the labels:
PCIe x8 10G Dual-Port Server Adapter
94T2332
X710-2RJ45
No. 1

SN: BNXXXXXXXXXX

Driver Download: QR Code +Link to Lenovo website

Filez协同办公

在线文档，企业网盘，文档中台，非结构化数据平台
meta.box.lenovo.com meta.box.lenovo.com
There's a Windows driver from 2025 and a Linux driver from 2022. This all looks very legit. </s>

I want to use this with OPNSense (FreeBSD).
Do I need to put it in a Windows or Linux box first to check the firmware?
 
C

ca3y6

Active Member
Apr 3, 2021
312
212
43
WhiteNoise said:
They are not sanctioned/approved by Intel but I am not sure I would call them fake. The often have the exact same layout and I am sure they have a real Intel chip inside.
Click to expand...
The core chip may be an intel chip but anything around it would have been selected and made by a different manufacturer. I don't have the competency to tell a good electronic component from a weak one (nor do I have the appetite to acquire it), so I rely on the reputation of a major brand, enforced by demanding OEM and enterprise customers, to make sure they don't stick some bad capacitors or whatever else in there. If I go on amazon I then have some random card manufactured probably on the cheap by some unrelated factory in China sold under the brand Intel. These are counterfeit products. It might work, like a cheap fake Gucci bag will work too. Until it breaks. They are free to make them, but not to misuse the brand. There are lots of generic brands that repackage a well known controller, but they sell for cheaper, for a reason.
 
B

blunden

Well-Known Member
Nov 29, 2019
907
295
63
John T Davis said:
Got my NIC from Amazon today that was marked as X710-T2L.
tl;dr It's a Lenovo OEM part. Not sure if I need to cross-flash to Intel standard for OPNSense.

Markings on the labels:
PCIe x8 10G Dual-Port Server Adapter
94T2332
X710-2RJ45
No. 1

SN: BNXXXXXXXXXX

Driver Download: QR Code +Link to Lenovo website

Filez协同办公

在线文档，企业网盘，文档中台，非结构化数据平台
meta.box.lenovo.com meta.box.lenovo.com
There's a Windows driver from 2025 and a Linux driver from 2022. This all looks very legit. </s>

I want to use this with OPNSense (FreeBSD).
Do I need to put it in a Windows or Linux box first to check the firmware?
Click to expand...
Dell and Lenovo cards are quite common. I would update the firmware using an officially supported OS (supported by Lenovo, since the firmware is customized). It's possible to cross-flash OEM models to Intel firmware, but I never bothered on my Dell card (instead sticking to the latest Dell firmware at the time).

The driver included in FreeBSD probably works out of the box with all OEM cards, seeing as that's the case for both Windows and Linux.
 
J

John T Davis

Member
Nov 19, 2022
50
8
8
Now that it's the next day and I'm more awake, I'm starting to wonder if this might actually be a fake.

No genuine Intel hologram anywhere on the card, for one thing. (Do Lenovo cards have Intel holograms?) And the link to the Chinese-languageBox.com folder for the driver download is sketch as hell.

I've had bad experiences trying to use HP OEM HGST SAS SSDs in non-HP servers. I really don't want to go down that rabbit-hole again.
 
Last edited:
W

WhiteNoise

Member
Jan 20, 2024
48
12
8
Lenovo cards don't have the hologram. I don't think the hologram is a thing anymore.
Perhaps it's a Lenovo card for the chinese market.
However, The `meta.box.lenovo.com` is not an indication that comes from lenovo because that is a public file sharing location.

Lenovo X710-T2L have this PN: 4XC7A80266

If it is a Lenovo card, you should be able to update the firmware with Lenovo's utility
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: nexox
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom