NIC Chipset for 10gbps

[beng035]

Thinking of getting 10gbps NIC after signing up for 10gbps internet. There are many different types of NIC available and as far as i can see, only main 3 chip manufacturers gunning for market share.

Realtek, Intel, Marvell. Arranged from entry level to main stream.

Currently not sure which is more stable and matured , so asking the gurus here for advise.

Realtek 8127
Intel X540
Marvell AQC113

FYI, Tplink TX401 is using Marvell AQC107 for V1 and AQC113 for V2 as their controller.

 

[stanlawj]

Thinking of getting 10gbps NIC after signing up for 10gbps internet. There are many different types of NIC available and as far as i can see, only main 3 chip manufacturers gunning for market share.

Realtek, Intel, Marvell. Arranged from entry level to main stream.

Currently not sure which is more stable and matured , so asking the gurus here for advise.

Realtek 8127
Intel X540
Marvell AQC113

FYI, Tplink TX401 is using Marvell AQC107 for V1 and AQC113 for V2 as their controller.

Intel X540 is not supported by Intel for Windows 11.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...igabit-ethernet-controllers-up-to-2-5gbe.html

 

[naked123]

Realtek RTL8127 needs PCI-E 4.0 x1 + cheap

Intel X540 needs PCI-E 2.1 x8 + very hot chip + needs active cooling + cheapest

Marvell AQC113 needs PCI-E 3.0 x4 + most expensive

 

[Outramkia]

I thought the realtek 8159 is the affordable chipset right now? Xikestor has one based on usb 3.2 2x2. Seems to work well and relatively cool. No need usb4/tb4. Can check out hwz network forum

 

[beng035]

thanks guys, at least now i understand abit more. likely choose the Marvell one.

 

[stanlawj]

Thinking of getting 10gbps NIC after signing up for 10gbps internet. There are many different types of NIC available and as far as i can see, only main 3 chip manufacturers gunning for market share.

Realtek, Intel, Marvell. Arranged from entry level to main stream.

Currently not sure which is more stable and matured , so asking the gurus here for advise.

Realtek 8127
Intel X540
Marvell AQC113

FYI, Tplink TX401 is using Marvell AQC107 for V1 and AQC113 for V2 as their controller.

Realtek RTL8127: released in 2025, PCIE 4x1 for the no-branded ones
Marvell AQC113: released in 2022, PCIE 3x4 for TP-link TX401v2.

The Realtek chip is actually newer, and the nic being PCIE 4x1 could be better fit for your motherboard than TP-link requiring PCIE 3x4.
https://www.servethehome.com/cheap-10gbe-realtek-rtl8127-nic-review/2/
https://www.servethehome.com/tp-link-10gigabit-pcie-network-adapter-mini-review-marvell-aqc113/

There's also the USB-C 3.2 Gen2 version of RTL8127: the RTL8159
Which means you can use it anywhere without needing PCIE 4 slots: PC, laptop, mini-pc.

 

[kappak]

rtl 8127 also have pcie3.0x4 version

 

[stanlawj]

 

[stanlawj]

RTL8159 USB 10Gbe ethernet adapter

 

[green72]

Call me crazy but I'd be going to a 25/40/100gbe NIC like the Mellanox connect-x4 QSFP28 NIC. To pair with a Microtik cloud router CRS510-8XS-2XQ-IN. Already have 2 ISP, 10G and 1G one.
Thinking of unsubcribe the 1G one and get another 10G.

That is my next year project after I play around with current Proxmox setup and it's various VM and LXC.

TS should look at compatbility. Intel and Mellanox are great but Realtek are good oso. TPLINK ones are ok too.

 

[slashGNR]

Can I ask, my current home network cabling running on cat5, (1Gbps), if I upgrade to 3Gbps internet or higher, besides switch/router etc need to change, do I have to rewire whole house or just change all current wall outlet Cat5 (connected to devices) to cat6 or cat6a cables...thanks.

 

[kappak]

Can I ask, my current home network cabling running on cat5, (1Gbps), if I upgrade to 3Gbps internet or higher, besides switch/router etc need to change, do I have to rewire whole house or just change all current wall outlet Cat5 (connected to devices) to cat6 or cat6a cables...thanks.

No need

 

[beng035]

Can I ask, my current home network cabling running on cat5, (1Gbps), if I upgrade to 3Gbps internet or higher, besides switch/router etc need to change, do I have to rewire whole house or just change all current wall outlet Cat5 (connected to devices) to cat6 or cat6a cables...thanks.

its still can be used. Just that it may have speed limitation and not preforming up to your expectation.

 

[TanKianW]

Call me crazy but I'd be going to a 25/40/100gbe NIC like the Mellanox connect-x4 QSFP28 NIC. To pair with a Microtik cloud router CRS510-8XS-2XQ-IN. Already have 2 ISP, 10G and 1G one.
Thinking of unsubcribe the 1G one and get another 10G.

That is my next year project after I play around with current Proxmox setup and it's various VM and LXC.

TS should look at compatbility. Intel and Mellanox are great but Realtek are good oso. TPLINK ones are ok too.

Not crazy if you know what you are doing, except just for bragging rights. Learning through homelabbing is also a valid reason. For most conventional VMs and LXC use cases, you can probably live with 10G, need more just bond it on LACP for that added redundancy. Want switch redundancy, then go with MCLAGG.

More applicable (homelab) use cases are for AI related or more advanced production focus setup running on hyper-converged system with software defined storage like Ceph or equivalent. You may also likely be looking at features/protocols such as RDMA and RoCE. A competent storage system will be essential for such setup too. Networking is only one piece (though an important one) of that bigger picture. Fast transport will still be bottleneck by the weakest (slowest) link that is trying to keep up.​

 

[green72]

For my specific needs, I want as little lag between using the VMs and remote desktop for a plethora of usage, gaming, video/photo editing, photogrammetry, NAS transfers, 8K/4K media server functions, those sort of task, locally and offsite, on 1 machine instead of a few machine for each specific purpose. With limited real estate space and finite cost to building a homelab, I can let every family member share the resources.

I'm not inclining towards the AI stuff at the moment as building this homelab already costing me time to learn and money. Cost includes subscriptions for better VPNs features , etc, that are the hidden cost I did not factored in but good to learn all these are what I need.

 

[TanKianW]

For my specific needs, I want as little lag between using the VMs and remote desktop for a plethora of usage, gaming, video/photo editing, photogrammetry, NAS transfers, 8K/4K media server functions, those sort of task, locally and offsite, on 1 machine instead of a few machine for each specific purpose. With limited real estate space and finite cost to building a homelab, I can let every family member share the resources.

I'm not inclining towards the AI stuff at the moment as building this homelab already costing me time to learn and money. Cost includes subscriptions for better VPNs features , etc, that are the hidden cost I did not factored in but good to learn all these are what I need.

With your needs, you can consider starting on a mini-pc that is equipped with better (10G) networking. Locally with only 1 machine/server, I think >10G is an overkill. But I could be wrong.

Maybe you could also consider hosting your own VPN server if just need it for remote data sync, management and backup.
​

Feel free to check out my thread here if you are thinking to start/share your homelabbing journey. Have fun.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...projects-include-10g-network-upgrade.6341518/

 

[xiaofan]

More discussions about 10Gbe adapters here (also got 5Gbe adapters and 25Gbe adapters). The first page serves as a good summary.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/5gbe-and-beyond-ethernet-adapters.7068236/