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10Gtek

10Gtek names the controller and the cable it needs

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One 10Gtek card here

A dual-socket 10GBASE-T PCIe card built on Intel’s X540 controller — the only ten-gigabit card on the PCIe shelf, and the only card there that states both its PCIe generation and its lane count: PCIe 2.1 at ×8.

Written for someone planning an installation

The Amazon.com page gives Cat 6A to 100 m and Cat 6 to 55 m, which are the two figures that decide whether ten gigabits over copper will work in a given building. It names the operating systems — Windows Server, Windows 7 to 10, Linux, ESX/ESXi — and warns that Windows 11 needs manual setup and a guide from the seller. The description adds jumbo frames to 15.5 KB, 802.1q VLANs, data center bridging and an operating range of 0 to 55 °C.

What a buyer has to bring

A free ×8 or ×16 slot, since two sockets at 10 Gbit/s need about 20 Gbit/s of bus and PCIe 2.1 gives about 4 Gbit/s a lane; and a switch with 10GBASE-T ports, because the card links at 10G, 1G or 100M and not at 2.5G or 5G. The warranty is three years, with lifetime technical support, stated in the box contents line.

Every 10Gtek unit reviewed here

What each 10Gtek review concluded

  • 10Gtek X540-T2 — A well-documented dual ten-gigabit card with an Intel controller, cable distances and a warranty stated.

Every price named in a summary was read on the date that review carries. What a shop asks today is shown beside the product, and it moves.