Intel Pro 1000 NIC`s

[BigBadAl]

Just a quickie but does anyone know what the MT/PT/VT/GT and all the other options after the name of the NIC means, I mean they`re all 1000Mbit aren`t they!?!

Thanks

 

[Proactivens]

MT is a server grade PCI-X card, PT is a server grade PCI-e card, VT im not sure about, GT is a desktop PCI card, CT is a desktop PCI-e card.

 

[aaronearles]

The advantages/features of each are described on intel's site, but yes - they're all gig, and for general use it really doesn't matter much as long as there are drivers for your OS.

 

[BigBadAl]

So would it be possible (by way of the layout of the pci bus on the card ) for an MT PCI-x card to physically fit AND WORK in a mobo without a PCI-x slot?

Reason I ask is that a while back I bought what I thought were Intel Pro 1000 MT`s (Ebay) and I run them in a SFF Compaq Deskpro for the LAN and DMZ ports on my IPCop. I am pretty sure that a system of that vintage doesn`t have PCI-x ports and yet they work in said system.

I know that there`s always the chance that they`re not actually MT`s but would they happen to be cards that could be used in PCI AND PCI-x?

Is nothing ever straight forward!?

Hang on...... PCI-x is the PCI-*version number* and PCI-e is PCI express!?!? I think that may have cleared some stuff up....... I know, I`m dim!

 

[PanzerBoxb]

It is not a version number, it is an abbreviation for "PCI-eXtended". Generally a standard PCI-X card will fit into a PCI slot but will operate at the slower PCI speed.

PCI-e is a whole different ball of wax.

 

[BigBadAl]

Ahh, ok, that helps.... looks like I`d be better off with the GT`s, probably gonna get a stack of them and swap them all out.

In fact I think I`ll check the existing ons out to see what I have and save some Yen!

Got 4 or 5 of them here and there but it now looks like they`re all a bit of a mish-mash!

Is there any way to see at a glance just by looking at them what model they are? Are they marked in english on the card??

Thanks again

Merry Christmas!!

 

[TechLarry]

I have a Pro/1000 MT and it's a PCI card, not PCI-X

 

[BigBadAl]

OK, I had a good old mooch about and it seems I have 4 Intel Pro 1000`s and they`re all MT`s and they`re all in normal PCI slots. 1 in my main rig, 2x in my IPCop and 1 in my temporarily down Freenas box.

So thanks everyone for your input, I`m off to ebay.

Many thanks again

Al

 

[BigBadAl]

Uh-Oh...

Why are there two different types of MT?

1

2

Take a look at the connector edge of each of these SINGLE PORT Intel Pro 1000 MT`s, why has one got a huge long connector on it and the other considerably shorter?? is this the bit for appropriate server boards??

Pics courtesy of www.xcesssurplus.com and www.allabout.co.jp

Thanks again

 

[mattjw916]

PCI-X (not to be confused with PCI-Express) has come in many versions over the years. The bit rate and width as well as the voltage of the physical slot has changed several times. Which card you need depends on what slot you have free on the device you intend on shoving it into.

So... if you have a 3.3v (or whatever since it's been a while) or 5v slot that is 33, 66, or whatever Mhz and 64 bits wide then buy the card the matches the slot's spec.

There is really no need to be overly creative here. IIRC ALL the PCI-X variations have sufficient bandwidth to easily handle any gigE card unless the slot is being shared on the bus with another high-capacity card like an Infiniband or Myrinet card...

 

[BigBadAl]

Ahaaaaa!

I think you`ve just pinpointed my slow-ish LAN -DMZ/DMZ-LAN transfers.....

My IPCop runs on one of those old Compaq Deskpro SFF machines. It has one PCI slot on the mainboard and I have 2x Intel Pro 1000 MT`s in the riser thingy that slots into the single slot as the case is assembled.

Now I know I NEED to build a new box for PFSense....

Thanks for pointing that out!

 

[acesea]

There is also newer ET version of the cards which is very similar to VT.

Btw, so pci-x cards ought to function in pci slots? I assumed the backward compatibility was that pci cards could function in pci-x slots.

 

[GotNoRice]

so pci-x cards ought to function in pci slots? I assumed the backward compatibility was that pci cards could function in pci-x slots.

PCI-X cards will work fine in regular PCI slots. I've been doing this for a while because often times it's cheaper to get a PCI-X Pro/1000 XT or MT off ebay than it is to get a regular PCI version, I guess a lot of people doing server pulls or something? Who knows.

Only thing is you have to make sure there is room behind the PCI slot for the rest of the PCI-X connector to hang there. I've had slots where a PCI-X card wouldn't fit because there was capacitors there or SATA connectors or something.

 

[BigBadAl]

All sorted... just got 5x MT`s off ebay, think they`re the short ones too!

Many thanks