X550-T2 NIC with Dell T640

[EvilAlchemist]

Have a Dell T640 Server (Dual CPU) that I just installed an X550-T2 to replace the Broadcom onboard Nics. Running Server 2019.

When I initially installed the card, I had it on the left side of the board, which can only be used if you have both CPU sockets populated.

When I ran a speed test I was only getting 10 megabits per second even though the link state was showing 10g.

I tried everything from updating drivers to firmware but nothing seemed to resolve the issue.

I then placed the NIC on the right side and everything just started working perfectly.

Is that normal in server configurations for certain hardware to prefer to be on one side or the other? I'm assuming it has something to do with how those extra PCIe slots are handled and the second CPU.

One would think the other side's PCIe slots would have enough bandwidth to handle a 10G nic.

Also could be a Windows issue so hoping someone has some experience in this arena.

Attaching reference photo of motherboard


View attachment 676246

 

[SamirD]

It could be an issue with the 2nd cpu not being installed correctly and some pins not contacting and not having the pci lanes.

 

[EvilAlchemist]

It could be an issue with the 2nd cpu not being installed correctly and some pins not contacting and not having the pci lanes.

After many hours looking at other posts, it looks like the dell variant of this NIC does not like 4x slots. Even though the Intel spec says it does. Only 8x and 16x slots seem to work.

 

[toast0]

Windows server actually has some nice networking features, but I'm not super familiar with them. If it's on pci-e from the second cpu, but the OS is handling it from the first cpu, that's not ideal, but I wouldn't think 10mbps bad.

I have heard complaints about some of these server NICs that they really don't work like they should with fewer lanes; so if that's what it is, it checks out.

 

[SamirD]

After many hours looking at other posts, it looks like the dell variant of this NIC does not like 4x slots. Even though the Intel spec says it does. Only 8x and 16x slots seem to work.

Makes sense since the Dell firmware would be different than the plain Intel one. If you can flash the card with the plain intel (or any other one that works) firmware, I bet it will work fine. Other thing is that it could be a fake--lots of dell fakes out there.