Question Anyone moving from AM4 platform to Z490 (Intel)? For the 2.5Gbit LAN?

[VirtualLarry]

I know I'm tempted. Even the $200 ASRock Extreme-whatever budget board has 2.5Gbit LAN onboard. Most Z490 boards do.

Whereas, what about the X570 boards? Still very few.

I don't know about B550 boards, maybe the mobo makers will have a change of heart, and add 2.5Gbit LAN to most of those, too.

Yeah, I know, I know, you can buy PCI-E x1 8125 RealTek LAN cards for $20-30 to drop into a PCI-E x1 slot (if you have one left, after all of your GPUs and NVMe SSDs on AM4), or a USB3.0 dongle with a RealTek 2.5Gbit LAN from Cable Matters for $30 off of Amazon. (I have some of each, already.)

But there's both something powerful, and utilitarian, about 2.5Gbit LAN being built-in, to me.

 

[JustMe21]

Here are X570 boards with more than just 1 Gbps NICs.

10 Gbps
Asrock X570 Aqua
Gigabyte X570 Aorus ExtremeMSI prestige X570 Creation
MSI Prestige X570 Creation
Asrock X570 Creator


5 Gbps
Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula


2.5 Gbps
MSI MEG X570 Godlike
Asrock X570 Phantom Gaming X
Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (@ Wifi)
Asus ROF Strix X570-E Gaming
Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master
MSI MEG X570 Ace
MSI MEG X570 Unify

 

[VirtualLarry]

But most of those are $300-$500 boards, MSRP, some are higher.

My point is, with Z490 from Intel platform, you can "buy in" to 2.5Gbit/sec LAN, for a lot cheaper than with AM4. (I don't know about the new crop of B550 boards, maybe this will change, and B550 will equal Intel in terms of less expensive options for faster-than-1Gbit/sec LAN connections onboard.)

The previewed X570 Tomahawk board, supposedly with premium VRMs, AND 2.5Gbit/sec LAN, all for $200, sounded really good to me. I hope that it comes out soon, and does hit that price-point... if stores can even keep it in stock, the B450 Tomahawk and Tomahawk MAX are hard enough to keep in stock at MSRP right now.

 

[Ratman6161]

This doesn't make any sense. Complete system brain transplant just to avoid buying a $30 NIC? How is that buying in to 2.5 GPS cheaper? Also read the AT comet lake review and see if you feel the same way. Finally, you can add a NIC to an AM4 board but you can't add PCIe 4.0 to Intel.

 

[VirtualLarry]

This doesn't make any sense. Complete system brain transplant just to avoid buying a $30 NIC? How is that buying in to 2.5 GPS cheaper? Also read the AT comet lake review and see if you feel the same way. Finally, you can add a NIC to an AM4 board but you can't add PCIe 4.0 to Intel.

I'm sorry, my title wasn't very clear.

I was thinking along the lines of "moving platforms" for new builds. Like, if you previously built Am4 rigs, would you then build Z490 rigs, if they nearly all came with 2.5GbE? To some people, PCI-E 4.0 is largely a non-issue, but if they could speed up their LAN transfers (to a server, or NAS, or even Remote Desktop dealing with editing or media) 2.5X, they would choose the LAN speedup n a heartbeat.

 

[mxnerd]

If you want to run VMware ESXi, then you absolutely need an INTEL chipset based NIC. Otherwise Realtek chipset should be fine for most end users.

By the way, just released 10 gen Intel CPUs do not support PCIE 4.0. If you buy the CPU/motherboard now, are you going to upgrade to 11th gen processor next year?

==

Well, I misread what you posted. You only mentioned 2.5Gb NIC, not INTEL 2.5Gb NIC.

Z490 motherboards with 2.5Gb NIC do seem cheaper than Ryzen platform with 2.5Gb NIC support.

I can see that i5-10500 coupled with Z490 motherboard will be very nice. I love 65W processors with integrated graphics.

 

[ao_ika_red]

Guess what, they heard your demand and (almost) all of them have 2.5Gbit LAN, but mostly from Realtek though. Even Biostar follow suit.

ASUS launches AMD B550 motherboard series - VideoCardz.com

Almost a year ago, AMD’s high-end X570 chipset was the first to bring PCI Express 4.0 (PCIe 4.0) support to the desktop PC. That new bus standard offers up to 2X the bandwidth for the next generation of solid-state drives, graphics cards, network adapters, and more. Now, the B550 chipset is...

videocardz.com

ASRock launches AMD B550 motherboards - VideoCardz.com

ASRock Launches AMD B550 Motherboard Range, Delivering Leading Features to Hit the Market Full Range from Entry to Premium Motherboards for AMD desktop processors TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 21 2020 – Leading global motherboard manufacturer, ASRock, proudly announces its latest range of motherboards...

videocardz.com

MSI announces AMD B550 motherboards - VideoCardz.com

MSI announces B550 motherboards for AMD Ryzen MSI, the world-leading motherboard brand, continues to be dedicated to the AMD AM4 platform with the launch of the new B550 motherboards. Since AMD launched Ryzen Desktop Processors with AM4 platform, MSI has been occupied the market with our AM4...

videocardz.com

BIOSTAR announces AMD B550 GTA and GTQ motherboards - VideoCardz.com

Biostar AMD B550 motherboards 21th May, 2020, Taipei, Taiwan – BIOSTAR, a leading brand of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices, today introduces the new RACING B550GTA and RACING B550GTQ motherboards designed around the B550 Chipset from AMD. Built to run the latest and greatest...

videocardz.com

 

[blckgrffn]

No. Zero pull for me.

I do prefer Intel NICs in general, but I have zero qualms about using drop in cards if needed. I am not even aware of anyone in my "tech circle" who is building out 2.5 capable LANs in their homes.

All of my ESXi/vmware hosts have made use of very affordable and stupid reliable dual gigabit PCIe Intel NICs and I have a handful of them now.

With the next Ryzen launch in 2020 still being planned, this is a very narrow window for a very narrow use case.

 

[gdansk]

2.5Gb has no attraction to me, I need 10Gb so I've been using network cards anyway.
But it's good to see Realtek making cheap 2.5Gb adapters. Maybe they'll finally come around to 10Gb with AM5

 

[killster1]

really confusing post, why would you switch platforms for 2.5gb network interface?

AQUANTIA® AQC107 10gbit + 1gb intel lan on my x470, i dont care about pcie 4.0 as i have no use for it. they do make 4x10gbit intel cards so you dont have to revolve your cpu choices around lan? i dont usually buy sub 200$ motherboards anyway unless its for a child or a gift and they wont be picky or have as much use for 10gb nics.

 

[zir_blazer]

Oh, how I hate 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T. They just seem to me like two useless middle point speed grades that just exist to delay 10GBASE-T adoption so that vendors can milk consumers twice in a row, as those that currently sell you 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T gear will in a year or two sell you the already 14 years old 10GBASE-T as the next highest speed grade.

And is not that getting 10GBASE-T into mainstream was that expensive. I just have to always mention that AMD Zen dies have 4 unused 10G MACs that are only exposed in the EPYC Embedded product line. If AMD had decided to expose those in AM4 back during 2017, you could get basic 10GBASE-T connectivity for just the cost of a 10G PHY (Same arrangement as with the new Intel platform, MAC is integrated in the Chipset so all have them, you just requires a discrete 2.5G PHY), and go with either an Intel or Broadcom PCIe NIC (Either integrated to the Motherboard or discrete card) if you needed something full featured. Actually, AMD 10G MACs are flexible enough that you could use another PHY to get a SFP+ Port then decide with a SFP module if you want copper or fiber, albeit this would have been more expensive than going straight for a 10GBASE-T PHY. Fiber SPF modules, switches and cables seems to be cheaper than copper, making it even better unless you relied on PoE.

 

[Muadib]

I bought Intel 10G nic cards off ebay. It was cheaper than getting 10Gb build into a x570 motherboard at the time. You can find 10G nic cards for less than $100 now.

 

[killster1]

I bought Intel 10G nic cards off ebay. It was cheaper than getting 10Gb build into a x570 motherboard at the time. You can find 10G nic cards for less than $100 now.

true but alot of them are fake, i buy the dell branded ones and have never seen a fake so far.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, in my personal case, there's a bit more to it. Intel reliability.

Maybe it's just my "fail at system integration", but my Zen2 rig has HORRIBLE reliability, if I were to be honest about it.

Like, hard-freeze / need reboot every week or two. Sometimes, I can go 2-3 weeks without, and sometimes, two hard freezes in a week.

Granted, I run my system hard, mining on both Ryzen R5 3600 6C/12T CPU, as well as on my primary RX 5700 reference, and secondary GTX 1660 ti 'Gaming X'. Temps get, well, pretty close to redline.

Plus, even though I am water-cooling (240mm AIO from CoolerMaster), I get CPU temps at or above 85C on warm days, and when building and testing the rig, Ryzen Master showed my temps with OC or PBO or something active, at 127C for a couple of hours, after I decided that there was no temp offset being applied, and that being a Bad Thing. (I was trying an All-Core fixed-voltage OC, on a VERY stressful workload, PrimeGrid LLR.)

Also, I'm running all four sticks of RAM (DDR4-3600 Trident RGB "for AMD") @ 3600 XMP, and FCLK 1800.

Basically, my system is pushed to the brink, both temps, and overall board slot usage (2x 1TB 660p NVMe too, in RAID-9). So I'm not surprised that it's keeling over at times.

My thought was switching platforms, and keeping the RAM and GPUs, and NVMe SSDs, and seeing if the Intel platform was magically "more reliable" for my workload.

 

[Muadib]

true but alot of them are fake, i buy the dell branded ones and have never seen a fake so far.

Oh, I didn't know there were fakes. My two work well thank goodness! I put one in my pc, and one in my Unraid server, and both showed up as Intel T-540 nics. Didn't have to load drivers in either box.

 

[Shamrock]

The ASRock Taichi B550 will have Intel 2.5GB Lan

ASRock B550 Taichi

Supports AMD AM4 Socket Ryzen™ 3000, 3000 G-Series, 4000 G-Series, 5000 and 5000 G-Series Desktop Processors<span style=color:red;>*</span>; 16 Power Phase Design, Digi Power, Dr. MOS; Supports DDR4 5200+ (OC); 3 PCIe 4.0/3.0x16, 2 PCIe 3.0 x1; Graphics Output Options: HDMI, DisplayPort; AMD...

www.asrock.com

 

[UsandThem]

The ASRock Taichi B550 will have Intel 2.5GB Lan

ASRock B550 Taichi

Supports AMD AM4 Socket Ryzen™ 3000, 3000 G-Series, 4000 G-Series, 5000 and 5000 G-Series Desktop Processors<span style=color:red;>*</span>; 16 Power Phase Design, Digi Power, Dr. MOS; Supports DDR4 5200+ (OC); 3 PCIe 4.0/3.0x16, 2 PCIe 3.0 x1; Graphics Output Options: HDMI, DisplayPort; AMD...

www.asrock.com

It appears that many (it appears at least half of them) of the announced B550 motherboards will have 2.5GB LAN:

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-b550-motherboards

 

[Shamrock]

Yes, but OP specifically wanted Intel's NIC.

 

[UsandThem]

Yes, but OP specifically wanted Intel's NIC.

Ah, I missed that aspect.

 

[mxnerd]

All ASUS ROG STRIX B550 boards come with Intel I225-V 2.5Gb NIC

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yes, but OP specifically wanted Intel's NIC.

Actually, no, just that the Intel Z490 platform mobos included a 2.5Gbit NIC on most boards. The fact that some of them are actually Intel 2.5Gbit is a bonus.

 

[VirtualLarry]

All ASUS ROG STRIX B550 boards come with Intel I225-V 2.5Gb NIC

Oh, that's cool!

 

[mxnerd]

Just found this. Intel's 2.5Gbps NIC B1, B2 has some issues.

Don't know which revision (B2 or B3) you will get if you purchase a new motherboard.

Intel Foxville I225-V 2.5GbE Networking Issues Seemingly Persist - Several Z490 Motherboards Could Be Affected, New B3 Revision Expected In 2H 2020

Despite Intel's claims, the I225-V networkin chip which is featured on several Z490 motherboards still has networking issues.

wccftech.com

Intel Z490 Motherboards Plagued By I225 'Foxville' 2.5GbE NIC Reliability Woes

A leaked slide suggests upcoming Intel Z490 motherboards may have a minor performance hiccup related to the onboard 2.5Gbps Ethernet controller.

hothardware.com

Intel i225 "Foxville" 2.5GbE PHY Has a Flaw Affecting Performance, "Rocket Lake-S" 2H-2020 Production Confirmed

Intel's i225 "Foxville" family of 2.5 Gbps wired Ethernet controllers have a design flaw that affects performance, according to an official advisory sent by Intel out to its motherboard- and OEM PC partners (notebook- and pre-built desktop manufacturers). There are no security implications of...

www.techpowerup.com

Realtek actually performs better and consistently!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Wow, that's a hoot. RealTek 2.5GbE-T performs better than Intel, this time around.

I'm more concerned about the "packet loss" mentioned. I'm a firm believer that "packet loss" on a local wired LAN is a Bad Thing.

 

[mxnerd]

They ask you to set the speed at 1Gbps then the problem goes away. 😁

==

Intel CEO and engineers were too comfy in the past few years.