Intel X540-T2 Compatabilty

Printers, HDDs, USB/eSATA drives, 3rd-party programs
Post Reply
MotorN
Starting out
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 1:16 am

Intel X540-T2 Compatabilty

Post by MotorN »

Do these cards still work, if so are only genuine Intel cards compatible? I bought a couple OEM Dell cards and my TS-253D won't boot.
User avatar
rafale
Easy as a breeze
Posts: 350
Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 1:53 pm

Re: Intel X540-T2 Compatabilty

Post by rafale »

The TS-253D only has a PCIe Gen2 X4 port. How did you fit an X540-T2 which is an X8 card? If you are looking for a 10G card for cheap on PCIe Gen2 X4 look for the mellanox MCX311A.
Server: TVS-872XT i9 9900 ES, 64GB DDR4 2666MHz, intel X550-T2, Asus RTX3070 Dual OC (On pico PSU), 2x Phison E12 1TB M.2, 4x Micron 5210 7.68TB, 4x WD Purple 4TB
Backup NAS: TS-473 20GB DDR4 2400MHz, Mellanox ConnectX3, 2x Samsung PM871b 256GB M.2, 4x WD Red 8TB
Former units: TVS-1282, TS-871, TS-469
MotorN
Starting out
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 1:16 am

Re: Intel X540-T2 Compatabilty

Post by MotorN »

I assumed it would be backward compatible, the slot is open-ended and card will fit. Other have used this card in the x53Bs so it should work in the x53Ds. QTS support may have been dropped, I don't see any recent posts.
User avatar
rafale
Easy as a breeze
Posts: 350
Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 1:53 pm

Re: Intel X540-T2 Compatabilty

Post by rafale »

I wouldn't call it backward compatible. Your NAS PCIe port is not wired for 8 channels which are required for the card to work. It is that simple. The fact that it is a gen2 port actually even prevents you from using a gen3 card like the x550. It looks like the x53B had an x2 PCIe slot so not sure how that would have worked.
Compatibility for these cards just require two things:
1. The slot on the NAS needs to meet the card's requirement
2. The QNAP OS needs to have a working driver for it in the linux kernel. QNAPOS supports most Emulex, Mellanox and intel cards.
The support didn't drop, I have run an X540 card for quite some time. It was just never made to work in the x53s x2 or x4 slots.
Last edited by rafale on Tue Feb 23, 2021 11:41 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Server: TVS-872XT i9 9900 ES, 64GB DDR4 2666MHz, intel X550-T2, Asus RTX3070 Dual OC (On pico PSU), 2x Phison E12 1TB M.2, 4x Micron 5210 7.68TB, 4x WD Purple 4TB
Backup NAS: TS-473 20GB DDR4 2400MHz, Mellanox ConnectX3, 2x Samsung PM871b 256GB M.2, 4x WD Red 8TB
Former units: TVS-1282, TS-871, TS-469
MotorN
Starting out
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 1:16 am

Re: Intel X540-T2 Compatabilty

Post by MotorN »

Thanks for the replies. I guess I will give up and resell them.

Apparently the cards worked in the x53Bs back in 2017, NASCompares also stated the same in a video.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=136109&p=781048&hi ... t2#p781048
User avatar
rafale
Easy as a breeze
Posts: 350
Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 1:53 pm

Re: Intel X540-T2 Compatabilty

Post by rafale »

I see, it's really strange that it would work and I think it is a bit of an overstatement. To me it's a bit like saying that they made the wing of 747 work on a fiat punto because they managed to fit a matching bolt. It won't make the fiat punto fly...
Server: TVS-872XT i9 9900 ES, 64GB DDR4 2666MHz, intel X550-T2, Asus RTX3070 Dual OC (On pico PSU), 2x Phison E12 1TB M.2, 4x Micron 5210 7.68TB, 4x WD Purple 4TB
Backup NAS: TS-473 20GB DDR4 2400MHz, Mellanox ConnectX3, 2x Samsung PM871b 256GB M.2, 4x WD Red 8TB
Former units: TVS-1282, TS-871, TS-469
yhngroy26
New here
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2021 10:03 am

Re: Intel X540-T2 Compatabilty

Post by yhngroy26 »

rafale wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 10:02 pm I wouldn't call it backward compatible. Your NAS PCIe port is not wired for 8 channels which are required for the card to work. It is that simple. The fact that it is a gen2 port actually even prevents you from using a gen3 card like the x550. It looks like the x53B had an x2 PCIe slot so not sure how that would have worked.
Compatibility for these cards just require two things:
1. The slot on the NAS needs to meet the card's requirement
2. The QNAP OS needs to have a working driver for it in the linux kernel. QNAPOS supports most Emulex, Mellanox and intel cards.
The support didn't drop, I have run an X540 card for quite some time. It was just never made to work in the x53s x2 or x4 slots.
It does work truly that PCIE X8 card install in PCIE X4 open end slot and work properly if the driver / OS is supported properly. But it is also true that the speed would become slower.
For my case, I have tried to install Intel 82599ES 10 Gigabit lan card (PCIE Gen2 X8) into TS251D (PCIE Gen2 X4)
and work properly (with slower speed). Since Intel 82599ES 10 Gigabit lan card is compatible for Qnap NAS system up to now (maybe they will cut the support after seeing this post).
In fact, Qnap OS is based on Linux, so most of intel lan cards should be supported natively (Even you can find the driver and firmware inside NAS too). But Qnap seems not to be open for their OS.
MotorN wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 3:08 pm Thanks for the replies. I guess I will give up and resell them.

Apparently the cards worked in the x53Bs back in 2017, NASCompares also stated the same in a video.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=136109&p=781048&hi ... t2#p781048
You may send the online ticket to Qnap to push them for supporting this common lan card again.
I have also sent the online ticket to push them to support intel X710-T4 and TB3 card for my TS-H686. It is very strange that a lot of common intel lan card such as X540-T2,X710-T4 (but X710-DA4 is supported) etc are not supported by Qnap NAS system (QuTS Hero and QTS). Maybe this is their company policy that they do only want us to buy expensive lan card only in their online store.
Post Reply

Return to “Hardware & Software Compatibility”