Quad pcie nic on any motherboard that isnt Dell

[H3M4NZ]

Ok, let me first apologise for 2 things - firstly for potentially the length of this post and secondly if you look at my stats and you see all I do on the forum is ask questions...

So let me start from the beginning. I have a RAID carrd in my main server that hosts plex with 8x4TBdrives in it - running in RAID5. I have recently bought 8 more 4TB drives and an identical RAID card that is also in RAID5 to mirror my original plex server to ensure I dont lose any of my valuable home movies...

Basically I need to transfer files between these two servers (desktops one running windows 7 and the other server 2k12) once a week to keep up with a decent backup plan so I have purchased 2 broadcom 95719 quad nics. I have tried installing them (I am a Data centre engineer so somewhat understand networking) so the whole "mirroring process" can be completed at a much quicker rate.

However as soon as I put either of the PCIE quad nics into either rmachine the "Server/PC" fails to even POST.

Due to my role as a DC engineer I have a Dell PC at home courtesy of work and I have tried both PCIE quad nics in this and they both work just fine.

I will admit it isnt the end of the world that my transfer speeds will never increase but seeing as I have already spent the money it would be nice.

I dont think specs are too relevant as I have done many hours of research prior to posting this but here they are anyway

Main Plex server
CPU - i5 - 4690k (yes I know its overkill - its what I had left over from a previous build)
Mobo - Gigabyte Z97x-sli-cf
RAM - 16GB of stuff that works (Kingston I think)
Windows 7 running plex and various apps that help me download my home videos from the internet.

Backup server
CPU - Pentium G3258 Haswell
Mobo - Gigabyte z87x-sli
RAM - 8GB Kingston value
windows server 2k12 running a backup program and a backup plex instance.

I have also tried one of the quad nics in my main rig which also didnt work

Any help at all would be very much appreciated as I would be down a lot of money if I cant get this sorted - no refund

Thanks guys!

 

[FTLN]

Hello H3M4NZ,

Firstly, I highly suspect these have been pulled from some old Dell servers, do they have the Dell sticker on them ?

I brought a couple of these home from work once and my asrock esxi board and asus Z77 board also failed to post with these cards.

Found out later that these only like to run on server class boards running ECC Ram.

I ended up sticking them on ebay (sold for about 25euros each) and bought myself some intel pci-e quad port cards that had been pulled from retired netapp servers. They can be picked up for around 25 euros on ebay :

Never had an issue with the intel cards failing to post unlike the broadcom chips that only seem to like running with ECC ram.

Also I have seen up to 350 MB/S transfer speeds over the 4 nics using SMB 2.0 feature in windows server 2016.

You can pick up an intel card like mine for around 25 quid http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-PRO-1000-PT-Quad-Port-PCI-E-Gigabit-Server-Adapter-EXPI9404PT/141960768515?_trksid=p2045573.c100507.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D38052%26meid%3D89bc671a0add486f8f06ef9fa4345bf7%26pid%3D100507%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26

Make sure you have a fan blowing straight on them, as they get very very toasty !!

 

[H3M4NZ]

@FTLN

Jebus man its like you know me! Yes these were pulled from "Old" Dell servers but have since found a semi - solution for the issue - however have killed a mobo in the process.

The issue as far as I understand was that because they are enterprise grade nics (I have 2 broadcom and 1 intel i305 t) they tell the BIOS that they need to boot first and because they arent compatible booting with "normal" grade stuff the bios s its pants and doesnt POST.

The post I've found on TOMs hardware says there are 2 ways to do it hot plugging the iquad nic and rebooting and editing the firmware - guess which i knew would blow something and eventually did. Clue: the cards stillw work on my Dell machine.

FFS hope overclockers do me a solid and provide a 3 year warranty on my Z87xSLI

Cheers for the response though mate - I have been doing nothing but Google for the last week and this really did help!

Ben