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PCIe slots and adapters

Understanding the technical rules for PCIe adapters helps you correctly install and configure PCIe adapters in the system.

PCIe adapters supported for different models​

Table 1. PCIe adapters supported and locations
Server rear and front viewSupported types and slot location


Riser 1 assembly

  • 1 Slot 1: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), low-profile

  • 2 Slot 2: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), low-profile

Riser 2 assembly

  • 3 Slot 3: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), low-profile



Riser 1 assembly

  • 1 Slot 1: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), low-profile

  • 2 Slot 2: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), full-height

Note
One rear wall bracket must be installed next to the two PCIe slots.


Riser 1 assembly

  • 1 Slot 1: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), low-profile

  • 2 Slot 2: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), low-profile



Riser 1 assembly

  • 1 Slot 1: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), low-profile



Riser 1 assembly

  • 1 Slot 1: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), low-profile

Riser 2 assembly

  • 2 Slot 3: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), full-height



Riser 1 assembly

  • 1 Slot 1: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), low-profile

Riser 2 assembly

  • 2 Slot 3: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), low-profile



Riser 3 assembly

  • 1 Slot 4: PCIe x16, low-profile, 25W1

    1. Slot 4: PCIe x16 (x8, x4, x1)2

    2. Slot 4: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1)2

Riser 4 assembly

  • 2 Slot 5: PCIe x16 (x16, x8, x4, x1), full-height

Note

  1. The thermal design power of PCIe adapters this slot supports is limited to 25W or lower.

  2. Slot 4 has different bandwidth caps. Use the table below for guidance.
    Table 2. Bandwidth difference on slot 4
    Bandwidth supportedConfigurationBackplane
    x8, x4, x1

    4 x 2.5'' AnyBay front drives

    		4 x 2.5'' Gen 5 AnyBay backplane
    x16, x8, x4, x1

    4 x 2.5'' AnyBay front drives (Tri-mode)

    4 x 2.5'' NVMe front drives

To locate the PCIe slots, see Rear view.

PCIe adapter installation rules and order​

When installing different types of PCIe adapters, refer to the following suggested installation priority:

Table 3. Recommended installation priority for different types of PCIe adapters
Installation priority
1. OCP module7. InfiniBand adapter
2. Custom form factor (CFF) internal HBA/RAID adapter8. Fiber channel adapter
3. Standard form factor (SFF) RAID adapter9. Network adapter
4. SFF internal HBA adapter10. NVMe PCIe flash adapter
5. Re-timer adapter11. External storage controller
6. GPU adapter12. COM port bracket

When installing a specific PCIe adapter, refer to the following suggested slot installation priority:

Table 4. Recommended slot installation priority for PCIe adapters
Recommended slot installation priorityPCIe adapters
Slot 1

  • SFF HBA/RAID adapter

  • ThinkSystem x16 Gen 4.0 Re-timer adapter (for 4 x NVMe)

  • ThinkSystem x16 Gen 5.0 Re-timer adapter

Note
The RAID/HBA 4350/5350/9350-8i adapters are supported only in the server configuration with 4 x 3.5-inch SAS/SATA front bays or 8 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA front drive bays.
Slot 2 (configured as a full-height slot)

  • ThinkSystem Broadcom 57504 10/25GbE SFP28 4-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Intel E810-DA4 10/25GbE SFP28 4-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

Note
Both Broadcom 57504 PCIe Ethernet adapter and Intel E810-DA4 PCIe Ethernet adapter can be installed to slot 2 or slot 3.
Slot 1 > Slot 3 > Slot 2

  • ThinkSystem Mellanox ConnectX-6 HDR100 IB/100GbE VPI 1-port x16 PCIe 3.0 HCA

  • ThinkSystem Mellanox ConnectX-6 HDR100 IB/100GbE VPI 2-port x16 PCIe 3.0 HCA

  • ThinkSystem Mellanox ConnectX-6 Dx 100GbE QSFP56 2-port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

  • ThinkSystem NVIDIA ConnectX-7 NDR400 OSFP 1-port PCIe Gen5 Adapter

  • ThinkSystem NVIDIA ConnectX-7 NDR200/HDR QSFP112 2-port PCIe Gen5 x16 InfiniBand Adapter

  • ThinkSystem NVIDIA A2 16GB PCIe Gen4 Passive GPU

  • ThinkSystem NVIDIA A2 16GB PCIe Gen4 Passive GPU w/o CEC

Slot 2 > Slot 3

A COM port upgrade kit needs to be installed in slot 2 or 3 as a normal PCIe adapter. In this case, a riser and a bracket are needed.

Slot 1 > Slot 2 > Slot 3
  • For Mellanox ConnectX-6 HDR IB/200GbE Single Port x16 PCIe Adapter, refer to the following slot priority depending on the quantity of adapters to be installed:

    • Two adapters: slot 1, slot 3 or slot 2, slot 3

    • Three adapters: slot 1, slot 2, slot 3

  • ThinkSystem AMD X3522 10/25GbE DSFP28 2-port PCIe Ethernet Adapter is only supported in slot 1, 2 and 3.

Slot 5 > Slot 4 > Slot 1 > Slot 2 > Slot 3

Maximum quantity supported: 5

  • ThinkSystem 440-16e SAS/SATA 12Gb HBA

  • ThinkSystem 440-8e SAS/SATA PCIe Gen4 12Gb HBA

  • ThinkSystem RAID 940-8e 4GB Flash PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapter

  • ThinkSystem QLogic 16Gb Enhanced Gen5 FC Single-port HBA

  • ThinkSystem Emulex 16Gb Gen6 FC Single-port HBA

  • ThinkSystem QLogic 16Gb Enhanced Gen5 FC Dual-port HBA

  • ThinkSystem Emulex 16Gb Gen6 FC Dual-port HBA

  • ThinkSystem Emulex LPe35000 32Gb 1-port PCIe Fibre Channel Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Emulex LPe35002 32Gb 2-port PCIe Fibre Channel Adapter

  • ThinkSystem QLogic QLE2770 32Gb 1-Port PCIe Fibre Channel Adapter

  • ThinkSystem QLogic QLE2772 32Gb 2-Port PCIe Fibre Channel Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Emulex LPe36002 64Gb 2-port PCIe Fibre Channel Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Broadcom NetXtreme PCIe 1Gb 4-Port RJ45 Ethernet Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Intel I350-T4 PCIe 1Gb 4-Port RJ45 Ethernet Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Intel X710-T4L 10GBase-T 4-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Broadcom 57414 10/25GbE SFP28 2-port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Intel X710-T2L 10GBase-T 2-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Broadcom 57454 10GBASE-T 4-port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Intel E810-DA2 10/25GbE SFP28 2-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Broadcom 57416 10GBASE-T 2-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Solarflare X2522-Plus 10/25GbE SFP28 2-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

Slot 5 > Slot 1 > Slot 2 > Slot 3

Maximum quantity supported: 4

  • ThinkSystem Broadcom 57508 100GbE QSFP56 2-port PCIe 4 Ethernet Adapter

Slot 5 > Slot 1 > Slot 3 > Slot 2

Maximum quantity supported: 4

Maximum GPU quantity supported: 3

  • Mellanox ConnectX-6 HDR100 IB/100GbE VPI 1-port x16 PCIe 3.0 HCA w/ Tall Bracket

  • Mellanox ConnectX-6 HDR100 IB/100GbE VPI 2-port x16 PCIe 3.0 HCA w/ Tall Bracket

  • ThinkSystem NVIDIA ConnectX-7 NDR400 OSFP 1-port PCIe Gen5 Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Nvidia ConnectX-7 NDR200/HDR QSFP112 2-port PCIe Gen5 x16 InfiniBand Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Mellanox ConnectX-6 Dx 100GbE QSFP56 2-port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

  • ThinkSystem NVIDIA A2 16GB PCIe Gen4 Passive GPU

  • ThinkSystem NVIDIA A2 16GB PCIe Gen4 Passive GPU w/o CEC

  • ThinkSystem NVIDIA L4 24GB PCIe Gen4 Passive GPU

Slot 5 > Slot 2 or Slot 5 > Slot 3

Maximum quantity supported: 2

  • ThinkSystem Intel E810-DA4 10/25GbE SFP28 4-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

  • ThinkSystem Broadcom 57504 10/25GbE SFP28 4-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

Note

The RAID 940-8i or RAID 940-16i adapter supports Tri-mode. When Tri-mode is enabled, the server supports SAS, SATA and U.3 NVMe drives at the same time. NVMe drives are connected via a PCIe x1 link to the controller.

To support Tri-mode with U.3 NVMe drives, U.3 x1 mode must be enabled for the selected drive slots on the backplane through the XCC Web GUI. Otherwise, the U.3 NVMe drives cannot be detected. For more information, see U.3 NVMe drive can be detected in NVMe connection, but cannot be detected in Tri-mode.

The virtual RAID on CPU (VROC) key and Tri-mode are not supported at the same time.

Gen 4 and 5 riser cards support Gen 4 or 5 PCIe adapters except for re-timer adapters. When Gen 5 PCIe adapters are installed, the maximum speed will be limited to Gen 4 speed by UEFI firmware.

Note

  1. PCIe adapters that can be installed to the slot 2 of LP-FH riser bracket only:

    • Lenovo ThinkSystem NetXtreme PCIe 1Gb 4-Port RJ45 Ethernet Adapter

    • Lenovo ThinkSystem I350-T4 PCIe 1Gb 4-Port RJ45 Ethernet Adapter

    • ThinkSystem Broadcom 57454 10GBASE-T 4-port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

    • ThinkSystem Intel X710-T4L 10GBase-T 4-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

  2. PCIe adapters that can be installed to FH riser bracket only:

    • ThinkSystem Broadcom 57504 10/25GbE SFP28 4-port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

    • ThinkSystem Intel E810-DA4 10/25GbE SFP28 4-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter