I don't really understand the target market for this. Considering this is TB compatible, that to me suggests this is for a workstation, but there are far cheaper options that can achieve the same result.

It's a lot cheaper than sticking various HDDs and SSDs inside the workstation, and at that speed, it can access huge remote data pretty much at the same speed as if it was local.

why are all these type of cards in PCIe 3? this is one area where PCIe 4 or 5 would be highly advantageous, yet network adapters are always one or 2 generations behind.

LimitbreakOr:

why are all these type of cards in PCIe 3? this is one area where PCIe 4 or 5 would be highly advantageous, yet network adapters are always one or 2 generations behind.

PCI-E 4, sure, 5, not so much PCI-Express 4 4x can support up to 64Gb, and this card can only do a max of 50Gb. So i could see PCI-Express 4 4x, just not even remotely needed PCI-E 5, except to increase the cost Considering this card can do 8x 3.0, and anyone who would need 50Gb total speed all the time would surely put it in a 8x slot, which also has 64Gb bandwidth, i'd say they did it to cut costs, or the chip they are using hasn't been designed around PCI-E 4, which would lead into costs still.

Aura89:

PCI-E 4, sure, 5, not so much PCI-Express 4 4x can support up to 64Gb, and this card can only do a max of 50Gb. So i could see PCI-Express 4 4x, just not even remotely needed PCI-E 5, except to increase the cost Considering this card can do 8x 3.0, and anyone who would need 50Gb total speed all the time would surely put it in a 8x slot, which also has 64Gb bandwidth, i'd say they did it to cut costs, or the chip they are using hasn't been designed around PCI-E 4, which would lead into costs still.

Problem is that pcie 3 8x leaves out most mainstream boards but pcie4 4x is very common. Its just too bad that these type of cards are so slow to evolve.

LimitbreakOr:

Problem is that pcie 3 8x leaves out most mainstream boards but pcie4 4x is very common. Its just too bad that these type of cards are so slow to evolve.

I could be speaking out of where the sun don't shine, but i don't recall seeing many PCI-E 4x slots. Lots of 1x slots, and 16x slots, and 16x slots with only 8x wired, but not many 4x slots. And ofcourse there are some 16x slots wired at 4x as well, which i understand. To be fair, i don't think i've ever seen (in person, i have seen them exist) an 8x slot, but there is generally plenty of 16x slots wired at 8x slots. Most PCs that need this wouldn't need a dedicated GPU, and would likely have at least 1 16x slot, likely wired at 16x, and often will have 2 16x slots, with one at 8x I'm not saying that there are absolutely no cases where this card in PCI-Express 3.0 wouldn't be ideal, but i do very much think that the likelihood is, well, unlikely. And if you're buying a $500 network card i'd also wonder why you'd be getting a sub $100 motherboard that can't take advantage of your $500 network card lol Ultimately, i'm not saying what you're saying is wrong, there is a case to be had there, but from a business standpoint, if i was this company, if it increases cost to add PCI-Express 4, when i might lose 1 sale in thousands if i stay with PCI-E 3, vs increase price increases lost sales due to price, but hey i got that one sale, i'm going to let that one sale go every time lol

Aura89:

I could be speaking out of where the sun don't shine, but i don't recall seeing many PCI-E 4x slots. Lots of 1x slots, and 16x slots, and 16x slots with only 8x wired, but not many 4x slots. And ofcourse there are some 16x slots wired at 4x as well, which i understand. To be fair, i don't think i've ever seen (in person, i have seen them exist) an 8x slot, but there is generally plenty of 16x slots wired at 8x slots. Most PCs that need this wouldn't need a dedicated GPU, and would likely have at least 1 16x slot, likely wired at 16x, and often will have 2 16x slots, with one at 8x I'm not saying that there are absolutely no cases where this card in PCI-Express 3.0 wouldn't be ideal, but i do very much think that the likelihood is, well, unlikely. And if you're buying a $500 network card i'd also wonder why you'd be getting a sub $100 motherboard that can't take advantage of your $500 network card lol Ultimately, i'm not saying what you're saying is wrong, there is a case to be had there, but from a business standpoint, if i was this company, if it increases cost to add PCI-Express 4, when i might lose 1 sale in thousands if i stay with PCI-E 3, vs increase price increases lost sales due to price, but hey i got that one sale, i'm going to let that one sale go every time lol

you're probably right but i've seen many x570 boards with a 16x slot but 4x wired like mine. I will eventually retire this board and throw it in a rackmount case to use as a plex server to upgrade from the x99 board i am currently using. Back when it made sense buying a workstation board like x99 this would not be an issue, if i remember correctly that particular generation had 40x pcie3 lanes in total. In any case, its fine for me for now as 20gbe aggregate would be more than enough and i can get those in pcie3 4x. I am particularly annoyed because i had to put a waterblock on my 4090 as it was blocking 4 pci slots which covered my 16slot 4x lane that i used for my dual 10g nic (intel 520). I looked to see if i can find a 1x 10g nic with pcie4 but they simply don't exist yet (at least not at a reasonable price).

wavetrex:

It's a lot cheaper than sticking various HDDs and SSDs inside the workstation, and at that speed, it can access huge remote data pretty much at the same speed as if it was local.

But it's not as cheap as other 25Gbps NICs, hence my confusion.