McFiver PCIe Card

Multifunction Adapter Card with Dual M.2 NVMe SSD Slots, 10Gb Ethernet, and Two 10Gbps USB-C Ports

compatible with Mac® | Windows® | Linux®

PROFESSIONAL MULTIFUNCTION PCIe CARD

Multiple Functions.

High Performer at Each One.

Only multifunction PCIe adapter card with M.2 NVMe storage, 10Gb Ethernet, and 10Gbps USB-C connectivity

Are you looking to add SSD storage, ultra-high-speed Ethernet connectivity, or high-performance USB-C® ports to your setup? Or all three? Even in computers with multiple expansion card slots, installing three adapter cards to get the interfaces you need may not be feasible. Sonnet’s engineers designed a truly unique solution — the McFiver™ PCIe® Card. Mac, Windows, and Linux compatible, this professional, multifunction adapter includes five interfaces — this is the only adapter card to feature dual M.2 NVMe SSD slots, one RJ45 10Gb Ethernet port, and two 10Gbps USB-C ports, fitting them all on a standard full-height PCIe card.

Two M.2 NVMe Slots

Add up to 16TB of storage with your own high performance M.2 NVMe SSDs

One 10GBASE-T 10GbE Port

RJ45 port connects your computer to 10GbE infrastructure via inexpensive copper cabling

Two 10Gbps USB-C Ports

Adds two USB-C ports with full 10Gbps bandwidth per port

One PCIe x8 Slot is all You Need

Install the McFiver PCIe Card into an available x8 PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 slot to obtain maximum performance in your computer. No PCIe card slots in your computer, but Thunderbolt ports outside? The McFiver provides great performance, a lot of connectivity, and is ideal for use in an Echo™ Thunderbolt™ to PCIe card expansion system with an available full-height x8 card slot. The combo enables you to take advantage or all that the McFiver has to offer with any compatible Mac (M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, Intel®), Windows, or Linux computer with Thunderbolt ports.

Dual M.2 NVMe SSD Slots

Add Up to 16TB of SSD Storage

McFiver PCIe Card provides mass SSD storage capability on a PCIe card. Dual M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD slots support up to 16TB internal high performance storage expansion (SSDs sold separately), enabling you to save and access your data fast, and effortlessly store large files and media libraries.

Super High-Speed Data Transfers

If super high-speed data transfers are critical to your work, you need an NVMe SSD-based upgrade. Installed on the McFiver PCIe Card, a single NVMe PCIe SSD can deliver tremendous performance — up to 3400 MB/s read and write sustained data transfers — but the McFiver enables you to mount two of them. Formatted as a RAID 0 set, two SSDs can achieve sustained transfers up to 6600 MB/s read and write. No matter how you use it, you’ll love the speed.

Silent SSD Cooling

No Thermal Throttling. No Slowdowns. SSDs heat up significantly when performing very large file transfers and will protect themselves from overheating by “thermal throttling” — a feature that drastically cuts SSDs’ performance while allowing them to cool. The McFiver PCIe Card’s silent SSD cooling solution works to eliminate the need for thermal throttling and enables your SSDs to always maintain their highest performance.

SSD SMART

Installing your M.2 SSDs on the McFiver PCIe Card is a simple task, and the card uses your computer’s operating system’s built-in drive utilities to format them. SSD health monitoring is supported through S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) data reporting. Are you a Mac user? You can install macOS® on one SSD to create a very fast boot volume, and then use the other installed SSD for file storage; as a super-fast plug-in, media storage, or scratch disk; or for Time Machine® backups.

10Gb Ethernet Port

Blazing-Fast 10GBASE-T Connectivity

The increasing demand for wired network bandwidth has pushed 10Gb Ethernet (10GbE) into the mainstream. It’s not just for use in software development, postproduction, and shared storage workflows where speed is critical — there’s increasing need for it in workflows of all kinds and businesses of all sizes. Very affordable 10GbE switches have reduced the cost of upgrading, but many computers don’t natively support 10GbE — the McFiver PCIe Card can get you connected. The McFiver is equipped with one RJ45 port that enables you to connect your computer to 10GbE infrastructure via Cat 6A cabling at up to 100 meters.

Multi-Gigabit Ethernet Support for Faster Transfers Across Existing Cabling

If your facility already has Cat 5e wiring installed, you can still get an amazing performance gain — from 250 to 500 percent over Gigabit Ethernet speed — without rewiring! The McFiver PCIe Card supports the NBASE-T™ industry-standard (multi-Gigabit Ethernet) of 2.5Gb and 5Gb link speeds to enable greater than Gigabit Ethernet speed over Cat 5e (or better) cabling when used with a multi-Gigabit compatible switch or router. You can utilize the same adapter card across your organization for users supported by different Ethernet cabling infrastructures to obtain the best possible performance.

Two 10Gbps USB 3.2 Type-C Ports

High Performance USB 3.2 Gen 2 Controller

10Gbps USB 3.2 controller can concurrently deliver full 10Gbps bandwidth through both ports.

10Gbps USB Performance Bliss

The fastest USB 3.2 Gen 2 drives available — equipped with NVMe SSDs — can transfer data at incredible speeds. Can your computer support their full performance? Upgrading your workflow with Sonnet’s McFiver PCIe Card ensures 10Gbps USB SSDs can operate at their peak performance.

High Speed Simultaneous Transfers

Many multi-port USB cards split their USB controller’s total bandwidth between all their ports, which limits performance when two or more devices are connected and operating. The McFiver PCIe Card features an advanced USB 3.2 Gen 2 controller that delivers full 10Gbps bandwidth per port and implements advanced data traffic management to eliminate bandwidth congestion. When installed in a computer’s PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 slot, the McFiver PCIe Card supports two simultaneous 10Gbps transfers, enabling it to transfer data from two drives to the computer (and from drive to drive) at maximum speeds of 1000 MB/s per drive.

Sonnet Port Power Advantages

Sonnet designed the McFiver PCIe Card with a focus on intelligent power delivery and management for attached SSDs powered through its ports — unlike ordinary USB adapter cards designed without attention to detail.

Thunderbolt PCIe Expansion System Compatibility(1)

• Mac computer with Thunderbolt ports via a Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 2 to PCIe card expansion system with available x8 PCIe card slot.
• Windows 10 computer with Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 3 ports via a Thunderbolt 3 to PCIe card expansion system with available x8 PCIe card slot. Windows 11 is not currently supported. We are working with Microsoft to resolve the issue.
• Linux computer with Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 3 ports via a Thunderbolt 3 to PCIe card expansion system with available x8 PCIe card slot.

Hardware

Form Factor

• Full-height x8 PCIe card

Bus Interface

• PCI Express 3.0 x8

M.2 SSD Sockets Specifications

• Internal Connectors
  Two M-keyed (NVMe) M.2 slots
  
• SSDs Supported(2)
  M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe SSDs

macOS Boot Support

• Only from a single SSD (not RAIDed)
• Mac Pro 7,1
• Any Thunderbolt Mac

Windows/Linux Boot Support

• No

RAID Support

• macOS, Windows, Linux
• RAID 0 or 1

NVMe Support

• Yes

S.M.A.R.T. Status Data Reporting Support

• Yes

10Gb Ethernet Port Specifications

External Connectors

• One RJ45 port

10GbE Controller

• Marvell AQC113S

Network Support

• 10GBASE-T (100 meters using Cat 6A cabling; 55 meters using Cat 6 cabling)
• 5GBASE-T(3), 2.5GBASE-T(3),1000BASE-T (100 meters using Cat5e [or better] cabling)

Packets

• Maximum packet size: 16352 bytes (jumbo frames); 9000 bytes under macOS

Data Rates Supported

• 10 Gb/s, 5 Gb/s, 2.5 Gb/s, 1 Gb/s, 100 Mb/s

Advanced Features

• Flow control support
• MSI (Message Signaled Interrupts)
• RSS (Receive-Side Scaling)
• Interrupt coalescing
• Multicast filtering
• Energy-Efficient Ethernet (IEEE 802.3az)
• 64-bit address support for systems using more than 4GB of physical memory
• Wake-on-LAN support

Stateless Offloads

• TCP, UDP, and IPv4 checksum offloading
• TSO (TCP Segmentation Offload, AKA Large Send Offload)
• LRO (Large Receive Offload)
• RSS (Receiver Side Scaling)

USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 Ports Specifications

Peripherals Supported

• Industry standard USB 3.2 Gen 1, Gen 2 and 2x2; USB 3.1 Gen 1 and 2; USB 3.0, 2.0 and 1.1
• Thunderbolt-only peripherals are NOT supported

Bus-Powered Peripherals Supported

• HD, SSD, SSD RAID, etc.
• 7.5W (5V @ 1.5A) per port advertised using USB Type-C Charging

Cables Supported

• USB-C (10Gbps)
• USB4
• Thunderbolt 4
• Thunderbolt 3 (≤ 0.8 meter)

USB 3 Chipset

• ASMedia 3142

USB Standard

• Complies with OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface), EHCI (Enhanced Host Controller Interface), and xHCI (eXtensible Host Controller Interface) standards

UASP

• USB attached SCSI protocol supported under macOS 12+, Windows 11 and 10

Hot Plug

• Supports hot-pluggable and hot swappable device connection

Boot Support

• Booting not supported via devices attached to USB-C ports

Operating Temperatures

0ºC to 35ºC (32ºF to 95ºF)

Compliance

• RoHS 3 (Directive 2015/863)
• IEC62368-1 and IEC62368-2 Safety

Package Contents

• McFiver PCIe Card
• Documentation