Server Network Interface Card ConnectX-5 MCX512A-ACUT 25GbE Dual Port SFP28 PCIe3.0 X8 Data Center Network Adapter
NVIDIA Mellanox ConnectX-5
The NVIDIA Mellanox ConnectX-5 is a 10/25/40/50/100GbE + EDR/HDR100 InfiniBand network adapter by NVIDIA Mellanox, featuring PCIe 3.0 x16 host interface, RoCE v1 & v2, RDMA over IB (EDR 100G / HDR100 100G) RDMA support, and NVMe-oF target/initiator hardware offloads. With < 0.8 μs RDMA RDMA latency, it enables zero-CPU-copy data movement for HPC, AI/ML, and storage workloads.
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Chip | ConnectX-5 |
| Speeds | 10/25/40/50/100GbE + EDR/HDR100 InfiniBand |
| Lane Config | 1×100G / 2×50G / 4×25G (QSFP28); 1×25G (SFP28); 1×100GbE HDR (QSFP28) |
| Pcie | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Rdma | RoCE v1 & v2, RDMA over IB (EDR 100G / HDR100 100G) |
| Protocols | Ethernet, InfiniBand EDR/HDR100 (VPI dual-mode) |
| Offloads | NVMe-oF target/initiator, VXLAN, SR-IOV, GPUDirect RDMA, GPUDirect Async, Advanced Switching |
| Latency | < 0.8 μs RDMA |
| Power | ≤ 30W |
Frequently Asked Questions
\What is the ConnectX-5 adapter?
The Mellanox ConnectX-5 is a dual-mode 100GbE/InfiniBand VPI adapter with RoCE v2 and IB RDMA, NVMe-oF, and GPUDirect RDMA—the most versatile adapter for mixed Ethernet+IB datacenter deployments.
Does ConnectX-5 support both Ethernet and InfiniBand?
Yes. ConnectX-5 VPI adapters can operate in Ethernet or InfiniBand mode (EDR 100G or HDR100 100G) per-port, enabling flexible deployment in mixed environments.
What is GPUDirect RDMA on ConnectX-5?
GPUDirect RDMA allows NVIDIA GPUs to read/write network data directly without CPU involvement, reducing latency to <0.8 μs and enabling peer-to-peer GPU communication for AI training.
How does ConnectX-5 compare to ConnectX-6?
ConnectX-6 adds 200GbE HDR InfiniBand, PCIe 4.0 x16, and advanced crypto/security offloads. ConnectX-5 is ideal for 100GbE deployments; ConnectX-6 for 200G/HDR interconnects.
Available at Zhongxin Data — enterprise network hardware specialists. Worldwide shipping from Hong Kong.