Chapter 3. IBM System x3850 X5 and x3950 X5 103
3.11 PCIe slots
The x3850 X5 has a total of seven PCI Express (PCIe) slots. Slot 7 holds the Emulex 10Gb
Ethernet Adapter that is standard in most models (see 3.3, “Models” on page 64). We
describe the Emulex 10Gb Ethernet Adapter in 3.12.1, “Standard Emulex 10Gb Ethernet
Adapter” on page 104.
The RAID card that is used in the x3850 X5 to control 2.5-inch SAS disks has a dedicated slot
behind the disk cage and does not consume one of the seven available PCIe slots. For further
details about supported RAID cards, see 3.9.4, “SAS and SSD controllers” on page 96.
Table 3-30 lists the PCIe slots.
Table 3-30 PCI Express slots
All slots are PCI Express 2.0, full height, and not hot-swap. PCI Express 2.0 has several
improvements over PCI Express 1.1 (as implemented in the x3850 M2). The chief benefit is
the enhanced throughput. PCI Express 2.0 is rated for 500 MBps per lane (5 Gbps per lane);
PCI Express 1.1 is rated for 250 MBps per lane (2.5 Gbps per lane).
Note the following information about the slots:
Slot 1 can accommodate a double-wide x16 card, but access to slot 2 is then blocked.
Slot 2 is described as
x4 (x8 mechanical). This host interface is sometimes shown as x4
(x8) and means that the slot is only capable of x4 speed, but is physically large enough to
accommodate an x8 card. Any x8-rated card physically fits in the slot, but it runs at only x4
speed. Do not add RAID cards to this slot, because RAID cards in this slot cause
bottlenecks and possible crashes.
Slot 7 has been extended in length to 106 pins, making it a nonstandard connector. It still
accepts PCI Express x8, x4, and x1 standard adapters. It is the only slot that is compatible
with the extended edge connector on the Emulex 10Gb Ethernet Adapter, which is
standard with most models.
46M0902 4163 IBM UltraSlim Enhanced SATA Multi-Burner
Part number Feature code Description
Slot Host interface Length
1 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Full length
2 PCI Express 2.0 x4 (x8 mechanical) Full length
3 PCI Express 2.0 x8 Full length
4 PCI Express 2.0 x8 Full length
5 PCI Express 2.0 x8 Half length
6 PCI Express 2.0 x8 Half length
7 PCI Express 2.0 x8 Half length (Emulex 10Gb Ethernet Adapter)
Dedicated PCI Express 2.0 x8 Dedicated RAID controller side slot
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