Sonnet McFiver PCIe Card

• Multiple Functions, One Card
• Two High Performance M.2 NVMe SSD Slots
• No SSD Thermal Throttling
• One 10GBASE-T Ethernet Port
• Supports NBASE-T Ethernet Technology
• AVB-Compliant Ethernet
• Two 10Gbps USB-C Ports
• Advanced USB 3.2 Gen 2 Controller, Full 10Gbps Per Port
• Advanced USB Data Traffic Management
• Powered USB Ports
• Protected USB Power Delivery
• Great for Use in Thunderbolt Expansion Systems

Sonnet McFiver PCIe Card

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

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.

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 of all that the McFiver has to offer with any compatible Mac (M1/M2, M1/M2 Pro, M1/M2 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.

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 3500 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.*

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 cFiver 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.

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.

Broad USB Device Support

The McFiver PCIe Card offers hot-pluggable and hot-swappable device connection support with automatic device configuration, and works with all USB-IF compliant USB peripherals.

*Internal SSD performance will vary based on the type and number of SSDs used, plus the host computer's CPU speed

SPECS

Mac Compatibility

• Mac Pro 14,8 (2023)
  macOS 13 - macOS 14
  macOS Sonoma compatible
• Mac Pro 7,1 (2019)(1)
  macOS 12(1)
• Thunderbolt Expansion System
  macOS 12 - macOS 14
  macOS Sonoma compatible
• Some SSDs are not currently compatible with macOS. See M.2 NVMe SSDs Compatibility PDF.

Windows Compatibility

• Windows computer with an available x8 PCIe slot
• Windows 11 and 10
• Windows Server 2022 and 2019

Linux Compatibility

• Linux computer with an available x8 PCIe slot
• Linux Kernel 5.4+

Thunderbolt Expansion System Compatibility

• PCIe card installed in a Thunderbolt Expansion System with an available x8 PCIe slot
• Any Mac, Windows, or Linux computer with Thunderbolt ports

M.2 NVMe SSDs Compatibility(2)

• For a list of compatible M.2 NVMe SSDs, see the following PDF

Warranty

• 2-year

Form Factor

• Full-height, half-length+ (7.25 in.), 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
  For a list of supported SSDs, see M.2 NVMe SSDs Compatibility PDF
• 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

Technical Notes

1. macOS 13, 14, and 15 do not currently support NVMe SSDs installed in a PCIe slot of the Mac Pro 7,1 (2019). Sonnet is working with Apple to resolve the issue.
2. You may install one SSDs now and add another later without needing to reformat the existing one. This product’s performance will vary based on the type and number of SSDs used, the CPU speed, and the PCIe architecture.
3. 2.5Gb/s and 5Gb/s speeds are supported when used with NBASE-T compatible (multi-Gigabit) switches.