The Intel X550 is a RJ45 10GbE adapter from Intel, on PCIe 3.0 x4 / x8, using the ixgbe driver that ships in the mainline Linux kernel. It is not marked end-of-life by its maker. 4 listings in stock, from $85.49.
Prices updated · live figures update every 4-5 hours
Both kinds of listing are in stock for this card right now. The cheapest Intel card is $127.01; the cheapest third-party board asserting the same silicon is $85.49, a 33% differencechipset attribution is the seller's. Which is right for you is a judgement about how much the maker's own board is worth to you, not a question we can answer from a listing.
The X550 is the newer 10GBASE-T card from Intel and the one to buy if you need copper 10GbE and the price gap to the X540 is modest. It moves to PCIe 3.0, which lets it do the same work in fewer lanes - useful in a machine where the spare slot is a narrow one.
It is the same architectural bargain as the X540: you get to use the RJ45 cabling already in your building, and you pay for it in power and heat relative to an SFP+ direct-attach link. That relationship is documented and it does not go away with the newer generation, though the newer silicon is generally the better-behaved of the two.
In our tables the X550 shows the tier split clearly - Intel-branded listings sit above third-party boards asserting the same controller, and the gap is consistent rather than occasional. As everywhere in this category, the chipset attribution on those cheaper boards is the seller's claim and we badge it as such.
If you are choosing between this and an SFP+ card for a build where both would work, the SFP+ path with a direct-attach cable is cheaper and cooler. The X550 is the right answer specifically when the run has to be RJ45.
One detail that catches people configuring these cards: 10GBASE-T negotiates its speed with whatever is at the other end, so an X550 connected to a 1GbE switch will quietly run at 1GbE and give no indication that anything is wrong. If you have installed the card and seen no change, confirm what speed the link actually negotiated before assuming the card or the cable is at fault - it is far more often the device at the far end, which has to support 10GbE too. The same applies to the multi-gigabit intermediate rates: a link that falls back to 2.5GbE or 5GbE is behaving correctly according to the standard, and the cabling is the usual reason it chose to.
The X550 uses ixgbe in the mainline Linux kernel, the same driver as the X520 and X540. That matters more than any marketing claim, because a card whose driver is in the mainline kernel is a card your Linux-based NAS or hypervisor recognises without you doing anything.
We state in-kernel driver names as documented facts because they are - they come from the kernel's own driver documentation, not from a forum thread reporting that something worked. Where community experience is the only evidence available for something, we say so rather than dressing it up.
This card is not marked end-of-life by its maker, which is the main practical argument for it over the older generation in the same interface family.
Windows support is a separate question from Linux support and varies by card age. Check the maker's current driver page for your specific part number before buying if Windows is the target, because an in-kernel Linux driver tells you nothing about it.
OEM-branded X550 cards are common in retired servers. As with the X540, RJ45 cards avoid the transceiver question entirely.
The general shape of the crossflash question is the same across every card in this category: an OEM board carries the server maker's firmware, that firmware sometimes behaves differently from the silicon vendor's, and there is a community practice of replacing it. We link the maintained community documentation rather than reproducing the procedure here. A stale copy of a flashing guide is actively dangerous, and the people who maintain the canonical versions do so because the details change.
If you are buying an OEM-branded card specifically because it is cheaper, factor in the possibility that you will need to do this. If that prospect does not appeal, the vendor-branded card at a higher price is buying you the absence of that job.
This is an RJ45 card, so it takes an ordinary Ethernet patch lead and the entire transceiver compatibility question does not arise. No modules, no vendor coding, no seller compatibility claims to evaluate.
What you get instead is the cabling specification question. 10GBASE-T's supported reach depends on the cable: Cat6a carries the full standard distance, Cat6 carries less, and Cat5e may work over short runs with the only reliable test being the actual run in your actual walls. If you are pulling new cable, pull Cat6a.
And you get the heat. 10GBASE-T draws more power per port and runs warmer than SFP+ direct attach - a documented product-level characteristic of the standard. In a server chassis with directed airflow this never comes up. In a quiet desktop case it is worth planning for. We publish no wattage figure because we have not fetched a source we can cite for one, and a number you cannot check is not worth printing.
The 10GbE hub compares every card we track and covers the SFP+ versus 10GBASE-T decision · the two-machine build prices two of these plus a cable, with no switch · used servers almost always have a spare PCIe slot for one · NAS devices is usually what sits at the other end.
Usually yes if the gap is small - it is newer silicon on PCIe 3.0, so it needs fewer lanes for the same work, which matters if your spare slot is narrow. Both use the same ixgbe driver and both do 10GBASE-T. Compare the live prices above, because the older card is not always cheaper by a meaningful amount.
The newer silicon is generally better behaved, but the underlying relationship is unchanged: 10GBASE-T draws more power and runs hotter than SFP+ direct attach. Plan for airflow either way. We do not publish per-port wattage because we have not sourced a citable figure for it.
Ordinary RJ45 twisted pair. Cat6a supports the full 10GBASE-T distance; Cat6 supports less; Cat5e may work over short runs and the only way to know for a specific run is to test it. If you are pulling new cable, pull Cat6a.
ixgbe, in the mainline Linux kernel - the same driver as the X520 and X540, which is why Intel's 10GbE range has such consistent support on Linux-based platforms.
If the two machines are near each other, an SFP+ card with a direct-attach copper cable is cheaper and cooler and is the better build. The X550 is the right answer when the link has to run over RJ45 structured cabling you are not going to replace.
Third-party makers build boards around Intel controllers and price them below the first-party card. Whether a given board carries the silicon its listing names is the seller's assertion rather than something we verified, so we badge it wherever it renders.
Specification claims on this page were checked against the pages below on 4 August 2026. Where a widely-repeated figure did not survive that check, we report what the source says now and say so in the text rather than repeating the familiar number.