Recommendations for 10GbE USB adapter?

[Steven P. Administrators]

I am looking to get a 10GbE adapter over USB to free up a PCIe slot (for a soundcard)

I saw this https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Compatible-Thunderbolt-Aluminum-REA/dp/B0FHZTW3BT/ but just wondering if anyone has any suggestions.

Cheers!

[xrobwx71]

Looks like that would work as long as no other bottlenecks exist i.e. port, cable, etc.

 

Damn things got a fan, impressive.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

I believe this to be a Thunderbolt 3 device, actually.  Since USB4 includes Thunderbolt 3 as part of its spec, I suspect it will basically show up as a PCIe device and not a USB one when plugged into your PC. 

There may be some overhead, though, similar to what you might expect from using an eGPU over a Thunderbolt connection, from tunneling the connection over USB4/Thunderbolt 3.

From what I have been able to research, it appears to use a Marvell (formerly Aquantia) chipset, although I'm unsure of the exact model.  If that's the case, the latest AQtion family driver at www.marvell.com/content/dam/marvell/en/drivers/Marvell_AQtion_Win_v3.1.11_10-17-2025.zip should work with it.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

 

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 28/03/2026 at 07:58, goretsky said:

From what I have been able to research, it appears to use a Marvell (formerly Aquantia) chipset, although I'm unsure of the exact model.  If that's the case, the latest AQtion family driver at www.marvell.com/content/dam/marvell/en/drivers/Marvell_AQtion_Win_v3.1.11_10-17-2025.zip should work with it.

Whoa that's a newer driver than what i am currently using for my Marvell AQtion PCIe card (3.1.10) wonder what is new? I have to say the card has been pretty stable for me.

[corrosive23]

From the Amazon page: "Note: Not compatible with non-Thunderbolt hosts."

[goretsky Supervisor]

On 28/03/2026 at 03:46, Steven P. said:

Whoa that's a newer driver than what i am currently using for my Marvell AQtion PCIe card (3.1.10) wonder what is new? I have to say the card has been pretty stable for me.

Hello,

From the change log:

# Marvell AQtion Network Adapter Windows Driver
Oct 17 2025

##v3.1.11.0
_Date 17.10.2025_
* Implemented a new IOCTL to enable ATLTools support on Windows 10 and 11 with Secure Boot enabled.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

[DennisSky]

For 10GbE over USB, make sure the adapter supports USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 or Thunderbolt 3/4—anything slower will bottleneck the connection. The ORICO unit you linked looks compatible with most modern systems, but check driver support for your OS. Brands like QNAP and Sonnet also make reliable adapters if you want something proven for heavy use.