Description
Full 10Gbps on PCIe 4.0. The RTL8127 x1
Uses a single PCIe lane (x1). Works on modern PCIe 4.0 motherboards, and most NAS boxes, home lab servers, and workstations.
The Lekuo PR27R11 works on PCIe Gen4 x1, which provides enough bandwidth for the full 10Gbps line rate on 4.0 platforms. If you need guaranteed 10G speeds on any system this is the card to get.
Powered by Realtek RTL8127
The Realtek RTL8127 is the newest generation of 10GbE controllers, launched in 2025 as a direct competitor to the Marvell AQC113. It’s already gaining rapid adoption in the NAS and home lab community thanks to its combination of low power consumption, multi-gig flexibility, and excellent driver support.
Independent benchmarks from ServeTheHome confirm the RTL8127 delivers comparable throughput to the AQC113, while consuming significantly less power — just 1.79W at full 10G versus 2.5–4W for competing chipsets. That’s a meaningful difference in always-on NAS and server deployments.
Key Features
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Chipset | Realtek RTL8127 |
| Host Interface | PCIe Gen4 x1 (fits x1, x4, x8, x16 slots) |
| Network Port | 1× RJ45 10GBASE-T |
| Supported Speeds | 10G / 5G / 2.5G / 1G / 100M / 10M (auto-negotiation) |
| Maximum Cable Reach | 100m with Cat6a at 10G |
| Jumbo Frames | Up to 16 KB |
| PXE Boot | Legacy PXE + EFI PXE |
| Wake-on-LAN | WoL + Realtek RealWoW! |
| Power Consumption | 1.79W (10G) · 1.37W (5G) · 1.21W (2.5G) · 0.92W (1G) · 0.54W (100M) · 0.29W (10M) |
| VLAN | IEEE 802.1Q + 802.1ad (Double VLAN) |
| RSS | Quad-core Receive-Side Scaling |
| PTP / Sync-E | IEEE 1588v1, 1588v2, 802.1AS |
| Offloading | TCP/UDP/IPv4/IPv6 checksum offload, Large Send Offload v1/v2 |
| Energy Saving | IEEE 802.3az (EEE), ECMA-393 ProxZzzy, LTR |
| Operating Temperature | 0°C to +70°C |
| Card Dimensions | 80 × 45mm |
| Brackets | Full-height (pre-installed) + low-profile (included) |
Perfect For
- NAS & Storage: Break the 1GbE bottleneck on Synology, QNAP, TrueNAS, and Unraid
- Home Lab / Virtualisation: Faster iSCSI and SMB for Proxmox, ESXi, Hyper-V. RSS support for better multi-VM performance
- Video Editing: Edit 4K/8K footage directly from network storage without copying files locally
- Small Business: Fast file transfers, backup acceleration, and multi-user shared drives
- Low-Power / Always-On: At 1.79W, runs cool in 24/7 NAS and server deployments
RTL8127 vs AQC113 — Which Should You Choose?
| Feature | RTL8127 (this card) | AQC113 |
|---|---|---|
| 10G Performance | Full 10Gbps ✅ | Full 10Gbps ✅ |
| Power at 10G | 1.79W 🏆 | ~2.5–4W |
| Driver Maturity | Good (Windows/Linux, improving) | Excellent (years of support) |
| NAS Compatibility | Growing (Synology, TrueNAS) | Well established |
| Community Adoption | Rapidly growing (2025+) | Mature |
| Price | Lower 🏆 | Higher |
Bottom line: If you want the cheapest 10G with the lowest power draw, the RTL8127 x1 is the smart choice. If you need proven NAS compatibility (especially with Synology DSM), the AQC113 has a longer track record — see our AQC113 card here.
OS Compatibility
| Operating System | Support |
|---|---|
| Windows 10 / 11 | Plug-and-play (driver auto-installs via Windows Update) |
| Windows Server 2022 | Supported |
| Linux (kernel 2.4.x+) | Supported — Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, RHEL, etc. |
| TrueNAS / FreeNAS | Supported (FreeBSD driver available) |
| Proxmox VE | Supported |
| VMware ESXi | Community driver available |
| Unraid | Supported |
IEEE Standards
802.3an (10GBASE-T) · 802.3bz (2.5/5GBASE-T) · 802.3ab (1000BASE-T) · 802.3u (100BASE-TX) · 802.1Q (VLANs) · 802.1ad (Double VLAN) · 802.1P (Priority Encoding) · 802.3x (Flow Control) · 802.3az (Energy Efficient Ethernet) · IEEE 1588v1/v2 PTP · 802.1AS (Sync-E)
What’s in the Box
- 1× Lekuo PR27R11 PCIe x1 10GbE Network Card
- 1× Low-Profile Bracket (full-height pre-installed)
- 1× User Manual
🇬🇧 UK Stock — Dispatched within 1 working day via Royal Mail.
💡 Tip: For full 10G speeds, use Cat6a or Cat7 cabling. Cat6 will still work at 2.5G/5G over shorter runs. This card requires a free PCIe x1 (or larger) slot.
Verified Purchase
