10GbE PCIe x4 10Gb Network Card – RTL8127, Single RJ45, Multi-Gig, PXE, Low Profile Bracket

Full 10Gbps on PCIe 3.0 — The RTL8127 x4 Advantage

Most budget 10GbE cards use a single PCIe lane (x1). That works fine on modern PCIe 4.0 motherboards, but if you’re running a PCIe 3.0 system — and most NAS boxes, home lab servers, and older workstations still are — a Gen4 x1 card tops out at around 6.6 Gbps. That’s not 10G.

The Lekuo PR27R12 solves this by using PCIe Gen3 x4, which provides enough bandwidth for the full 10Gbps line rate on both PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 platforms. If you need guaranteed 10G speeds on any system — not just the latest hardware — 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

Why PCIe x4 Matters

Here’s why the lane count makes a real difference:

If your motherboard is PCIe 3.0 — which includes most Synology/QNAP NAS units, older Intel Xeon servers (v3/v4), and mainstream desktops from the last 5–7 years — this card delivers 50% more throughput than a Gen4 x1 alternative. The trade-off is using an x4 slot instead of x1, but most systems have at least one x4 or larger slot available.

Perfect For

• NAS & Storage: Break the 1GbE bottleneck on Synology, QNAP, TrueNAS, and Unraid — even on older PCIe 3.0 models
• 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
• PCIe 3.0 Upgrades: The only way to get full 10G on Gen3 systems — x1 cards can’t do it
• 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?

Bottom line: If you want the cheapest 10G with the lowest power draw, especially on PCIe 3.0 systems, the RTL8127 x4 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

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 PR27R12 PCIe x4 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 x4 (or larger) slot.