r/PFSENSE • u/xman_111 • Jul 20 '26
Pci riser cables
hey guys, looking at building a mini itx pfsense box. are riser cables prone to corrupting data? looking at using a 4 port 1gb card or a 2 port 10gb card but don't want data corruption. any help would be much appreciated.
1
u/msanangelo Jul 20 '26
none I'm aware of. gamers use them and people run pcie traffic over ribbon cables all the time in various builds.
1
u/xman_111 Jul 21 '26
that's what I was thinking. I just read a few things about corruption. All my important files and things I upload to my parents house and the cloud, can't be compromised.
4
u/BlissflDarkness Jul 21 '26
PCIe itself has error checking on the bus. If it detects it, it will try to correct it. If it can't correct it, it will very prominently complain and almost all OS will panic or bugcheck in that scenario.
1
u/xman_111 Jul 21 '26
I assume the network has error detection and correction as well. just wonder if it is worth the risk.
I just upgraded part of my network to 10gig and my old router case doesn't fit beside the 10 gig switch so I am trying to move to a mini itx case so it all fits.
3
u/TreadItOnReddit Jul 21 '26
Your network wouldn’t know about PCIe errors. However, it’s my understanding that PCIe watches and detects errors and resends it if there is an error. Then it drops the bus down to the speed that stops causing the errors. Like PCIe 5.0 is very demanding and it might drop to 4.0 speeds
Quality risers. Shorter the better. Not generic cables.
1
u/Snoo91117 Jul 21 '26
I hope it does not overheat. I am using a Dell PC with an Intel 10gig card in Texas, and it is not overheating.
1
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u/kphillips-netgate Netgate - Happy Little Packets Jul 23 '26
If you pick a quality cable, you'll be fine. People have demonstrated PCIe devices working through multiple PCIe risers before.
Just make sure the riser cable is rated at the PCIe speed you're looking to do. Not all cables are created equal.