Technical Product Specification

Intel® Server Boards S4600LH2/T2 TPS

Revision 2.0

3.2.3.5.1 PCIe Gen3 support – Systems configured with an Intel® Xeon® processor E5-4600 product

family

For a server system configured with one or more Intel® Xeon® processor E5-4600 product family, the system

BIOS will use an embedded PCIe Gen 3 compatibility list which identifies all PCIe Gen 3 add-in cards tested by

Intel to operate reliably at Gen 3 speeds on the given server system. During POST, the system BIOS will

compare installed PCIe Gen 3 add-in cards with those included in the embedded compatibility list. If BIOS

matches an installed card to one listed on the compatibility list, the BIOS will configure the device to operate at

PCIe Gen 3 speeds. If the BIOS cannot match an installed PCIe add-in card with any device included in the

list, the BIOS will force the device to operate at PCIe Gen2 speeds.

Note: The latest available BIOS should be installed on the system to ensure the most up to date embedded

PCIe Gen 3 compatibility list is being used.

Visit the following Intel web site for a list of Intel tested PCIe Gen 3 compatible cards included in the BIOS

embedded compatibility list – http://intel.com/support/motherboards/server/sb/CS-034157.htm

3.2.3.5.2 PCIe Gen3 support – Systems configured with an Intel® Xeon® processor E5-4600 V2

product family

For a server system configured with one or more Intel® Xeon® processor E5-4600 V2 product family, the

system BIOS will configure all installed PCIe Gen 3 compatible add-in cards to operate at PCIe Gen 3 speeds

by default. For a list of Intel tested PCIe Gen 3 add-in cards, review the Tested Hardware and OS list (THOL)

using Intel’s Server Configurator Tool at the following web site:

https://serverconfigurator.intel.com

The following tables identify the PCIe port routing for each add-in card slot on all supported riser cards as

installed in either Riser Slot # 1 or Riser Slot #2. Note the specific processor, PCIe port ID, and number of

PCIe bus lanes supporting each add-in card slot.

Depending on the riser card installed, specific PCIe ports routed from the processor IIO module provide the

PCIe interface to each riser card slot.

For a system configuration that includes a PCIe add-in card that is not included on Intel’s THOL and/or may be

operating erratically, BIOS setup includes an option to force specified PCIe to operate at a different PCIe level

than the card is optimally designed to support. To configure this option, access the <F2> BIOS setup utility.

Note: The illustrations below are for reference purposes only. Actual PCIe port data displayed in the “Socket #

PCIe Ports Link Speed” window may be different than what is shown here.