Question about the Intel I225-V NIC

[The Presence]

Hello,

I'm currently looking into AM5 motherboards to upgrade to and managed to narrow it down to four. However, two use the Intel I225-V Ethernet chip.

I stumbled across some posts that the I225-V seems to have some issues with connectivity dropping and having to go through several methods to fix it; like changing Power Management settings, changing from 2.5 Gbps to 1, reinstalling the firmware, changing to Full Duplex and more. There were also some mentions about B3 and Revision 3 supposedly fixing those issues. It feels a bit like playing the lottery whether you get a board that works or not.

My question is: I was curious if anyone has a motherboard with the I225-V chip or has used one and what your experiences have been with it. Whether it's worth the gamble getting one or not, or if it's better to just avoid it altogether.

The two I225-V motherboards I'm referring to (in case someone has experience with one or the other):
Gigabyte B650E Aorus Master
Asus ROG Strix B650E-E

[Illusion of Progress]

I had a motherboard with the I-225V NIC. Mine was the second (of third) revisions I believe.

I had one major issue with it, but it was enough for me. It couldn't handle hosting an instance of Minecraft Java and another player connecting without crashing (not a game crash, but the entire NIC crashes). Whether that was hosting a single player game and using the "Open to LAN" feature, or hosting a server proper, it just couldn't consistently handle it.

I've heard even the third revision doesn't handle Minecraft from at least one comments, but I can't speak from personal experience on that. I know it was an issue with the second revision.

Outside of that issue with Minecraft though, I had little to no issues with it. So I can certainly see many users skirting issues even if the hardware is known to be flawed in a number of ways.

I got my prior motherboard in mid-2020 and it had the second revision, so I'd expect any new board you find with it today (especially AM5 platforms) to more likely have the third revision.

I will highlight this. Going by testimonials online, neither Asus nor Gigabyte (and possibly others, but for sure these two) will see it as a flaw with the motherboard if it comes down to being a known thing caused by the NIC itself (meaning if you have some situation that you "know" is due to the NIC, their own diagnostics/testing won't acknowledge it as a "flaw with the board" and they won't help you).

Honestly, Intel should have recalled the NICs so I'd blame them a bit more than the board manufacturers, but board makers should have also been doing right by their customers and possibly refunding the ones with issues and pressuring Intel to recall the chips and covering them for the faulty ones, because the board makers still chose that particular NIC to put on those boards, and they have more weight to push Intel to do this whereas customers don't (if anything, Intel would direct them to the board manufacturer, so it'd be a case of both pointing fingers at the other and the customer being directed in circles). Intel probably hoped quietly pushing out revisions and trying to patch/hide/downgrade things to minimize most of the issues through drivers would keep the noise down and let them sweep it under the rug. Board manufacturers probably hoped for the same too, though.

I'd say if it was a one-off, it's whatever because imperfect products happen, but when you don't DEAL with that problem, and worse if you then then turn around and make a successor with problems, I'd say it warrants staying away.

If you absolutely want either of those particular boards for every reason besides the doubt about the NIC though, you could always chance it, as maybe you'll come out unaffected for your uses (especially with the third revision you'll likely get, and especially if you use/don't mind using 1 Gbp/s speed instead of 2.5 Gbp/s speed). And then if you are affected, you could always buy a $30 (?) PCI Express NIC card or whatever.

[Supafly]

My motherboard has the I225-v 2nd revision and while I had a few issues when I got the board the Bios, Firmware and drivers have been updated quite a few times, lots within first 3-6 months being an early Z690 board but I can't say I've had a single issue with my network for 6+ months now

[The Presence]

Illusion of Progress a écrit :

I had a motherboard with the I-225V NIC. Mine was the second (of third) revisions I believe.

I had one major issue with it, but it was enough for me. It couldn't handle hosting an instance of Minecraft Java and another player connecting without crashing (not a game crash, but the entire NIC crashes). Whether that was hosting a single player game and using the "Open to LAN" feature, or hosting a server proper, it just couldn't consistently handle it.

I've heard even the third revision doesn't handle Minecraft from at least one comments, but I can't speak from personal experience on that. I know it was an issue with the second revision.

Outside of that issue with Minecraft though, I had little to no issues with it. So I can certainly see many users skirting issues even if the hardware is known to be flawed in a number of ways.

Yeah, I read the link you posted in the other thread. I mostly play offline games, but I do play the occasional MMO and I don't really want the Internet to drop out of nowhere.

Illusion of Progress a écrit :

I will highlight this. Going by testimonials online, neither Asus nor Gigabyte (and possibly others, but for sure these two) will see it as a flaw with the motherboard if it comes down to being a known thing caused by the NIC itself (meaning if you have some situation that you "know" is due to the NIC, their own diagnostics/testing won't acknowledge it as a "flaw with the board" and they won't help you).

That's good to know, thanks.

Illusion of Progress a écrit :

If you absolutely want either of those particular boards for every reason besides the doubt about the NIC though, you could always chance it, as maybe you'll come out unaffected for your uses (especially with the third revision you'll likely get, and especially if you use/don't mind using 1 Gbp/s speed instead of 2.5 Gbp/s speed). And then if you are affected, you could always buy a $30 (?) PCI Express NIC card or whatever.

Yeah, the chance is what's pulling me in both directions. It could work, but if it doesn't (even after trying the fixes that worked for others) I would have to return it or, as you said, get a separate card and spend more. When you spend that much (sure, 350 isn't close to a $1000 board) you expect it to work, and from what I've seen it seems to sit a little in the middle of whether it works or not. At least with the boards I looked up information for.

Supafly a écrit :

My motherboard has the I225-v 2nd revision and while I had a few issues when I got the board the Bios, Firmware and drivers have been updated quite a few times, lots within first 3-6 months being an early Z690 board but I can't say I've had a single issue with my network for 6+ months now

That's interesting and good to hear. Thanks.

I think I'm going to have to let all the information just sink in and digest it. I quite like the features of Asus' B650E-E but when I saw it uses I225-V, I was just like 'oh...'

[The Commendatore]

What do the other two use? Realtek? Marvell, maybe?

Anyway, as stated above, if you do go with a board that uses it and it doesn't work you'll have to get a card. Or RMA it, I guess.

That aside, I don't know the prices in your area but that Gigabyte board's price is just a big LOL, IMHO. Granted, it has a backplate, is ATX and has a Clear CMOS button on the back compared to its X670E counterpart, at 450 it's competing more with X670 than other B650 boards. I do believe it has better audio than the Elite and Gaming X AX? I could be wrong on that.

That B650E-E is likely more than enough, though. Possibly even a B650E-F. You don't need to fork over a ton of money depending on your needs.

Edit: I completely forgot. If the Intel NIC really worries you so much about it potentially crapping out, there are boards in the price range of the B650E-E that use Realtek instead.

[Supafly]

The Presence a écrit :

Supafly a écrit :

My motherboard has the I225-v 2nd revision and while I had a few issues when I got the board the Bios, Firmware and drivers have been updated quite a few times, lots within first 3-6 months being an early Z690 board but I can't say I've had a single issue with my network for 6+ months now

That's interesting and good to hear. Thanks.

I think I'm going to have to let all the information just sink in and digest it. I quite like the features of Asus' B650E-E but when I saw it uses I225-V, I was just like 'oh...'

I was a little hesitant at first but settled on just buying a network card, if needed, and bought the ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4. Had more issues with Bios, stability and a few other drivers than I ever did with the I225-V. Have 0 issues now and I'm frequently on my PC for 14-16 hours a day so it's in constant use.