NVIDIA Mellanox MCP1600-C02A Passive Copper DAC — QSFP28, 100GbE, 26AWG, 2.5m, Refurbished.
The MCP1600-C02A is a passive copper Twinax Direct Attach Cable for 100GbE QSFP28 links. It IS a 1:1 QSFP28-to-QSFP28 passive copper assembly rated for No-FEC (CA-N) operation. It is NOT a breakout cable to 4×SFP28 ports, nor an active optical cable — for breakout use the MCP7F00 series; for AOC reach use MFA1A00.
Engineering Context. 26AWG copper Twinax pairs deliver lower insertion loss than 30AWG variants, allowing CA-N (No-FEC) 100GBASE-CR4 operation when both end devices support No-FEC. Skipping RS-FEC removes the ~250ns FEC processing penalty, which matters for HFT, all-reduce on AI fabrics, and similar latency-bound traffic. 4×25Gb/s NRZ lanes for 100Gb/s aggregate. Passive design draws ~0.1W per end.
Deployment & Use Cases. Cross-rack ToR-to-server links where No-FEC is preferred, HFT and algorithmic trading low-latency fabric, AI/ML training fabric for large all-reduce collectives, GPU server cluster interconnect, and storage-to-compute paths in latency-sensitive enterprise workloads.
Technical Specifications:
Form factor: QSFP28 to QSFP28
Data rate: 100GbE (4×25Gb/s NRZ, 100GBASE-CR4)
Conductor: 26AWG copper Twinax
Cable length: 2.5 meters
Electrical class: CA-N (No-FEC capable)
Power draw: ~0.1W per end (passive)
Propagation delay: ~5ns per meter
Operating temperature: 0 to 70 °C
Minimum bend radius: 50 mm (thicker conductor)
Hot-pluggable: Yes
Compatibility & Constraints. Compatible with NVIDIA Mellanox Spectrum, ConnectX-4/5/6, and Switch-IB 2 ports in Ethernet mode. For No-FEC operation, both link partners must support CA-N at 100GBASE-CR4 — confirm before deployment. The 26AWG conductor is thicker and stiffer than 30AWG cables; verify rack cable management bend-radius headroom.
Why TES. Each MCP1600-C02A is electrically tested and inspected by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS before shipment, with 1–3 business day handling from EU stock.