NVIDIA Mellanox MCP1600-C02B Passive Copper DAC — QSFP28, 100GbE, 30AWG, 2.5m, Refurbished.
The MCP1600-C02B is a passive copper Twinax Direct Attach Cable for 100GbE QSFP28 links. It IS a fixed-length point-to-point QSFP28-to-QSFP28 passive copper assembly. It is NOT an active optical cable, breakout cable, or transceiver — for AOC reach use the MFA1A00 series; for No-FEC operation at the same length use the MCP1600-C02A.
Engineering Context. Built on 30AWG copper Twinax pairs and rated as a CA-L electrical class assembly, the MCP1600-C02B carries 4×25Gb/s NRZ lanes for an aggregate 100Gb/s. CA-L class requires RS-FEC (528,514) per IEEE 802.3bj for clean operation at 100GBASE-CR4. Passive construction draws roughly 0.1W per end and adds about 5ns per meter of propagation delay.
Deployment & Use Cases. Top-of-rack switch to server links, ConnectX-4/5/6 NIC to Spectrum SN2000/SN3000/SN4000 switch fabric, intra-rack spine-leaf hops, HPC compute aggregation, and 100GbE GPU server uplinks where DAC reach is sufficient.
Technical Specifications:
Form factor: QSFP28 to QSFP28
Data rate: 100GbE (4×25Gb/s NRZ, 100GBASE-CR4)
Conductor: 30AWG copper Twinax
Cable length: 2.5 meters
Electrical class: CA-L (RS-FEC required)
Power draw: ~0.1W per end (passive)
Propagation delay: ~5ns per meter
Operating temperature: 0 to 70 °C
Minimum bend radius: 38 mm
Hot-pluggable: Yes
Compatibility & Constraints. Compatible with NVIDIA Mellanox Spectrum switches, ConnectX-4/5/6 adapters, and Switch-IB 2 ports operating in Ethernet mode. Will NOT establish a stable 100GbE link without RS-FEC enabled — confirm CA-L support on both ends before deployment. Not suitable beyond 3 m on 30AWG; for cleaner signaling use MCP1600-C02A (26AWG).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What is the MCP1600-C02B?
The MCP1600-C02B is a 2.5m passive copper DAC with QSFP28 connectors on both ends, rated for 100GbE Ethernet, 30AWG.
Q. Is this a splitter cable?
No. It is a straight 1-to-1 QSFP28-to-QSFP28 point-to-point assembly.
Q. Will T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS confirm the configuration of MCP1600-C02B before shipping?
Yes. T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS (tes-itsolutions.com) bench-tests each unit where test topology is available, checks EEPROM/vendor data, before dispatch from EU stock.

Why TES. Each MCP1600-C02B is electrically tested and inspected by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS before shipment, with 1–3 business day handling from our EU stock.