[simoncion]

Perhaps the situation with 25gbit modules is way worse than 10gbit, but I have twelve 10gbit 10GTek fiber modules and haven't had a problem with them. Though, perhaps this would be a lottery that I'd inevitably lose if I were populating a great many TOR switches and associated server NICs?

It also sounds like you're not saying that OP cannot "...just put a real PCIe NIC in an eGPU enclosure with a fan", but rather that regardless of where that NIC is situated, it's your experience that SFP quality is poor. Do I correctly understand what you're saying?

Edit: FWIW, I've had no problems with the ~two foot PCI-E riser cable that connects my graphics card to my motherboard. [0] I expect this OCuLink thing [1] will work fine, too.

[0] Taking up several PCI-E slots just for a damn graphics card is really dumb. IMO, mid-grade and better cases should have off-mobo mount points for oversized devices and offer riser cables to connect said devices to the installed motherboard.

[1] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#OCULINK>