What Is the Difference Between Intel® QuickAssist Technology (Intel® QAT) in a Processor and in a PCIe Card?
Content Type: Product Comparison | Article ID: 000095472 | Last Reviewed: 09/11/2025
Difference between QAT in Processor D-2700 (D-2766NT) and 4th Generation Intel® Xeon (8458p) and QuickAssist Adapter 8970.
Intel® QuickAssist Technology (Intel® QAT) hardware was initially available as a PCIe card, such as the Intel® QuickAssist Adapter 8960 and Intel® QuickAssist Adapter 8970.
Later on, Intel® QAT hardware was integrated into some Intel® Atom® and Intel® Xeon® D Processors.
Starting with the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors, the Intel® QAT accelerators are also integrated into the Intel® Xeon® Processors.
The hardware running Intel® QuickAssist Technology software is categorized by hardware versions. The appropriate Intel® QAT driver depends on the hardware version. For more details, refer to Which Intel® QuickAssist Technology (Intel® QAT) Driver Should Be Used Based on the Platform?.