Reading intel ark, it seem to me that the AX210 is a fully fledged device that can be used with every SoC [0] while the AX201 relies on CNVi [1].

So both can be true at the same time: your AX210 works fine with the i7-2600, while the AX201 would not.

Thanks for those product names Intel. Very helpful!

0: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/204836/... 1: https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/130293/...

As I understand it, the AX2X0 cards will work with any CPU, while the AX2X1 cards need CNVi support (so a newer intel SoC)

Yes, really. Cnvi cards only work on recent Intel cpus and they’re a tad cheaper.

The problem is not Intel branded cards. Your card (ending with 0) is non-cnvi. Try an AX211 and it won’t work.