Connect-X 3 cards on RHEL 5.3

Hello ,

I need to install Connect-X 3 cards on an HPZ800 system running RHEL 5.3, kernel 2.6.18-128.el5. Unfortunately I cannot update the kernel to a higher version due to application dependencies , hence wondering if there was a way to make these cards work.

I know that the workstation doesn't use PCIe 3.0 and hence the performance might be slower, but the end user has already purchased these cards hence looking to make them work if possible, the idea is to connect them in 40Gig mode on an SX 1024.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

-Regards

Sachin