PCI network cards

need a PCI network card to use with a router/modem, is the variation in
prices that important? just buy any? TIA

I know nothing, its been a headache just picking the the router/modem thing,
and then there's this list of network cards with different stuff written
next to them arghhh !

On 04/11/2004 Davo wrote:

> need a PCI network card to use with a router/modem, is the variation
> in prices that important? just buy any? TIA
>
> I know nothing, its been a headache just picking the the router/modem
> thing, and then there's this list of network cards with different
> stuff written next to them arghhh !

Most of them should 'just work', sticking to a known manufacturer,
perhaps 3COM, may give you better driver support a year or two down the
road though.

--
Jeff Gaines Damerham Hampshire UK
Posted with XanaNews 1.16.4.6

> need a PCI network card to use with a router/modem, is the variation in
> prices that important? just buy any? TIA
>
> I know nothing, its been a headache just picking the the router/modem
> thing,
> and then there's this list of network cards with different stuff written
> next to them arghhh !

Just about any will do the job so just buy whatever is on offer.

Cards such as the 3COM cards come with their own TCP processing engines
onboard which will take the load off the CPU but on a modern PC, the load is
negligible anyway.

On Thu, 4 Nov 2004 22:12:24 -0000, "Networkguy"
<04news@##nospamplease##networkguy . co . uk> wrote:

>> need a PCI network card to use with a router/modem, is the variation in
>> prices that important? just buy any? TIA
>>
>> I know nothing, its been a headache just picking the the router/modem
>> thing,
>> and then there's this list of network cards with different stuff written
>> next to them arghhh !
>
>Just about any will do the job so just buy whatever is on offer.
>
>Cards such as the 3COM cards come with their own TCP processing engines
>onboard which will take the load off the CPU but on a modern PC, the load is
>negligible anyway.
>
>
>
I see some network cards that say complies to pci 2.1 and 2.2
specifications is this important when buying a network card?

du.

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Thu, 4 Nov 2004 22:12:24 -0000, "Networkguy"
> <04news@##nospamplease##networkguy . co . uk> wrote:
>
> >> need a PCI network card to use with a router/modem, is the variation in
> >> prices that important? just buy any? TIA
> >>
> >> I know nothing, its been a headache just picking the the router/modem
> >> thing,
> >> and then there's this list of network cards with different stuff written
> >> next to them arghhh !
> >
> >Just about any will do the job so just buy whatever is on offer.
> >
> >Cards such as the 3COM cards come with their own TCP processing engines
> >onboard which will take the load off the CPU but on a modern PC, the load is
> >negligible anyway.
> >
> >
> >
> I see some network cards that say complies to pci 2.1 and 2.2
> specifications is this important when buying a network card?

You do need to be careful! Some PCI cards are 32 bit and some 64 bit. Some work
with about 3v and some work with about 5v

The 64 bit cards are longer and wont fit in the 32 bit slots.

Slots in the bottom of the card determine whether it will fit in a 3v or 5v (or
both) slots.

Do a Goggle search. I did find a good explanation of the differences. I am not
sure which versions of PCI refer to which type of card.

--

Michael Chare

In message <QbadnfoZ-(E-Mail Removed)>, Michael Chare
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
><(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On Thu, 4 Nov 2004 22:12:24 -0000, "Networkguy"
>> <04news@##nospamplease##networkguy . co . uk> wrote:
>>
>> >> need a PCI network card to use with a router/modem, is the variation in
>> >> prices that important? just buy any? TIA
>> >>
>> >> I know nothing, its been a headache just picking the the router/modem
>> >> thing,
>> >> and then there's this list of network cards with different stuff written
>> >> next to them arghhh !
>> >
>> >Just about any will do the job so just buy whatever is on offer.
>> >
>> >Cards such as the 3COM cards come with their own TCP processing engines
>> >onboard which will take the load off the CPU but on a modern PC, the load is
>> >negligible anyway.

Not all 3Com cards will have this kind of offload capability. For ADSL
use, it's pointless, but for high end network use, it can help the
processor a bit.

The last network card I bought was a 3Com 3C905B-TX, one of the classic
10/100 PCI network cards. It cost me a pound second hand on eBay.


These days, many machines have an Ethernet port on the motherboard.


>> I see some network cards that say complies to pci 2.1 and 2.2
>> specifications is this important when buying a network card?
>
>You do need to be careful! Some PCI cards are 32 bit and some 64 bit. Some work
>with about 3v and some work with about 5v
>
>The 64 bit cards are longer and wont fit in the 32 bit slots.
>
>Slots in the bottom of the card determine whether it will fit in a 3v or 5v (or
>both) slots.


There's very few 64 bit Ethernet cards - the only ones that are likely
to be 64 bit are server grade Gigabit cards which are far more expensive
than needed to use with a router modem (likely 60 pounds upwards, as
opposed to a tenner).

Further, most 64 bit cards are entirely happy in a 32 bit slot - they
just can't work in 64 bit mode. The connectors are designed so that the
64 bit part of the connector will just hang in mid air and the card will
fall back to 32 bit mode.


I've got a 64 bit PCI Ethernet device built in to the workstation class
PC I'm using, which has 64 bit PCI (actually, it has two 100MHz capable
64 bit PCI-X buses as well as a 33MHz 32 bit PCI bus).

If I plugged an ordinary 32 bit PCI card into one of the PCI-X slots on
the same bus as the Intel PCI-X Gigabit Ethernet chip (which is the
equivalent of a single port Intel PRO 1000/MT Server adapter), the
entire PCI-X bus, including the Ethernet chip, would fall back to 33MHz
32 bit operation. As it is, it's running in 100MHz 64 bit PCI-X mode.


Finally, I doubt you'll find many 5V PCI cards these days - most are
3.3V or dual voltage. It is possible to come unstuck on voltages, but
usually the problem is trying to use an older 5V only card in a modern
motherboard that only has 3.3V capable PCI slots.




David
--
David Wood
(E-Mail Removed)