Network Cards VS. Onboard….

TheBlob · 06-10-2005, 09:36 PM

For awhile awhile I’ve noticed something on the shelf’s called network cards. I’ve always

Used whatever was onboard and never bothered with network cards before here’s the

Question is onboard faster or are network cards faster? And if network cards are faster

What are some of the best brands to buy? And how difficult are they to setup or are they

Pretty much the same when it comes to that. As for installing them it looks like they

Would be no different then putting in a graphics card into a PCI slot.

**Sarkast** · 06-11-2005, 08:57 AM

If your onboard is 100Mbps (as an example) and you take a 100 Mbps card - then there is no speed difference.
Unless you dont have onboard - or its not working - or you need another port/ wireless - i really dont see any advantage of a pci card over an onboard solution.
As far as installing - my experience with them was always good - plug and play - even the dirt cheap ones.

ebackhus · 06-11-2005, 02:53 PM

Lower latency!

That's why I prefer onboard network solutions. And what's the point in adding another one if you already have one? I'd do it maybe if I only had a 10/100Mbps onboard and my network was fully capable of 1000Mbps connectivity.

tiger025 · 06-11-2005, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebackhus

Lower latency!

That's why I prefer onboard network solutions. And what's the point in adding another one if you already have one? I'd do it maybe if I only had a 10/100Mbps onboard and my network was fully capable of 1000Mbps connectivity.

if you put in 1000Mbps card in a PCI slot, isnt it gonna be limited by the speed of the PCI interface? or does that not effect it at all?

**Sarkast** · 06-12-2005, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiger025

if you put in 1000Mbps card in a PCI slot, isnt it gonna be limited by the speed of the PCI interface? or does that not effect it at all?

Yes - but even an onboard 1000Mbps is limited by the PCI bus - so you'll never actually see 1000MBps.

TheBlob · 06-13-2005, 05:03 PM

Well thanks for the help and info

ebackhus · 06-13-2005, 05:12 PM

That's just not fair. They need to make the systems all work directly with the CPU and not have to worry about being on a shared bus. Ah well, not like I can afford 1Gbps network equipment right now anyway.

**UncleMacro** · 06-13-2005, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Yes - but even an onboard 1000Mbps is limited by the PCI bus - so you'll never actually see 1000MBps.

Quote:

That's just not fair. They need to make the systems all work directly with the CPU and not have to worry about being on a shared bus.

Actually, it was only older motherboards which connected the onboard 1000Mb ethernet controllers to the internal PCI bus. Just about all recent motherboards have bypassed the PCI bus and connected the network controller to the southbridge rather than over local PCI. As a result they are only limited by the southbridge to northbridge connection which is usually plenty fast these days. It's the same thing they've done with most of the hard disk controllers and for the same reason - PCI just can't keep up anymore so they bypass it.

ebackhus · 06-13-2005, 05:33 PM

Then I'd assume my board is one of those "true" gigabit ready boards?

**UncleMacro** · 06-13-2005, 07:07 PM

Unfortunately, no. Your motherboard uses the "basic" version of the nForce3 250 so it doesn't have the onboard LAN. I guess NVIDIA decided to put out a low-cost version which cuts some of the features. Your motherboard uses a Marvell 8001 Gigabit Ethernet controller which is connected to the PCI bus. Keep in mind that even connected to PCI, a gigabit ethernet is going to kick the crap out of 100mb ethernet. I'm not sure what the real-life speeds on gigabit really is. My two year old motherboard has the good gigabit which bypasses PCI but none of my other stuff is gigabit so it just plods along at 100mb.

06-10-2005, 09:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
TheBlob Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 78 OS: Windows XP Pro	Network Cards VS. Onboard…. For awhile awhile I’ve noticed something on the shelf’s called network cards. I’ve always Used whatever was onboard and never bothered with network cards before here’s the Question is onboard faster or are network cards faster? And if network cards are faster What are some of the best brands to buy? And how difficult are they to setup or are they Pretty much the same when it comes to that. As for installing them it looks like they Would be no different then putting in a graphics card into a PCI slot.

06-11-2005, 08:57 AM	#2 (permalink)
Sarkast TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NY Posts: 2,715 OS: WinXP	If your onboard is 100Mbps (as an example) and you take a 100 Mbps card - then there is no speed difference. Unless you dont have onboard - or its not working - or you need another port/ wireless - i really dont see any advantage of a pci card over an onboard solution. As far as installing - my experience with them was always good - plug and play - even the dirt cheap ones. __________________ P4 2.4@2.9 / XP-90 / Albatron PX865PE Pro V2.0 / Kingston Hyper-X 512MB Dual Channel CL2-2-2-5 / Geforce4 MX440x8 64MB / WD80GB 7200RPM 8MB / Thermaltake 420W PSU --> SEE IT ALL GLOW <-- MBM5 - SpeedFan - PSU Calculator - MemTest86 - ThrottleWatch Last edited by Sarkast; 06-11-2005 at 09:11 AM.

06-11-2005, 02:53 PM	#3 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,249 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Lower latency! That's why I prefer onboard network solutions. And what's the point in adding another one if you already have one? I'd do it maybe if I only had a 10/100Mbps onboard and my network was fully capable of 1000Mbps connectivity. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

06-13-2005, 05:12 PM	#7 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,249 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	That's just not fair. They need to make the systems all work directly with the CPU and not have to worry about being on a shared bus. Ah well, not like I can afford 1Gbps network equipment right now anyway. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

06-13-2005, 05:33 PM	#9 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,249 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Then I'd assume my board is one of those "true" gigabit ready boards? __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

06-13-2005, 05:03 PM	#6 (permalink)
TheBlob Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 78 OS: Windows XP Pro	Well thanks for the help and info

06-13-2005, 07:07 PM	#10 (permalink)
UncleMacro TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: San Diego Posts: 2,133 OS: Vista SP1 My System	Unfortunately, no. Your motherboard uses the "basic" version of the nForce3 250 so it doesn't have the onboard LAN. I guess NVIDIA decided to put out a low-cost version which cuts some of the features. Your motherboard uses a Marvell 8001 Gigabit Ethernet controller which is connected to the PCI bus. Keep in mind that even connected to PCI, a gigabit ethernet is going to kick the crap out of 100mb ethernet. I'm not sure what the real-life speeds on gigabit really is. My two year old motherboard has the good gigabit which bypasses PCI but none of my other stuff is gigabit so it just plods along at 100mb.