Are expensive NICs worth it?

[zision]

I'm sure this gets asked a lot, but I couldn't come up with much searching. I'm networking 2 machines to share internet access and file sharing, and I want a 100mb network. I've heard the more expensive cards like 3COM and Intel will take less load off of the CPU, but is this really important with 400MHz+ systems? Large file transfers will be rare, it's not like I'll be running a huge file server. Are there any other advantages to using the more expensive cards vs. a $20 D-Link, Netgear, or Linksys card? Thanks.

PS- off the top of your head, do you know of any sites with good tutorials on networking with Win2K? I did this a while back with 2 Win98 machines, and I've forgotten some of the steps.

 

[Quickfingerz]

cheap cards are always more than enough for most people. Right now, I'm using a Intel 100+ management adapter and a Netgear NIC and I can barely tell the diffrence between the two in CPU usage but the Intel card give me about 100 kb/sec faster than the netgear.

 

[skriefal]

For personal use? Not really. I have somewhat of an aversion to the really cheapie cards based on the Realtek 8139 chipset, but for personal use they're probably fine. Better cards would be the Sohoware SFA110A, Linksys LNE100TX, Netgear FA310TX, etc, all of which use clones of the old DEC "Tulip" chipset -- and most of which should be available for $20 or so.

 

[JackMDS]

OOps

 

[JackMDS]

You can get a card like SMC 10/100 MBPS PCI ADAPTER RJ-45 FULL DUPLEX.

For $12.99, so whats the point to buy Generic.

However some people will tell you that 3COM for $50 is much better.

I never found it so!

 

[pdo]

For a simple home networking. A cheap cards will do just fine. I've own almost 10 different network card and none of them ever give me any problems. So I really couldn't justify the cost of the Intel or 3COM cards.

 

[Emulex]

avoid pio mode cards like ne2000 based pci cards. PIO hurts your cpu performance greatly under heavy network load.

 

[mjquilly]

Buying a cheap card is fine, just make sure it's compatible with your OS.

 

[spidey07]

I'll have to chirp in here.

For home use just about any NIC will do provided you have driver support for your OS.

When it comes to business networks, there is a lot more to factor in other than the cost of a NIC, Intel or 3com is the only answer. (had bad experience with 3com within the last 2 years)
Other factors include:
BIG ONE HERE: Compatibility and performance with laptops. (intel does this best)
OS support and compatibility with different makes of PCs
Server and gigabit plus support
Enhanced features such as pritoriy queuing and tagging are essential to converged networks
Longevity...NICs by nature are doomed to fail because of the crystal providing the TX clock this will fail or operate out of spec in all nics at some point in time causing support nightmares (people cost a lot more than hardware ya know). The more expensive NICs as a whole use a higher quaility clocking mechanism and generally last longer.
CPU utilization on servers. CPU cycles on large servers are at a premium. Anything you can do to free up that proc to do more meaningful tasks is well worth a few thousand for a NIC.

my .02

 

[skriefal]

JackMDS, if that SMC card is the one I'm thinking of, it's based on the Realtek 8139 and is no better than the $8-$12 "generic" cards. Other than the "SMC" name on it, it may as well *be* generic.

 

[JackMDS]

Few of my computers are equipped with SMC EZ 1211 - 10/100TX (buy.com sells it for $12.99)

The generic chipset of this card is: Accton Tec. EN-1207D

If the price between generic, and in Brand name is small, I will take the brand name (even if the brand name uses generic chips). At least you ensure Driver, and basic support.

I also have computers with 3COM; as much as tried to find difference I did not find any. I must add that in most cases I replace computers, and computers component in relatively short time. So, I can not tell if there will be any difference after few years.

Good Night

 

[zision]

Thanks for all the responses, I'll probably run up to CompUSA tomorrow and pick up a couple of the Linksys LNE100TX cards. $25. I didn't really want to spend $125 on just two network cards.

Actually I just ordered them. $48 after shipping for two cards and a 14ft crossover cable. Much cheaper, although now I have to wait a few days for UPS to bring them to me I hate waiting for new goodies.

 

[kw3i]

yea i also use SMC cards in all my machines in my home network, both linux and win2k autodetect them perfectly so no driver install is even needed (thats if you have them installed during installation of the OS, im not sure if not) i would recommend them

 

[RanDum72]

The Netgear FA311 has a newer National Semiconductor chip which is visibly smaller than chips on other NIC's. The FA312(more expensive) has WOL, which may or may not be important to you. IT also supports PCI 3.3volts which may help when you have too many cards in your system.

 

[abovewood]

Will anyone be interested in two Intel EtherExpress PRO/100B PCI adapter for $40 shipped? Buy more and save a little more.

also have Intel PCMCIA NIC for laptop.

Intel EtherExpress PRO/100B PCI