Do you use onboard LAN or a seperate NIC

[HiME]

NIC, because my PII 450 doesn't have it onboard..

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Onboard at LAN parties, wireless at home

 

[0roo0roo]

i had an intel pci one lying around so i stuck it in. difference? no idea. maybe less cpu usage tiny tiny tiny bit. it was 50 bucks when it first came out.

 

[Supermercado]

Onboard in the rig I just built. The first rig I've had that actually has it onboard. The other two are NICs.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Shouldn't integrated PCIe gigabit ethernet be faster than like a seperate PCI gigabit ethernet card?

 

[piasabird]

I have done both. I found the onboard NIC to be good on the Asus A7N8X Nvidia Chipset motherboards to be very good. Right now I am using an Asus TUSL2-C with a separate NIC Card. I dont see any difference. I am using a 3COM Nic Card. This computer did not have a NIC card so I used one I had sitting around.

One premise I have is this. I have a Cable Modem with about a 2 Meg Throughput. So the type of NIC card does not matter almost all NIC interfaces are 10-100 at least. Therefore, you have more than enough capcity to keep up with the Cable Modem. It does not matter much.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I use a Killer NIC

Sorry YoYo -. . . I guess it must be made by Bose.

 

[rasczak]

I use all three two onboard and one add on all plugged into the same router

hehe jk, i use my onboard nic and only use the other onboard nic if I have to use a crossover cable.

 

[GnomeCop]

I'd use the onboard nic just cause I'm lazy.
However if I were buying a top of the line system, I'd consider a Killer NIC just cause if I'd have money to spend on such good components, why not get a NIC to match hahah

 

[slpaulson]

I use both. My intel motherboard has good onboard lan, and I use an old ass dlink nic to connect to other computers with a crossover cable.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb
Shouldn't integrated PCIe gigabit ethernet be faster than like a seperate PCI gigabit ethernet card?

In theory. It depends on the board and the chipset design. Some route the ethernet traffic through the PCI bus... The good ones do not.

And for the OP, I use on-board gigabit on all my rigs. Though I have plenty of spare PCI cards laying around should the need ever arise

 

[gramboh]

Originally posted by: GnomeCop
I'd use the onboard nic just cause I'm lazy.
However if I were buying a top of the line system, I'd consider a Killer NIC just cause if I'd have money to spend on such good components, why not get a NIC to match hahah

Then you should consider the high end Intel/Marvel etc. PCI-e gigabit/10GbE nics not a piece of crap PCI card that costs $280.

 

[JBT]

For the tests anandtech usta run the Nvidia Gigabit NIC's are about the fastest NIC's around.

 

[pcgeek11]

Killer NIC for 280 dollars

Anyone that would pay 280.00 for a NIC is the biggest fool in town. Ref=gardless if they are rich or not... I saw an add and I thought it was a joke. I guess it is a joke on the ones who pay that kind of money for a NIC.

 

[GnomeCop]

so passionate about a piece of hardware.... wow.... just ... wow, and kinda sad.

 

[Alex]

use onboard unless its a crappy chipset but that's rarely the case...
the only reason i can see for using a seperate nic is to the the Killer NIC for gaming!

 

[j00fek]

onboard marvell ftw

 

[ForumMaster]

i use onboard. no reason for anything better. i do have gigabit marvel onboard so no reason for anything better.

 

[dodgybob]

Another vote for onboard, don't bother with the nvidia controller to be honest though. Use the marvell controller on this a8n-sli premium and used the 3com one on my old a7n8x deluxe. Was enticed by the shiney brand names.