ISA NIC card vs. PCI NIC Card...

[shaolin9]

Ive always wondered if there was anythign significant between an ISA 10/100 vs a PCI 10/100...I know one is 16 bit vs 32 bit...but I have yet to see a difference in connection. I am building a new comp and am using the KT7-raid which has one lonely isa...i figure i could fill it with a cheap ISA nic card...(they are cheaper than PCI, arent they? or are they so hard to find that they cost more??)

anyhow anyone care to shed some light on the differences...btw, im using an old Olicom 10/100 isa card right now, and thats why i want to go with isa again...had this card forever..and with win2k..still compliant

 

[convex]

you can often find _new_ pci 10/100's for under $15, might aswell go pci..

 

[andri]

ISA is 8MHz, so it can't use max of 100MBit interface.

And ISA NIC's block your CPU, that means if it sends/receives anyhing, other processes (like UT ) have to sit and wait until the nic releases the CPU. So, generally PCI cards use system resources much more efficently... but alas, some PCI NICs hog up the CPU as well.

 

[Stealth1024]

Isn't it shared with the PCI? PCI is faster, gives you less PNP problems with Win98, and the NIC's are around $15-20.

 

[RickH]

The only reason to get a ISA card is if you have no more PCI slots open. Sometimes your free PCI slot may only be a PCI "slave slot" and the NIC will not work in it. R.