Network adapter eating CPU power!

[Oreo]

I recently got some broadband action (10MBit) and it works great except that when I d/l at high speeds, say 400Kbyte/sec my CPU usage is at like 30-50%. That makes it pretty hard watching a DivX or doing other stuff while d/l. Is this normal with ethernet/network adapters?

 

[Poochy]

Which NIC do you have? Some have low cpu overhead, others not so low . You sure it's not an issue with your drive as well, since you are downloading?

 

[bigd480]

just get a SCSI NIC! low CPU utilization

 

[Oreo]

I´ve just got a cheap Realtek based NIC. Would there be a difference with a more expensive NIC?

 

[MrHelpful]

What the heck is a SCSI NIC???

 

[Oreo]

A joke?

 

[bigd480]

<< A joke? >>

yes, that's what all the winks were for

 

[Salvador]

I've heard that cheap generic NIC's can rob your CPU.

BTW.. I have a Linksys that I just bought. Does anyone know if this is a CPU sucker? Is there a way to tell?

Sal

 

[sitka]

dink around with the drivers a little...ie use windows default, old/new version or windows update

 

[Gunbuster]

I am pulling from 6 people for a total of ~980Kb
Average CPU usage is at 20% with 4 mIRC sessions and IE open

Using a Intel pro/100+ NIC

 

[Hoober]

That Intel is a good NIC. You could try for a more expensive one with a &quot;mini-CPU&quot; built into the NIC to handle all TCP/IP (read network) traffic. But its up to you. Intel makes good NICs.

 

[sitka]

plus intel makes your unattended installs work

 

[LocutusX]

Interesting... I'm using some generic &quot;sohoware&quot; NIC that I got free with the cable modem service and at 3000KB/s of TCP/IP traffic my CPU usage bounces between 8% and 15%.

Note: Obviously, my speed test above was done on a LAN. I dont think even the fastest .EDU connections are capable of that speed.