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NIC cards really matter? Big performance difference?

No. I assume your internet connection is slower than even the slowest network card out there, so I don't think that would be a problem. And really, I've owned many different network cards, and they all seem to work just fine. I've never noticed a difference between any of them. But that is of course for consumer applications, not pro hosting stuff.
 


<< Yes, mainly the driver though, shi!tty drivers can kill any hardware and your PC's performance. >>



Ok, yes, driver support is essential to any good piece of hardware. That's why I think I'm always pretty safe sticking with Linksys or one of the other big companies.
 
A lot of energy is spend on the search of the non-existing "Holy NIC Grail".

Most of the activities done by Home user, i.e. Internet, gaming, etc. use small amount of the capacity of any 100/10 NIC. (Actually 10 Mb/sec NIC will suffice a lot of times).

The differences between cards kick in when the Network consists of many computers, doing heavy network exchange. In other words it does not matter which card you are using for small home Network.

Tom's hardware compared three NICs. (Aug. 2001)
I used Pricewatch.com to find the best price for these NICs.

1. 3Com 3CR990-TX-97 - $80
2. 3Com 3C905C-TX $30
3. SMC 1211TX $13

Quote from: http://www6.tomshardware.com/network/01q3/010820/nic-11.html#conclusion

"Well, there is some difference between Network cards. The difference was not that great. Some cards did have better performance than others, but over all most of the cards performed within acceptable ranges. "

If you read the rest, you can infer that if there is a difference it will impact high volume cooperate Network, not three computers sharing the Internet at home.

However, if the main concern is to reduce anxiety. Most of the Pros bet their livelihood on Intel cards.

 

In the last year I have had over 20 NE2000 NICs failed out of around 200. While I haven't had one Intel Pro100 fail out of around 100, & I have had 2 Realtek failed out of aound 50 NIC.

The bottom line is Intel kickass & the drivers are superb. Can't say the same thing on the driver support nor the reliability for 3com 3c905c or 3c905b.
 
For home users, you really won't notice the difference - I've got various Dlink, Linksys, 3Com, Accton, and Intel cards floating around and in day to day use there's no difference.

<but> I would never put anything other than an Intel Pro 100 in a server (unless it's gigabit, in which case I would use an Intel Pro 1000 🙂 (which is hard to say for an AMD-loving type, believe me))
 
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