Question about DFI Board

[scrapser]

Do I need to buy anything to get my cable connection established (I have a cable modem) or is that integrated into the board? My current PC uses an ethernet card which is why I ask. I think it is but want to be sure. Thanks

scrapser

 

[Rugger]

Which DFI board?

If you're talking about the DFI LANPARTY UT NF4 Ultra D, then it has integrated Gigabit ethernet. <A HREF="http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_us.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=3471&CATEGORY_TYPE=LP&SITE=NA" target="_new">Here</A> is a link to the product description on the DFI website.

If you have a good ethernet card and an open PCI slot, then you could try using it with your new system to minimize load on the system. I would just use the onboard...

__________________________________________________
<font color=red>You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!</font color=red>

 

[scrapser]

Yes...that's the one. So you're saying if I use the ethernet card anyway, that would be better? Or does it really matter?

scrapser

 

[Starfishy]

Just use the onboard and fill up all the PCI slots with USB cards

 

[endyen]

Your onboard nic might be fine. Check with your ISP, as some cable companies do use the mac address of the nic as an identifier. (most Tel ADSL suppliers do as well)
If they do, they will be happy to change the identifier to the new mac address.

 

[apesoccer]

If you don't have a firewall/router (since most of the cheap firewalls are also routers...) between yourself and the modem you're asking for trouble. I saw a statistic the other day, for broadband users, it takes 20min before they're compromised in some way when they don't use some sort of firewall. =/

Having a 4port firewall/router, is nice anyway, so far as the isp see's you, you're just one person, even though you could have 254 people/connections behind that firewall. I've got around 8 computers on mine at home.

edit: oops...i didn't even answer your question...I just use the onboard one myself. Most pci ethernet cards require the resources of the cpu anyway. Unless you payed $25+ for that ethernet card, i would just use the onboard one (aren't there two on that board? Use the broadcom one [i think that's the brand...] rather then the one with the nvidia firewall built in; it has issues on all the nforce mobos; you can disable the firewall on that one if that is the only one you have). <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2465&p=26" target="_new">Article on onboard Ethernet</A>

F@H:
AMD: [64 3000+][2500+][2400+][2000+][1.3][366]
Intel: [X 3.0x3][P4 3.0x2][P4 2.4x5 down][P4 1.4]

"...and i'm not gay" RX8 -Greatest Quote of ALL Time<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by apesoccer on 07/06/05 03:21 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[dunklegend]

apesoccer is right about the nvidia firewall, it made my PC crash when I opened some P2P programs. I use the onboard LAN but I didn't install the firewall and something called network manager.

<font color=red>It's impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious<font color=red>

 

[scrapser]

The ethernet card I have is a 3Com Ethernet XL 10/100 PCI. It came with my current Gateway (4 years old) and cost me an extra $50 (their price).

As far as the firewall is concerned, I have Norton's Internet Security Professional 2004 and disabled the WinXP firewall when I installed the software. But I think you're talking about a piece of hardware and this is the first time I've heard mention of needing one at home. I have only this PC and I've had cable for almost 3 years and Norton seems to be keeping me safe so far. But do tell me more.

Thanks
scrapser

 

[apesoccer]

The ethernet card I have is a 3Com Ethernet XL 10/100 PCI. It came with my current Gateway (4 years old) and cost me an extra $50 (their price).

3com is a good brand to get behind, i've always trusted their ethernet cards. However, i really don't know if the chip on that card is <i>better</i> then the onboard one. I don't think you'll see very much of a difference either way. I cringed after reading what i wrote about spending more then $24 etc... Heh. You're golden either way, with the onboard you'll be capable of gigabit (not that it matters since next to nothing has gigabit built in...).

As to the firewall...The firewall/router i was talking about is hardware, however you're using a software firewall and that works just as well in most cases. The hardware firewall i'm talking about won't provide any more protection then you're already getting. Or not much more anyway, not enough to matter. What a hardware firewall/router would get you is this: availability to have more then one computer hooked up to a single internet connection (shared internet connection), and it would free up a little bit of your systems resources (because you could get rid of your software firewall). Honestly, unless you're thinking about running both computers at the same time (new one and the old one), i wouldn't mess with it. Don't get me wrong here, there are all kinds of firewalls, some hardware ones are a lot better then others...harder to get in to, and have more available options. Ease of use is a big seller too. Hmm i swear i work for radio shack or somethin...=/

Anyway, don't sweat either option, take it easy.

F@H:
AMD: [64 3000+][2500+][2400+][2000+][1.3][366]
Intel: [X 3.0x3][P4 3.0x2][P4 2.4x5 down][P4 1.4]

"...and i'm not gay" RX8 -Greatest Quote of ALL Time

 

[scrapser]

Thanks to both of you for those answers. Whew! I thought I had my pants down there for a while.

scrapser