Hi all, I just wanted to know if gigabit ethernet mattered at all in relation to the performance you would get in using just one machine connected to the net via DSL or cable? Would buying a motherboard with this feature be a waste of money if I don't intend to network a bunch of machines in my home? Will gigabit ethernet give me better performance in my connection to the internet for surfing or online gaming?

Thanks for any help!

gigabit ethernet is a waste in most scenarios. especialy when all your doing is getting on the internet through dsl. gaming or not your dsl is not likely faster than 1.5 mbits, thats no where near 1gbit.

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He's right, if you were on a lan, and transfering large files, gigabit would be about 40% faster-the rest in overhead.

Thank you for clearing that up for me. Is there any difference in performance in having a seperate NIC card vs. ethernet port on the motherboard?

extremely little

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While not providing any additional details to your question, the answers are:
No.
No.

Hope this helps....

No, Gigabit will only make a difference for file transfers over your LAN.