I was wondering what the differences, other than PCI-Express, were between the Intel PRO gigabit (PCI) series of Nics and the Intel Gigabit CT series (Gigabit CT is not "pro", but appears the same but is PCI-E).
The PCI-E Gigabit CT is only $8 more, so seems like a no brainer for gigabit networking. But, it is not designated as PRO and the pro model seems to be $160 some dollars.... whereas the PRO pci model is a few bucks cheaper than the Gigabit CT pci-express.
What do you get with "pro"? Is the PCI-Express hands down better, or is it a trade-off to get PCI-Express for only $8 more than the PCI Pro adapter??
They will perform about the same. You should get the newer PCI-E unless your OS (you didn't specify it) isn't supported by the CT. The main benefit of the Pro is that it supports older OS like SCO, Windows 98, etc. http://www.intel.com/support/network/sb/cs-009221.htm.