What's the best ethernet card?

[griztown]

I'm playing around with some of my old PC's trying to build a small cluster and am interested in what kind of ethernet cards to get. Is there any difference between say an Intel, 3COM, D-Link, Netgear or Linksys? I already have an integrated Intel EtherExpress Pro 100 in my main system.

Thanks

"Here's to feeling good, all the time!" - Kosmo Kremer

 

[FatBurger]

What are you building these for?
I would think any of them would be fine.

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[Spdy_Gonzales]

I don't think there are any performance issues among them. Going price is about $15.00

I wonder...what is the speed of gravity?

 

[griztown]

I'll be using the cluster for Computational Fluid Dynamics. But I'm really building this mainly to learn the ins and outs of networking and parallel programming. However, I would like to get the best one whichever that happens to be. Though it seems that they are all pretty much the same.

"Here's to feeling good, all the time!" - Kosmo Kramer

 

[FatBurger]

The Netgear 310tx is really good. ($20) I just got one.

But if you're learning about networks, then get a whole bunch of different network cards, then you can learn the ins and outs of different brands.

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[griztown]

Good point, however, I'm a little more interested in the software side than the hardware side. At least in regards to different fast ethernet cards. Now the difference between the high end ones would be fun, but who has the money. Not me.

"Here's to feeling good, all the time!" - Kosmo Kramer

 

[wolverinero79]

I personally like the Linksys things, because they are as cheap as everything else, but the difference for me has been that the drivers NEVER fail or present errors on install (something that can be EXTREMELY annoying with any hardware). I got mine for 15 i think. 10/100, WOL, Full-Dup, all the goodies, u know

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[FatBurger]

I'd have to agree. Linksys stuff is awesome considering how dirt cheap it all is.

However, for a specific card, I'll stick to my recommendation of the Netgear FA310tx. If you want to spend $20 instead of $10 (for a Linksys).

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[griztown]

I have a friend who has a Linksys and he's had problems using gnutella. He said it was a problem common to the Linksys. Along with my integrated Intel, I also have a Netgear FA310TX which has given me no problems. However, I read on Ars Technica some recommendations for their Hot Rod that seemed to indicate that Intel's were the best so I thought I'd check. Anyway, thanks for all the help.

"Here's to feeling good, all the time!" - Kosmo Kramer

 

[Stick_e_Mouse]

Get the cheapest NIC you can find. I got myself a pair of $10 no-name NIC and did NOT notice difference in performance when compared to my old 3COM.

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[dhlucke]

I think d-link is fine; I've used 3 of them at least. I don't think you should worry too much about it since the difference won't be that big speedwise. I like the idea of trying a couple of different brands since you could learn a bit more about them, and you could always share what you find out.

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[dhlucke]

Realistically the only speed difference you will notice will be with regards to the hub...

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[FatBurger]

Which is why I never touch hubs. Only switches are allowed to touch my NIC

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[griztown]

Yeah, I decided to stay away from hubs and got a D-Link DSS-8+ switch. I can see no reason to buy a hub.

"Here's to feeling good, all the time!" - Kosmo Kramer

 

[ajdebabo]

Hello.
I have some questions regarding the ethernet cards. Im administrating a network with 2 servers and around 20 computers, i have a market where the problem exists. More then sometimes the software we are using is freezing due to a big send of data from pc to the server where the software loads. The two pcs on the market has the internet (mainboard) ethernet card, do you think if we buy a new ethernet card will increase the performance of the computer becasue as i said that the software is loading via the Server and i think we need a fast connection. If you think its a better idea to get a new ethernet card instead of the mainboard one please let me know which one is better.
Best regards

Adam