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Thread: Are cheap NIC cards OK?

  1. 06-17-2003, 07:56 PM #1
    wangel
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    Are cheap NIC cards OK?

    I have an AMD 2200 system with 1 gig of RAM, 128 Megs of Video and some other higher end components. My Internet connection is Time Warner Cable. For some reason I bought a cheap, 3Com NIC card 3C905B-TX. I probably paid less than $10 or perhaps got it free with a rebate. My logic was that the cards are basically the same and no need to spend big bucks. A friend just told me that he spent $75 on a state of the art NIC card. Now I'm starting to worry that my cheapo NIC card could be holding me back. Should I upgrade or stick with what works? I have a small network in my house (5 computers) and have cheepo NIC cards in all the machines. Will upgrading to a better NIC card make a noticable difference?
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  2. 06-17-2003, 08:05 PM #2
    Midknyte
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    You got a 3Com card for only $10? that's a good deal!

    you don't need the higher level cards unless you need central network management tools, etc. you won't notice the difference.
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  3. 06-17-2003, 08:06 PM #3
    BipolarBill
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    Re: Are cheap NIC cards OK?

    Originally posted by wangel
    Will upgrading to a better NIC card make a noticable difference?
    Nope. That is not a cheap card, BTW. It maybe cheap now, but it was state-of-the-art (and expensive!) just a couple of years ago. No one does NICs like 3Com.

    Besides, these are 10/100Mb NICs. Roadrunner maxes out at about 2Mb/s.
    MS MCP, MCSE
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  4. 06-17-2003, 08:13 PM #4
    Midknyte
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    That's why I was saying it was a good deal. That is a pretty awesome NIC for $10.
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  5. 06-17-2003, 08:17 PM #5
    BipolarBill
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    I paid $60 for mine.
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  6. 06-17-2003, 08:32 PM #6
    gjimene2
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    I got two of them for free. Sold one already. and have plenty more. $10 for them new is a good deal, I sell the same model (except that it's a c) for $10 used. Great cards
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  7. 06-17-2003, 08:44 PM #7
    sm8000
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    I paid $50 for that card nearly four years ago and it has served me well (pardon the pun, I don't even run a server anyway).
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  8. 06-17-2003, 10:00 PM #8
    frnkzks
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    I bought a 10 Mbps 3Com card in 1996 for $84 at the University's book store.

    They bastards!
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  9. 06-17-2003, 10:42 PM #9
    iceblue
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  10. 06-17-2003, 10:51 PM #10
    AllGamer
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    cool so i got good deals then

    i never paid over $50 for 3Coms 100 mbps

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  11. 06-17-2003, 11:07 PM #11
    the xenon
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    where do u find such expensive NICs?? most 10/100 cards i see go for around $5 to $20 even at bestbuy!
    regards,

    the xenon
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  12. 06-17-2003, 11:26 PM #12
    BipolarBill
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    Newbie! We're talking about a time when you were playing on a console.
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  13. 06-18-2003, 12:09 AM #13
    rick42
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    aah, the good ole days. When a PC 1MB memory module went for $1600.00.
    And token ring was faster than ethenet.
    And OS/2..
    And ....
    I digress.
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  14. 06-18-2003, 01:01 AM #14
    Izdaari
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    Though I've been playing with computers for years, I'm a relative newbie so far as networking since it wasn't until recently that I ever had more than one computer. I've only owned one NIC, a Linksys 10/100 PCI, and the onboard 3Com and Nvidia LAN adapters on my ASUS A7N8X Deluxe. All of them have worked just fine.
    Last edited by Izdaari; 06-18-2003 at 05:16 PM.
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  15. 06-18-2003, 01:07 AM #15
    gjimene2
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    iceblue YGPM as well

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    I remember doing the sneaker-net!!

    Especially with the "real" floppy 5.25 Disks
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