PCIe Ethernet Vs Usb Ethernet?

Question

Hi im looking to add a new wired network card to my PC i have two options A PCI Express network card vs a USB ethernet adapter im just wanting to find out which is better for speed/bandwidth or if there is any differance?

Thanks
Michael

Answer 1

Depends on your system motherboard, size of processor, memory, etc. PCI can be faster but will not provide more bandwidth. USB card can be slower, especially if you have a lot of USB ports and are already using the majority of those ports for other things. Bandwidth will be the same for either choice. If you go with PCI, read the box carefully. Make sure that your PC has the minimum specs required for the PCI card.

Answer 2

recently (3-4 months ago) build my home lab, with a PC (4GB Ram and some Dual Core processors) + 3 x Quad Ethernet Cards + 2 x C3560 + 2 x C3550.

Before building my lab, I did read a lot and I found out that there is no "best solution" between ethernet cards and usb-2-ethernet.



On one hand the usb-2-ethernet solution is cheaper, but the hardware addresses tend to overlap or mix inside and then this adapters will not work properly. Usually this is beacause you will need 12 adapters, so either you have 12 usb ports in the best case, or you will have to add usb hubs that may cause this hardware addresses issues. Beside this imagine that you need to control those switches through console, and if you don't have a spare router to use as a terminal server, then you will use usb to serial adapters.



I went for the quad card solution. I was lucky enough to find quite cheap D-Link DFE-570TX on eBay so I bought 3 of them. Unlock was that I had only 2 PCI slots on my motherboard, so I had to change that too. PCI-E ethernet cards are way to expensive for me. This solution satisfy my need an everything is running excellent. If you want I can send you a photo of my "lab" Smile

Answer 3

Usb Network Adapter Vs Pci

Answer 4

You forgot the other solution, and the best one. You should get a PCI network card, not a PCI-e network card. You can get them for less than 20 bucks. PCI-e cards are more expensive, and don't give you any better performance than a PCI one. Plus you may need that PCI-e slot in the future(for a dual-slot sized video card, for example).

The only advantage of a USB adapter is that you just plug it into a USB port, and don't have to open your case and install a card.

If it were me, and I've installed hundreds, if not thousands of network cards, I would go for PCI.

I just looked at walmart's web site, they have a PCI adapter for less than 10 dollars.

Answer 5

ok you have have been given a majority of those laptops to decide for: a million. Compaq 2.Toshiba 3.Dell 4.Panasonic 5.eMachines 6.Sony Vaoi 8. Gateway 9. HP Invent 10. Mac AirBook those are each and every of the types available contained available those you wanna seem for are those in an laptop a million. 200GB or better in an stressful force 2. a minimum of 2GB of RAM 3. Tech help 4. long Battery life 5. instantaneous connection compatibility 6. CD/DVD force With those yo are particular to have the flexibility locate something yet in my request: a million.HP (variety of $799 or greater 2.DELL (variety of $799 or greater 3.SONY (variety of $899 or below 4. Mac AirBook (This one is appropriate to the form of over $900