Gigabit network card upgrades D-Link vs Netgear vs nothing

[Mediaman]

I plan to upgrade about a few older PCs (PCI only) with new network cards, either the Intel Pro Desktop 10/100/1000 Gigabit PCI or the D-Link DGE-530T PCI Network Adapter. They would be running under Win XP and would likely be paired with a yet-to-be-purchased DIR-655 router and a gigabit switch (Netgear GS608 or DLink 1008D).

Questions

1) Any cautions about either card? Tempted to go with Dlink as its $12 cheaper ($60 buck in total) and in the same family as the router (if that matters)...but will ignore that in a flash if there is a noticable advantage to consider with Intel Pro card.

2) Is there a point of no return in terms of older and slower machines where gigabit card just makes no sense?...or are slower machines precisely where they could benefit! My current plans are as follows:

Upgrade
Dell 8300 Win XP, P4 2 GHZ
Dell L733R, Win XP, P3 733
Dell 4550 Win XP, P2 2 Ghz
Dell 4300 Win XP , P 1.6 GHZ
Dell T500 Win XP P3 500 GhZ (marginal - low use)

No upgrades for
Dell 9200 Vista, QuadCore (already has Intel 82566DC gigabit)
Inspiron 6000 Laptop, P4 (mainly on wireless; NIC is onboard)
Dell D300 Win 98 P2 300 (low use; benefit??compatibility??)

​

Comments?

 

[tipstir]

Stick with Netgear GS6 series with 128KB packet buffer memory switches as outline in the review. Although they do run very hot but so do the GS1 series even though the metal does help with the heat but not by much than the plastic plus they cost $20 bucks more. When it comes the WIRED GIG PCI NICs I see you have the fancy stuff, really can get away with the other brands that offer Jumbo frames, Enable disable Flow Data. I just got 4 of them for 4 (3 AMDX64 and 1 P4) still I only paid $40 bucks with free shipping) Under my two servers they had installed the driver automatically a lot of features in the driver using digitally assigned MS Driver for Windows Server 2003. On XP Pro I had to install the drivers off the CD which is an auto mode process. Connect them to two GS6 GIG switches where one goes to DLINK DIR-655 no problems.

Encore Gigabit PCI Ethernet Adapter
ENLGA-1320
specs on the chipset here
http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=13&PFid=4&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=6

 

[thiggins]

Stick with Netgear GS6 series with 128KB packet buffer memory switches as outline in the review.

Tipstir, do you really see a difference in performance among unmanaged gigabit switches? I would be interested in seeing the test data.

The conclusion of the Cheap Gigabit Switch roundup was that there was not really a significant performance difference among the switches tested.

 

[thiggins]

To get any significant benefit from gigabit Ethernet, your computer CPU needs to run at, at least 1 GHz. You will probably get speeds in the 500 - 700 Mbps range from PCI-based NICs.

 

[Madwand]

When looking at NICs, you need to consider the underlying chipset more than the brand on the box -- Netgear, D-Link, etc., don't make their own chipsets, use varying underlying vendors, and sometimes even change chipsets without changing the model name.

PCI NICs are also a thing of the past, and while some of these were already good, many of them have old chipsets which have been bettered by newer versions, but not ported back to PCI. AFAIK, the D-Link has a Marvell PCI chipset for which this holds -- it's fairly richly-featured, but is an under-performer. It pays this back though with relatively low CPU utilization, but of course, CPU utilization naturally scales with performance to some degree. The even more common Realtek PCI chipset has higher performance capability, but at a much higher CPU utilization, which can be a significant issue with older setups.

Intel is noted for having decent chipsets and good driver support. They can typically do both better throughput and lower CPU utilization than other consumer PCI NICs. The trade-off is higher cost.

All that said, the performance bottleneck at the low end is rarely the network or the NIC, once you get into gigabit, so even the cheapest Realtek NIC is often indistinguishable in practice from the better ones. If you have the money and want something better though, Intel is an answer.

 

[Mediaman]

Good stuff.

I think Intel works for me given:

-I am 'stuck" with PCI
-I am dealing with older machines and want to optimize where possible
-would benefit from good driver support
-as noted, their chipsets tend to have better throughput and lower CPU utilization
-the cost premium with intel is small, ie in this case, $12 (vs hundreds).

 

[tipstir]

DLINK uses the same chipset I use and why pay more for DLINK card and get third party one instead that does the samething or have better drivers. Plus you need to tweak those systems to get the best throughput. I am like you I still have PCI bus, at the time in 2006 PCI-E was just out with a few MOBO so it was cheaper to go the PCI bus route to build systems. Frankly with a couple of tweaks that system you have there can fly on the net. I know this because I've rebuild a laptop with specs like:

Toshiba Tecra 8000 (1998)
Intel PII 266MHz
L2 512KB
SDRAM 256MB
Trick here to use 7,200rpm 40GB HDD Hitachi / prior was slow pook 6GB Toshiba!
Windows XP Pro SP2
Firefox 3.1
Belkin Wireless 54G is in there right now at Excellent signal
USB 1.1
NeoMagic 256-bit onboard, still 2.5MB of video

I use that more for testing and monitoring wireless in the house and go and the web.

Two DELL C600 PIII 1GHz and 850MHz these you can take out the CPU and swap them. I've replace the LCD panel and most of what I could find in parts myself. They also have 40GB Hitachi 7,200rpm HDD. Max RAM is 512MB. Both have Wireless G54 one High Speed and one High Power (as it own amp) I've changed the PCImini port 10/100 NiC to Intel/Pro for wired connections. Everything in wireless I have can support N, but PCMICA prices are still high, no deal yet to come down.

 

[tipstir]

Tipstir, do you really see a difference in performance among unmanaged gigabit switches? I would be interested in seeing the test data.

The conclusion of the Cheap Gigabit Switch roundup was that there was not really a significant performance difference among the switches tested.

Really but you have GS608 rated higher than the GS108 pretty much both have the same packet memory buffer 128KB and the DGS-2208 has 144KB. They had the Trendnet TEG-S5 for only $14 bucks last week, sure it was a deal but it only had 8K/8K buffer, not enough for my media streaming demands.

I ended up getting GS605 a pair they have green feature now, but still I find them run very hot when I move my data.

I update, firmware test in series managed 24/48-ports Cisco Catalyst 3750 as the prior 2900 series I didn't care for nor I was going to get permission to bring one home to use, but the old 2900 series just 10/100 ports. 3750 Gig switch model would be ideal but the price it out of the question. Anyway so here I am with unmanaged with non-blocking ports.

I daily move 300MB to 5GB over 50FT CAT 5e to Media Server which is kept on the lower level.

50-40 secs to move 300MB file using 100mbps switch with 64KB packet buffer memory.

As you know that Linksys 10/100 5/8 port unmanaged plastic blue/black uses 1MB packet memory buffer larger than the rest sold for the home. I had good results with those but the average speed was about the same.

10-less secs to move 300MB file using 1000mbps switch with 128KB packet buffer using GS6. 3GB now takes 2 mins prior it had taken 4 mins.

GiG systems I haven 't tweak them too much they're using QOS Scheduler at 0% instead of 20% MS had added. LAN Buffer is set to 16384KB, DNS Cache is also tweak. Bind the cards to 1000mbps/Full.

I've tested my web connection using:

 

[BellSouth88]

Simple fix you need the more expensive Store and foreword switch.

 

[timby]

I plan to upgrade about a few older PCs (PCI only) with new network cards, either the Intel Pro Desktop 10/100/1000 Gigabit PCI or the D-Link DGE-530T PCI Network Adapter. They would be running under Win XP and would likely be paired with a yet-to-be-purchased DIR-655 router and a gigabit switch (Netgear GS608 or DLink 1008D).

Questions

1) Any cautions about either card? Tempted to go with Dlink as its $12 cheaper ($60 buck in total) and in the same family as the router (if that matters)...but will ignore that in a flash if there is a noticable advantage to consider with Intel Pro card.

2) Is there a point of no return in terms of older and slower machines where gigabit card just makes no sense?...or are slower machines precisely where they could benefit! My current plans are as follows:

Upgrade
Dell 8300 Win XP, P4 2 GHZ
Dell L733R, Win XP, P3 733
Dell 4550 Win XP, P2 2 Ghz
Dell 4300 Win XP , P 1.6 GHZ
Dell T500 Win XP P3 500 GhZ (marginal - low use)

No upgrades for
Dell 9200 Vista, QuadCore (already has Intel 82566DC gigabit)
Inspiron 6000 Laptop, P4 (mainly on wireless; NIC is onboard)
Dell D300 Win 98 P2 300 (low use; benefit??compatibility??)

​

Comments?

I have several of the Netgear 1gig switches and had a lot of problems with them. They worked fine for a while then started to have storm problems which shut down the network. I switched out the Netgear GS608 with an HP Pro 1400 and the problems went away.

I just had a lightning strike and had to replace most of the NIC cards in my PCs. I bought the DGE-530Ts local as I didn't want to wait till I could get the Intels from Newegg. The 530Ts seem to work OK. No speed demons but seem to be solid.

I had a weird happening with one of my older PC. However, I'm not sure if it's a problem with the card or with the motherboard. May be a compatibility issue with the old MB. I plan on trying some other things this weekend to see if we can fix the problem.

Just my 2 cents .....

 

[tipstir]

I have several of the Netgear 1gig switches and had a lot of problems with them. They worked fine for a while then started to have storm problems which shut down the network. I switched out the Netgear GS608 with an HP Pro 1400 and the problems went away.

I just had a lightning strike and had to replace most of the NIC cards in my PCs. I bought the DGE-530Ts local as I didn't want to wait till I could get the Intels from Newegg. The 530Ts seem to work OK. No speed demons but seem to be solid.

I had a weird happening with one of my older PC. However, I'm not sure if it's a problem with the card or with the motherboard. May be a compatibility issue with the old MB. I plan on trying some other things this weekend to see if we can fix the problem.

Just my 2 cents .....

GS6x doesn't have heatsink on chipset might be and issue why they fail on you. Netgear switches is causing problems for me here same duff port again and this is a second replacement. I am thinking and comparing other brands. So all produce heat but some even with metal case don't have a heatsink on the chipset.

The one you have now HP Pro-1400 has metal case and heatsink. But the Netgear GS108 has both also like the Pro-1400 different chipset than GS605 still slower than GS605 but faster than HP Pro-1400.

 

[valentin]

I think you do not need GigE for the two older computers. My laptop, Sempron 3100+ (1.8 GHz), is on 40 to 45 % CPU utilization while transferring files over through the Gigabit net connection.
________
TOYOTA CALDINA

 

[tipstir]

I think you do not need GigE for the two older computers. My laptop, Sempron 3100+ (1.8 GHz), is on 40 to 45 % CPU utilization while transferring files over through the Gigabit net connection.

You can help reduce that CPU along using the free home version of teracopy which can use part of your RAM as file transfer buffer. Default is 256KB.

 

[timby]

GS6x doesn't have heatsink on chipset might be and issue why they fail on you. Netgear switches is causing problems for me here same duff port again and this is a second replacement. I am thinking and comparing other brands. So all produce heat but some even with metal case don't have a heatsink on the chipset.

The one you have now HP Pro-1400 has metal case and heatsink. But the Netgear GS108 has both also like the Pro-1400 different chipset than GS605 still slower than GS605 but faster than HP Pro-1400.

Tipstir

I didn't try any of the other Netgear stuff as I was so disappointed with their 5 and 8 port stuff (GS605 & GS608) for home users. I do know the HP stuff has a life time warranty and I don't seem to be taking a performance hit with the HP switches.

This site has been very informative and helpful for my networking needs. I've passed the URL to some others that are in need of good info for networking.

Kudos Tim for a very well run site ....

 

[tipstir]

Tipstir

I didn't try any of the other Netgear stuff as I was so disappointed with their 5 and 8 port stuff (GS605 & GS608) for home users. I do know the HP stuff has a life time warranty and I don't seem to be taking a performance hit with the HP switches.

This site has been very informative and helpful for my networking needs. I've passed the URL to some others that are in need of good info for networking.

Kudos Tim for a very well run site ....

HP stuff is pretty good but just like to know which one performs better. I have to agree with GS series..

 

[valentin]

You can help reduce that CPU along using the free home version of teracopy which can use part of your RAM as file transfer buffer. Default is 256KB.

Thanks, teracopy is very handy utility. Still high CPU utilization though.
________
Mazda 757 history

 

[Madwand]

I have several of the Netgear 1gig switches and had a lot of problems with them. They worked fine for a while then started to have storm problems which shut down the network. I switched out the Netgear GS608 with an HP Pro 1400 and the problems went away.

Timby, I've seen this sort of problem with a GS608 v2, and in my case it had nothing to do with cooling or lightning strikes. This GS608 is not recent, and came with a heatsink bonded on the chipset. It still runs hot, but that's treatable with ventilation and/or vertical orientation, and is not related to the storming I saw. In my case, the storming came after switching around NICs on a computer -- stuff you might do when testing out different NICs and OSs, etc., and it was "reproducible" (I don't know the sequence exactly, but I did reproduce it by the same sort of actions, and have never seen the problem when these sorts of actions were not done).

So IME there is a specific issue with this switch's logic, but this problem is also not one which would be typically seen in a home environment (or at least once the connections were relatively stable). The simple solution when the problem does happen is to power cycle it.

Of course, this sort of problem is intolerable in a larger business network, but in those environments, you probably shouldn't be using consumer gear in the first place.

Another problem I saw with this switch is that the plastic cosmetics sometimes get in the way of cables with large connector shrouds making good contact -- often leading to gigabit negotiation issues. This problem is treatable with "persuasion" or different cables/connectors.

 

[joe]

power consumption

I was looking at either the Netgear GS608 or the D-Link DGS-2208.

They look similar, except D-Link has 8K MAC addresses vs. 4,000 for the Netgear. And buffer is 144Kbyte for D-Link vs. 128K for Netgear.

Neither of these should make a difference for me on my home network.

But, the D-Link claims 6W max power consumption v. 14.4W for Netgear. Plus the D-Link has the power down and reduced voltage swing features to further reduce power consumption. As far as I can tell, Netgear doesn't have these.

Based on the power savings, and the reported issues w/ Netgear on earlier posts, I'm going w/ the D-Link.

 

[stevech]

I'd assume that there are only 3 or so gigE switch chip vendors for small switches made by dozens of brand names.

IIRC, the only real difference is "cut-through" vs. "store and forward", where the latter only buffers the layer 2 header, not the IP packet. That header is all that's needed to do the ARP lookup to decide which switch port to use.

I do know from experience that consumer/SOHO switches do vary a lot in the goodness of their power supplies and thermal design.

None of my 2nd gen GigE switches have failed - from Netgear and Fry's house brand which is rumored to be D-Link.

All my 1st gen switches failed. Lousy power supplies and those chips ran too hot. Esp. the 1st gen D-Link.

 

[tipstir]

I'd assume that there are only 3 or so gigE switch chip vendors for small switches made by dozens of brand names.

IIRC, the only real difference is "cut-through" vs. "store and forward", where the latter only buffers the layer 2 header, not the IP packet. That header is all that's needed to do the ARP lookup to decide which switch port to use.

I do know from experience that consumer/SOHO switches do vary a lot in the goodness of their power supplies and thermal design.

None of my 2nd gen GigE switches have failed - from Netgear and Fry's house brand which is rumored to be D-Link.

All my 1st gen switches failed. Lousy power supplies and those chips ran too hot. Esp. the 1st gen D-Link.

Yeah best to use managed switch with built-in PSU rack or non-rack mounted. I not spending on weaker switches again. They add-up in cost so much might as well buy a real switch!