🚀 go-pugleaf

Using a PCI based card will help as far as CPU utilization goes.  I read
somewhere on Intel's developer site not all that long ago that running a PCI
motherboard without any ISA cards can raise system performance by 30-40%.
The ISA bus is incredibly slow, in addition to the fact that the "hole" is
only 16 bits wide.  If you have the free PCI slot, go with a PCI card.

Also, about keeping your old SB in your machine after getting any type of
a3d card (it sounds like you are talking about the Monster Sound M80):

This is only to maintain compatibility with older DOS games.  Windows 95
games will work just fine (in face quite better) with your a3d card.  If you
do not use any DOS based application requiring sound, you can safely remove
your SB.

On another note, if your SB is the only ISA card in your system, expect to
see a general increase in system performance (not number cruching increase,
but better system wide transfers, as the ISA bus can be completely ignored.)

Doug Burg <doug.burg@mail.wdn.com> writes:

>I've got an appointment to have Comcast out to install @Home this coming
>Friday.

>I'm being given the choice of ISA or PCI nic's.  I only have 1 free PCI
>slot and was holding out for a cool PCI/a3d 2.0 card this fall.  
{}
>Currently I have 2 ISA slots open and 1 PCI slot and can't imagine what
>else I would want to put in this machine of the ISA flavor.

>My question is will I see any real performance difference w/Comcast
>@Home between an ISA and a PCI nic.

Go for the ISA. While PCI, esp. plug&pray is nice, I doubt you'll
be hurt. This is ESPECIALLY true if you get a real card, i.e. not 
a NE2000 clone but a busmastering one. (This assumes your OS can
benefit from same....)

-- 
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

On Thu, 23 Jul 1998, Michael Robinson wrote:

>Also, about keeping your old SB in your machine after getting any type of
>a3d card (it sounds like you are talking about the Monster Sound M80):

Many of the newer A3D cards do have legacy DOS support.  The original
Monster sound did not, but I believe both of Diamonds new cards (the
MX200 and the M80) are supposed to support DOS games (in a Win dos
box, anyway).  For the most bang for the buck, though, I recommend the
Turtle Beach Montego Xstream.  Less than half the cost of the new
MX200 and all the features save 4 speaker support.  An excellent buy
and it does have real-mode drivers.  Toss the old ISA SB and get one
of these for $80 from Buycomp.Com

	Todd

__________________________________________________________
The chemists are a strange class of mortals who seek their 
pleasures among soot and flame, poisons and poverty... yet
among all these evils I seem to live so sweetly... may I 
die if I would change places with the Persian King.

		John Joachim Bercher, alchemist, ca. 1650

All I can say is that the 3com PCI cards they use are shit.  That series of
cards (especially in the Windows enviroment) are very processor intensive.
I went out and bought a $19 NE2000 clone and it runs so much better than the
PCI 3com piece they installed.




>Go for the ISA. While PCI, esp. plug&pray is nice, I doubt you'll
>be hurt. This is ESPECIALLY true if you get a real card, i.e. not
>a NE2000 clone but a busmastering one. (This assumes your OS can
>benefit from same....)
>
>--
>A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
>& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
>Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
>is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

I would recommend going with the PCI card just because PII systems often
have only 2 ISA slots.  If you have a modem and a sound card, you're all
full.

Doug Burg wrote:
> 
> I've got an appointment to have Comcast out to install @Home this coming
> Friday.
> 
> I'm being given the choice of ISA or PCI nic's.  I only have 1 free PCI
> slot and was holding out for a cool PCI/a3d 2.0 card this fall.  I
> understand that w/certain a3d sound cards, you are better off to keep
> your SB Compat card for DOS Legacy support.
> 
> Currently I have 2 ISA slots open and 1 PCI slot and can't imagine what
> else I would want to put in this machine of the ISA flavor.
> 
> My question is will I see any real performance difference w/Comcast
> @Home between an ISA and a PCI nic.
> 
> My machine is as follows:
> 
> p2/400
> 128mb
> 11.g udma
> Am about to install an ATI All-In-Wonder-Pro AGP to replace the Real3D
> Starfighter. (AGP)
> Dual Diamond Monster 3D's 12mb in SLI. (PCI x2)
> Cheesy Ensoniq sound card (PCI)
> Cheesy 56k modem (ISA)
> 
> Of course I know that the 100mhz fsb has nothing to do w/PCI or ISA
> slots.  Thanks in advance for any feedback you might provide.
> 
> Doug
> doug.burg@mail.wdn.com

-- 
'This is my opinion, there are many like it, but this one is mine' ;)

Jeremy Lupien

Some people use PCI modem which is only 56Kbps. Why don't you use a PCI NIC
when cable modem can be as fast as 1~2Mbps?

Doug Burg <doug.burg@mail.wdn.com> writes:
>
> My question is will I see any real performance difference w/Comcast
> @Home between an ISA and a PCI nic.

I wouldn't expect to notice a difference.  An ISA bus usually runs at
(or close to) 8MHz.  It is 16-bits wide, but it can only move data on
half of the clock cycles, yielding a maximum theoretical bandwidth of
8MB/s (or 64Mbit/s).  In actual practice, you can usually see 5MB/s (or
40Mbit/s) from an ISA bus.

I would be surprised if your cable modem is capable of providing more
than 2Mbit/s, which is 1/20 of what the ISA bus's useful capacity is,
and 1/32 of its maximum theoretical bandwidth.  In other words, the bus
isn't going to impost an artificial limit on your bandwidth.

But this is all theoretical.  There are factors that have nothing to do
with the bus that could affect performance.  For instance, the PCI card
may be based on a different chipset, or be from a different manufacturer
altogether.  Also, you will almost certainly require a free IRQ for the
ISA card, while the PCI card will probably be able to share an IRQ with
another device if it has to.  Also, it is likely that the ISA card will
not be Plug-n-Play compatible, while the PCI card probably is - meaning
that it will probably be easier to set up and install the PCI card.

-- David

"Deyon Kim" <deyon@hotmail.kom> writes:

>Some people use PCI modem which is only 56Kbps. Why don't you use a PCI NIC
>when cable modem can be as fast as 1~2Mbps?


What does MODEM speed have to do with available BW on the backplane?

-- 
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

I dont know about 30-40% but when I made the change to strictly PCI cards
(Ensoniq Audio, 3Com NIC, Diamond 56k --video is on AGP)  I did notice an
increase in overall preformance and stability from my system.  This was of
course something I noticed while using the system.  The misc. benchmarks
hardly revealed any improvement in any areas.

As for the orig question, unless you are going to dump your other ISA cards,
I dont see that it will matter much as far as internet speed.  Several other
users I have spoken to are using the ISA cards and getting approx same
download speeds as I am.



Aloha

ROBMAN


Michael Robinson wrote in message ...
>Using a PCI based card will help as far as CPU utilization goes.  I read
>somewhere on Intel's developer site not all that long ago that running a
PCI
>motherboard without any ISA cards can raise system performance by 30-40%.
>The ISA bus is incredibly slow, in addition to the fact that the "hole" is
>only 16 bits wide.  If you have the free PCI slot, go with a PCI card.
>
>Also, about keeping your old SB in your machine after getting any type of
>a3d card (it sounds like you are talking about the Monster Sound M80):
>
>This is only to maintain compatibility with older DOS games.  Windows 95
>games will work just fine (in face quite better) with your a3d card.  If
you
>do not use any DOS based application requiring sound, you can safely remove
>your SB.
>
>On another note, if your SB is the only ISA card in your system, expect to
>see a general increase in system performance (not number cruching increase,
>but better system wide transfers, as the ISA bus can be completely
ignored.)
>
>
>