derSammler wrote:3Com cards are active ones (with CPU, RAM; doing protocoll handling etc.) while most other cards are passive, meaning that the CPU must do most of the work. Active cards are better especially for slower PCs.
appiah4 wrote:derSammler wrote:3Com cards are active ones (with CPU, RAM; doing protocoll handling etc.) while most other cards are passive, meaning that the CPU must do most of the work. Active cards are better especially for slower PCs.
At what processor speeds does the difference become negligible? Am I better off replacing my PII and below PCs, for example, with 3Com NICs?
appiah4 wrote:derSammler wrote:3Com cards are active ones (with CPU, RAM; doing protocoll handling etc.) while most other cards are passive, meaning that the CPU must do most of the work. Active cards are better especially for slower PCs.
At what processor speeds does the difference become negligible? Am I better off replacing my PII and below PCs, for example, with 3Com NICs?
PTherapist wrote:I'm using a 3C509 of some variety in 6 of my retro builds, including 1 16-bit 3C509B in an 8-bit slot on my 8088 XT build with it's boot ROM enabled for XTIDE Universal BIOS. Relatively straightforward to configure the 3C509 for this purpose and so the card not only allows me to transfer files back and forth over the LAN, but also I can use XTIDE's virtual serial drive functionality to access virtual Floppy and/or Hard Disk images. No need for multiple floppy disks laying around, a great alternative to a Gotek Floppy Emulator. Great for booting PC Booter games too!![]()
I also have another 3C509-COMBO as a spare, which I have to get around to testing at some point as it's the 1 card that looks completely different to all of my other 3C509s (a more basic looking PCB, with less components).
For the PCI based builds that don't have onboard network, the most common and cheaply available PCI cards that fill my retro builds are the RealTek RTL8139 & Intel Pro/100. Of those, I prefer the RTL8139 for the same reason as the 3C509 in the ISA systems - driver support! I collected most of those PCI cards during the early 2000s and I don't recall 3Com PCI cards being very common at that time.
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