I'm building my first PC in a few weeks.  I have a week of vacation from Dec 26-30 so I'm trying to put together an order from newegg so I'll have everything in a pile come Dec 26.

A buddy who works in IT recommended an Intel network card but I can't find it on newegg.  It may not be in wide circulation yet because it is listed as being available in Nov 2005.  It's probably backordered.

What I need is a PCI-e card that will enable me to hook up to the Internet.  I will be getting DSL if that makes a difference.  I know they (Verizon) will probably give me a DSL modem (probably not the right term), but don't I need a separate card for connectivity?

BTW the specs on my computer have changed since my first post, here is the tally so far:

AMD Athlon 64 3700
XFX GeForce 7800GT
Asus A8N AMD/GeForce motherboard, SLI capable
Corsair 1 GB non-buffered Value RAM
Western Digital 320 GB hard drive, SATA
NEC DVD burner
Sony DVD ROM

Antec mid-tower case (comes with one 120mm fan, I need to buy at least one more 80mm fan)
Antec 400W power supply
Dell 2005FPW LCD monitor
Windows XP Home (grr ... I paid $199 for this and now I see XP Pro is on sale at newgg for $150.    )

Thanks in advance!

linksys lne-100tx

Doesn't the Asus MB come with built-on ethernet?

Why the hardon for PCI-e?

pci-e??  who knows.  but i can certainly recommend intel gb nics.  you can get them with up to 4 ports on one card

really, just about any $10 ethernet card will get you on the internet.  intel cards are generally expensive.  netgear, linksys, 3com are all good as well.  i've had good luck with the on-board ones with realtec chipsets, so a card with the same should be fine as well.

do you really need pci-e though?  i'm not familiar with any motherboards that don't still have standard pci slots on them.  and, you'll save a lot of money on a nic.

almost all new motherboards come with a 10/100/1000 network card on them.
*edit*
Just checked your link, you have a onboard 10/100/1000 card. So no need for aother lan card.

Quoted: Doesn't the Asus MB come with built-on ethernet?

I am new to building computers so I'm not sure.  Here is the motherboard that I bought.  Does this have on-board ethernet connections?

Onboard or 3Com. Hell they are all about the same anymore.


ByteTheBullet  (-:

lol yes, it's on the motherboard.  don't waste your money

When I'm building a custom PC, I don't mind when someone wants to spend money frivolously, but honestly, unless you have an OC-256 or something equally ridiculous, just buy a ten dollar normal PCI NIC. If it makes you happy, spend half again as much on a brand name.

And if you're buying a decent mobo it has an onboard lan port.

As for your DSL, it may be USB. Mine is either.


ByteTheBullet  (-:

Doesn;t need to be anything spectacular..     If you find a good deal on a 3Com 3c905b that my personal favorite (had issues with the 3c905c so I avoid that one) If you find one that was repackaged my matrox, I had four of these, and that are probably one of the best cheapo ones i have ( 8or9bux each and work in Linux) I also have a couple DLINK DFE-530TX+ they seem to be good as well..     The last few PCs Ive built  had Intel Gig-E cards on board..   Those are excellant, but I cannot speak for their PCI cards, as I havent tried one.

yes, you do need one for DSL/cable/FTTP  (at leat 98% of the time, internal broadband modems are out there)

Quoted: do you really need pci-e though?  i'm not familiar with any motherboards that don't still have standard pci slots on them.  and, you'll save a lot of money on a nic.

You and Tostitos have a good point.  I thought PCI-e because my motherboard has 2 PCI-E x16 slots and 2 PCI-E slots so "I might as well use what I got".  I might be seeing the world through PCI-E glasses because I've been doing a lot of research on video cards  ... SLI and PCI-E seem to be all the rage.  I'm hoping it works out with the GeForce 7800GT I got.  

I will drop the PCI-E requirement on the ethernet card (if I need one ... seems like my motherboard might be already internet capable).

http://forums.anandtech.com/categories.aspx?catid=27&entercat=y

That is the only place on the internet to discuss computer hardware. And by only I mean best.

Quoted: lol yes, it's on the motherboard.  don't waste your money

Cool, problem solved!  Thanks to all you guys for helping a newbie (in the world of PC building).  

Quoted: As for your DSL, it may be USB. Mine is either. ByteTheBullet  (-:

Alot of newer ones are..  but some of the drivers are a PITA to deal with..  plus it is extra software that you need to have tieing up resources.

your board has a 10/100/1000mbps onboard ethernet "card" on it. no need to buy another.



iirc using the USB adds latency problems, and definitly increases CPU usage, especially when transferring large files.

Quoted: Quoted: Doesn't the Asus MB come with built-on ethernet? I am new to building computers so I'm not sure.  Here is the motherboard that I bought.  Does this have on-board ethernet connections?

Yes it does.

Onboard LAN
Max LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps

Check the specs

Chris

Quoted: Doesn't the Asus MB come with built-on ethernet?

ETA: question answered..... Disregard

Quoted: The local Frys electronics had 100/1000 Ethernet cards for free, limit five. My friend and I made two trips each and equiped our whole (government) computer lab with gigabit cards. That was a few years ago, they're probably giving away 10G now.

Lol.  10Gb.  Funny.

Most company infrastructure backbones cannot handle 1Gb to the desktop....


Network card brands used to matter.  There were so many issues and bugs, especially with the emergence of 100mb/s.  3com and Intel really ruled the quality space.  Now - pretty much any cheap ass ASIC that runs 10/100/1000 will work just fine.  The biggest issues were driver compatibility and compatibility with a wide range of hub/switch infrastructures so autonegotiation worked correctly.

None of this is much of an issue anymore, and certainly not for the home user.  If you must add a NIC.... get the cheapest one you can find.

The ASUS on-board NICS are great.  I've built well over 50 systems...most on ASUS mobo's.

Use the onboard.

THREAD ENDED.

Quoted: THREAD ENDED.