From owner-freebsd-hackers Wed Feb 25 18:16:22 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id SAA29391 for freebsd-hackers-outgoing; Wed, 25 Feb 1998 18:16:22 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from implode.root.com (implode.root.com [198.145.90.17]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id SAA29276 for ; Wed, 25 Feb 1998 18:15:57 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from root@implode.root.com) Received: from implode.root.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by implode.root.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id SAA16197; Wed, 25 Feb 1998 18:13:53 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <199802260213.SAA16197@implode.root.com> To: Karl Denninger cc: FreeBSD Hackers Subject: Re: "Best" Fast Ethernet Card In-reply-to: Your message of "Wed, 25 Feb 1998 20:11:18 CST." <19980225201118.40285@mcs.net> From: David Greenman Reply-To: dg@root.com Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 18:13:53 -0800 Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG >> >> The recently released 3com Fast Etherink XL (rev B) 3C905B NIC is the best money >> >> can buy (apart from server cards costing upwards of 250UKP). >> >> It has lower CPU usage than any other card, helping it to give the fastest >> >> performance. >> >> The 3Com 3c905 driver in FreeBSD uses the card in compatibility mode (non- >> DMA programmed I/O) and is thus the slowest/highest overhead board that we >> support. The Intel PCI Pro/100B and Pro/100+ are the fastest/lowest overhead >> boards that we support, followed by the DEC boards. I haven't measured the >> performance of the new SMC cards, but I doubt that it is any lower overhead >> than the Intel cards. > >The SMC cards *ARE* DEC chipsets. The key word in the above is "new". The SMC9432TX uses the SMC83c170 chip, NOT the DEC chip. We have preliminary support for it in the 'tx' device driver. >Is there a difference between the PRO/100B and PRO/100+? The Pro/100+ uses the 82558 chip, which has an integrated PHY. It is software compatible and performs identically to the Pro/100B. -DG David Greenman Core-team/Principal Architect, The FreeBSD Project To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message