# Intel Gigabit LAN vs Realtek



## Rayzer76

I personally don't think there is a difference. IMO, i do believe i _feel_ a difference when using a pci network adapter vs onboard. Seems like my file transfers are snappier.

Hope that helps.


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## Blameless

Lower CPU utilization and better throughput.

You won't notice the difference unless you do lots of local transfers on a gigabit network though.


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## mrwalker

Mostly quality (you know it won't fail in a matter of months and the drivers are stable) and maybe features/settings.


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## scottsee

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Blameless;11942595*
> Lower CPU utilization and better throughput.
> 
> You won't notice the difference unless you do lots of local transfers on a gigabit network though.


I'd go as far to say you wouldn't see any performance difference at all. These newer cards all do checksum offloading on their own and don't require much cpu IRQ cycles

The only real problem I've experienced between the two have to do specifically how programs interact with their drivers. Wireshark has a tendency not to display VLAN tags in frames with Realtec, which isn't huge but requires some annoyances to get working. For all day - every day tasks I don't see anything to be concerned about. Pick whichever one you like best..


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## SlackerITGuy

Thanks for all the help you guys.

So I guess I won't see any difference while gaming with a standard Realtek one vs a Intel one.


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## scottsee

They are all based on the same IEEE 802.3 standards. Each have their own quarks but nothing to even bother thinking about, let alone worry about.


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## citruspers

^ What he said.

I think you will mainly notice the difference when you start doing more advanced things, like Teaming, Jumbo Frames, etc.
Gaming is pretty light on the network card anyhow.


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## davidmoore

Motherboards with dual Realteks, IIRC, support etherchannel (uses both in tandem.) You would need a switch that supports this feature though.


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## DuckieHo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rayzer76;11942554*
> IMO, i do believe i _feel_ a difference when using a pci network adapter vs onboard. Seems like my file transfers are snappier.


That's not true.... since PCI network adapters often are the same chip (Atheros, Realtek, Broadcom, etc) as the ones used onboard.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *scottsee;11945700*
> They are all based on the same IEEE 802.3 standards. Each have their own quarks but nothing to even bother thinking about, let alone worry about.


Based on standard is different from hardware implementation... Sandy Bridge and K10.5 both support the x86-64 instruction set but that does not mean they are both capable of the same performance.

Here's some benchmarks: http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/131340

For many users, it won't matter.... but if you start providing heavier loads (achieving a constant 110MB/s for a transfer, installs over network) or more advanced tasks (PXE, VMs), then a dedicated network card may improve performance.


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## beers

No real difference for home use.
Also, most NIC's can be teamed as mentioned above in the etherchannel post..


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## DuckieHo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *beers;11955253*
> No real difference for home use.
> Also, most NIC's can be teamed as mentioned above in the etherchannel post..


My experience with Teaming is that it usually just doesn't work with generic NICs.


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## parityboy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DuckieHo;11957189*
> My experience with Teaming is that it usually just doesn't work with generic NICs.


Does it not more depend on the switch supporting 802.3ad (LACP?) than NICs themselves? Also does Teaming support need to be in the driver under Windows? I know on Linux there is a bonding driver which isn't very choosy about the underlying drivers - i.e. you can bond an Intel NIC and a Broadcom NIC.


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## shuklaalok7

*Intel is not working at 1 Gbps*

I changed my motherboard Gigabyte B250M-DS3H containing RealTek GbE with MSI PC MATE B250 containing Intel i219-v lan. Realtek used to work at 1 Gbps with my Netgear router while Intel works only at 100 Mbps. No matter what I try I have not been able to get it to work at 1 Gbps.
I have not changed router because that's the only router I have which supports Gigabit ethernet. I also have not changed cable because it works at 1 Gbps with Realtek and that's the only cable I have with 10 meters length.
This is my experience with these two cards.


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