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Using PCI USB2 & Firewire card
Hello,
I have an ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe Board. I am curious to know if there would be a performance boost (less usage of CPU) if I did not use the on board USB2/Firewire connectors that the optional adapters connect to and use a Belkin PCI combo card instead(has both firewire & USB2). Thanks, Shane |
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Hard to be positive here, because it all depends on the actual
implementation on the motherboard. For example, if the USB and Firewire is simply provided via third party chipsets, these are probably connected via the PCI bus anyway. And since the add-on card is also using the PCI bus, in the end, there's really no difference. Both will have the same level of performance (assuming their respective chipsets are comparable) and require the same level of CPU support. I assume you're considering this possibility because you're comparing, for example, the benefits of using a PCI sound card rather than on-board sound. But there's a difference. On-board sound solutions are typically *far* more CPU intensive, by nature, than USB or Firewire (e.g., decoding an audio stream). In contrast, these latter *interfaces* are just that, simply interfaces. They don't require vast CPU resources. Their biggest problem is saturation of the PCI bus! This is why Intel introduced CSA w/ the 875 chipset, to bypass the PCI bus for LAN traffic, thus relieving some of that PCI congestion. It's very possible the integrated USB and Firewire solution is *superior* to a PCI solution *if* such a solution is also able to bypass the PCI bus. I'm not saying it does, only that the integration of components on the motherboard makes it more *likely* that such optimizations can be applied (ala CSA). Once you move to a PCI solution, you're *always* hampered by the PCI bus, minimally. Could the PCI device use some form of DMA to bypass the CPU?? Maybe, highly unlikely though, not for a simple USB or Firewire card, but there's no reason to believe the on-board implementation wouldn't so the same! In the end, I doubt seriously that foregoing the on-board solution for the PCI solution will afford any benefit here. It will likely either be the same or even worse. The problem for *these* interfaces is PCI bus congestion, NOT CPU utilization. Something like PCI Express is the solution to that problem, by providing more bandwidth to the PCI bus. The only real possibilty for better peformance (if not less CPU utilization) is if the PCI solution uses a better chipset. For example, the VIA USB chipset is known to be a mediocre performer, and one would assume VIA motherboards use it as an integrated solution. If you then installed a NEC PCI USB card, known to be a very good performer, well, in that sense, the PCI solution might be better. But I don't believe either solution would have much impact on the CPU. HTH Jim "no spam" wrote in message u... Hello, I have an ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe Board. I am curious to know if there would be a performance boost (less usage of CPU) if I did not use the on board USB2/Firewire connectors that the optional adapters connect to and use a Belkin PCI combo card instead(has both firewire & USB2). Thanks, Shane |
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