What's an NIC have to do with it?

[Macbeth]

I'm obsessed with lowering my latency even by 1 millisecond if I can do it. I understand that almost all of it has to do with the lines and my own isp, but anything on my end I can do, will do. Right now the cheapest thing i have in my system is a 10 dollar linksys nic from wal mart. Do you think i could gain performance with a better nic or all the bells and whistles associated just illusions of grandeur?

[eddiec]

I am quite interested in helping you with this "obsession". Much can be accomplished by potasium proximity. Try cutting a potato in half (lengthwise of course) and setting ot on top of your modem. If it works, I'll post the address to send a fifty dollar contribution to for the support of the Spuds in Technology Foundation, a newly founded orginization of which I am the chairman.

[Macbeth]

Actually I've conducted a test as to whether or not that worked. I tried a class 1 Idaho potato and a potato grown from my backyard. While neither one seemed to increase my network capabilities, I did find the potato in my backyard a bit more "aromatic."

[YeOldeStonecat]

Originally posted by Macbeth
I'm obsessed with lowering my latency even by 1 millisecond if I can do it. I understand that almost all of it has to do with the lines and my own isp, but anything on my end I can do, will do. Right now the cheapest thing i have in my system is a 10 dollar linksys nic from wal mart. Do you think i could gain performance with a better nic or all the bells and whistles associated just illusions of grandeur?

Yes, better NIC's (3COM or Intel), installed properly (no IRQ sharing) with the latest drivers, will yield lower pings.

Help setup a lot of LAN parties, and I'll see lots of different configs and setups, taking similar rigs, you'll see 3COM and Intel NICs outping other generic NIC's all day long.

Now with the internet, the impact is much less, because the weakest link in your chain is your ISP....keyword...."tracert" to yoru favorite server. Get much more than 10 - 12 hops...and consider your online play to be crappy. Granted many people don't have a choice in their ISP....but some do. (hint...generally, the local phone company sucks for DSL).

And how you have your network properties leaned out...any un-necessary protocols being loaded? I prefer un-binding TCP-IP from any networking services, I use NetBEUI for that. This way, TCP/IP loads up really light and flies since it's being used purely for internet, not file and print sharing.

Also if you use any ICS like software or a router...routers are faster for gaming....then you have the quality of your router also, just like the NICs.

[perk]

Routers will cause latency on your network, because a router will examine the entire packet before it sends it on.

[Brent_212]

how does one get the nic to not share its IRQ. I can't change the IRG setting in device manager. It's using IRQ 11 and is sharing it with "ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering" and "VIA Tech 3038 PCI to USB Universal Host Controller"
I can't change the IRQ for any of these devices. (and yes, I did uncheck "use automatic settings")