Upgrade my NIC Card?

[awa413]

I have an old Sony Vaio Desktop Computer, the VGC RB-42G that has the Intel® PRO/100 VE Network Card. My incoming internet speed (wired download speed) is at 238mps, but it wont reach near that on this computer. Is that because my network card is limited to 100mps (is it?)? So, can I just go out or order a new card that can handle that incoming speed so I can use what I pay for, or is that not possible with the age of the computer & components, and I need to bite the bullet and get a new computer? My modem/router are up to date & fine. Thanks.

 

[elbert]

Here is a low cost card that supports 1gbps. It works with your systems original xp up to windows 7.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Wired Network Adapter: TP-Link - TG-3269 PCI 10/100/1000 Mbps Network Adapter ($8.79 @ OutletPC)
Total: $8.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-07 21:12 EDT-0400

 

[awa413]

Here is a low cost card that supports 1gbps. It works with your systems original xp up to windows 7.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Wired Network Adapter: TP-Link - TG-3269 PCI 10/100/1000 Mbps Network Adapter ($8.79 @ OutletPC)
Total: $8.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-07 21:12 EDT-0400

 

[awa413]

Thanks elbert. So how did you know what card was compatible? Are there any nic cards that will work with xp up to windows 9 or 10? Does it matter which card I use as long as it is a gigabit card? Curious and thanks again.

 

[elbert]

I first searched your Sony Vaio VGC RB-42G to find it had legacy PCI and came with windows xp. I then search on part pickers for PCI cards and look though each for the most compatible 1000mbps card. Then I looked at system requirements which starts with windows 98se and goes to windows 7. I then search the parts number for more drivers and found the tp-link site has windows 8 drivers which should also work for windows 10.
http://www.tp-link.com/us/download/TG-3269.html#Driver

 

[bill001g]

The main problem with old computers is getting the drivers. Mostly this is a win xp issues since there are many new cards that do not have any drivers that will load under windows xp. I hope you did not load win10 on that old machine you have. Win10 is a pig, it has tons of crap running all the time in the background.

In many cases as long as you can get a driver and the card has the proper physical connection it will work fine.

If the motherboard only has 100m ethernet it is very old which also means you may have other bottlenecks in the machine even after you upgrade the nic card. Luckly nic cards are cheap

 

[awa413]

I didn't upgrade to Windows 10. XP MCE is still loaded, but my hard drive is failing and is going to quit any moment now, so I want to get a hybrid drive to replace it, then load Windows 7. I refuse to shut down the computer for fear the drive will never spin again, as I've noticed in the past when I shut it down the try and turn it on a few days later, it grinds and takes several tries. I haven't shut off this computer now for 4 years. Surprsingly the drive is still spinning.

 

[awa413]

So I guess I should figure out now if my motherboard, which is most likely from 2004, has only 100m ethernet? Thanks you guys.