Add gigabit ethernet on the cheap

[zen.state]

I am the proud owner of Sawtooths as many of you know. These were the last PowerMac to have 10/100BT ethernet.

I bought a Trendnet TEG-PCITXR PCI gigabit ethernet card for only $12 on ebay and it arrived today. I am proud to say that it works perfectly and uses built in drivers found in 10.5.2+.

Here is a product page for it: http://www.trendnet.com/products/proddetail.asp?prod=140_TEG-PCITXR&cat=14

It lists nothing about mac compatibility but I read on a couple different sites that these worked in 10.5.2+ so I gave one a try. Glad I did. It's also a great idea for firewall systems that need 2 ethernet or even a PowerMac with dead onboard eth.

So any PowerMac with PCI and 10.5 can easily benefit from this card. I am loving the true gigabit speed. It makes network drives perform like local drives.

 

[max¥¥]

I am the proud owner of Sawtooths as many of you know. These were the last PowerMac to have 10/100BT ethernet.

I bought a Trendnet TEG-PCITXR PCI gigabit ethernet card for only $12 on ebay and it arrived today. I am proud to say that it works perfectly and uses built in drivers found in 10.5.2+.

Here is a product page for it: http://www.trendnet.com/products/proddetail.asp?prod=140_TEG-PCITXR&cat=14

It lists nothing about mac compatibility but I read on a couple different sites that these worked in 10.5.2+ so I gave one a try. Glad I did. It's also a great idea for firewall systems that need 2 ethernet or even a PowerMac with dead onboard eth.

So any PowerMac with PCI and 10.5 can easily benefit from this card. I am loving the true gigabit speed. It makes network drives perform like local drives.

Wow, $12 is a good price (would be more like £9-10 here) maybe i can afford to update my network to gigabit, but last time i checked gigabit hardware (switches etc) where expensive
But then again most of my macs run 10.4 and probably wouldn't work

 

[zen.state]

For direct mac to mac networking you don't need to have a switch or router. Just have 2 ethernet ports on one and use that as the net connected machine. Then you can swap files at gigabit speeds with just 2 of these or one and a Mac that already has gigabit.

Not only is that cheaper but that setup also allows the first system to act as a firewall. No router needed for the firewall or connection.

This card is only confirmed to work on 10.5.2+ though so maybe 10.4 won't work.

 

[max¥¥]

For direct mac to mac networking you don't need to have a switch or router. Just have 2 ethernet ports on one and use that as the net connected machine. Then you can swap files at gigabit speeds with just 2 of these or one and a Mac that already has gigabit.

Not only is that cheaper but that setup also allows the first system to act as a firewall. No router needed for the firewall or connection.

Unfortunately i would have trouble doing that, mainly as i have at least 10 comps + devices that need connecting, although i am considering adding a gigabyte part to my network where my servers and high bandwidth stuff would live, anyway thanks for the heads up on that card

 

[jchase2057]

Good upgrade for only 12 bucks. Whats the grand total that youve put into that sawtooth in your sig? If you dont mind me asking.

 

[zen.state]

Good upgrade for only 12 bucks. Whats the grand total that youve put into that sawtooth in your sig? If you dont mind me asking.

A sort of timeline without exact dates:

My first Sawtooth ever was bought in 2005 but I gave it to a friend in Montreal who needed it more than me. This was also during my MDD phase before I fell in love with Sawtooth's

I bought this Sawtooth in my sig. in 2008 for $200 off craigslist but it came with a G4 1GHz upgrade, 1GB RAM, Radeon 7500 and a DVD-RW. The G4 1GHz is now my backup CPU and the 7500 and 1GB I also use as spare parts for the future.

I then bought a 2 channel SATA card for $70 along with 2 HD enclosures for $45 each to fit all 4 drives total I wanted to use. I only like to put a max of 2 hard drives inside to keep heat down.

Over the last couple years I have bought 3x1TB and 1x500GB SATA drives for about $350 total. Also bought a Pioneer DVD-RW to replace the LG it first had. Think it was just $35.

After the drives I upgraded the RAM to 2GB and added heat spreaders to it. Total cost was about 180.

Next I upgraded the video to the low profile XFX Geforce 6200 256MB AGP that I bought for around $80 and then used my friends x86 box to flash it.

After the video and RAM upgrades I figured the CPU should be next so I bought the NewerTech MaxPower G4 7448 1.8GHz from OWC for $375. After shipping and duty though it was more like $430

I replaced all the case fans with dual ball bearing 3 speed top of the line Antec fans along with adding 2 more 80mm. About $75

About 10 months ago I bought 2x spare Sawtooth's for when I may need parts in the future. Both together off craigslist were around $160. Both are fully functional but sit unplugged/unused in the corner of my computer room at home.

Random small upgrades:

Fan controller for heatsink fans on NewerTech upgrade - $15

Gigabit Ethernet PCI card - $12

USB 2.0 PCI card (6-ports) - $20

About 3 months before I got my main/current use Sawtooth in 2008 I bought a new Dell 2407WFPHC for $700. Greatest display I have ever owned. I have the Dell logo covered with black tape Dell or not you can't beat the S-PVA tech. Info from wiki on the LCD part in it: "Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP-HC 24" Samsung S-PVA LTM240CS01-001 (true 8-bit) - 1920×1200 - 6 ms"

So that's $1627 total including the 2 spare Sawtooths so $1467 just on my main tower.

If you include the LCD it's $2327 total. Crazy huh? I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[jchase2057]

That is awesome. I bet you get a lot of compliments on it. It is crazy but not many can say their mac is truly their own.

 

[JoeG4]

You can also use onboard ethernet and a switch. I used to use my G4 as a router that way for ages and it worked fine XD

 

[zen.state]

Never thought to show the system profiler info on the card. It shows a driver is installed which confirms it's built in.

pci10ec,8169:

Type: Ethernet Controller
Driver Installed: Yes
Bus: PCI
Slot: SLOT-D
Vendor ID: 0x10ec
Device ID: 0x8169
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x10ec
Subsystem ID: 0x8169
Revision ID: 0x0010