Premium ISA USR "hard modem" or "passable" Chaintech PCI "hard" modem.

[MegalosSkylaki]

I have both (retail) and a shared PCI/ISA slot.

So do I go with the 16 bit "premium" ISA or the lesser but 32-bit PCI modem ?

Any comments ?
Recomendations?
Explainations as to the practical difference between a 16-bit and 32-bit path for a dial-up modem ?
Would it make a difference in a modem?
Enough to overcome the quality/ features/ drivers advantage of a US Robotics premium modem?

DOOOOG

[BFlurie]

16 vs 32 ain't gonna make any difference -- your standard ISA com ports the modem use are 16 bit. Overhead? In my testing, ISA overhead is negligible, at least for standard hardware (not talking video cards here) -- complex ISA soundcards might have some effect. 'Course, there are issues about your particular needs -- will you need a PCI or ISA slot in the future? Will your next mobo have an ISA slot? Etc.

Go with the ISA modem. It's most definitely a true hardware modem, the resorces are easy to configure, it will use less cpu, and it'll work when you decide to go with Linux.

[DoctorWHO]

USRobotics all the way so long as it is a true hardware modem and not a controllerless one. I still have my external V.Everything, best damn modem ever made.

Hayes has a pretty nice V.92 PCI modem that is a true hardware modem and it works great and has XP drivers too! Can usually be had for about 40-50 bucks.

[MegalosSkylaki]

Definately a hard modem the US Robotics. I found a Courier Everything external with a foundling computer. Has the SW on the Foundling HDD but don't have Sw. US robotics tends to keep its Site up to date with a lifetime upgradable guarentee , I think, at least on it's premium models.

Hate to send Ubid any business considering the problems I've had with them but I've seen a USR ISA "Everything" lifetime modem for $25 + copious shipping from time to time.That's where I got the one step lower ISA hard modem from for $17 + copious shipping.

The Chaintech modem which is PCI is a-l-s-o- a "hard modem" according to it's claims. Still in its shrinkrapped Retail box as is the USrobotics.

Hence the question as I already own both.
Actually I will use both as time goes by.

Won't buy a "soft" modem unless some special reason--see seperate post soon on Elsa Microlink external serial modem which is flasable and comes with Elsa Communication Lite SW.. I assume its a "softy" but not sure and there microlink site does say as I recall.

ThanX everybody.
DOOOG

P.S. I find modems fascinating.

[MegalosSkylaki]

BFlurie, thanx for your reply.

Do I understand you to mean that Com ports are all 16 bit and whether I use a 32-bit PCI modem or a 16-bit ISA, transfer of data will be on a 16-bit path ?

Hence, deciding consideration is ONLY the better modem--clearly the premium USR.

Please clarify anybody about Com throughputs.

DOOOOG

[BFlurie]

Standard serial com ports (not USB) run on the 16-bit ISA bus. But a decent mobo w/good serial ports, ISA & DMA buffering, and peer-concurrency won't be overloaded by any reasonable ISA devices, so com port thru-put will be limited by your ISP connection & not your hardware. In fact, on my so-so box, downloading a large file (via ISA modem) & playing a large sound file via an ISA sound card at the same time show practically no effect on CPU usage, and no buffer overruns, modem packet loss, etc., occur in the modem log file.