On Sun, 26 Nov 2017 13:25:10 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote:

In message , Paul
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message ,
writes:


Leaving it unplugged is probably the best, I imagine all cards do use
some power, so I may be savihg a few cents on my electric bill without
It's absence would probably also improve ventilation and so on, and
having it there (even _with_ the correct drivers) might still impede
the machine's operation, though in practice by an imperceptible amount.

In the old days, a NIC chip drew around 1 watt.

On modern chips, they're dual rail, with a higher voltage
for the I/O pins (3.3V maybe) and a lower voltage for the
core (to save on core power by using reduced amplitude
signals). And the Ethernet chips also have power saving features
to put portions of them to sleep when no packets are coming in.

If the RJ45 wasn't plugged in, and there was no heartbeat
from a router, then the chip might power down. (And the
driver and Device Manager setting can help it do that.)

Some older hardware probably runs at constant power.
Like that RTL8139 on the OPs card. (I just looked up
the datasheet, and it's 1.1W of power max.)

Much has changed over the years about IC design, and
back in the old days, we had relatively slow
computers burning up 150W just sitting there. If
you stick a power meter on an older machine, it's
shocking how much power it wastes. Just like the
CRT screens we used to use, would draw 150W for
a big monitor. Old computer hardware is
a "coal fired glutton" :-)

(In hot climates or hot weather. In cold climates, they're just reducing
the requirement on your heating system! [Though electric heating is
rarely cheaper than other forms.])

Paul

So even if it's an old power-hungry card, we're only talking a few watts
- probably negligible, though just _possibly_ detectable in pennies per
year. I'd have said the main benefits from removing it would be improved
airflow, and _possibly_ reduced likelihood of software problems/slowdown

I downloaded that driver, but havent tried it yet. Too many projects
going on. If that driver works, I'll just leave it plugged in. Maybe
someday I'll get ambitious and try to setup a network, but I dont really
see a need. I dont want to connect it to this computer which runs
Win98se, because the whole point of that computer is to keep it free of
the internet for safety reasons.

I did plan to wrap it in a anti-static bag and place it in the bottom of
that comp, but I was concerned about that bag touching the MOBO. I
beleive those anti-static bags are conductive. But I guess that anti-s
bag could have been placed inside yet another bag made of plastic or
paper. Or wrapped with duct tape.

I do wonder one thing. I know setting up a network is difficult. However
the last time I tried I was running Windows 3.x, so maybe it's easier
now. Anyhow, if my Win98 comp is connected to an XP comp, and I connect
to the internet with the Win98 comp, can I use the internet thru the
network? In other words, could I use a modern browser on XP, but still
be connected to the internet using Win98? (If you dont recall, I have
that problem where only Win98 can create a usable connection to my
dialup. If this is possible, I do have another unused computer with XP
on it.

You mentioned the old computers used lots of power even on standby. How
old would that be? This is the comp that is normally running most of the
time. It's a 2000 or 2001 system, which was designed for Win 2000. But
it runs Win98se. I know it runs a lot cooler than any modern comps, but
how much power is wasted leaving it on most of the time??? (No, it dont
have a CRT monitor, and when I walk away from it for hours, I always
turn off the flat screen monitor, just to save the monitor as well as
energy).