I just upgraded my internet to a blazing 2.5 Gbps, but my ASRock B650M-C motherboard only supports 1 Gbps. I'm considering getting a network card that can handle 2.5 Gbps (like the one I found online) and using a Cat 8 Ethernet cable. My question is, will this setup allow me to reach the 2.5 Gbps speed, or will my motherboard bottleneck the performance? Thanks for your help!
3 Answers
Just a heads-up, check your other devices' speeds too. For example, my ISP actually gives me around 1.4 Gbps max. So even if I have a 2 Gbps connection to the modem, I can't use that full speed due to the ISP limits. If you don’t have devices that can handle 2.5 Gbps, then you might not see the benefit either way!
Using a Cat 8 cable is definitely overkill for home use since it's rated for up to 40 Gbps. If you got it at a reasonable price, it might not be authentic. For 2.5 Gbps service, a Cat 6 cable is sufficient, and honestly, a Cat 5e cable would likely do the trick for shorter distances.
Once you install an add-on network card, your motherboard's built-in Ethernet won't factor in anymore. So you should be good to go with that card!
True! Cat 5e is actually all that's required for 2.5 Gbps—it really works better than folks tend to think.