PCIE Network Adapter.

[Vibora]

Hey, Im considering buying a PCIE network adapter, but since its obviously connected to the Motherboard, wouldnt the heat of the GPU kill the adapter faster or make it perform worse?

[Alex Atkin UK]

8 minutes ago, Vibora said:

Hey, Im considering buying a PCIE network adapter, but since its obviously connected to the Motherboard, wouldnt the heat of the GPU kill the adapter faster or make it perform worse?

Not really, as normally the GPU would be pulling air away where the adapter is rather than blowing hot air onto it.
 

If hot air is going towards the left of the motherboard rather than being vented out to the right by the case fans, you have problems with your airflow.

Also, what kind of adapter (WiFi or wired) and why?

[Vibora]

13 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Not really, as normally the GPU would be pulling air away where the adapter is rather than blowing hot air onto it.
 

If hot air is going towards the left of the motherboard rather than being vented out to the right by the case fans, you have problems with your airflow.

Also, what kind of adapter (WiFi or wired) and why?

1. Air flow in my computer is coming from the front and getting out of the back.

2. WiFi, and I always used USB WiFi adapters but my common sense says PCIE WiFi Adapters are better. I might be wrong tho.

[Alex Atkin UK]

13 minutes ago, Vibora said:

1. Air flow in my computer is coming from the front and getting out of the back.

2. WiFi, and I always used USB WiFi adapters but my common sense says PCIE WiFi Adapters are better. I might be wrong tho.

They definitely are, USB has size and power/heat limitations.

The caveat is if your WiFi/router is in front of the PC then the case can impair the signal, in which case getting one with (or an after market) antenna that can be put on top of the case can be useful.

 

eg. The bluetooth on my PCIe WiFi adapter can go through a wall.  Every plug-in USB bluetooth adapter I've used had drop outs in the same room.

[Vibora]

33 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

They definitely are, USB has size and power/heat limitations.

The caveat is if your WiFi/router is in front of the PC then the case can impair the signal, in which case getting one with (or an after market) antenna that can be put on top of the case can be useful.

 

eg. The bluetooth on my PCIe WiFi adapter can go through a wall.  Every plug-in USB bluetooth adapter I've used had drop outs in the same room.

How significant can be that impairment? 

[Alex Atkin UK]

21 hours ago, Vibora said:

How significant can be that impairment? 

How long is a piece of string?

Basically depends on how good your reception is to begin with but I'd expect a dramatic difference in speed and stability when not in the same room as the router/Access Point.

Also some PCIe adapters can support higher levels of MIMO, though most common is 2x2 like many USB adapters.  But higher MIMO can be useful if your router supports it as say 4x4 will be up to twice as fast as 2x2 while using the same channel width, and channel space is precious when you're trying to avoid using the same one as your neighbours.

That said, 2x2 seems to be most common on WiFi 6/6e clients and rumour is WiFi 7 will instead let you connect to 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz and 6Ghz at the same time to combine the speeds which should be very interesting (though I can't imagine it being great for battery life on laptops and I kinda doubt phones will support it for the same reason).