32 vs 64 bit PCI slots (...and gigabit ethernet)

[SpookyEddy]

Ok.... I am in the middle of repopulating our data racks and it seems like an ideal time to do a bit of tinkering with some of the servers. I have a file server (dual P3, 1.5 Gig of RAM, SCSI u160 RAID 5) that provides home directories for 2500+ users and is hooked into the core switch stack via a shiny new gigabit ethernet card. However the mainboard offers only 32 bit PCI slots (card is 64) and I don't have a spare mb kicking about.

So, onto my question. Is it worth the effort to switch to a MB that would allow me to slap the ethernet card in a 64 bit slot or is it really not a big deal? I shall be googling about shortly but as allways any advice is appreciated.

Regards

ed

[Peter M]

U160 SCSI going at full blast requires 160 MB/s bandwidth.
One Gbit ethernet channel at maximum load requires 250 MB/s.

32-bit 33 MHz PCI as found on commodity mainboards has an actual bandwidth of slightly above 100 MB/s on a lucky day.

Still got questions?

[SpookyEddy]

Nope, assuming the "real world performance" (if you will pardon the phrase) reflects the theoretical limits then thats exactly the info I was after.

Thanks for your help, greatly appreciated.

Regards

ed