What 's a 3Com 3c515 worth these days?

From: Tothwolf <tothwolf_at_concentric.net>
Date: Tue Dec 25 18:08:12 2001

On Tue, 25 Dec 2001, Gary Hildebrand wrote:
> Ethan Dicks wrote:
> >
> > There were very few *ISA* 10/100 NICs ever made. The 3C515 is one of
> > them. One of the local junk shops has a couple behind the counter.
> > They are marked $20. I have no idea if that's a reasonable price or
> > if they are gouging (they also have some used RTC8139-based boards
> > next to them for $7, for comparison).
> >
> > Just curious, but not curious enough to drop $20 up front.
>
> I was getting 3c505 cards for 15 per, I'd start there. $20 tops.

The 505 is a much older card, and only supports 10mb/s compared to the
100mb/s that the 515 supports. The 505 is part of the Etherlink Plus
series, which predates the Etherlink III series. The Plus series came out
right after the Etherlink II series. I personally wouldn't pay more than
$5 for a used 505, and would expect to pay $1-$3.

I'd buy a 509 (Etherlink III series) over a 505 in most cases, due to
performance and driver issues. The 505 only has 1 transmit buffer, which
makes its performance suffer a little compared to the 509. Driver support
for the 509 is also much better. Overall, the 509 was probably the most
successful and popular ISA card 3Com ever made.

-Toth
Received on Tue Dec 25 2001 - 18:08:12 GMT