Killer NIC, Anyone try this?

[Sycotic]

http://www.bigfootnetworks.com/killer-2100/


Ive considered buying one of these cards for years now. Im just really skeptical that it will actually help. I was wondering if anyone has tried one of these, and seen a better Frame rate?

[Darkeros]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2111

interesting article while dated probably says it all.

[Tivia]

I have one, though It was given to me and I didn't actually purchase it.

The version that Dark linked is gone, it has been upgraded quite a few times and is a pretty solid product (subjectively). Why subjectively? Well it really depends entirely on your setup.

If you are running a $200+ high end gamers motherboard, it very likely has the same nic chipset and the performance benefits are negligable.

If you don't, the performance benefit isn't what I would call huge but it can be nice if you have some games that tend to have bad net code (WoW). At its original price, I would of said flat out no to anyone even thinking about it. There are much better things you can spend your money on. However at $89 its current price, it isn't really a terrible deal. I would still encourage people to invest in just about everything else first, but if your pc is pretty solid already and the next step in hardware is several hundred dollars. It is not a bad upgrade for sub $100.

So really this is sort of those pieces of hardware that can benefit you in certain situations and overall is not a terrible value. It just isn't a great one either.

[Sycotic]

Pretty much hit the nail on the head there Tivia. Im about out of upgrades! Could see maybe squeezing a few more Frames out with this card. However.. i do run a higher end Asus Pro gamer board (was 220 retail). So what im learning is, i should just re-program my priority list on my connections and ill see a similar difference. Think ill sort that out and see if i can notice a difference.

Thanks for the reply, just what i wanted, a personal experience. I just ordered almost 100$ in cosmetic crap for my box, thats when i realized, i had better have every single piece of REAL hardware upgraded. Or else i would question my priorities! lol

Gonna hold off on this card, see if i can tweak my motherboards NIC. Also adjust the priority settings.

[Tivia]

Not a problem.

In the worst case that you can't alter the priorities of your motherboard nic, having a standalone nic is never a bad idea. This is where the situational bit comes into play. The cost difference between a good quality gigabit nic and this really isn't that large. So a solid PCI express gigabit nic of decent quality will still run $30-$40 and not give you any features beyond being a nic. Again you are splitting hairs on the actual benefit, but I will also drop $200 on a case just because it looks good so I completely understand that. That and I am a sucker for shrouded circuitry...All I gotta say is GDamn my motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ImageGallery.aspx?CurImage=13-131-702-TS&SpinSet=13-131-702-RS&ISList=13-131-702-Z06%2c13-131-702-Z07%2c13-131-702-Z08%2c13-131-702-Z09%2c13-131-702-Z10&S7ImageFlag=1&Item=N82E16813131702&Depa=0&WaterMark=1&Description=ASUS%20SABERTOOTH%20P67%20%28REV%203.0 %29%20LGA%201155%20Intel%20P67%20SATA%206Gb%2fs%20 USB%203.0%20ATX%20Intel%20Motherboard) looks good! :D

[Sycotic]

Wow! thats a sweet motherboard! very clean looking, the cleanest i have seen!

[Tivia]

Wow! thats a sweet motherboard! very clean looking, the cleanest i have seen!


Its is, especially with a little creative lighting. My only gripe is that dust builds up between the shroud and the board so you have to be careful about cleaning it out regularly.

[xLUCIOUSx]

I've always wondered about these network cards myself as i live in NZ. I average 170-270 ping on NA servers so i thought these network cards could help my ping. If you purchase this card be sure to let me know how it goes as i will probably purchase one myself if it is worth it.

[Tivia]

If you have a high ping it can help some. At the very least it does a fairly effective job of stabilizing your ping. While it certainly won't give you a 20 ping when you are normally 100+, it can yield a benefit. YMMV on things like this though, as it can help issues your computer is having but it cannot make a crummy connection not crummy.

My advice? buy it and if it works great if not return it.

[agonyecstacy]

i got one of these killer network deals in my computer to be. . . when i get back i can send up a review as well.. i got the latest and greatest one.. im a sucker

[Sycotic]

i got one of these killer network deals in my computer to be. . . when i get back i can send up a review as well.. i got the latest and greatest one.. im a sucker

YEa, im still on the fence, let me know what you think! Im a sucker when it comes to computer parts too lol. trying to be more educated though. (hence this post!) Im sick of buying computer parts that dont live up to what they say. I feel burned on my last GCard purchase... hate that feeling.

[nyke]

Kill NIC was good back in Vista because of windows stack, it used its own instead, now after a vista patch and that pre-applied to W7, it does not help as much otehr than having the option to control your network flow by prioritizing ports n stuff. Not a upgrade over a good mobo.

[Sycotic]

Kill NIC was good back in Vista because of windows stack, it used its own instead, now after a vista patch and that pre-applied to W7, it does not help as much otehr than having the option to control your network flow by prioritizing ports n stuff. Not a upgrade over a good mobo.

Thanks

[agonyecstacy]

Before i decided to buy i read up on the 2100 a bit and basically what i gathered from it is that it bypasses windows/ your OS alltogether and sends the feed directly to the game you desire/ program you desire. Pretty much cutting off any other program that could suck small bits of life out of your internet connection.

[kaifus]

For shits-sake, all the new fangled routers have QoS policies built in. Just prioritize your gaming traffic over everything else and be done with it.

The offboarding of traffic onto the Killer might help a little but keep in mind that you are also at the mercy of the Internet. The majority of your frame / packet loss is coming from there or shitting client to server communication.