I suspect the result will be similar, since all the Intel card's performance tuning seems to be geared toward large-packet TCP (checksum offloading, etc), but performance results for the more server-oriented Intel card would be interesting nevertheless.
I used to own a Killer K1 and whilst it was good at first the terrible driver support rendered it nigh on useless.
I wouldn't touch another product related to Bigfoot in a million years. They support their new products only adequately and as soon as they do something new they leave their old customers high and dry.
What I did think when I saw it, however, that with a USB port on it. Will someone work out a way to hack it into something better? An OS-agnostic, TCP Offload Engine with full open-source driver support, kthnxplz.
If only I had the skill for such things. I'd be willing to go halves (or thirds?) on one if a willing developer (with creditable experience in such things) would be interested.
Indeed, crap. Killer networks really should just be put out, so that the few of these cards that are sold don't end up shoveled off onto ignorant gamers by overly pushy clerks in big box stores.
Besides, if you want throttling and proper QoS, download a little (Non Free) piece of software called cFosSpeed. It dynamically re-orders packets in order to make sure that things you want (HTTP, Skype, WoW) get out first, around your downloaded data. It's good enough that I can max out my download speeds and still keep respectable pings. Yup.
Awesome, I really enjoyed this review, when thinking about what PCI-slots to use in Alienware rigs bought online I always wondered if there were worth it, thanks Bit-tech :)
I did a blind test, took two identical systems, one had this card and one didnt, I had 10 people each day for three days try out both systems for 30mins each and you know what the results were, over half choose the system without the card as to what they though was faster lol, my point being is that this does not make a noticeable significant difference UNLESS your on an internet connection that is wireless or under 1.5mb, anything higher and well your not going to really need this card at all.
I'm curious: if you're playing a game and the server were using hardware like this, would you receive better performance? Could such hardware be used to improve the quality of the connection to the laggiest players in a game?
It's something I've wondered about since bigfoot networks came out.
Originally Posted by dylawesome I'm curious: if you're playing a game and the server were using hardware like this, would you receive better performance? Could such hardware be used to improve the quality of the connection to the laggiest players in a game?
It's something I've wondered about since bigfoot networks came out.
Well, I'm guessing that the idea of this card is that it moves the processing of the TCP/IP stack away from the rest of your computer and to the hardware on the card; i.e. freeing up the CPU to perform other tasks. It's a sound theory, but unfortunately it looks like it falls short in practical use. If you had a particularly slow PC, maybe you might see an improvement. But if you've got a particularly slow PC, you're probably not going to be gaming online.
I would agree with other posters; with modern hardware and CPU speeds, this product simply isn't needed. Only a fool would be dropping £80 on this.... Or OEMs who slap it in a "gaming" PC to screw a little bit more money out of you.
Originally Posted by dylawesome I'm curious: if you're playing a game and the server were using hardware like this, would you receive better performance? Could such hardware be used to improve the quality of the connection to the laggiest players in a game?
It's something I've wondered about since bigfoot networks came out.
Well, I'm guessing that the idea of this card is that it moves the processing of the TCP/IP stack away from the rest of your computer and to the hardware on the card; i.e. freeing up the CPU to perform other tasks. It's a sound theory, but unfortunately it looks like it falls short in practical use. If you had a particularly slow PC, maybe you might see an improvement. But if you've got a particularly slow PC, you're probably not going to be gaming online.
I would agree with other posters; with modern hardware and CPU speeds, this product simply isn't needed. Only a fool would be dropping £80 on this.... Or OEMs who slap it in a "gaming" PC to screw a little bit more money out of you.
EVGA demoed some benches of their version of this card and showed improvement though. I think its matter of what your connecting to and how you configure it. Since this card is only a year old they couldn't have benched it using old hardware for its time.
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ReplyI suspect the result will be similar, since all the Intel card's performance tuning seems to be geared toward large-packet TCP (checksum offloading, etc), but performance results for the more server-oriented Intel card would be interesting nevertheless.
I wouldn't touch another product related to Bigfoot in a million years. They support their new products only adequately and as soon as they do something new they leave their old customers high and dry.
I read the whole article just because the name of the product.
Does Bit-tech still run a CS:S sever?
We have gamerservers, yup - have a look in the Games Forum for the specifics.
What I did think when I saw it, however, that with a USB port on it. Will someone work out a way to hack it into something better? An OS-agnostic, TCP Offload Engine with full open-source driver support, kthnxplz.
If only I had the skill for such things. I'd be willing to go halves (or thirds?) on one if a willing developer (with creditable experience in such things) would be interested.
Most likely WoW freaks. They'll buy this card for the extra 4fps.
Besides, if you want throttling and proper QoS, download a little (Non Free) piece of software called cFosSpeed. It dynamically re-orders packets in order to make sure that things you want (HTTP, Skype, WoW) get out first, around your downloaded data. It's good enough that I can max out my download speeds and still keep respectable pings. Yup.
It's something I've wondered about since bigfoot networks came out.
Heck, there's more difference between Coke and Pepsi than this and onboard NIC.
Though the Intel NIC performs better than the Realtek NIC. If this sort of thing interests you, then you should rather buy boards with the Intel NIC.
ya, EVGA sounds better then Golden Arrow.
Well, I'm guessing that the idea of this card is that it moves the processing of the TCP/IP stack away from the rest of your computer and to the hardware on the card; i.e. freeing up the CPU to perform other tasks. It's a sound theory, but unfortunately it looks like it falls short in practical use. If you had a particularly slow PC, maybe you might see an improvement. But if you've got a particularly slow PC, you're probably not going to be gaming online.
I would agree with other posters; with modern hardware and CPU speeds, this product simply isn't needed. Only a fool would be dropping £80 on this.... Or OEMs who slap it in a "gaming" PC to screw a little bit more money out of you.
EVGA demoed some benches of their version of this card and showed improvement though. I think its matter of what your connecting to and how you configure it. Since this card is only a year old they couldn't have benched it using old hardware for its time.
I hope bit-tech.net will also review the Bigfoot Networks Killer 2100 and let us know how it compares to the Xeno Pro.
Thanks!
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