Thursday, October 22nd 2009
VisionTek Introduces its Killer Xeno Pro Gaming NIC
VisionTek Products announced a technology partnership with Bigfoot Networks today in conjunction with the North American launch of the VisionTek Killer Xeno Pro Gaming Network Card. The introduction of this revolutionary gaming network card takes gaming to the next level with performance designed to enhance the online multiplayer experience. This new hardware caters to the growing online PC gaming audience and includes custom bandwidth controls to tailor the game play experience to the user's needs. When the dedicated Network Processing Unit (NPU) was born in the labs of Bigfoot Networks, VisionTek made plans to join forces for their next technology launch.
"My technology roots are grounded in the GPU, as the quintessential PC gaming hardware upgrade," said Michael Innes, COO & EVP of VisionTek Products, LLC, "It's too early to say that the NPU will overcome the GPU, but I do know it feels a lot like the advent of the PC graphics card. One thing is certain, online gaming is the dominant factor keeping the PC gaming platform alive."
According to NPD, over $2.6 billion dollars were spent over the last 3 years on PC games in the U.S. market, and the top sellers are consistently "online" multiplayer titles. PC gaming drives the demand for complimentary hardware and is the ultimate catalyst for VisionTek bringing new PC products to market. VisionTek's Killer Xeno Pro Gaming Network Card accelerates game networking for smoother game play and faster frame rates, providing a superior online gaming experience.
The Killer Xeno Pro is built specifically for online gamers and is designed to provide up to a 40% increase in performance with popular online game titles.
"VisionTek and Bigfoot Networks are in a position to change the PC gaming experience and innovate the hardware upgrade market, just like graphics cards did 15 years ago," said Mark Bilson, VP of Sales for VisionTek. "VisionTek saw the demand for a dedicated GPU take off as 3D environments became more complex. We see the same demand growing as a result of online bottlenecks on the client side and the need for a dedicated NPU."
The VisionTek Killer Xeno Pro offloads game networking operations by getting data traffic to the game the instant it arrives. VisionTek is a pioneer in bringing consumer technology products to market that demand specialty processors to create the best overall PC entertainment experience. The VisionTek Killer Xeno Pro Gaming Network Card will be found at Best Buy.com, CompUSA, Dell.com, New Egg.com, Tiger.com, NCIX, Amazon.com, Buy.com, D&H Distribution and Ingram Micro Distribution, in Systemax and MainGear PCs and at other leading PC consumer outlets in North America.
The VisionTek Killer Xeno Pro keeps game play smooth and frame rates high when the online action gets most intense. Bigfoot Networks' Game Detect technology automatically detects and prioritizies game traffic for the most responsive gaming experience. Intelligent Bandwidth Control lets users allocate bandwidth to other applications, such as voice chat, Web browsing and downloads. A hardware firewall runs on the card and not on the CPU, protecting users from online threats without slowing down their game play. The "Plug-&-Play" design automatically works with all online games to help improve performance without mods, patches or special settings. "Optimized Voice Chat" lets users chat with friends during the most intense game play without affecting performance.
"I would say that this card is outstanding and is worth every penny!" commented Raz, Team Dignitas Call of Duty 4 player and Call of Duty Player of the Year, 2009. "Never have I seen a piece of hardware like this."
The average World of Warcraft player spends over 10 hours a week engaged in online play,3 and all these features are a common wish. Stop wishing and start playing, with the VisionTek Killer Xeno Pro Gaming Network Card. Visit us at this page to learn more about the VisionTek Killer Xeno Pro.
"My technology roots are grounded in the GPU, as the quintessential PC gaming hardware upgrade," said Michael Innes, COO & EVP of VisionTek Products, LLC, "It's too early to say that the NPU will overcome the GPU, but I do know it feels a lot like the advent of the PC graphics card. One thing is certain, online gaming is the dominant factor keeping the PC gaming platform alive."
The Killer Xeno Pro is built specifically for online gamers and is designed to provide up to a 40% increase in performance with popular online game titles.
"VisionTek and Bigfoot Networks are in a position to change the PC gaming experience and innovate the hardware upgrade market, just like graphics cards did 15 years ago," said Mark Bilson, VP of Sales for VisionTek. "VisionTek saw the demand for a dedicated GPU take off as 3D environments became more complex. We see the same demand growing as a result of online bottlenecks on the client side and the need for a dedicated NPU."
The VisionTek Killer Xeno Pro offloads game networking operations by getting data traffic to the game the instant it arrives. VisionTek is a pioneer in bringing consumer technology products to market that demand specialty processors to create the best overall PC entertainment experience. The VisionTek Killer Xeno Pro Gaming Network Card will be found at Best Buy.com, CompUSA, Dell.com, New Egg.com, Tiger.com, NCIX, Amazon.com, Buy.com, D&H Distribution and Ingram Micro Distribution, in Systemax and MainGear PCs and at other leading PC consumer outlets in North America.
The VisionTek Killer Xeno Pro keeps game play smooth and frame rates high when the online action gets most intense. Bigfoot Networks' Game Detect technology automatically detects and prioritizies game traffic for the most responsive gaming experience. Intelligent Bandwidth Control lets users allocate bandwidth to other applications, such as voice chat, Web browsing and downloads. A hardware firewall runs on the card and not on the CPU, protecting users from online threats without slowing down their game play. The "Plug-&-Play" design automatically works with all online games to help improve performance without mods, patches or special settings. "Optimized Voice Chat" lets users chat with friends during the most intense game play without affecting performance.
"I would say that this card is outstanding and is worth every penny!" commented Raz, Team Dignitas Call of Duty 4 player and Call of Duty Player of the Year, 2009. "Never have I seen a piece of hardware like this."
The average World of Warcraft player spends over 10 hours a week engaged in online play,3 and all these features are a common wish. Stop wishing and start playing, with the VisionTek Killer Xeno Pro Gaming Network Card. Visit us at this page to learn more about the VisionTek Killer Xeno Pro.
45 Comments on VisionTek Introduces its Killer Xeno Pro Gaming NIC
Stop with that shit please, the future of online PC gaming is close to dead
For me its there price point, its just too dam exspensive adn as others have mentioned the money can be spent else where to give a much large boost.
If it was £20 i would be tempted to pick one up and make my own conclusion.
With 4 core CPUs and the better motherboards nowadays, yeah it's not going to do shit for you.
as a matter of fact .. wizz do a comparo with an onboard, an intel nic and this
no, Frederik S (who reviewed the PCI version for us).
techreport.com/articles.x/13010
A standard onboard network solution uses the CPU and driver interface model to do all the network processing, so if a application sends a request to the network stack to send packet A of data, it has to send the request through the driver, the driver passes it on to the CPU, which sends the information to the NIC throughthe PCIe bus, it processes it, sends back the instruction set to the CPU through the PCIe bus, the CPU processes the data into the form the NIC can use, sends it back down the PCIe bus, the NIC then performes whatever processing it needs on the data, and then finally out the ethernet port.
This will cut off about three trips through the PCIe bus, and thus decrease latentcy, it will also prevent teh CPU regesters from needing to be reprogrammed to perform the NIC's dirtywork, then reprogrammed withthe games instruction set.
So yes a whole 3% improvement in LAn gaming could be seen, and even more on horrible long pipe CPU's like the preshott.
Did I go out and buy one when my friends computer was fixed and I had to give it back? Hell No.
Is it worth the money Killer originally charged? Hell no.
Does it work and do as it claims? Yes, if something locally was limiting FPS or ping to begin with. In most cases getting around Microsoft Firewall, port scanning, Flow Control, and other misc. networking crap.
Would I spend my money on it? Maybe $50 to $65. For me this product idea works, but cost too much.
I remember one NIC (I think it was the Killer NIC) that had a USB port and it would micromanage torrents and downloads to an externally connected drive. It claimed to run the torrents and downloads a near full speed, but due to how it handled the network you are not suppose to notice a drop in regular browsing, but I am not sure about all that.
I concur. We need a new review with new hardware, because my computer is a whole different animal than it was 2 years ago.
Dropped packages was decreased by 3%
FPS increased by 2-3 in crysis.
FPS increased by not enough to be measured in COD4.
Intel QUAD gigabit PCI-E nic. ( i belive it has a higher price than this, prolly cause it is a quad nic from intel)
so there you go, 2 ms, and fps increased when cpu is really used... which isnt often.
no stuttering.
I bought this card on sale, $50 and it was the LAST thing I bought for my rig.
IMO it did make a diff in smoothness, not fps or ping.
Let me finish my smoke before you start shooting.