Bigfoot Networks Killer NIC M1

[Frederik S]

The Killer NIC by Bigfoot Networks is a network card specifically designed for the needs of gamers. It comes with a 400 MHz RISC processor onboard that handles all network processing functions, giving the games more CPU time to use. In addition to that the processor can run small applications like a Firewall or BitTorrent client independently from the host system.

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[Bret]

Why did u measure FPS?

And ur ping is 5ms?? My ping never gets below 250ms in any game.. maybe u dont need that thing.

 

[Wile E]

Why did u measure FPS?

Mostly because Killer targets this towards gamers. They claim better fps and ping in their advertising.

 

[xvi]

Why did u measure FPS?

And ur ping is 5ms?? My ping never gets below 250ms in any game.. maybe u dont need that thing.

As it said in the review, the KillerNIC does all the work for the network instead of the CPU. This frees up CPU usage so that it can be used for the game and not for the network. That extra CPU means he can get more FPS. As for the 5ms ping, he's playing on a local network.

Although the idea of having a "slave Linux computer" do my PC's bidding sounds amazing, I don't think I can justify the price. Then again, there are people out there who will buy Quad-Core Xeons and Quad-SLI 8800 Ultras as soon as they hit the market just so they can play FEAR and HL2 200 FPS higher than their refresh rate.

I've seen the KillerNICs out for a while, but it's interesting to see some benchmarks popping up. I wonder why they opted for a mini-Linux brew and not just some super-dedicated hardware. It seems like that'd be cheaper and more efficient.

 

[Deleted member 3]

I wonder if the difference is noticeable on dual core systems as well. With another core that can handle the networking the Killer NIC could just be an expensive alternative to dual core.

 

[xvi]

I wonder if the difference is noticeable on dual core systems as well. With another core that can handle the networking the Killer NIC could just be an expensive alternative to dual core.

Good point. I'd imagine that most games take advantage of Dual-Core machines now-a-days, don't they? I know Valve was looking in to it quite extensively.

 

[Frederik S]

Well if you take a look at the other reviews of the KillerNIC on the web there are tests done on dual and quad core systems. With some remarkable results.

 

[EastCoasthandle]

I read that this card creates a handicap if web browsing. Did you notice any slow ups when web browsing?

 

[newtekie1]

There is no way this card is worth the price, it is just a high priced packet scheduler. Any good $15 PCI NIC will give roughly the same results by taking a small load off the CPU. Either way, the difference isn't noticeable, or at least not worth $220.

 

[Frederik S]

I couldn't feel a difference. I have SpeedFox for Firefox installed and all of the page load times with and with out where aboue the same. So there might be small difference, but it ain't something you can "feel" while browsing.

 

[EastCoasthandle]

Great thanks for the info. I also read that this network card works best for a mid-low ranger computer.

 

[xvi]

The more the CPU bottlenecks the computer, the better performance you're going to see. That's at least what I assume. That's probably why the maximum frame rate didn't change. The CPU was no longer the bottleneck for that specific scene, but the GPU (or maybe VSync) was. If the CPU can keep up with the GPU and deal with the network at the same time with cycles to spare, offloading to extra hardware is only going to give you even more (useless) spare cycles.

 

[WarEagleAU]

It does help, but the negligible difference doesnt justify the $250.00 price tag. Of course, I know a few who have it just so they can frag some asses in CSS and other games ::Shrug:

 

[xvi]

Yeah.. That's pretty much it. It's a network card for people who absolutely require the best (and can afford it).

Unless you want it for the heatsync. I heard it lights up. How hard is it to make your own heatsync?

 

[newtekie1]

Great thanks for the info. I also read that this network card works best for a mid-low ranger computer.

But if you have a mid-low range computer, why not spend the $220+ on something more useful, like a better processor?

 

[Deleted member 3]

Yeah.. That's pretty much it. It's a network card for people who absolutely require the best (and can afford it).

Unless you want it for the heatsync. I heard it lights up. How hard is it to make your own heatsync?

Actually I do see a market for it amongst modders. It's a complete system basically, with an USB disk you could do some fun stuff with it.

 

[W1zzard]

but there are cheaper and smaller ways to get a tiny linux system

btw dan, what happened to those thin clients you wanted to send me ?

 

[POGE]

There is no way this card is worth the price, it is just a high priced packet scheduler. Any good $15 PCI NIC will give roughly the same results by taking a small load off the CPU. Either way, the difference isn't noticeable, or at least not worth $220.

+1. Maximum PC's review said the same thing and gave it a very bad rating.

 

[JacKz5o]

Nice but umm..

The lowest ping you can have in CS:S is 5... try playing and testing the Killer NIC over internet gameplay instead of LAN.

 

[Polaris573]

but there are cheaper and smaller ways to get a tiny linux system

btw dan, what happened to those thin clients you wanted to send me ?

The hospital I work for is selling about 100 thin clients, might be hard to get them to Germany though.

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

waste of teh monay

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

There is no way this card is worth the price, it is just a high priced packet scheduler. Any good $15 PCI NIC will give roughly the same results by taking a small load off the CPU. Either way, the difference isn't noticeable, or at least not worth $220.

I too would like to see a comparison of a REAL NIC instead of an onboard one.

Why did u measure FPS?

And ur ping is 5ms?? My ping never gets below 250ms in any game.. maybe u dont need that thing.

Did you even read the article and understand what it does?

 

[Frederik S]

Nice but umm..

The lowest ping you can have in CS:S is 5... try playing and testing the Killer NIC over internet gameplay instead of LAN.

That's over the internet! I played on a Danish FFA server. I have 100Mbit/s internet connection.

 

[Deleted member 3]

but there are cheaper and smaller ways to get a tiny linux system

btw dan, what happened to those thin clients you wanted to send me ?

Made a tower of them in my room, I can make a picture of the tower if you want.
I got 9 now, 1 seems defective so far. I'll test them quickly this week and ship you 2-3 this weekend. Whenever I'm near a postal office while it's open. Talk to me on MSN later about it.

 

[JacKz5o]

That's over the internet! I played on a Danish FFA server. I have 100Mbit/s internet connection.

Wow lol.

Well like I said, CS:S never goes under 5 so you should have tried playing on a server further away.

Still a great review though.