Date:
Monday , August 28, 2006
Author:
Kyle Bennett
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Bigfoot’s Killer NIC

A network interface card for the hardcore gamer? This is exactly who Bigfoot Networks is targeting with their “Killer NIC.” We give you a sneak peek at the Killer NIC, a product that Bigfoot Networks thinks is worth your hard earned dollars. And plenty of them.

Introduction

First off, let’s get down to brass tacks. Unless you have $279.00 burning a hole in your pocket that you might be willing to spend on a NIC, then just stop reading right here. That also means do not send me emails bitching about how much this Killer NIC costs. Most of you will likely not find value in this product, but some of you certainly will. We will look more at the Killer NIC’s overall value a bit later on.

Also, this is not a review or evaluation of this product. It is simply and outline of what the product is about. More on this below.

If you are interested in technology regardless of the cost, because many of us know we will never be able to afford the best of the best for every product line that is released; read on. For those of you that are hardcore gamers and spend a lot of your time online playing those games; read on. For those of you running gaming servers that would like to use them for FTP or other download functions; read on. And finally, for those of you that are possibly even casual online gamers and have a healthy file sharing appetite; read on.

What is the Killer NIC for?

Ping & the Killer NIC

To put it simply, Bigfoot Networks' Killer NIC will in some cases reduce your ping times. Anyone that has ever deathmatched online knows that ping can be the crux of getting headshot after headshot or losing miserably.

Obviously skill must be taken into account here. I do not think that the Killer NIC is going to make you a better player if you suck to begin with. But I do think that it is possible that the Killer NIC could give a skilled online deathmatch player an edge that could make a difference.

For those of you that know a bit about how Windows networking is architected, you will find this next tidbit very interesting. A big part of the Killer NIC’s ping reduction technology is based on the fact that it bypasses the Windows networking stack completely. Yes, it is all done in the hardware.

Frames per Second & the Killer NIC

A by-product of the Killer NIC is the fact that it can also give you better framerates. Yes, there is an element of video performance that can be enhanced by the Killer NIC. The way in which the Killer NIC offloads some of the duties and bandwidth usually picked up by the rest of the system in how it connects and interacts with your online game has given the side-benefit of some systems being able to pick up some frames per second.