Killer NIC Hands-On Testing

basscomm writes "IGN has gotten their hands on the 'Killer' NIC recently mentioned here on Slashdot and have written a two part article detailing their impressions: 'The performance boost we got out of the Killer NIC in this testing exceeds Bigfoot Networks' own claims of 10-15% gains by a long shot and certainly seems to validate the potential of the technology. We suspect, however, that the fact that these computers were marginal at running F.E.A.R. in the first place had an impact in the comparison. In many cases the non-Killer NIC machine became absolutely bogged down as particles flew and grenades exploded, enough so that the entire machine would hang for a moment as things got sorted out. Obviously this murdered average fps figures.'"

Comments

For the cost of one of these...

[Tarlus]

I'd just buy a gigabit-capable mobo.

ROI, bitches

[User 956]

We suspect, however, that the fact that these computers were marginal at running F.E.A.R. in the first place had an impact in the comparison.

Which is why spending 300 bucks on a NIC is such a retarded move. Why not spend that money to upgrade the video card, or add more ram, or do something that's going to bring the level of the machine up a few notches?

Re:Snake Oil

[LParks]

Well, the article's point is that its advantage is that it helps increase FPS due to lower CPU use. You're talking ping when they're talking FPS. Whether its worth 300 dollars for that FPS boost instead of spending 300 dollars elsewhere in the comp to improve FPS is another question, however.

Re:Snake Oil

[antifoidulus]

What about the snake oil of being incredibly self-important without reading the article and blithely dismissing the product? Maybe this little gem, straight from the article will deflate your little bubble of self-righteousness:

Pings were relatively similar to the standard box, though we did notice latency spikes much less often on the Killer NIC'ed machine.

So yeah....you are so right. They are merely bypassing the cpu with ping requests, and somehow that is magically giving them higher fps and a smoother gameplay experience.

You know, this whole "I'm holier than thou without even reading the article" bs on slashdot is getting really tiresome(I have fallen into the same pit many times myself, I know) It really does inhibit intelligent debate about the article and just makes people feel so much more pompous(as evidenced by frequent use of such words as "snake oil") Oy....

So many ways to "fix" this "review".

[khasim]

As you noted, getting a better video card would be the more intelligent option.

But, the PRIMARY problem is that they're running the test on two different machines. Even if they're the same make/model/etc, it doesn't matter.

Another item is that you SCRIPT the test. You don't play the game itself.

And, finally, related to what you were saying, you get a machine that does not have trouble running the app in the first place. Upgrade the video card, get a better processor, OR RUN A LESS DEMANDING GAME!

And put a SNIFFER on the network to find out what is happening on the wire. If we're talking a hub, a card that spews packets is going to outperform a card that obeys the protocols if they're played on the same network.

This "review" reads like a crappy ad for that card. There's no real information.

Re:Confused and ignorant

[arete]

Basically it's the same idea, just on crack. It's not a quantum leap in theory - it's just more machine in the NIC than you're used to.

This Killer "NIC" is a 400Mhz computer with a NIC, that fits in a slot. They replace the entire network stack in Windows with the simplest possible stuff, and the Killer does _all_ the work, including extensively queueing, and lots of real-world software exceptions... I suspect a big part of what they do is making sure that when your CPU is bogged it doesn't context switch into dealing with the NIC as often...

If your CPU _ISN'T_ pegged you'll probably see no improvement at all, though.