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

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

[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....