"I bought this card a while ago and I absolutely loath it. It's only compatible with Windows for Workgroups 3.11,"
what the hell does that even mean? its compatable with all versions of windows XP, wtf is workgroups 3.11?
"it's VLBus,"
there is no VLBus on the killer, what the hell are you talking about?
" and under heavy load it makes a high pitched whine that makes my eyes bleed."
there are no moving parts, theres nothing on the card that is capable of making a whine noise
you have no clue what the hell your talking about, and it doesnt even sound like your talking about the correct product.
idiot.
you should also realize that those high end server NIC's are optomized for tcp, which may make web browsing and downloading faster, but it wont do squat for games because they dont prioritize udp which is what games use.
only the killer prioritzes udp, because its the only nic optomized for gaming right now.
thats the choice your making here, a nic that actually optomizes what your games use, or all the other nics that optomize your web browsing.
and thats just one of many features the killer contains.
the killer nic allows you to choose between prioritizing your games (udp) traffic, or prioritizing your other (tcp) traffic.
no other network card offloads udp this way, nor can can swap to differant prioty modes on user demand the way killer can.
and this is just one of many features the killer uses to improve connection.
one of the other ways latency is reduced is the windows network stack bypass. read the white paper release for killer if you want to learn how this works.
and another feature worth noting is the ability to run applications directly on the killer itself since it is its own linux cpu. theres no other pci slot card of any kind that lets you do this. the only way to achieve that kind of ability in the past would be to boot up a second computer running linux.
other pci cards (sound, video, etc) that contain their own cpu do not allow you access to it for use in other programs. the possibiltys are endless. anything you could do with a second linux computer, you can now do on a pci slot network card instead.
theres just so many features packed into this thing its a sin to even compare it to a typical network card. your buying a second computer and a whole new networking environment to go with it. it just happens to fit on a pci card as a bonus.
your analogy is a bit off. the killer nic is not just "better wiring" compared to another network card. its an actual linux computer on a pci card. it doesnt function in the same way a network card works, it functions as if you plugged in a second computer that not only handles your network traffic, but also reshapes the network traffic, and reprograms the way it interacts with both your system and the server your connected to. so the performance gains you achieve with a killer are not because your old network card was lagging, its because the windows stack lags. this is a measurable performance hit. eliminating this snag eliminates an entire spectrum of performance problems. theres a fair amount of reading and testing required before you really begin to appreciate what the killer can do; but its worth it. another common mistake is to compare this to what high end server cards do; thats not quite fair either because the other network cards that exist with traffic shaping, all focus on tcp interaction. games use udp and only the killer prioritizes udp. in fact, a network card that prioritizes tcp instead of udp has the potential to slow down a games internet connection. the only thing similar to this are gaming routers which prioritize a stream containing udp over tcp, but the routers only help on the peripheral level. it doesnt reshape the stack itself nor does it bypass the windows stack on the driver level. i personally recomend using both solutions. there are alot of skeptics out there, but anyone who has actually used the card and understands it, has really enjoyed it. resist all you want, but there were idiots ten years ago who bitched that we didnt need indepedent video cards either. they were happy with their integrated vid cards. now days, name me a game that isnt improved by a better vid card? and the reality is, you cant compare a standard plug in NIC in this scenario, because a standard plug in NIC will still use windows for its processing. a plug in vid card without its own cpu and ram would be equally useless. modern plug in vid cards have thier own built in cpu and ram, and firmware and drivers that function outside the windows environment to boost performance. well, killer is the only network card that has its own cpu and ram, and drivers that allow it to operate outside the windows environment to boost performance. try it before you slam it. i was quite a skeptic myself until i tested it out.
spoken like someone who has never tried one. or like someone who cant afford it. for those of us that have one, the proof is in the testing. it works, and better than i had ever hoped.
tcp offloading may be common. its a pity that games use udp. the killer nic is the only network card that does udp offloading, as well as traffic shaping, and bypasses the windows network stack completely AND on top of that lets you run applications on a seperate linux cpu in a way that has zero impact on your own cpu performance. imagine running anything you want in the background and haveing it never affect your gaming. thats what FNA can do.
than test it for yourself. i think hardocp's blind testing was well done.
not that it even matters to me at this point, ive tested my own killer and compared it to other network cards. if it didnt work, i would have returned it.
find a place you can buy it from that has a 30 day return policy. i bought mine directly from bigfoot when they had their preorders available, and i asked them if they allowed returns. they said i could return it if i didnt like it.
well, i love it, and they cant have it back.
actually, it is pretty noticable
dont let the numbers fool you. its not "5 ms" that is going to make it feel like a smoother connection.
where the card really shines is in its ability to smooth out spikes and stutter. it does more than just traffic shaping. your mobo never even sees the network traffic, you can respond and perform an action faster than your cpu is even aware it should be attempting to display it.
with a normal NIC, your action would have to wait until the cpu was able to process the visual as well as the action. with the killer, your action comes first, than the graphics display.
and since the cpu isnt worried about trying to sync them up, it happens smoother and more reliably than you would expect based purely on fps and ping numbers.
in other words, first you hit, than you see it, rather than, first you see it, and than... maybe you hit.
this differance for an MMORPG player isnt critical, though it will improve the overall experience. but in an FPS its down right life or death. in situations previously where 2 of us would shoot at each other at the same time, it was always pretty random who would win. now, if we both seem to spot each other and shoot at the same time, i noticably score the hit more often. my connection sent the data whether my cpu was ready with its graphics or not.
i dont know how else to explain it. but when i got my killer i did alot of reading into what it was supposed to do and i was very skeptical. but now i would never play online without it.
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"I bought this card a while ago and I absolutely loath it. It's only compatible with Windows for Workgroups 3.11," what the hell does that even mean? its compatable with all versions of windows XP, wtf is workgroups 3.11? "it's VLBus," there is no VLBus on the killer, what the hell are you talking about? " and under heavy load it makes a high pitched whine that makes my eyes bleed." there are no moving parts, theres nothing on the card that is capable of making a whine noise you have no clue what the hell your talking about, and it doesnt even sound like your talking about the correct product. idiot.
you should also realize that those high end server NIC's are optomized for tcp, which may make web browsing and downloading faster, but it wont do squat for games because they dont prioritize udp which is what games use.
only the killer prioritzes udp, because its the only nic optomized for gaming right now.
thats the choice your making here, a nic that actually optomizes what your games use, or all the other nics that optomize your web browsing.
and thats just one of many features the killer contains.
TCP layer offloading is useless for gaming.
games use UDP.
the killer nic allows you to choose between prioritizing your games (udp) traffic, or prioritizing your other (tcp) traffic.
no other network card offloads udp this way, nor can can swap to differant prioty modes on user demand the way killer can.
and this is just one of many features the killer uses to improve connection.
one of the other ways latency is reduced is the windows network stack bypass. read the white paper release for killer if you want to learn how this works.
and another feature worth noting is the ability to run applications directly on the killer itself since it is its own linux cpu. theres no other pci slot card of any kind that lets you do this. the only way to achieve that kind of ability in the past would be to boot up a second computer running linux.
other pci cards (sound, video, etc) that contain their own cpu do not allow you access to it for use in other programs. the possibiltys are endless. anything you could do with a second linux computer, you can now do on a pci slot network card instead.
theres just so many features packed into this thing its a sin to even compare it to a typical network card. your buying a second computer and a whole new networking environment to go with it. it just happens to fit on a pci card as a bonus.
your analogy is a bit off. the killer nic is not just "better wiring" compared to another network card.
its an actual linux computer on a pci card. it doesnt function in the same way a network card works, it functions as if you plugged in a second computer that not only handles your network traffic, but also reshapes the network traffic, and reprograms the way it interacts with both your system and the server your connected to.
so the performance gains you achieve with a killer are not because your old network card was lagging, its because the windows stack lags. this is a measurable performance hit.
eliminating this snag eliminates an entire spectrum of performance problems.
theres a fair amount of reading and testing required before you really begin to appreciate what the killer can do; but its worth it.
another common mistake is to compare this to what high end server cards do; thats not quite fair either because the other network cards that exist with traffic shaping, all focus on tcp interaction. games use udp and only the killer prioritizes udp. in fact, a network card that prioritizes tcp instead of udp has the potential to slow down a games internet connection.
the only thing similar to this are gaming routers which prioritize a stream containing udp over tcp, but the routers only help on the peripheral level. it doesnt reshape the stack itself nor does it bypass the windows stack on the driver level.
i personally recomend using both solutions.
there are alot of skeptics out there, but anyone who has actually used the card and understands it, has really enjoyed it.
resist all you want, but there were idiots ten years ago who bitched that we didnt need indepedent video cards either. they were happy with their integrated vid cards. now days, name me a game that isnt improved by a better vid card?
and the reality is, you cant compare a standard plug in NIC in this scenario, because a standard plug in NIC will still use windows for its processing. a plug in vid card without its own cpu and ram would be equally useless.
modern plug in vid cards have thier own built in cpu and ram, and firmware and drivers that function outside the windows environment to boost performance. well, killer is the only network card that has its own cpu and ram, and drivers that allow it to operate outside the windows environment to boost performance.
try it before you slam it. i was quite a skeptic myself until i tested it out.
spoken like someone who has never tried one. or like someone who cant afford it. for those of us that have one, the proof is in the testing. it works, and better than i had ever hoped.
tcp offloading may be common. its a pity that games use udp. the killer nic is the only network card that does udp offloading, as well as traffic shaping, and bypasses the windows network stack completely AND on top of that lets you run applications on a seperate linux cpu in a way that has zero impact on your own cpu performance. imagine running anything you want in the background and haveing it never affect your gaming. thats what FNA can do.
than test it for yourself. i think hardocp's blind testing was well done. not that it even matters to me at this point, ive tested my own killer and compared it to other network cards. if it didnt work, i would have returned it. find a place you can buy it from that has a 30 day return policy. i bought mine directly from bigfoot when they had their preorders available, and i asked them if they allowed returns. they said i could return it if i didnt like it. well, i love it, and they cant have it back.
actually, it is pretty noticable dont let the numbers fool you. its not "5 ms" that is going to make it feel like a smoother connection. where the card really shines is in its ability to smooth out spikes and stutter. it does more than just traffic shaping. your mobo never even sees the network traffic, you can respond and perform an action faster than your cpu is even aware it should be attempting to display it. with a normal NIC, your action would have to wait until the cpu was able to process the visual as well as the action. with the killer, your action comes first, than the graphics display. and since the cpu isnt worried about trying to sync them up, it happens smoother and more reliably than you would expect based purely on fps and ping numbers. in other words, first you hit, than you see it, rather than, first you see it, and than... maybe you hit. this differance for an MMORPG player isnt critical, though it will improve the overall experience. but in an FPS its down right life or death. in situations previously where 2 of us would shoot at each other at the same time, it was always pretty random who would win. now, if we both seem to spot each other and shoot at the same time, i noticably score the hit more often. my connection sent the data whether my cpu was ready with its graphics or not. i dont know how else to explain it. but when i got my killer i did alot of reading into what it was supposed to do and i was very skeptical. but now i would never play online without it.