Bigfoot Killer NIC

[1nteger]

Just bought myself one of these at a cool £170
[url="http://www.killernic.com/images/card-box.jpg"][/url][url="http://www.killernic.com/images/card-box.jpg"][/url]

I haven't installed it yet, but reviews are very strong - they seem to unanimously confirm that even though it's very expensive for a network card, it actually does what it promises - reducing online lag (lowering ping) and increasing framerates - particularly in graphic intense games like FPS and MMORPGs. It's essentially a mini Pc dedicated to handling all the bugs and bottlenecks caused by the poor way Windows handles networking, so it takes loads of pressure of the processor. Additional benefits include the ability to be playing online whilst downloading a torrent file . I'm going to be testing it with UT3, FEAR online, COD4 multiplayer and other games, so i may do a mini-review. In the meantime, I'd be interested to hear if anyone has already tried one and can provide any feedback

 

[V_R]

Keep us posted, i've always wondered if these things are worth getting......

 

[Ian]

I've never actually hear of this before - it sounds very clever (if expensive!). I'm really looking forward to reading what you think about it

What sort of ping times are you getting at the moment?

 

[1nteger]

What sort of ping times are you getting at the moment?

Depends on the game and the server and whether you trust the servers' reported pings, but something around 100 seems average in UT3 online (but there's usually no noticeable lag when i play so it'll be interesting to see if the Killer NIC has an impact). I'll post some screen caps with Fraps running too to give some idea of framerate change.

 

[V_R]

Whos your ISP? are you interleaved?

 

[1nteger]

Whos your ISP? are you interleaved?

I'm with Pipex...8Mb connection. Interleaved? I don't know if my router has this turned on - I don't know too much about that setting but I thought because of the way interleaving works to protect data stream integrity, it can result in higher latency - Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag! - the online gamer's arch enemy.

 

[V_R]

I'm with Pipex...8Mb connection. Interleaved? I don't know if my router has this turned on - I don't know too much about that setting but I thought because of the way interleaving works to protect data stream integrity, it can result in higher latency - Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag! - the online gamer's arch enemy.

You are spot on 1nt. Interleaving does make a connection more stable and you wont notice it browsing the web. But it adds about 20-30ms on top of your ping times which is noticeable when gaming. It can usually be turned off by BT on request through your ISP, although some ISP's won't do this. Sky being one off the top of my head. I'm with Entanet and got interleaving turned off and i ping uk servers in CoD2 as low as 13ms.
Log in to your router and look for the errors, if you have FEC (Forward Error Correction) errors then your on an interleaved line. If you have CRC and HEC then your on 'fast path'

 

[Alf]

Ive heard of this, but frankly i didnt think much of it as the gains hardly make it a worthwhile purchase. But i still would like to hear more!

 

[1nteger]

Ive heard of this, but frankly i didnt think much of it as the gains hardly make it a worthwhile purchase. But i still would like to hear more!

Alf, u are right m8 and there's no way I would recommend this card to anyone even if I thought it helped me in online games.... I can't imagine benefits that would justify this cost. I will probably get my ass kicked just as much

It's something we should always think of...there's a sensible balance between the "noob" who knows nothing, seeking help, and the 'experienced' player/upgrader who thinks he/she knows everything....(including PC snobs like me)...

Forums like this should aim to guide people towards sensible solutions to realistic problems, rather than overclockers' dreams.

I think I tend towards the latter...so I don't contribute as much as I gain from PCR and, on reflection, this troubles me because I don't provide the support I could. After considering my own eperience, I would advise strongly that no one ever follows my advice....but then again, I'm so arrogant that I would never say that in public

(I have enough income to buy stupid kit, and no one to give me grief about it...so it's up to you to decide how these factors influence you)

 

[Alf]

Sooooo..... does that mean you spent some quality time with it?

 

[1nteger]

Sooooo..... does that mean you spent some quality time with it?

LOL....not yet my friend...but it does mean i agree with you.....I'm not sure it's worth the cost yet, because i still need to test it. Your instict is right...check the real benefits b4 u buy!

...or have I misunderstood you?

 

[Alf]

... hmmm.... lets say 'check be for you buy'
So what made you buy it?

 

[1nteger]

.So what made you buy it?

Sheer madness and the expectation that it will improve the way my machine handles its online connection in games...but mainly because I have this desire to have a really top end rig.

 

[Ian]

I'm with Entanet and got interleaving turned off and i ping uk servers in CoD2 as low as 13ms.

13ms!!! That's fast!

Even pinging my ISP gives me 36ms - although I am using a wireless card and their main server is 200 miles away.

My normal gaming pings are 40 if I'm very lucky, up to about 80-100 for some servers.

 

[1nteger]

I think Pipex (my ISP) has interleaving on as default, but I can't find the setting on my router's web page that tells me if it's on or off. I'm not sure what the downside would be in non-game online use apps if I ask them to turn it off...garbled emails??

 

[V_R]

Hey 1nt, dunno if you missed my post the first time, so here it is again.

You are spot on 1nt. Interleaving does make a connection more stable and you wont notice it browsing the web. But it adds about 20-30ms on top of your ping times which is noticeable when gaming. It can usually be turned off by BT on request through your ISP, although some ISP's won't do this. Sky being one off the top of my head. I'm with Entanet and got interleaving turned off and i ping uk servers in CoD2 as low as 13ms.
Log in to your router and look for the errors, if you have FEC (Forward Error Correction) errors then your on an interleaved line. If you have CRC and HEC then your on 'fast path'

Ian, Definitely sounds like you have interleaving on too, see my above post/quote to find out. IIRC you sync at the full 8meg? If so then you can definitely get interleaving turned off.

I just pinged the BBC website, here are my results.....

Pinging www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.224.81] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 212.58.224.81: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=248
Reply from 212.58.224.81: bytes=32 time=11ms TTL=248
Reply from 212.58.224.81: bytes=32 time=12ms TTL=248
Reply from 212.58.224.81: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=248

Ping statistics for 212.58.224.81:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 11ms, Maximum = 14ms, Average = 12ms

 

[Ian]

Yep, 8MB here. Not sure if I'll make the switch if it's less stable as my gaming is only a small part of the net usage, but I'll still read up on it

Pinging bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.131] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 212.58.224.131: bytes=32 time=34ms TTL=120
Reply from 212.58.224.131: bytes=32 time=34ms TTL=120
Reply from 212.58.224.131: bytes=32 time=33ms TTL=120
Reply from 212.58.224.131: bytes=32 time=34ms TTL=120
Ping statistics for 212.58.224.131:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 33ms, Maximum = 34ms, Average = 33ms

 

[V_R]

Yep definitely interleaved, You wont notice it on or off with a good line like yours Ian, whats your downstream SNR?

 

[Ian]

Not sure if this is what you mean, but I'll paste it anyway:

Operation Data Upstream Downstream
Noise Margin 17 dB 8 dB
Attenuation 49 dB 41 dB

 

[WinkingPig]

That'll be why then, your Downstream SNR is fairly low, so taking Interleaving off when it's 8dB might make it plummet during the evenings meaning a intermittent connection.