KillerNic with killer price: $279.99

[bapenguin]

It looks like BigFootNetworks (http://www.bigfootnetworks.com/) is following in the footsteps of Aegia (http://www.ageia.com/) by making over priced add-in cards for the PC. BigFoot's KillerNic (Story Here (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15025&highlight=killernic)) is going to retail for $279.99. This network card is supposed to reduce lag and ping times as well as offload networking tasks from your CPU. GDHardware (http://www.gdhardware.com/interviews/bigfoot/killer/001.htm) has an in depth interview up finding out exactly what your 280 bucks buys you.GD: What makes your product better than a standard Network adapter?

Bigfoot: This excerpt from our white paper addresses this fairly accurately I believe:

“There are no consumer products available today that are comparable to Killer. In addition to being a Network Interface Card (NIC), Killer is also a computer within a computer. With Killer’s Flexible Network Architecture (FNATM) you can literally run a Linux command prompt in a window on your gaming PC. This command prompt interface is a Flexible Network Application (FNappTM) that will come on the Killer install disc. Killer is the only network card that runs an open-source version of embedded Linux and allows users to write and download their own FNapps to the card. Killer is also the only consumer level network card that boasts full gaming-network offloading functionality. With Killer, your gaming operating system does not perform any IP or UDP functions or calculations (everything is handled in the card).

280 bucks. There are some enterprise cards that will do the same task that are cheaper than that.

[51|RandoM]

You know what this card is really going to be used for? Cheating.

You've got an embedded linux on there. You'll just run a nice proxy on it that will cheat for you. Used to be, you would have to use a second box for stuff like this, but not with killernic. Just go to your favorite cheat site, download the FNapp "trainer" for your favorite online game and voila, cheating made easy.

sad sad sad.

[Lekon]

Wow, If I had a buzzword bingo page with me, I would have been able to score an easy blackout win after reading that.

280 bucks, for the possiblity of slightly reducing lag/ping. Riiiight. Because when I connect to so many places at 23-58 ping, it feels like I'm lagging so horribly.

[Klade]

I know that this thing is perhaps 99% bullshit. However, I'm quite sure it will accomplish the companies goal. At this price point they must know that it will not end up in every box or even 10% of computers. Instead they are trying to push their way into the silly stupid expensive boxes. The kinda that Alienware and Falcon sells.

Those companies make money on providing the overpriced components to their clients. And this certainly fits into that catagory.

[dfr]

You know what this card is really going to be used for? Cheating.

You've got an embedded linux on there. You'll just run a nice proxy on it that will cheat for you. Used to be, you would have to use a second box for stuff like this, but not with killernic. Just go to your favorite cheat site, download the FNapp "trainer" for your favorite online game and voila, cheating made easy.

sad sad sad.

just what i was thinking when reading that :rolleyes:

[Borys]

So does it work?

[cppcrusader]

You know what this card is really going to be used for? Cheating.

You've got an embedded linux on there. You'll just run a nice proxy on it that will cheat for you. Used to be, you would have to use a second box for stuff like this, but not with killernic. Just go to your favorite cheat site, download the FNapp "trainer" for your favorite online game and voila, cheating made easy.

sad sad sad.

Those were my thoughts as well when I read their tech whitepaper a couple weeks ago.

[Goronmon]

In addition to being a Network Interface Card (NIC), Killer is also a computer within a computer.I'm sorry, but the name of your product is "Killer". Way to lump yourself in with the annoying-as-fuck kiddie gamers that usually end up on my ignore list in MMORPGs...

[Food Nipple]

I know that this thing is perhaps 99% bullshit.

I'll go out on a limb and say this thing is 100% bullshit. There is NOTHING this thing could do to prevent lag.

[Deathbane27]

I'll go out on a limb and say this thing is 100% bullshit. There is NOTHING this thing could do to prevent lag.

Actually, offloading a few CPU cycles could help under the right circumstances. Obviously, the latency between where your Cat5 plugs into your computer and where the fiber plugs into the server isn't going to decrease, but you get some extra lag waiting for the information to be processed.

$280, though? Sheesh, spend that on a faster CPU. Or if you've already got the best CPU available, some liquid nitrogen for some overclocking.

Buzzword bingo indeed.

[bKangy]

Anyone who pays $280 to cheat at video games should probably go grab a noose and get to it.

[Citizen Philip]

I think the KillerNIC card is painted red, has racing stripes, logos, leather bits, neon cathode a gigantic spolier and it's mounting racket is cut really low so it's closer to the motherboard.

All of this stuff, as well all know, will make it go faster.

[The Continental]

For $279.99 this thing better actively seek out the strange "hobo-snuff" porn neccessary for me to get an erection, on its own.

[cppcrusader]

I think the KillerNIC card is painted red, has racing stripes, logos, leather bits, neon cathode a gigantic spolier and it's mounting racket is cut really low so it's closer to the motherboard.

All of this stuff, as well all know, will make it go faster.



For $279.99 this thing better actively seek out the strange "hobo-snuff" porn neccessary for me to get an erection, on its own.


I just thought would share with you two that you're comments just made everyone in the office crack up hysterically.

[Steele Johnson]

Most people I know who have cable or DSL very rarely have lag, including myself. Why is this card worth $280, and who is it for?

[absolut taco]

I think the KillerNIC card... has racing stripes ...
What a coincidence. So do the underwear of the people who buy these things.

[jpublic]

Let's be honest - the only way this thing is going to help you is if you've got an older PC (like a pre-XP series Athlon or an early P4) where the CPU is so loaded down with modern MMOs and FPSes that you need to offload as much of the network code as you can. But even then, you're looking at a minor increase in performance - I'd be surprised if you get more than 5%.

The kicker is this - if you've got an old PC that needs boosting, and have $300 to spend on bullshit like this, aren't you better off just upgrading your bloody PC?

This POS is nothing more than an attempt to rip money off of idiots who don't know better.

[Nameback]

This a completely stupid idea. I checked the interview and saw that there was a render of the card, not a picture, a render. It looks like it has one Ethernet and another port, mabye USB. Now if it had like 5 or 6 Ethernets, then it might be something to consider. But how it is right now, nope.

[Lord Dongkey]

I don't even have anything clever to say. This is bullshit, hard and fast. Ageia isn't going to become the "next big thing", and sure as fuck a $280 (?! $280? TWO-HUNDRED AND-EIGHTY) NIC isn't going to succeed.

Why don't people just buy a 2nd video card for SLI/Crossfire?

I seriously doubt the NIC is the bottleneck in your computer, and you don't need "a weapon designed to combat lag" from a bunch of goddamned fucktards.

Of course, I'm bitter about being tired thanks to work, so I can redirect it at these ass-hats. But good GOD man!

$280?

[shnastybiznastic]

You've got an embedded linux on there. You'll just run a nice proxy on it that will cheat for you. Used to be, you would have to use a second box for stuff like this, but not with killernic. Just go to your favorite cheat site, download the FNapp "trainer" for your favorite online game and voila, cheating made easy.
Heh, I was thinking that with the embedded linux reading your NTFS partition, you could have the card run your SMB shares with samba without cutting into your cpu cycles. Hell, with the new 2.6 NTFS write support you could do commandline actions in real bash as opposed to having to download SFU or Powershell (which are both poor substitutes, btw). I really doubt that the type of people who want this sort of tech are gamers...

[kid cabelgo]

I think the KillerNIC card is painted red, has racing stripes, logos, leather bits, neon cathode a gigantic spolier and it's mounting racket is cut really low so it's closer to the motherboard.

All of this stuff, as well all know, will make it go faster.

Your description is pretty acurate. (http://www.killernic.com/KillerNic/)

Check out that sexy K-shaped heatsink. You can almost feel the power.

[Nerv]

There's no fucking way I'm buying a NIC with a goddamned heatsink.

[Uncle Ben]

The more ideas I see posted about what to do with this hardware the better I think it will sell.

And the less I think it will reach it's supposed intended customers.

[shnastybiznastic]

Hell, set up IPtables to do NAT and use the card to route for a big switch. shit, you could make your gaming box a router for 250$!

[Acidpoptart]

Heh, I was thinking that with the embedded linux reading your NTFS partition, you could have the card run your SMB shares with samba without cutting into your cpu cycles. Hell, with the new 2.6 NTFS write support you could do commandline actions in real bash as opposed to having to download SFU or Powershell (which are both poor substitutes, btw). I really doubt that the type of people who want this sort of tech are gamers...

If anything, I am interested in these aspects of the card. Getting it to do things it wasnt really designed to do sounds like much more fun than reducing my ping of 9 to 8. I will watch this card after release to see what people figure out.

[Lord Dongkey]

There's no fucking way I'm buying a NIC with a goddamned heatsink.

WTB Water-block to cool my NIC.

PST.

[Slack3r78]

Hell, set up IPtables to do NAT and use the card to route for a big switch. shit, you could make your gaming box a router for 250$!
I know you're being facetious, but:
Buffalo WHR-G54S (http://www.buffalotech.com/products/product-detail.php?productid=117&categoryid=30) + DD-WRT (http://www.dd-wrt.com/) = Cisco Killer.

At least for anything short of a full blown corporate network. And certainly can't be beat for a ~$50 investment.

[Thenetcase]

Even if it wasn't going to be used for cheating (which it is) I also assure you that the difference between 50ms and 20ms or less in a MP game isn't going to be noticed. Games are programmed to make up for those differences...... Be realistic.

But in the words of FPS Doug:
"What happens if you get killed out there?!?!?!? There are no spawn points in RL!"
So I guess if you want "BOOM HEADSHOT!" all the time then you have to buy a card that'll drop you ping 10-20ms. BIIIIIG FUCKING DEAL.

-TNC-

[51|RandoM]

Can't blame them for trying. Alienware proved the market exists.