Killer Nic? Opinions - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

MaDMaN_26 · 07-03-2008, 10:42 AM

http://www.killernic.com/

I have been debating on picking one of these up... not that I really need it, but the idea of running a bittorrent client on the card, with no impact to me or my performance while gaming seems pretty cool. I see a little lag here and there and to get rid of it completely would be sweet.

And who am I kidding... *insert Tim Allen woofs here* Its a KILLER NIC, lol

I have read the reviews about this and most are positive, but wondering if anyone has any practical experience with it...

It's a pretty pricey toy, if it does nothing to help...

**edit**
Dang I thought for sure I was in Tech Talk when I clicked on "New Post" - Sorry Mods.

Bobblehead · 07-03-2008, 10:49 AM

The reviews I've read on it were mixed. It isn't a gimmic, it is pretty much a mini-computer on a card in charge of networking and so it can be a benefit; but it all comes down to your bandwidth - if you have a crappy connection, this won't fix it. GIGO.

GoinAllTheWay · 07-03-2008, 10:51 AM

Dang, that is pricey, I'm used to paying under $40 for one of those things. That's getting up into mid range vid card prices. Hadn't heard of them until now but if you do pick one up, let us know how it works.

metal_geek · 07-03-2008, 11:05 AM

Unless it's got a harddrive big enough to store your torrents , running intensive BT operations is gonna have a major impact on your Hard drives and system performance, regardless of the network traffic..

Just build a seperate box for torrents, or get a network attached harddrive that can run a torrent client... likley cheaper..
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MaDMaN_26 · 07-03-2008, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metal_geek

Just build a seperate box for torrents, or get a network attached harddrive that can run a torrent client... likley cheaper..

Probably... BUT does it have a "K" on it that looks like a knife?? huh? does it? thats what I thought...

LOL

MaDMaN_26 · 07-03-2008, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

The reviews I've read on it were mixed. It isn't a gimmic, it is pretty much a mini-computer on a card in charge of networking and so it can be a benefit; but it all comes down to your bandwidth - if you have a crappy connection, this won't fix it. GIGO.

Well I have a good Internet connection (imho) and only see lag here and there... often when others are complaining as well, so its possibly only a server issue... so I wonder if it would help in those situations, or will the server be bottleneck no matter how streamlined your network traffic is...
if a person was lag free while others were having issues, it would certainly be an advantage... or at least keep you even stephen with people closer to the server...

Any thoughts on how it claims avoid the the "Windows Network Stacking" and so no pings etc... I'm not much of a guru on the windows network *stuff*... does it seem like thats a huge benefit to you (or anyones else)

Like GoingAllTheWay said... for a NIC, a function which most motherboards can do on-board, this is pretty pricey...

GoinAllTheWay · 07-03-2008, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaDMaN_26

Like GoingAllTheWay said... for a NIC, a function which most motherboards can do on-board, this is pretty pricey...

Oh, I would never go with an onboard NIC. I still feel the dedicated cards are far superior but man that is a lot of cabbage to drop.

You are right about it looking really cool though

metal_geek · 07-03-2008, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaDMaN_26

Well I have a good Internet connection (imho) and only see lag here and there... often when others are complaining as well, so its possibly only a server issue... so I wonder if it would help in those situations, or will the server be bottleneck no matter how streamlined your network traffic is...
if a person was lag free while others were having issues, it would certainly be an advantage... or at least keep you even stephen with people closer to the server...

Any thoughts on how it claims avoid the the "Windows Network Stacking" and so no pings etc... I'm not much of a guru on the windows network *stuff*... does it seem like thats a huge benefit to you (or anyones else)

Like GoingAllTheWay said... for a NIC, a function which most motherboards can do on-board, this is pretty pricey...

This technology has been around for years and used in servers. Basically it makes its own "STACK"... and by stack they are talking about the various levels that go from the physical signals on the wire, to software interface that application use to talk to windows.

What it will do is use its own stack, optimized for its hardware that with the top level being the application interface so you app can talk to it like it talks to any other network card. It can "Offload" the processing of network part by intercepting the network calls at the second software level and direct them away from the "microsoft stack" and to it's own stack.

The technology definalty works, but you really have to ask yourself what it's worth. It's one thing with multiple file transfers by hundreds of users on a dedicated network. It's another thing when you have no control over the second hop your network takes.

It does have a cool logo though... if they include a cool sticker at least you can justify the cost! Plus it looks awsome when you can include it on your SIG on internet forums....ROFL
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Bobblehead · 07-03-2008, 02:22 PM

Everything I read about agrees with what metal_geek wrote. It will help out, but the primary benefit would be in an enterprise environment. But by packaging it and marketing it to gamers, they are trying to get a piece of the pie from people who are willing to pay $500+ for video cards and $200 for audio cards to get that last little bit of advantage.

Will it help? you bet. Will you realistically notice a difference? Nope.

The neat thing about this is the card is running a small linux server. Theoretically, somebody could write a BT client for it and then you could run BT on your NIC. But who knows if that exists.

metal_geek · 07-03-2008, 02:30 PM

Oh... I fogot and not sure if it applies to you but if you use any kind of VPN for your game servers or whatever, there is a very good chance it won't work with this card. I haven't reaserched it for this card and maybe there is a way around it, but typically its a drawback of these kinds of cards...
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metal_geek · 07-03-2008, 02:49 PM

ROFL.. ok.. one last post about this, but you got me started on the BT thing....

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...L1007(ME).aspx
Get this Network attached storage device with a 500gb HD included for 219.00... you can get the same thing with a 160GB for 189.00.. if you want..

Download and install the plugin as detailed here
http://www.inreto.de/dns323/fun-plug/0.5/

Use the above and follow the instruction here to enable BT among other things.
http://wiki.dns323.info/howto:bittorrent

Less money thing the offload card, fun project, download torrents without tying up your pc, turn off your PC without interupting torrents. You can use it as extra HD space, streaming media server, back up.. and it has a Cool blue light!!!!!!!... yes.. BLUE!!!
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GoinAllTheWay · 07-03-2008, 04:02 PM

Wow, that NAS has really come down in price. Now including a 500G drive for $219? So making a stop on the way home tonight.

The blue light really sealed the deal for me

MaDMaN_26 · 07-04-2008, 04:26 PM

well good info anyways guys but ya sounds like this is kind of gimmicky for my PC...