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EVGA releases network cop card for gamers
EVGA HAS RELEASED A NETWORK CARD which promises to accelerate real-time Internet gaming by giving your main processor less to do.
The Killer Xeno Pro uses a 400 MHz network processing unit (NPU) which acts as a 'network cop', redirecting all networking operations, including voice communications and allowing the CPU to run at full speed.
Using licensed Bigfoot technology, onboard software accelerates, prioritises and shapes the packet stream that goes to and from the computer, bypassing the Windows Stack and allowing the NPU to handle all network functions including Voip, streaming video and background downloads.
EVGA reckons this results in less lag, 10 to 20 per cent better frame rates and smoother, more responsive gameplay.
What's more, the company says plug and play compatibility means the card works out-of-the-box with 'all online games'. A bold claim.
The PCI-E 1x card features gigabit ethernet, 128 MB of 266MHz DDR2 RAM, USB 2.0 and 3.5mm audio input and output.
It should be available some time in April and price is expected to be around the $130 mark.
There's an absolutely terrible promo video here which is so bad it's funny. µ
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This is a ripoff! whats 5-6 frames... NOTHING! whats 6ms? NOTHING (new monitors have a 6ms frame rate so you wont notice anything)...
and what about other network traffic it will just pass on...
If you have a onboard soundcard and you plug it in via the internal connection it will still process the sound and mabe even do more proccessing when linked through the line in (external)....
mabe nice if you play left 4 dead on a 486....
While it may seem that offloading the CPU in the context of underused multicore CPU is not such a great selling point, take into consideration that this card also bypasses the windows TCP/IP stack and that its netwirk processing is optimized for gaming.
While I have no certainty regarding the actual impact of these features, some reviewers have reported good effects particularly on the 600lb gorilla of online gaming: wow
I do play wow and my last gfx improvement did not bring much noticeable benefits (it was a 30% upgrade or so, but I didn't do it because of wow anyway - and this is on a Core2 quad@3ghz) - internet connection seems to be a key point.
It is a wait and see situation I guess.
Apparently, the usb port and the mic/headphone jacks actually serve a purpose.
As M said, this is a linux system on a board, and even includes a firewall (not sure how decent or configureable it is).
More info at:
http://www.bjorn3d.com/viewnews.php?id=3137
It will be really used to offload graphics processing stuff from GPU, so the GPU can be used for more important things like offloading stuff from the CPU.
Pardon the stupidity of this question but why does it have one USB port and a pair of audio jacks on it? Just a little extra fluff to make it cost a few extra bucks or is there really a purpose?
"Core i7 like beasts" forgot about those AM3 CPUs? Intel fans...
I would like to see those 6 and 8 core CPUs have things like this integrated into them instead of more cores. make those other 4 cores offload these things. How about 4 CPU cores and 1 AI core, 1 NPU, 1 GPU, and 1 filesystem core? I dont need 8 CPU cores doing nothing. I need maybe 4 cores running normal things and the other 4 catching everything that needs a dedicated core.
All the current games are GPU limited and not CPU limited. I don't see how offloading the CPU a bit will help at all.
Why we need those type of "accelertion" cards such as "network" cards, physics cards, AI cards etc when we have Core i7 like beasts with 4 (and soon to be 6 and 8) cores inside, I understand video (more like graphics) cards but this is just bullshit. (even if it really makes any performance improvment)
Now, lets put this product in its place. Since the INQ has too much free time on its hands, have them get 2 of these new NICs, a router & switch (The types that can handle GBs of data). Setup a LAN connected via CAT6 cable, And start transferring 500GB files between the two computers and playing counterstrike at the same time. Have the CS server located somewhere across the pond. Then do the exact same test using generic GB NICs. Then type up an article stating your findings. I can go into detail but I'm sure you get the point. I think this Killer NIC is a scam, but why not see if the processor built into it can actually handle some data....
okay after all that time, whats the point anymore? Back when win modems started out, there was a reason for this. In fact back in the day off loading your modem from the kernel made a difference. This product is like 20 years too late, back in the day all peripherals were intelligent. Then all of a sudden companies decided it was better to make drivers do silly things. Just ask the nix croud about all this, processors should be doing more considering how over powered they are. I can just imagine
person 1: so what you got in that fiesta?
person2: Oh its just a 5.7 hemi, but i got an electric water pump and electric power steering. You know so it doesn't suck up all the power.
10-20% better frame rates? maybe if you are still running a 4.77Mhz XT automagically attached to a GTX295. I would love to see how they came up with that drivel.
If you can afford one of these chances are you have plenty of CPU to go around.
/waits for reviews showing 1% gains
Hope I am wrong, would love a 20% increase in my online games for $130
Jim, IIRC the NIC is like a system on a board running it's own version of Linux, which is the main reason for all the RAM
Given the big letter 'K' on the pic of the card, is this not just the killer nic being sold by another company ?? (i seem to remember a big Letter 'K' on that 1 too...)
Wow, 128MB of RAM for a NIC, how much of it actually gets used. How much RAM do onboard NIC's have?
Things like these have been around for ages and for the latest motherboards and routers it doesnt spee dup much, more nifty than neat. Killer NIC is an example.
great for a bigger E-penis i suppose
About time. Given the importance of network, I have thought for some time that a dedicated "network" processor to offload as much of the stack as feasible would help more than hurt. No reason, given the low cost of embedded capabilities, that there shouldn't be a "network" processor and a "file system" processor. Not sure about a "display" processor as the amount of horsepower needed would be equal or greater than the main processor. But having intelligent "peripherals" would be a positive step forward.