Killer Nic 2200

[Redstorm]

I see a few of the gaming X99 boards comming with the Killer gaming feature, the killer nic, from what ive read its not that great and peps prefer the Intel NIC.

Why do they insist on putting crap into a high end mother board.

I'll be staying away from any of the boards that have the Killer Nic, its just hype.

 

[Stuka87]

The advantage of the Killer NIC is that is bypasses the windows stack (Which is horribly slow) and offloads all the TCP/IP logic onto a dedicated chip. While an Intel NIC is fine, it has the overhead of using the Windows stack. So CPU usage is higher, although not really noticeable unless there is a good deal of traffic going on.

So while I cannot comment on its reliability, its not HYPE. It does offer a definite advantage. It just requires a fair amount of load to notice it.

 

[nickbits]

The board I ended up getting has one but I just installed the base chipset driver Atheros something. Would have preferred a more basic 2nd NIC but whatever.

 

[Redstorm]

The advantage of the Killer NIC is that is bypasses the windows stack (Which is horribly slow) and offloads all the TCP/IP logic onto a dedicated chip. While an Intel NIC is fine, it has the overhead of using the Windows stack. So CPU usage is higher, although not really noticeable unless there is a good deal of traffic going on.

So while I cannot comment on its reliability, its not HYPE. It does offer a definite advantage. It just requires a fair amount of load to notice it.

Just how does it bypass the windows stack?

My money would be on a QoS implementation.

 

[Redstorm]

Yep a bit of research and it is QoS

Nothing to do with bypassing the networking stack in Windows (if that is even possible and still have a functional NIC presented to your Game running ontop of Windows)

http://www.cnet.com/news/qualcomm-atheros-unveils-killer-networking-controller/

 

[Maximilian]

I see a few of the gaming X99 boards comming with the Killer gaming feature, the killer nic, from what ive read its not that great and peps prefer the Intel NIC.

Why do they insist on putting crap into a high end mother board.

I'll be staying away from any of the boards that have the Killer Nic, its just hype.

Marketing.

It offers dumbass "gamerz" a theoretical advantage over their opponents. Wow thank god for this Killer E2200 chip, I never would have been able to make that headshot with a realtek one, said nobody ever.

What you actually get is a niche piece of hardware with less support than the realtek and intel stuff. Gimme a commonly used NIC anyday, at least then I know it'll just work.

 

[Redstorm]

Marketing.

It offers dumbass "gamerz" a theoretical advantage over their opponents. Wow thank god for this Killer E2200 chip, I never would have been able to make that headshot with a realtek one, said nobody ever.

What you actually get is a niche piece of hardware with less support than the realtek and intel stuff. Gimme a commonly used NIC anyday, at least then I know it'll just work.

That pretty much sums up my impression of it also, plus heaps of forums talking about its instability and how to replace the Killer driver with the basic Atheros driver.

Clever marketing to extract another $30 out of the uninformed.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

everything I've seen suggests that the Killer is actually pretty good, albeit ultimately no better than the Intel, and that either are going to be much desirable over Realtek or anything else

but yeah, there's no way I'd pay more for it over an intel option, and even given the same price, my preference would be for intel in order to have better software/driver support

one thing I've seen that bugs me is seeing a couple motherboard models that provide both an intel and a killer NIC, as if giving us a choice between the two is desirable, which I suppose it might be if they actually offered significantly different advantages, which that doesn't really appear to be the case, and all it ultimately does is prevents us from having two Intel NICs that we could have teamed.

So really the only advantage we might end up with the Killer NIC is that it gives you software control that might be nice if you don't have a nice router (which any gamer really should have anyway) that can do the same thing (and do it for multiple computers), but this same software is also supposedly pretty unstable for certain setups, so there's that...

 

[Meghan54]

Yep a bit of research and it is QoS

Nothing to do with bypassing the networking stack in Windows (if that is even possible and still have a functional NIC presented to your Game running ontop of Windows)

http://www.cnet.com/news/qualcomm-atheros-unveils-killer-networking-controller/

A bit more research on your part and you'd have read:

(From an Anandtech review of the previous gen. of Killer NIC, the 2100)

By endowing a NIC with a full-fledged microcomputer running Linux, not only could the card offload virtually every part of processing required for network operations, but it could even bypass Windows’ notorious networking stack and handle packets in a manner better suited for low-latency use (i.e. games).

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3716/bigfoot-networks-announces-3rd-gen-killer-nic-killer-2100


So, it appears the Killer NIC does indeed bypass the Windows network stack due to its construction using a computer chip and Linux embedded in it.

 

[Redstorm]

The diagram has so many errors in it.

From device manager note that the driver even mentions NDIS so the e2200 driver is sitting square in the middle of the windows stack. based on that diagram i could remove the driver for the e2200 and just install the Killer DLL and i have access to the network. Go and try it and enjoy your online experience.

Killer e2200 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.20).

That diagram needs to be updated with the correct information with traffic prioritization, but before they update it i suggest they study the ISO 7 layer model..

 

[Redstorm]

another review of it, no real benefit,

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2010/09/02/killer-2100-gaming-network-card/5

If you buy into the FUD they are peddling and you feel it gives you an advantage, spend your money and be happy.

IMO your better off getting a router with QoS and be done with it, then you don't have to worry about what your wife and kids are downloading as you can QoS them so your gaming is the priority.

 

[tollingalong]

I have a wired Killer, Intel and Realtek. My experience with Killers is go for it on wireless but stay away on Ethernet (I dunno about Intel wireless since I don't have one). Intel is king on wired Ethernet. I swear by Intel from my old 100Mb to 10Gig.

Intel is steady and might be about 5% slower but it handles large bursts much better than the others. My experience with wired Killer has been aweful. Stability is king in networking. With random driver problems you won't care about the 1% CPU you save.

 

[Cerb]

The NIC can't function like a normal NIC and also bypass the Windows networking stack. Period. Some given games may be able to explicitly add support for using it instead of Windows' networking, and be able to bypass it, but that would be limited to those games.

It can do hardware QoS, hardware TCP/IP, etc., but that will itself come with a latency cost that may be as high, or higher, than just doing it on the CPU. The CPU still has to handle all the API calls along the way. TCP offloading is commonly supported on server NICs, for the case where some users may have to process enough packets that it could be a 20% or more CPU time burden relieved (in Windows, anyway--Linux gives it the finger, and I think FreeBSD does, too (P.S. a good example of why, even though they grudgingly allow some of it, the Linux folk don't like ToE)). Even if you have a BT client in the background, you're not going to be handling more than a few hundred WAN packets per second, and probably not even that (consider the ping times and Windows desktop version connection limits).

It looks like it's just QoS for known ports that games use.

 

[poohbear]

is it really a big difference between the Killer NIC & the Intel one? i imagine it's not that noticeable and it really shouldn't effect your decision in purchasing a mobo, it's certainly not worse than the intel one, no? i agree i'd never pay extra for it, but if its the main network controller on ur mobo its not a deal breaker.

 

[Redstorm]

is it really a big difference between the Killer NIC & the Intel one? i imagine it's not that noticeable and it really shouldn't effect your decision in purchasing a mobo, it's certainly not worse than the intel one, no? i agree i'd never pay extra for it, but if its the main network controller on ur mobo its not a deal breaker.

No real difference not that you would notice in a game IMO, like one of the reply's "man thank goodness for the killer nic, I couldn't have made that head shot without it" said no one ever..

I have a wired Killer, My experience with wired Killer has been aweful. Stability is king in networking. With random driver problems you won't care about the 1% CPU you save.

Poobear, google killer nic stability the number of people complaining about it might change your mind.

Any of the new X99 boards that implement the killer nic are off my list straight away. its looking like the ASROCK X99 WS board atm with Duel Intel 1Gb nics for me.

 

[poohbear]

well, u said urself there's no noticeable difference, but then ure saying there's a difference in that the intel one is better? ure saying the killer nic actually causes problems? if u google intel lanport, wouldnt it bring up similar problems people are having? its all a software implementation at the end of the day, no?

 

[Flapdrol1337]

All the "killer" nic can hope to do is QoS for stuff on the pc, so unless you're downloading and gaming at the same time it's completely pointless. It might work, but it's solving a problem that doesn't exist.

 

[Maximilian]

A bit more research on your part and you'd have read:

(From an Anandtech review of the previous gen. of Killer NIC, the 2100)

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3716/bigfoot-networks-announces-3rd-gen-killer-nic-killer-2100


So, it appears the Killer NIC does indeed bypass the Windows network stack due to its construction using a computer chip and Linux embedded in it.

That review is for the E2100 PCIE one, which is just as redundant IMO:

What they built into the motherboard is something else.

 

[poohbear]

All the "killer" nic can hope to do is QoS for stuff on the pc, so unless you're downloading and gaming at the same time it's completely pointless. It might work, but it's solving a problem that doesn't exist.

How's it pointless if its the main lanport? they're not charging extra for it, its included in the mobo as an alternative to an intel or realtek one. yes its marketing, but it'd be the same price if it were an intel one.

 

[ShintaiDK]

How's it pointless if its the main lanport? they're not charging extra for it, its included in the mobo as an alternative to an intel or realtek one. yes its marketing, but it'd be the same price if it were an intel one.

They do charge extra. Its an upsell tactics. Just as a creative something soundchip cost more than a (standard random other one).

 

[ShintaiDK]

The diagram has so many errors in it.

From device manager note that the driver even mentions NDIS so the e2200 driver is sitting square in the middle of the windows stack. based on that diagram i could remove the driver for the e2200 and just install the Killer DLL and i have access to the network. Go and try it and enjoy your online experience.

Killer e2200 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.20).

That diagram needs to be updated with the correct information with traffic prioritization, but before they update it i suggest they study the ISO 7 layer model..

Yep, but then it wouldnt sell.

 

[StrangerGuy]

They do charge extra. Its an upsell tactics. Just as a creative something soundchip cost more than a (standard random other one).

I rather pay more for USB audio DACs and Wi-Fi adapters than integrated whatever when the former performs much better and can be moved to another system anytime. As far as I'm concerned some things have no business being integrated at least not at ridiculous markups.

 

[Mark R]

The only thing semi-useful is QoS, and in general it's QoS is rarely useful outside of a heavily congested link. It certainly isn't useful for a home gamer. Absolutely no point in putting QoS on a gigabit link which is running empty, when the problem comes at the modem where the channel size goes from gigabit to megabit.


Even then, QoS tagging is a standard feature of Intel NICs (this labels the packet data as priority, so that compatible switches, routers, etc. prioritise the data - of course, home grade modems, and domestic ISPs might not honor the QoS data, so it's almost useless, except in congested corporate LANs).

Things such as hardware TCP/IP offload have been standard fare, even in junk like realtek chipsets for years.

 

[aigomorla]

My brother has one.
I don't notice squat of a difference between his and my onboard realtek, or intel in gaming.

I do notice a difference when transferring files from one to another tho.
The intel nic hands down is a tad bit faster.

The biggest peeve I have with the killer nic is when setting up windows.
Intel nic's and realtek nics are detected mostly at install.
There is no additional drivers I need to install, so once I get OS installed, I can goto motherboard's web page and download the drivers.

However with my brothers system, since it also has no optical drive, I would need to either transfer over the driver onto a USB flash, or put in a usb optical and do the drivers that way.

Also at windows bootup, it seems to take a couple of seconds for the nic to come live, while as on my intel, the moment I see desktop, its already connected.


Lastly, I prefer dual intel nics over one intel and one killer.
The reason being under most cases one wont have any issues with cpu overhead.
Unless ur using a really underpowered PC, which then a system which uses a killer nic would be out of your price niche, I don't think anyone will have an issue with cpu overhead.

But this is just my 2 cents.

 

[poohbear]

My brother has one.
I don't notice squat of a difference between his and my onboard realtek, or intel in gaming.

I do notice a difference when transferring files from one to another tho.
The intel nic hands down is a tad bit faster.

The biggest peeve I have with the killer nic is when setting up windows.
Intel nic's and realtek nics are detected mostly at install.
There is no additional drivers I need to install, so once I get OS installed, I can goto motherboard's web page and download the drivers.

However with my brothers system, since it also has no optical drive, I would need to either transfer over the driver onto a USB flash, or put in a usb optical and do the drivers that way.

Also at windows bootup, it seems to take a couple of seconds for the nic to come live, while as on my intel, the moment I see desktop, its already connected.


Lastly, I prefer dual intel nics over one intel and one killer.
The reason being under most cases one wont have any issues with cpu overhead.
Unless ur using a really underpowered PC, which then a system which uses a killer nic would be out of your price niche, I don't think anyone will have an issue with cpu overhead.

But this is just my 2 cents.

Well, if the biggest peeve is using a usb to install drivers for it, for those of us that install windows once every 2~3 years then we're good.