Preview: Bigfoot Networks Killer 2100

** This thread discusses the content article: Preview: Bigfoot Networks Killer 2100 **

So as the Resident Semi-noob when it comes to technology, would this hardware increase speeds for people on slower connections? Obviously you couldn't actually increase the speed, but would games perform better with this card because applications like Steam aren't stealing all the bandwidth and your game gets more?
Would there be an instance where you have plenty of bandwidth and this little gem wouldn't really help you much?
And the most important question, Could you leach more items at LAN parties while still keeping a low ping with this hardware?

I'm sure you'll have to wait to test it to find out for sure, but just some things to think about when testing it.
Thanks

BFN actually ran some really good tests using a gaming rig that had a standard NIC and a Killer 2100 installed and benchmarked information between a Listen PC. The results showed near 30x increased profeciency for the Killer card.

One of the things I talked with Mr. Drewry (VP of Marketing who I spoke with) was seeing how the card performed in the LAN situation, especially since the traditional LAN game mode is disappearing and moving towards the requirement to run even local games through the internet, such as Modern Warfare 2.

And yeas, many of those questions would have to be answered once we actually got our hands on it, which we are really looking forward to.

Sounds pretty sweet but the thing costs like 90 bucks lol Don't know if I would be willing to swing that cash on a NIC.

This is really ironic. I just read an article on this and I was going to make a thread to discuss it. I'm very excited to see this, and I might cash out to actually get one.

would this hardware increase speeds for people on slower connections? Obviously you couldn't actually increase the speed, but would games perform better with this card because applications like Steam aren't stealing all the bandwidth and your game gets more?

You're exactly right, it can't actually increase your network speed. It's not so much that it's throttling bandwidth, from what I understand, but that it's giving the gaming-relevant data a higher priority and sending it to the application quicker.

Would there be an instance where you have plenty of bandwidth and this little gem wouldn't really help you much?

Bandwidth isn't really the issue here, it's the latency between the network, the network interface, and the CPU, or whatever is processing it. It's making the network interface simpler by just sending gaming data right to the application.

And the most important question, Could you leach more items at LAN parties while still keeping a low ping with this hardware?

As long as the hardware is configured to detect the difference and give the file-sharing the lower priority, yes.

If I missed anything or made a mistake, feel free to correct me. I haven't read much on it yet, but I do like the concept. Anyone here familiar with the OSI model? Networking class got boring fast.

AAHHH the good ole' OSI Model, the only things I remember from that is 7 network layers

1. The Physical Layer
2. The Data Link Layer
3. The Network Layer
4. The Transport Layer
5. The Session Layer
6. The Presentation Layer
7. The Application Layer

I think that's the correct order lol networking classes where boring in extreme amounts at times unless we actually got to do things like configure a router or server.

drpain wrote:

I think that's the correct order lol networking classes where boring in extreme amounts at times unless we actually got to do things like configure a router or server.

Sure is, in order from lowest to highest, anyway. I usually see it flipped the other way around.

Anyone who understands the theoretical stuff, this is what the Bigfoot NIC is up to.

Not me, guess i'll just have to wait and win one at the next LAN OC event to try it out

This looks like it could really help us gamers with low budget internet

starkiller1 wrote:

This looks like it could really help us gamers with low budget internet

To an extent, but yes.

im not sure im seeing budget here... but im probably wrong.

www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/bigfoot-netw...ler-2100-network-ca/

" it'll be available for £86 ($127) in the coming weeks"

*chuckles at the mention of a $127 budget nic card*

technobear wrote:

www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/bigfoot-netw...ler-2100-network-ca/

" it'll be available for £86 ($127) in the coming weeks"

*chuckles at the mention of a $127 budget nic card*

The card isn't 'budget'. Starkiller said 'budget internet'. As in, not the fastest, hoping the card would help.

ahh misread...

that is cool! wheres my nic/audio/video card? one peripheral to rule them all

garfi3ld wrote:

Bigfoot network card built into a 5770 video card. This is interesting. Sounds perfect for my lan rig!

www.fudzilla.com/content/view/18967/34/

I just shat myself from sheer awesomeness.

Is thre no limit to the amount of data that can be transfered via that PCI slot? I think there would be a bottleneck of info from your video card & Internet, but maybe i'm outta my league on this one.

Twodavez wrote:

Is thre no limit to the amount of data that can be transfered via that PCI slot? I think there would be a bottleneck of info from your video card & Internet, but maybe i'm outta my league on this one.

It should use the PCIe 1x slot the "tiny" one next to your GPU one, as far as bottlenecking it concern I could see it being stressed if you don't have a fast enought CPU but I'm sure most people spending the cash on this have a fast enough CPU lol

The one that sits on the ATI board I have no idea how that would affect data transmission from GPU to CPU and pack information from the card to CPU. I'm sure it would do okay with a fast enought CPU which most Quads can probably handle and the higher end Dual Cores.

drpain wrote:

Twodavez wrote:

Is thre no limit to the amount of data that can be transfered via that PCI slot? I think there would be a bottleneck of info from your video card & Internet, but maybe i'm outta my league on this one.

It should use the PCIe 1x slot the "tiny" one next to your GPU one, as far as bottlenecking it concern I could see it being stressed if you don't have a fast enought CPU but I'm sure most people spending the cash on this have a fast enough CPU lol

The one that sits on the ATI board I have no idea how that would affect data transmission from GPU to CPU and pack information from the card to CPU. I'm sure it would do okay with a fast enought CPU which most Quads can probably handle and the higher end Dual Cores.

Sorry, i was talking about the pictures of the GPU & Network card combo, not the Bigfood Killer 2100 that the thread is about. Guess i should've quoted to include the picture...

Nah your cool man I tried in my second paragraph but I honestly have no idea how it would perform on a setup like that where the GPU and NIC sit on one board. I'm sure it would be fine though with a strong enough CPU but low-end users might have some issues.

Twodavez wrote: Not me, guess i'll just have to wait and win one at the next LAN OC event to try it out

Sorry about winning that out from under you. Anyone know if it will keep you from getting lag when a dozen people are leaching from you at the LAN? If so, that makes it well worth it.

Nacelle wrote:

Twodavez wrote: Not me, guess i'll just have to wait and win one at the next LAN OC event to try it out

Sorry about winning that out from under you. Anyone know if it will keep you from getting lag when a dozen people are leaching from you at the LAN? If so, that makes it well worth it.

As long as you can configure the Bigfoot card to recognize the two separate applications and give one priority in the network stack, it "theoretically" should help with lag caused by the file-sharing over the game.

It bypasses the windows stack, according to them. The bigfoot software lists all the software in the computer that uses internet. From there you can give each a priority. I just don't see any mention of file sharing or explorer.

Nacelle wrote: It bypasses the windows stack, according to them. The bigfoot software lists all the software in the computer that uses internet. From there you can give each a priority. I just don't see any mention of file sharing or explorer.

I guess I'll just have to get myself a Bigfoot card and try out the software myself.

They're $90. You sure you want to buy one?