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Member
 
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/30/2006 10:58 PM
Posts: 21,
Visits: 103
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Well, I've browsed the forums, and the BigFootNetworks pages. Seen the spec for the KN, although the sticker shock nearly had me falling out of my chair.
There's a mention that the PCI bus is sufficient for the KN, yet a few items come to mind:
* The PCI bus is generally shared with other items in the PCI slots (not that it matters with most gamers not using anything but what's on the motherboard)
* The PCI bus is typically a finite amount of available bandwidth, granted that even the older ISA bus is actually still sufficient for today's peripherals, but long since faded away
* The PCI card slots available are dwindling
On another note, I've always been a proponent of having dedicated hardware in my gaming machine for specific tasks, and avoiding any on board devices as much as possible. For example, my current box:
AMD Opteron 170 dual core 0550 UPMW CCB1E mild OC to 2.6 Ghz
Thermalright SI-120 & Panaflo 115CFM 120mm fan
Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
OCZ 550W PSU
2 GB OCZ EL Gold XTC PC4000 3-4-3-8
eVGA e-GeForce 7950 GX2
Chaintech AV710 7.1
SysKonnect 9E21D PCIe x1
Areca 1230 SATA PCIe x8 RAID controller 256 MB cache + BBU
4 x 74 GB Western Digital Raptors in RAID0
1 x 200 GB Seagate sATA JBOD
BenQ DW1640 DVD-RW/CD-RW
Thermaltake Armor full-size ATX, black
Hitachi CML174 17" LCD
WinXP SP2
Notice that I opted to leave the audio, storage, and networking to add-on cards. If I don't use the onboard stuff, then any CPU cycles that would have had to arbitrate or administer those functions will be free to direct at the game I play.
How does the KN compare to the SysKonnect NIC?
SysKonnect was chosen since they didn't use the broadcom chipsets, had consistent performance when tested against Intel and 3Com NICs (Intel has their own chip, and 3Com used the broadcom chipset), and were typically found in servers.
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Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 1/19/2007 1:21 AM
Posts: 31,
Visits: 159
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Sticker SHOCK!
Yeah, no kidding...
I just upgraded my system, which really means I replaced just about everything, and the $279 price tag for the KillerNIC is more than ANY OTHER SINGLE COMPONENT in my new system. Even my new LCD 19" monitor was less expense...
Sadly, this has made this new card a non-option for me 
*Note: The price for the card comes from an email I recieved from Bigfoot Networks itself which links to the following:
http://www.bigfootnetworks.com/Store/DisplayDetail.aspx?which=112
likeagod
Monitor: BenQ FP93GX 19" 2ms LCD Monitor (1280 x 1024, 60hz)
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Motherboard: Abit AT8 32X
Memory: 1 GB of DDR 400
Video Card: Powercolor ATI X1600 Pro 512 PCIe
Soundcard: SB Audigy 4
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM 250 GB SATA
DVD RW (OEM)
Power Supply: Antec Power NeoHE 550
OS: Windows XP Home SP2
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ELN Board Member, Bigfoot Networks CEO
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 9/8/2008 7:13 PM
Posts: 266,
Visits: 636
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Hey guys!
Thanks for the feedback on the Killer.
It ain't cheap (neither to make, nor to buy)!
I have not done a comparison with the NIC you say, but we did test the Intel NICs, and we blow them out of the water... (see the white paper, on the last page).
http://www.killernic.com/KillerNic/PDFs/KillerNic_LLR_White_Paper.pdf
Ironically though: NIC performance is just one of a ton of features that the Killer NIC provides. I encourage you to keep reading, and keep faith:
The Killer NIC was built to help fight Lag!
Start saving! 
Tytus
p.s. PCI vs PCI-E is also explained in the white paper... it was NOT an easy decision!
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[ELN]Tytus - EndLagNow.ORG
Member of the Board of Directors of ELN
CEO + Mad Scientist of Bigfoot Networks, Inc.
http://www.bigfootnetworks.com
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Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 1/23/2007 3:21 AM
Posts: 23,
Visits: 61
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| You can't expect people to buy your card if it's to expensive.
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ELN Board Member, Bigfoot Networks CEO
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 9/8/2008 7:13 PM
Posts: 266,
Visits: 636
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thanks discrate,
sorry if its on the expensive side for you. hope you can somehow make it work.
i know how frustrating Lag can be, firsthand!
Wish you luck,
in the meantime EndLagNow.org still has some good tips for Lag reduction (see Take Action at right, and also, as you know, the forums here have good suggestions and debate).
Tytus
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[ELN]Tytus - EndLagNow.ORG
Member of the Board of Directors of ELN
CEO + Mad Scientist of Bigfoot Networks, Inc.
http://www.bigfootnetworks.com
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Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/30/2006 10:58 PM
Posts: 21,
Visits: 103
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Tytus (8/5/2006)Hey guys!Thanks for the feedback on the Killer.It ain't cheap (neither to make, nor to buy)! I have not done a comparison with the NIC you say, but we did test the Intel NICs, and we blow them out of the water... (see the white paper, on the last page). http://www.killernic.com/KillerNic/PDFs/KillerNic_LLR_White_Paper.pdf Ironically though: NIC performance is just one of a ton of features that the Killer NIC provides. I encourage you to keep reading, and keep faith: The Killer NIC was built to help fight Lag! Start saving! ---Tytus p.s. PCI vs PCI-E is also explained in the white paper... it was NOT an easy decision!
My research into NICs years ago turned up a University comparison on Intel, 3Com and many other NICs including the SysKonnect (at that time, AGP was just getting started). While Intel and 3Com posted great numbers, results for both brands was inconsistent between different tests. The SysKonnect brand consistently posted high results across all the tests--granted, at that time, the card was only found in servers and very expensive. That is until they had a special to allow people to try a single card at a lower than online retail price.
Although the motherboard may have a Marvell chip in it, it's still an onboard device, subject to the arbitration and processing as directed by the bridge chips and the CPU.
As for the PCI vs PCIe explanation, well, I read that, and the key word "unshared" pops into my mind. I totally agree, PCI is a shared bus, just like USB and various other motherboard technologies--btw, even my USB devices are plugged into different USB ports that answer to different chips on the motherboard. I have a PCI audio card, and that would contend with anything else on the PCI bus. The only other point, I'd like to add about PCI, is that the PCI card slots are even further less usable, due to PCIe cards that take up 2 slots--I already have a single PCI slot that is blocked by my graphics card.
Sooo, in my machines, the KNIC would be either diminished in performance, or unable to be added since there aren't any PCI slots to use....
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ELN Board Member, Bigfoot Networks CEO
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 9/8/2008 7:13 PM
Posts: 266,
Visits: 636
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Gametraveler,
I applaud your enthusiasm for making your system run, the best it can run!
I appreciate your 'space' issues with PCI, and am sorry if you don't have room just yet.
But I think Killer would surprise you in it's performance impact... not to metion FNApps, which can have an immeasurable improvement on your performance if you might normally run any other apps while gaming.
Anyways, thanks for the advice, and good luck! Keep fighting Lag!
Tytus
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[ELN]Tytus - EndLagNow.ORG
Member of the Board of Directors of ELN
CEO + Mad Scientist of Bigfoot Networks, Inc.
http://www.bigfootnetworks.com
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Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 1/23/2007 3:21 AM
Posts: 23,
Visits: 61
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Tytus (8/5/2006)
thanks discrate,
sorry if its on the expensive side for you. hope you can somehow make it work.
i know how frustrating Lag can be, firsthand!
Wish you luck,
in the meantime EndLagNow.org still has some good tips for Lag reduction (see Take Action at right, and also, as you know, the forums here have good suggestions and debate).
Tytus
The tips on this site i have all tried them. Buying your product is not just an expensive side for me its an expensive side for millions of other people. How many people to you expect to buy your product with that price? i bet about 100 hardcore gaming nerds will buy your product, they wouldn't even care how much money they pay they will pay anything for there games. But what about the normal gamers? like me? we want an affordable card that would stop lag. I am not poor i have lots of money, but by my terms your card is to expensive. I will hold a poll on this forum and you will see.
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ELN Board Member, Bigfoot Networks CEO
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 9/8/2008 7:13 PM
Posts: 266,
Visits: 636
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I feel ya' Discrate!
I wish fighting lag didn't cost so much too! Believe me!
one of the points of this website is to raise awareness... and get more companies/products/etc. that help fight lag.
Good luck,
Tytus
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[ELN]Tytus - EndLagNow.ORG
Member of the Board of Directors of ELN
CEO + Mad Scientist of Bigfoot Networks, Inc.
http://www.bigfootnetworks.com
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