COMPUTEX: The GPU/NIC Combo Card Revealed
A prototype combines Bigfoot's Killer NIC with TUL's ATI Radeon HD 5000 graphics card.
Bigfoot Networks, the company behind the "Killer" line of gaming network cards, is currently showcasing a rather unique PCI Express hybrid at Computex 2010 in Taipei. In conjunction with TUL Corporation, the device combines Bigfoot's Killer 2100 Gaming Network Card technology with TUL's PowerColor-branded ATI Radeon HD 5000 graphics card. The result is a "best of breed" Gaming Combo Card that's deemed as the first of its kind.
"The Gaming Combo Card taps into massive parallel processing power on the GPU to deliver unrivaled visual quality and gaming performance supporting Microsoft DirectX 11 technology," Bigfoot said. "Using Killer Game Networking DNA technology, the card also classifies network traffic and separates game data for priority treatment, while reducing freezing, stuttering and other symptoms of lag. The Gaming Combo Card is a one card, one slot solution that is plug-and-play ready to give consumers a competitive online gaming edge."
It will be interesting to see how this card performs given that the NIC and GPU are using the same PCI Express bus. However, the prototype card provides two DVI ports, an HDMI output prt, and a gigabit Ethernet jack. Currently there's no indication of pricing, however it was suggested that this combination will be cheaper than purchasing the NIC and GPU separately. As for availability, the combo card may actually appear in a matter of months, however that's not set in stone.
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I'll believe it when I see it.
Given the lack of improvements the killerNIC gives, I won't bother.
Why buy a network card? Stability? Ethernet, Powerlines and (although I never tried that one myself) Coaxinternet all offer stability that's already more than good enough. And a true gamer doesn't use wireless anyway.
These NICs do actually work, they can prioritize game network traffic over other stuff.
Unfortunately they are often priced very high for what they do. Often the issues you get with network are OTHeR people on your network downloading and doing stuff and ISP issues meaning these are pointless.
Also any true gamer would turn off things like torrents and downloads before playing anyway.
These NICs do actually work, they can prioritize game network traffic over other stuff.
It's a good concept, but testing would suggest otherwise...
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/n [...] d-review/1