How bad are Killer NICs?

[boren]

It seems there are far more complaints about Killer NICs than complements, which makes it odd that mobo makers are actually putting them in higher end models.

I'm looking for a new Z87 board and wondering if I should cross out boards with these NICs and focus on boards with Intel or Realtek ones. I really don't want to buy a new board and then be forced to purchase a standalone NIC only to be able to connect.

 

[lehtv]

It seems

Can you post some link or source? What do people actually complain about?

There are plenty of decent boards available with Intel NIC, if you're worried just grab one of those. Asrock Z87 Extreme4/Extreme6, Asrock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional, Gigabyte Z87X-D3H/UD3H, Asus Z87-PLUS, for example.

 

[boren]

Can you post some link or source? What do people actually complain about?

Here's one such example that covers different issues:

They have massive driver issues, that have still not been solved by the latest drivers. Even disabling the 'bloatware' management software that comes with the driver does not always fix the problems these network adapters have. The MSI forums are flooded with people who have issues with this adapter.
Beyond that, and the shoddy Live! Update software that comes with the boards, everything else is pretty sound.

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=170617.0

There are plenty of decent boards available with Intel NIC, if you're worried just grab one of those. Asrock Z87 Extreme4/Extreme6, Asrock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional, Gigabyte Z87X-D3H/UD3H, Asus Z87-PLUS, for example.

The problem is that I'm looking for a board with ALC1150 audio and they typically have these NICs. My current candidates, Gigabyte G1 Sniper Z5S and Z87-G45-Gaming, are both reasonably priced and have a very nice set of features, but have this infamous NIC that worries me.

 

[lehtv]

Z87 Extreme4 has Intel NIC and ALC1150. It's a great board in other respects as well, with 12 phase CPU power, SLI support and a relatively low price. It's practically the same as your current candidates, just wearing different colors. Same with Z87 Extreme6 which is just a little beefed up version of the Extreme4, having a slightly bigger heat sinks, dual Intel LAN, an additional onboard power connector for tri-SLI.

 

[Mushkins]

Killer NIC products have always looked like snake oil to me. Fancy NIC hardware isn't going to fundamentally change the way your ISP handles traffic or how the OS handles the TCP/IP stack. Optimizing drivers can only do so much, and it's fairly minimal compared to the impact made by proper network infrastructure and a reliable, fast internet connection.

Reminds me of $60 gold plated HDMI cables by Monster.

 

[boren]

Z87 Extreme4 has Intel NIC and ALC1150. It's a great board in other respects as well, with 12 phase CPU power, SLI support and a relatively low price. It's practically the same as your current candidates, just wearing different colors. Same with Z87 Extreme6 which is just a little beefed up version of the Extreme4, having a slightly bigger heat sinks, dual Intel LAN, an additional onboard power connector for tri-SLI.

Thanks for the pointer, this board looks great! Other than the digital audio being optical only (no coaxial connector, which I prefer) I can't find any fault in this board. It's my prime candidate now

 

[Ravynmagi]

Far as I know, KillerNIC isn't bad, just probably not really that helpful as Mushkin's said.

I bought a discrete KillerNIC card a few years ago and saw no improvement over the onboard Realtek LAN I was using at the time.

These days I try to find motherboards with Intel NICs, sounds like the best bet. Though I probably wouldn't look down on a board because it had KillerNIC.

 

[zir_blazer]

Fancy NIC hardware isn't going to fundamentally change the way your ISP handles traffic or how the OS handles the TCP/IP stack.

Actually, I recall that their claims included that they had a custom way to handle that...

As we all know, we have no control over what happens between our personal computers and the servers on the Internet that we access to inflict damage upon our fellow friends and gamers. What we do have control over is the resources within our operating systems. This is where the Killer NIC is claimed to shine brightly, using its ability to bypass the Windows IP stack and directly handle & process all User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets. UDP is the foundation for communication in multi-player gaming online and on Local Area Networks (LAN).

I don't like them because they add Driver complexity and more possible things that can go wrong. The early Cards included their own CPU and RAM (PowerPC based if I recall correctly) and could even run a special Linux distribution on it like if the Card was a full computer.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Killer established something of a bad rep from back in the day when they were charging ~$280 for a PCI card that was underwhelming for the average enthusiast, hoping they could ensnare enough WoW addicts with their "snake oil".

That being said, it wasn't like the product was terrible and didn't work; it just wasn't reasonable for its targeted demographic and thus a bit dishonest.

But several things have changed since those days:

1. Qualcomm Atheros acquired Bigfoot Networks
2. the chip has been integrated onto the motherboard
3. a lot of the extraneous "snake oil" is no longer included

That being said, from what I've seen is that the Killer branding is still suffering from that initial rep and I have even seen people vehemently recommend against it in favor of Broadcom or even Realtek when the tests I am familiar with suggest that Intel and Killer are definitely the most desirable NICs these days.

My bias would be to favor Intel, as that's what I've had experience with for several years now (ever since ASUS started something of a standard to include it in their upper end motherboards starting with P67 Sandybridge), and it would seem to make sense as Intel appears to have a driver advantage

That being said, since I've been so familiar with Intel, I am also a bit intrigued at the prospect of playing with something new, and would likely welcome a chance at playing with a Killer NIC.

 

[Maximilian]

Meh if its the E2205 killer thing MSI are integrating onto their G45/65 boards and Gigabyte onto their sniper boards I count it as a negative.

These (supposedly) high end niche pieces of hardware are typically poorly supported down the line. Intel is much better in this regard and my experience with realtek stuff has always been good, its so common that its well supported.

Common stuff is best when it comes to network chips. If it works then its fine, if it dosent you're hosed. Ive never been sat waiting for a download or getting dominated in a game and said to myself "oh if only i had a better network chip!!! "

 

[grimpr]

Just get an Intel onboard nic or better yet an pciex Intel® Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter. Total support in every OS out there, vmware support in the CT adapter, mature drivers, great performance.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us...work-adapters/gigabit-ct-desktop-adapter.html

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

I haven't had trouble with the Killer NICs in both of my Z87 GD65s

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Meh if its the E2205 killer thing MSI are integrating onto their G45/65 boards and Gigabyte onto their sniper boards I count it as a negative.

These (supposedly) high end niche pieces of hardware are typically poorly supported down the line. Intel is much better in this regard and my experience with realtek stuff has always been good, its so common that its well supported.

Common stuff is best when it comes to network chips. If it works then its fine, if it dosent you're hosed. Ive never been sat waiting for a download or getting dominated in a game and said to myself "oh if only i had a better network chip!!! "

really? since when do we frequently update LAN drivers? IME, its install a driver once (if it even needs to be installed beyond the OS setup), then maybe I see an update for it once over the lifetime of that chip, and its likely I didn't need the update in the first place

so that leaves us with straight up compatibility with various OSes/newer OSes, ie does it have Linux support if thats what you care about and/or how long will it be supported for future versions of Windows. Now I'd agree with you that Linux and Realtek would have undoubtedly better Linux support at this time, and also be more likely to have support for distant future versions of Windows, but I'd have a hard time believing this thing would suddenly become irrelevant starting with Windows 9 which likely covers the next 5 years at worst, making your issue rather moot IMO

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Didn't Killer get bought up by Qualcomm? IINM, it's a Qualcomm Atheros part now.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Now I'd agree with you that Linux and Realtek would have undoubtedly better Linux support at this time, and also be more likely to have support for distant future versions of Windows, but I'd have a hard time believing this thing would suddenly become irrelevant starting with Windows 9 which likely covers the next 5 years at worst, making your issue rather moot IMO

I know of some NICs (10/100) that were supported out-of-the-box in XP, but are unsupported in Windows 7. It happens.

 

[DigDog]

its the E2200 on MSI Gaming. it works exactly like any other ethernet port , provided you use the standalone drivers, which you have to get *somehow* since W7 doesnt recognize the 2200 and the generic ethernet controller doesnt work with them.

so ..

 

[Tristor]

I've played around with a Killer NIC on an MSI board recently. My impression was that the /hardware/ was fine, but that the software was terrible. If you can get standalone drivers then it works perfectly fine. Otherwise, you should avoid. Personally, I'd consider it a no-go based on my experiences. I refuse to buy anything that doesn't have an Intel NIC unless I'm budgeting space/$ for a PCI-E NIC.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I've played around with a Killer NIC on an MSI board recently. My impression was that the /hardware/ was fine, but that the software was terrible. If you can get standalone drivers then it works perfectly fine. Otherwise, you should avoid. Personally, I'd consider it a no-go based on my experiences. I refuse to buy anything that doesn't have an Intel NIC unless I'm budgeting space/$ for a PCI-E NIC.

My two cents. Had to check and see what the hoopla about Killer NICs was all about. They're all "out of stock" at the Egg. They seem to have either a 64MB or 128MB cache or buffer -- which would seem like a good thing.

But it all hinges on the drivers. With my server box, I'd been using the onboard NVidia nForce network interface for 2-plus years. Started cleaning up the event logs and tracing sources of errors and warnings. I finally just killed the onboard NIC is BIOS and dropped in an Intel Pro PCI-E x1 card with a slot I had available. That was a bundle of red and yellow bang-nodes in the event viewer that I got to disappear!

 

[Holler]

most of the issues revolve around the fact it bypasses the windows network stack when in in full functionality mode, when new games are released there is a small chance it will have issues if the programming is looking for key elements of the bypassed stack. sometimes its left up to the game developers to update the game to support the NIC from their end.

 

[Leyawiin]

I fell for it back like six or seven years ago. Noticed zero difference in WoW and LotRO vs. the onboard Realtek NIC. Sent it back for a refund on the $210 I was stupid enough to hand Amazon for it. Have to say the drivers weren't an issue with XP back then.