Bigfoot Launches 'Fastest NIC Ever' Killer 2100

News
By Marcus Yam
published

Bigfoot says that its new Killer 2100 has a race-inspired casing.

Bigfoot Networks today announced Killer 2100, its next-generation network interface card (NIC) for online gaming that it bills as the "fastest Gigabit NIC on the planet for gamers."

The Killer 2100 uses Bigfoot Networks’ Game Networking DNA technology, comprised of a dedicated network processor (NPU), Advanced Game Detect, Windows stack bypass, Visual Bandwidth Control and other optimizations to help reduce stuttering, freezing and other symptoms of lag.

"Killer 2100 is the fastest network card available for online games, period," said Michael Howse, CEO, Bigfoot Networks. "From its completely redesigned user interface and race-inspired outer casing to its high-performance Game Networking DNA software, everything about Killer 2100 screams speed and maximum performance."

We haven't yet put the Killer 2100 through our own tests, but Bigfoot cites the Gaming Network Efficiency test as showing the Killer 2100 clocking in at more than ten times faster than standard network interfaces. Analytic firm JPR saw noticeable gains.

"We saw a dramatic performance advantage over standard network interfaces in our Killer 2100 tests—an advantage that's big enough to change the online gaming experience,” said Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research. “The Killer 2100 repeatedly delivered superior network latency on mainstream and enthusiast-class gaming PCs, and this difference could easily provide a winning edge to online gamers."

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The Killer 2100 also comes with software tools for monitoring and optimizing network performance. Visual Bandwidth Control provides real-time feedback about how Internet bandwidth is used on a per-application basis, making it easy for gamers to limit or block network-hungry applications. The Online Gaming PC Monitor feature gives players at-a-glance graphical displays and detailed logging so that they can track performance statistics such as CPU usage, memory usage and frame rate along with networking activity.

Killer 2100 specifications include:

·      10/100/1000 Ethernet

·      PCIe interface (x1 form factor)

·      400 MHz dedicated network processor

·      128 MB DDR2 RAM

·      Performance-inspired housing

·      Advanced Game Detect

·      Visual Bandwidth Control

·      Online Gaming PC Monitor

·      Windows network stack bypass

·      Optimized for use with voice chat applications

·      Support for Win7, Vista & XP 32

Killer 2100 products will be available in coming weeks in retail and online stores at MSRP $129 U.S. Read more about it on Bigfoot's product page.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
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50 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jrharbort
    I never really could understand the purpose of these high end NICs. I'm not sure if the price is worth the maybe 2ms ping reduction with online gaming.

    On top of that, if a person was seriously worried about absolute speed and performance (not just connection-wise) they wouldn't even be running all these extra applications such as the kind included with this product.

    As for bandwidth control, there are already many free aplications out there with the same functions, granted it may not have the "fancy" UI.
    Reply
  • ac21365
    mmmm placebo effect

    This is analogous to Monster Cable's logic with their $400 power cord: After your power's been run over 150 miles of the lowest-bidder built infrastructure and the cheapest cable, that last 4' absoultely MUST be perfect.

    DSL is a great example of why in a lot of cases, money could be better-spent elsewhere. That 200 dollar nic isn't going to clean up the signal running 2 miles over 60 year old copper, or get your packets to the net any faster than the infrastructure can after you hit the first hop on your provider's network.
    Reply
  • teodoreh
    128MB RAM for a network card? Oh dear, My Spectrum 48k is officially an antique!
    Reply
  • Uh, snake oil?
    Reply
  • anamaniac
    My MOBO has two NIC's.
    Good enough for me.

    I'll buy a new sound card before I buy a NIC(I use 10W speakers, with a $50 sound card, I have no reason to change any time soon).
    Reply
  • Syndil
    High-end NICs? Come on. NIC stands for Network Interface Card. This is merely the entry point to a vast NETWORK of other equipment. Whatever fancy voodoo this card can do is not going to counteract the weakest point of your connection with a game server, whatever that point may be, and your connection is only as good as the weakest link. The next device in your own setup is probably going to be a consumer-grade router, then a consumer-grade cable modem. You're not going to accomplish anything by providing a super-fast, extremely efficient connection to your own network equipment. If you want a better connection to your game servers, invest in a better connection to the network, i.e. FiOS.
    Reply
  • what a waste of money!!...spend it towards better memory or faster vid card or better cpu...the few ms you save ISN'T WORTH IT!!
    Reply
  • maban
    If it was $129 cheaper I would be all over this.
    Reply
  • joytech22
    Well i guess it's got a nice case, but i notice at LAN's that even having 5 ping can prevent me winning myself a headshot, but the card would also look nifty in a computer case if the side is glass, i'd buy one since most servers i game on have low ping to begin with, lowering that further would make playing more enjoyable.
    Reply
  • drowned
    Interesting...my laptop's build in 100 mbps port probably sporting a massive 10 mhz processor and an awe-inspiring 512 kb of buffer can handle true 100 mbps internet up/down (university isp) and give me 6 ms ping...with a software+multiple hardware firewalls and switches.

    So huge middle finger to Bigfoot.
    Reply