Killer M1 Network Card: Death To Lag!
By: Sean Kerner
The greatest enemy of online gamers isn't a computer generated bad guy or even human competition - the greatest enemy is lag. When they've got lag, network latency can slow gamers down in some cases to the point where they simply just can't game.
So what can gamers do to cope with lag? Well, one solid option comes from improving network connectivity by employing a gaming-oriented network interface.
Bigfoot Networks' Killer M1 Network Gaming Card, aka the "Killer NIC," is a dedicated piece of hardware that aims to improve the network game performance for gamers on your gift list. The M1 incorporates a 400 MHz Freescale CPU that bypasses the Windows networking stack and runs embedded Linux with an independent IP stack to give gamers a boost. On top of that, the M1 layers in something called Lag and Latency Reduction (LLR) Technology, to deliver solid ping rates and even improve frame rates for network play. What it all means is less trouble for your motherboard's CPU, and an accelerated, dedicated card to help minimize latency. As added bonuses, the card also includes a hardware firewall that runs on the card (to keep Windows out of the loop), a BitTorrent client to support downloads straight from the card to a directly-attached USB hard disk, and a game patcher to maximize game performance when the card is in use (FTP and Telnet clients area also provided).
The fancy metalwork on the M1 does double duty as a custom heatsink; here, Sarah appears to channel the "killer spirit."
No, it's not going to improve ping for gamers using dial-up links. Similarly, gamers who connect through slow broadband providers or who simply suffer from low overall bandwidth are still out of luck. Latency is a trickier devil sometimes than simply buying a fatter pipe, though, and with a M1 gamers can partially eliminate Bill Gates as a scapegoat for latency woes.
Make no mistake about it: the M1 is for serious online gamers looking for the potential to shave precious milliseconds off latency to improve performance. This isn't an average mother(board) NIC - this one's a killer (and hence, its name). The Killer comes at a serious price though, and it's quite a bit higher than what you pay for the built-in NICs on a motherboard (and perhaps more than what the motherboard costs as well). As always, shop around as the pricing varies, in a range from $250 to $270. In fact, Bigfoot makes a cheaper model, the K1, which incorporates a 333 MHz Freescale CPU and omits the fancy K-Blade heatsink showing in the photo (and drops its Open Source Linux developer's kit aimed at serious hackers). This cuts acquisition costs to a range from $170 to $225 or so, for those whose needs for cash conservation must balance against lag reduction for the gamers in their life. Either way any serious gamer can't help but grin ferociously upon unwrapping such a gift.
