COMPUTEX: The GPU/NIC Combo Card Revealed

[exfileme]

A prototype combines Bigfoot's Killer NIC with TUL's ATI Radeon HD 5000 graphics card.

COMPUTEX: The GPU/NIC Combo Card Revealed : Read more

 

[XD_dued]

Uh...No. I'll stick to integrated and 5850 thanks

 

[figgus]

Next inventions by Bigfoot: a fridge and powered subwoofer combo, a cell phone umbrella, and a toaster that warms your bathwater while you are in it!

 

[someguynamedmatt]

I'll be honest, I never really saw the point behind 'gaming' NICs. I mean, maybe if it was the only thing between you and direct access to the internet, then maybe. But you've got the ISP, several converter boxes, and hundreds of miles of old copper wire to go through. Isn't the onboard NIC good enough? And even if you have a rig good enough to need that little bit of extra speed from a faster NIC, wouldn't you have the cash to buy an actual graphics card with, anyway?...

 

[tharkis842]

Yah, that's what we need, an NIC fighting with my video card for dominance. Instead of network lag we'll have to deal with a drop in frame rate.

 

[rockstone1]

That looks awesome for anyone who does a lot of Lan. I wonder what the performance will be.

 

[chickenhoagie]

[citation][nom]XD_dued[/nom]Uh...No. I'll stick to integrated and 5850 thanks[/citation]
as will I

 

[Guest]

i think you lot missed the point, the card analyzes network traffic and gives priority to game data over lets say torrent data, yes it would add a slight overhead but if handled correctly and in hardware rather via software it might actually boost network performance if you like to multitask and game at the same time

 

[Guest]

Amazing great idea. Will bring multiplayer games to a new level.

 

[nforce4max]

i much rather have the Lucid Hydra combo instead and slap it in with my two 9800gt 1gb editions in the middle slot on my xfx 780i.

 

[Parsian]

this is like adding oranges with apples... how did they even conceive this?

 

[maigo]

how bout a mouse with a nic? then you could get your shots onto the internet even faster

 

[pocketdrummer]

This would be ok for a game like wow, but the pitifully slow HD5000 won't serve any game justice. It would be better to just use integrated. It's kinda funny they named their company "BigFoot" because they are as likely to be seen (in any real gaming system).

 

[alextheblue]

[citation][nom]SomeGuyNamedMatt[/nom]I'll be honest, I never really saw the point behind 'gaming' NICs. I mean, maybe if it was the only thing between you and direct access to the internet, then maybe. But you've got the ISP, several converter boxes, and hundreds of miles of old copper wire to go through. Isn't the onboard NIC good enough? And even if you have a rig good enough to need that little bit of extra speed from a faster NIC, wouldn't you have the cash to buy an actual graphics card with, anyway?...[/citation]
I have FiOS - but even cable/DSL doesn't generally traverse "hundreds of miles of old copper wire". They hit a station somewhere nearby that is hooked up to a fat pipe.

Anyway, with FiOS I already get excellent latency compared to most cable/DSL connections in this area. Shaving off several ms, and reducing spikes, would be useful - if it was really cheap. However, it's not cheap enough right now, so you'd still get more benefit by getting a better GPU or CPU instead. If you have a rig that already is loaded with the best hardware available, then it's probably worth it to buy a Killer NIC.

So as a combo card, no, I don't see the point unless it's a LOT cheaper than a seperate Killer NIC (practically a free addition to the GPU). But for an already-loaded $2000+ gaming PC? It might be worth adding just the Killer NIC by itself, without the GPU combo (since you would already have awesome GPUs).

 

[idisarmu]

[citation][nom]multitask[/nom]i think you lot missed the point, the card analyzes network traffic and gives priority to game data over lets say torrent data, yes it would add a slight overhead but if handled correctly and in hardware rather via software it might actually boost network performance if you like to multitask and game at the same time[/citation]

Or you can just turn off your torrents and anything unnecessary.

 

[alextheblue]

[citation][nom]nforce4max[/nom]i much rather have the Lucid Hydra combo instead and slap it in with my two 9800gt 1gb editions in the middle slot on my xfx 780i.[/citation]Hmm, that's actually not a bad idea. Throw it into a Hydra setup. But that will only be interesting to me if the next-gen Hydra boards really shine.

 

[eddieroolz]

Didn't they find out that NICs don't work?

 

[requiemsallure]

ok i accually work with this stuff so i know that if a circuit/trunk is needed to carry data it will have as much bandwidth as needed (or if on the user end as much as ordered). the problem with gaming and NIC's lies not so much with the NIC that you have in your computer as it does with the Interface in a server or router or switch and the processing capability of the router or switch or server (generally not routers or switches). if your NIC is the "best" there is, it probably out performs the interfaces in these devices, not so much the routers or switches (among other devices) but, the servers NIC (bandwidth of the NIC) are generally the biggest problem. In other words, unless the entire path has interfaces that are as good as your "gaming NIC" then it is pretty much useless to get one.

In other news its pretty much useless to get a gaming NIC.

 

[rockstone1]

[citation][nom]AlexTheBlue[/nom] But for an already-loaded $2000+ gaming PC? It might be worth adding just the Killer NIC by itself, without the GPU combo (since you would already have awesome GPUs).[/citation]

It's a shame it's not a GTX GPU, you could use the GPU portion for Physics processing

 

[Gin Fushicho]

Seems like to me it's just going to jack up the price. Most connections meant for gaming should be good enough with the integrated Networking on good motherboards.

 

[jazz84]

Adding to AlexTheBlue's sentiment, this is just a silly idea. As has been said, gaming NICs are pretty much a gimmick. But let's consider the supposed target market: hardcore gamers who have cash to spare on a blinged-out network card AFTER all the other gaming gear they've purchased / had mommy and daddy buy. These are people who wouldn't even conceive of gaming with a budget-level card like an HD5000. Completely agree with rockstone1 that this is a sorely missed opportunity to go with an Nvidia GPU to at least add appeal as a PhysX coprocessor. Now it's just their same old glorified local QOS NIC with a crippled graphics card hanging off of it like a hideous shriveled up conjoined twin. Swing and a miss, Bigfoot. Swing and a miss...

 

[jazz84]

a budget-level card like an HD5000.

Woops, meant to say, "a budget HD5000 series card." Sure, they don't say which model it is from the HD5000 series, but looking at the (Admittedly obscured) board layout and size along with the cooling solution, I sincerely doubt it's anything higher than a 5750...

 

[maxsp33d]

I wonder how the bus will be shared. For example when my on-board NIC died, I had to get a PCI-X NIC. So I installed it in the slot above the video card, and whenever I was downloading something from the internet and playing a game at the same time, there was considerable frame drops because both components shared a bus. All problem were over once i put the NIC into a different slot.

 

[alfaalex101]

This is the last thing we needed.

 

[proxy711]

[citation][nom]AlexTheBlue[/nom]...Shaving off several ms, and reducing spikes, would be useful - if it was really cheap.[/citation]
That's all good in theory but every review on these NICs show they really don't do any noticeable difference with a normal cable connection. is 5ms worth the price of these cards? No, spend that money on something else..like a better internet connection for a year.

[citation][nom]AlexTheBlue[/nom]...then it's probably worth it to buy a Killer NIC. It might be worth adding just the Killer NIC by itself, without the GPU combo (since you would already have awesome GPUs).[/citation]
Once again unless you have loads of money and can somehow justify spending a lot of money for very little gain buying once of these NICs is a waste.

Like they posts above, if they was an Nvidia card with the NIC in it at a small increase in price it wouldn't be as useless since you could use it as a PhysX card...but still besides people that just have an extra semi up to date nvidia card that they want to still put to use how many people go out and just buy an extra gpu for PhysX?