Comments on Ed Borden: Bigfoot Networks' New KillerNIC Needs Bigger Visio...

Looking forward to seeing how it pans out, for sur...

2009-03-31T12:30:00.000-04:00

Looking forward to seeing how it pans out, for sure. The strength is definitely building on the featureset.

True, but we didn't have teamspeak or vivox (or ev...

2009-03-31T10:13:00.000-04:00

True, but we didn't have teamspeak or vivox (or even mumble) working in partnership with us. Nor did we have built-in audio chips (so you HAD to have a funky USB Audio dongle to get mixed game/voice audio). Now we can mix it analog and automatically with game sound & it really is cool.

Thanks for the blog post by the way: love your blog, and quite fun to see my baby (the Killer Xeno is my product for those that don't know, as I'm the founder of Bigfoot Networks) being discussed!

I think that's definitely cool, but I believe offl...

2009-03-30T19:40:00.000-04:00

I think that's definitely cool, but I believe offloaded VOIP was something that you've been talking about for a while now on the original KillerNIC (through the USB port).

Ed,I think you may have missed the OTHER big news:...

2009-03-30T19:19:00.000-04:00

Ed,

I think you may have missed the OTHER big news: Voice Chat inside the new Xeno.

Bigfoot has partnered with Teamspeak and Vivox & also mumble (and many others).

You might want to check out the full new feature set but a built-in Voice chip, and audio jacks makes fully offloaded Voice Chat super easy, and convenient.

http://gizmodo.com/5180270/killer-xeno-network-card-kills-lag-has-built+in-voice-chat-processing

http://www.bigfootnetworks.com/killer-xeno-pro/

I linked to my original review in the second parag...

2009-03-25T16:34:00.000-04:00

I linked to my original review in the second paragraph.

However, I'm not really trying to say anything about their product or technology. I think it's cool. It's the business model and marketing strategy that I think needs work.

re: Server market, I think they are doing some work on that side too, if I remember my conversations with them correctly.

Where's that other article you wrote about this? I...

2009-03-25T16:32:00.000-04:00

Where's that other article you wrote about this? I recall that article having a different tone about it.

TOE. TCP/IP Offload Engine. That's what this is a TOE card. I dont see any reference to TOE in your article though. TOE is really only beneficial when traffic is approaching Gb wire speed.

Who's chip are they using? How is it integrated into the OS stack? Thats an important aspect right there.

Bigfoot's product doesn't provide any perceivable end-user benefits.

Take a look at this:
http://www.evga.com/articles/00467/

"As a result, gamers see less lag, better frame rates and smoother, more responsive gameplay during intense action. In fact, on average, gamers see from 10% to 20% increase in frame rate!"

Gamers see increase in 10-20% framerate? Reeeally... note the absence of any hard data? 'Typical.

Bigfoot's best bet is the server market. There, they will find some real benefits with their product.

Bigfoot has been pretty clear in the past that the...

2009-03-24T12:55:00.000-04:00

Bigfoot has been pretty clear in the past that their target market is customers who are already pretty high up on the hardware scale -- ie. people who already have the second GTX 260. So, I definitely think these people can get excited about the fact that this product will reduce lag. That's a pretty clear message.

However, I just don't think the business model is sustainable. That's why I think the fnApps are the key, because PC-on-a-card is pretty compelling, if the software is there.

I don't know how you can make networking any bette...

2009-03-24T12:27:00.000-04:00

I don't know how you can make networking any better. How can you get a consumer/enthusisast excited about networking???

Its going to go the way sound cards did. I would rather take the $150 and buy another GTX 260.

bah this thing again I'll admit it's like the cool...

2009-03-24T12:08:00.000-04:00

bah this thing again I'll admit it's like the coolest looking card I've ever seen but i just cant come to reason to purchase one.