Saturday, January 8th 2011
ASUS Combines Killer NIC and Xonar Audio into Single Addon Card
It seems like Bigfoot Killer, the family hardware-accelerated latency-chopping network controllers is really taking off after garnering interest from the motherboard industry. First, it was MSI announcing a strategic partnership with Bigfoot to bundle NICs using Killer 2100 and the probability of integrating it onto its motherboards, then Gigabyte beating MSI to that by unveiling not one, but three LGA1366 motherboards under the G1.Killer series with integrated Killer controllers, that leaves us with ASUS.
ASUS' first encounter with the Killer NIC is in the form of a multifunction addon card called ASUS ThunderBolt. Multifunction addon cards aren't new to ASUS. Recently, it released U3S6, a card that integrates USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s controllers with two ports of each kind. The ThunderBolt, on the other hand, integrates Bigfoot Killer 2100 network controller and ASUS Xonar sound. So in one package, it gives gamers access to a more responsive network and clearer audio.
The ASUS ThunderBolt is a PCI-Express addon card, integrating a Killer 2100 controller with its own dedicated memory; and in probability, an ASUS AV100 audio chipset found on low-profile ASUS Xonar sound cards such as Xonar DS. It provides 7.1 channel audio out with over 100 dBA SNR, and packs software that emulates popular positional-audio technologies such as EAX, and various Dolby/DTS mojo. The card draws power from a 4-pin Molex connector. The entire card is covered by an EMI shield, which also gives it a nice "product" feel.
To begin with, ASUS will bundle the ThunderBolt with its new upcoming LGA1366 motherboard, the Rampage III Black Edition. In the near future, it may also sell the card separately.
ASUS' first encounter with the Killer NIC is in the form of a multifunction addon card called ASUS ThunderBolt. Multifunction addon cards aren't new to ASUS. Recently, it released U3S6, a card that integrates USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s controllers with two ports of each kind. The ThunderBolt, on the other hand, integrates Bigfoot Killer 2100 network controller and ASUS Xonar sound. So in one package, it gives gamers access to a more responsive network and clearer audio.
To begin with, ASUS will bundle the ThunderBolt with its new upcoming LGA1366 motherboard, the Rampage III Black Edition. In the near future, it may also sell the card separately.
35 Comments on ASUS Combines Killer NIC and Xonar Audio into Single Addon Card
Still, i see this as a great product just cause you can have a proper soundcard + bonus & bigfoot sells chips.
The only benefit these have like posted above is on a software level where you can manually set priorities to applications, ie dividing net bandwidth for gaming while downloading....
then the price of these cards always let them down
Edit: Though not so much with this, seeing as it's just bundled in with the main event.
Edit: Found a better shot -> img560.imageshack.us/img560/3153/prasusrogrampage3blacke.jpg
thats so damn rare these days (everyone shares behind a router) that its worthless. killer NIC cant control the traffic from other systems to prioritise your gaming packets over someone elses.
To me i don't care about the killer nic although i would like the option to buy a high end mobo with or without one without losing out on other mobo features.
dont forget that the latest HDMI specs actually include 100Mb networking, so network on video cards is likely to appear