Wednesday, July 11th 2018

Supercharge Your Network - Aquantia Multi-Gig Ethernet Adapters for Gamers Now Available

Aquantia, a leader in Multi-Gigabit Ethernet, is pumping new life into networked gaming. Today the company announced the availability of a special gamer edition AQtion AQN-107 Ethernet adapter, available exclusively on Amazon for an introductory price of $89.99. The AQN-107 10Gigabit adapter takes high-speed Multi-Gig networking to the next level, and the gamer edition provides exclusive access to new Aquantia gaming prioritization software. The AQtion AQN-107 gamer edition hardware is clad in classic black and comes with both full-height and half-height powder coated black brackets for the gamer who wants a beautiful, fragging machine.
LK Bhupathi, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Aquantia:
"We listened to feedback from the gaming community - they want easy access to high-performance Multi-Gig Ethernet hardware at competitive price points. Amazon provides us with the customer-focused approach that gamers and PC enthusiasts demand. Aquantia decided to kick off our Amazon presence with a special gaming edition of our 10G AQtion Ethernet Adapter combined with the beta version of Aquantia's prioritization software so users can tightly control latency and lag."
According to Jon Peddie Research's most recent worldwide report on pre-built and DIY gaming focused PCs - including upgrades and accessories - the market exceeded $30 billion for the first time in 2017. At the same time sales of PC games made up 28% of the overall global games market value of $116 billion. Selecting Amazon to reach this potentially lucrative market in North America was a simple choice. Amazon is responsible for 44% of all US e-commerce sales - or about 4% of all US retail sales. The most sales on Amazon - more than $8 billion - are created through the company's consumer electronics division, which includes PCs and computer components.

The combination of the gamer edition AQN-107 with the new Aquantia software will allow gamers to prioritize gameplay over other LAN activity. The reduction in lag and latency provides the reaction time advantage which can mean the difference between living on to play more and a "Game Over" situation. Twitch streamers, in particular, will benefit from dynamically controlling both the upload and download speeds through the prioritization interface.

About the Gamer Edition AQtion AQN-107
The Gamer Edition AQtion AQN-107 in classic black supports 10GBASE-T Ethernet in compliance with the IEEE 802.3an standard. It is also backward compatible with legacy cabling and Ethernet standards and supports 5GBASE-T and 2.5GBASE-T Ethernet per the IEEE 802.3bz standard. By supporting PCI Express x4 with a single RJ45 port, AQtion NICs can easily upgrade most existing tower PCs, supplanting outdated Gigabit Ethernet. It also fully utilizes the bandwidth capabilities of the latest CPUs and GPUs. Go here to learn more about the gamer edition of the AQtion AQN-107.
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45 Comments on Supercharge Your Network - Aquantia Multi-Gig Ethernet Adapters for Gamers Now Available

#26
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
Never heard of them, but the price is nice. Wish I had something to connect it to.
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#27
Prima.Vera
Why do you need expensive 10Gbps NIC, when you have the all available USB 3.1 ?
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#28
Planet
Nephilim666Could you build an mITX NAS, use pcie bifurcation and run 4 of these NICs? Powerful enough CPU and you have a NAS/Managed switch in one.
You really wouldn't want to run a switch on x86 hardware its too slow. That's why most switches run ASICs.
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#29
Tsukiyomi91
this niche kind of thing isn't really needed unless you're participating LAN parties like Dreamhack where taking advantage of the 1GB/s download speeds, then there's some uses for a 10GbE PCIe card. Other than that, your Realtek or Intel ethernet port is more than enough for everyday use. Rather just find a good used 10GbE PCIe card on eBay or Amazon for cheap since those too will deliver the same link speed. "prioritization software" is pure gimmick & doesn't really help if your ISP is a potato.
Posted on Reply
#30
xvi
"Gamers" go nuts for theoretical numbers. 10Gbps is faster than 1Gbps and people will pay extra to put "Aquantia 10Gbps PCIe Gaming Megaclocked Fatal1ty RGB Deathmatch Edition" in their specs.

That said, I'd probably pay a little extra just for the black PCB alone.
Posted on Reply
#31
Tsukiyomi91
the black PCB is nice for a change but doesn't make it any faster than a green PCB ones that does about the same.
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#32
CheapMeat
Yeah because we literally think the black PCB would make it faster... It's the Western Digital of NICs.
Posted on Reply
#33
Tsukiyomi91
in a built system, it's not really noticeable unless you have an open bench system...
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#34
CheapMeat
Even for all 6 of my homelab whiteboxes, I have all black PCB components that I explicitly looked for. The cases have windows and soon they'll be moved to 4U Rosewill rack chassis that I'll add acrylic windows on too. I love it. Options are one of the best things about our hobby. :toast:
Posted on Reply
#35
TheLostSwede
News Editor
Prima.VeraWhy do you need expensive 10Gbps NIC, when you have the all available USB 3.1 ?
Uhm... Because USB 3.1 has a cable length of 2-3m without signal boosters? Because USB 3.1 can't be used for networking? Because USB 3.1 doesn't even allow for peer to peer networking? Because USB 3.1 wasn't intended to replace Ethernet?
PlanetYou really wouldn't want to run a switch on x86 hardware its too slow. That's why most switches run ASICs.
Sorry, what? Most switches these days use ARM or MIPS processors. How are these faster than an x86/x64 processor? You can use a PC processor just fine for a switch, but it wouldn't be cost effective. Here's an example of an x86 based 40Gbps switch using an Atom C2000-series SoC - www.hpe.com/au/en/product-catalog/networking/networking-switches/pip.hpe-altoline-6921-48xgt-6qsfpplus-x86-onie-ac-front-to-back-switch.1009148989.html

Please people, stop spreading misinformation just because you don't know.
Posted on Reply
#36
Fx
xvi"Gamers" go nuts for theoretical numbers. 10Gbps is faster than 1Gbps and people will pay extra to put "Aquantia 10Gbps PCIe Gaming Megaclocked Fatal1ty RGB Deathmatch Edition" in their specs.

That said, I'd probably pay a little extra just for the black PCB alone.
Why are you saying 10G is theoretical for a home? It has already been explained in this thread how it isn't for a practical use case. 1Gbps only equates to roughly 125MB/s during file transfers. This is a network imposed limitation for LAN use.
Posted on Reply
#37
Slizzo
Like others stated here, it's pretty much useless for your average "gamer" or regular consumer. I understand that these are absolutely worth it for someone that does more than just game on their computer at home. I work in the I.T. industry, come on...

And this goes further than just the Packet Prioritization that any decent router does now; they're forwarding your traffic to another location to further "prioritize" your connection for your games. Largely a useless thing, especially since you have to pay for it. This is the bullshit that is built into many ASUS routers right now: www.wtfast.com/
Posted on Reply
#38
Fx
SlizzoLike others stated here, it's pretty much useless for your average "gamer" or regular consumer. I understand that these are absolutely worth it for someone that does more than just game on their computer at home. I work in the I.T. industry, come on...

And this goes further than just the Packet Prioritization that any decent router does now; they're forwarding your traffic to another location to further "prioritize" your connection for your games. Largely a useless thing, especially since you have to pay for it. This is the bullshit that is built into many ASUS routers right now: www.wtfast.com/
I'm not sure why so many in this thread got hung up on the "gamer' verbiage. I never once thought about this NIC as a gaming oriented device; it is just another NIC and one that happens to be 10G. When I think of 10G, I think of higher throughput. Something that people in this thread apparently aren't trying to tap into very much, but just because they don't doesn't mean there isn't many reasons why they couldn't.

We need to embrace 10G as a standard. It is easily one of the biggest bottlenecks today. It isn't useless for the average household.

A typical household isn't going to have ethernet installed in the walls, but what about when your typical tenant moves out and the average gamer/IT professional moves in and needs great connectivity? Now let's say that house happened to have ethernet in the walls, but it was only Cat5 but they needed 10G. You shouldn't define limits for people who are the typical average user.

The thing about standards is 1) they should accommodate the vast majority of people's needs and 2) provide room for growth. Sorry friends, but ye ol' 1Gbps ethernet is pretty long in the tooth and just needs to go. We need to move on and embrace 10G as today's standard.

Aquantia is trying to do this with its very reasonable price. They are merely using buzzwords with "gamer" just like all other marketing departments do.
Posted on Reply
#39
Disparia
Still early as I had to pad the list a bit with unrealistic specialized options.



The ASUS is a little older and on the list for comparison. It's 10Gb ports don't have the 2.5Gb, 5Gb support of new multi-gig switches and controllers.

People will be able to relate as more configurations show up in the coming months. Some won't have 10Gb at all; but rather 1Gb, 2.5Gb, and 5Gb on all ports (or a mix). Most CAT5e does not need to be replaced to obtain these speeds.
Posted on Reply
#40
windwhirl
DispariaPeople will be able to relate as more configurations show up in the coming months. Some won't have 10Gb at all; but rather 1Gb, 2.5Gb, and 5Gb on all ports (or a mix). Most CAT5e does not need to be replaced to obtain these speeds.
Wait, I thought CAT6 was a requirement for Gigabit ethernet...?
Posted on Reply
#41
Prima.Vera
windwhirlWait, I thought CAT6 was a requirement for Gigabit ethernet...?
For Ten Gb one, yeah. But CAT 7 cables are better since they can go up to 100m instead of 55 for CAT6e.
Posted on Reply
#42
xvi
FxWhy are you saying 10G is theoretical for a home? It has already been explained in this thread how it isn't for a practical use case. 1Gbps only equates to roughly 125MB/s during file transfers. This is a network imposed limitation for LAN use.
I'm not saying anything about the actual use of the card, just that I'm sure people will buy it just so they can brag about it and if you're going to brag about it, you want it to sound cool.

Edit: Example, any sports car that has never seen a track.
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#43
Nephilim666
ASRock am4 itx boards support bifurcation.
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#44
remixedcat
no RGB, not a gamer nic then :P

this seems like wifi speeds in reverse. lots of routers with ac 2500+ speeds but no adapters that support that. Here we are at 10Gbps adapters but very little switches that support it. LOL
Posted on Reply
#45
Slizzo
I just upgraded to an ASUS RT-AC88U, and don't really have a use for a 10GB NIC in my house. I don't have any servers, and gig is plenty for the occasional transfer of files between my computers that my oldest son and I use.

Again, most people won't need this until all devices are cheap, and the US finally gets off it's ass with broadband regulations and speeds.

And we're hung up on the gaming thing, because this is what the marketing is parroting. Doesn't matter what we here feel as we're enthusiasts; it matters what the average Joe will do, and since something is branded as "gaming" and advertised to have high theoretical speeds will be bought. And those users will be wasting money as they likely don't know the proper use cases for 10gig currently.
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