VisionTek Announces Killer 2100 HD 5770 Combo Graphics-Network Card

[btarunr]

VisionTek Products and Bigfoot Networks today announced the launch of the VisionTek Killer HD 5770, the world's first single-card, PCI Express solution combining Bigfoot Networks Killer E2100 game networking technology and AMD Radeon HD 5000 graphics family technology to supercharge mainstream PCs for online gaming.

The Killer HD 5770 is a one-card, one-slot solution that combines leading-edge graphics and networking to give consumers explosive HD gaming performance for today's hottest online titles. The Killer HD 5770 card uses the AMD Radeon HD 5770 graphics processing unit (GPU) to deliver Microsoft DirectX 11 support, multimonitor setup and 7.1 audio via HDMI output. The Killer HD 5770 card also uses the Killer E2100 platform to deliver blazing-fast Gigabit Ethernet networking optimized for online gameplay. The Killer E2100 platform is a new, embedded version of the award-winning Killer 2100 gaming network card developed by Bigfoot Networks.



Benefits of the VisionTek Killer HD 5770 card include:

• Multiple Displays - Immersive gaming with multidisplay capabilities
• Game Networking Performance - Whether you're playing MMOs or first-person shooters, the Killer E2100 platform delivers fast networking with a new level of online gaming performance and a competitive edge
• Intelligence - The Killer E2100 platform identifies and accelerates traffic to your game with Advanced Game Detect for unmatched online gaming performance
• Maximum Control - See which applications are hogging PC bandwidth. Set limits using Visual Bandwidth Control or shut them down completely with Application Blocking, so they don't interfere with online games
• Visibility - Monitor and manage gaming rig health and performance with at-a-glance Online Gaming PC Monitor

"The VisionTek Killer HD 5770 card is the only upgrade card specifically designed to combine high-quality graphics and low-latency networking for gaming," said Michael Innes, COO & EVP of VisionTek Products, LLC. "We are pleased to offer our customers unrivaled online gaming performance with the unprecedented convenience of a single plug-and-play card."

"With the Killer HD 5770, players with mainstream PCs can turbocharge their systems at a fraction of the cost of a new PC," said Michael Howse, CEO, Bigfoot Networks. "Bigfoot Networks pursues strategic initiatives with companies like VisionTek because of its shared commitment to offering unique, intelligent products to demanding gamers."

"VisionTek has been a strategic partner for nearly 10 years and brings extremely innovative AMD design concepts to the North American market," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD's GPU Division. "We rely on our leading partners to expand on our technology reach. VisionTek once again delivers on that directive with its new Killer HD 5770 launch."

The VisionTek Killer HD 5770 gaming graphics and network card will be available in early December through North American online and retail channels at an MSRP of $199.99 USD.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Fourstaff]

I would rather pay $200 for 6850. Increases my gaming satisfaction by a lot more than the 5770+killer NIC.

 

[Red_Machine]

nVidia tried this back in 1995 with their NV1. It didn't work then and it's not going to work now. It increases the cost of the card, not to mention board complexity.

All they need to do now is add onboard sound and it'll be the NV1 all over again.

 

[Mussels]

i remember the prototype for this at CES or whatever, interesting but i dont think it will be popular.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

nVidia tried this back in 1995 with their NV1. It didn't work then and it's not going to work now. It increases the cost of the card, not to mention board complexity.

All they need to do now is add onboard sound and it'll be the NV1 all over again.

They have had onboard 7.1 since the 4 series iirc

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

This only makes sense to me for a 580 and a rich dude. Say you want your dual 6 core quad sli system for daily use, well then you're out of pci-e slots. Get one 580 with a killer and another 580 with a good sound card on it and you're set. Maybe there should be a new card standard, top end gfx cards having mini pci-e slots and little recessions for tiny cards. All these add on card makers could make little micro cards to fit into those card slots. Should be plenty of pci-e bandwidth to support this, especially with 3.0. On the other end of the spectrum this would also make mini-itx builds suitable for an everyday rig, as you could finally fit a gpu and good soundcard.

 

[Mussels]

They have had onboard 7.1 since the 4 series iirc

yup. 2K and 3K had 5.1 sound i think, 4K and up added 7.1. Ofc, thats only over HDMI (maybe he meant analogue?)

 

[Red_Machine]

Yeah, I meant analogue.

 

[Maban]

Speaking for just about everyone, pass.

 

[Roph]

Through onboard realtek LAN. Over a 25m+ long Cat5 cable that is so worn, that in some places the wires inside are visible.

Like anybody needs that trash.

 

[Yukikaze]

Bigfoot Networks, ugh.

 

[Arrakis9]

they actually make a good network card, just not worth more than $20 in my book though

 

[TheLostSwede]

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but the Bigfoot cards actually use a Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet PHY, so I'm curios as to what the Bigfoot chip actually does apart from handling the packets and interfacing with the system...

Also, be prepared for a card from Asus that combines a Bigfoot network card and a sound card http://www.semiaccurate.com/2010/11/16/codename-thunderbolt-coming-asus-rog-series/

And it might get worse, as some motherboard manufacturers are considering sticking this on their high-end boards...

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

I fail to see the point of this, on two levels.

1. Why would you buy a mid tier card with this technology on it?
2. Why would you need this super fast Ethernet when this is not the weakest link in most cases, the wires, or your connection is.
3.

 

[Yukikaze]

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but the Bigfoot cards actually use a Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet PHY, so I'm curios as to what the Bigfoot chip actually does apart from handling the packets and interfacing with the system...

Also, be prepared for a card from Asus that combines a Bigfoot network card and a sound card http://www.semiaccurate.com/2010/11/16/codename-thunderbolt-coming-asus-rog-series/

And it might get worse, as some motherboard manufacturers are considering sticking this on their high-end boards...

PHY != MAC != NIC.

In general, this does what many other NICs have been doing for ages - Offloading parts of the communication stack from the OS to the NIC itself.

 

[Arrakis9]

I fail to see the point of this, on two levels.

1. Why would you buy a mid tier card with this technology on it?
2. Why would you need this super fast Ethernet when this is not the weakest link in most cases, the wires, or your connection is.
3. http://forums.techpowerup.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=39253&stc=1&d=1291214400

at the time this was announced the 480 and 470 were the only cards avalible from NV and 5830 was the only other thing close to $200 price point. in other words the news came out at the "right time" but the launch missed its mark

 

[Over_Lord]

i get 15ms lag on TF2, so my onboard is better!!!!!

 

[Delta6326]

.............. outdated? 5770

 

[wahdangun]

hmm so it will have linux on it ? just like standard killer NIC?

 

[RadeonProVega]

I would buy this if the price was 150, seriously.

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

I own a Killer 2100, and it does really lower ping times, by a fair deal, especially in lagtastic games like Bad Company 2, is it worth the 80 dollars, well that's for you to decide, I got mine new, for 45 dollars, and that to me was worth it. But adding a premium to a video card, I really can't see that.

 

[Fourstaff]

I own a Killer 2100, and it does really lower ping times, by a fair deal, especially in lagtastic games like Bad Company 2, is it worth the 80 dollars, well that's for you to decide, I got mine new, for 45 dollars, and that to me was worth it. But adding a premium to a video card, I really can't see that.

If its not too problematic, can you post some screens between regular lan port and this?

 

[Bundy]

I own a Killer 2100, and it does really lower ping times, by a fair deal, especially in lagtastic games like Bad Company 2, is it worth the 80 dollars, well that's for you to decide, I got mine new, for 45 dollars, and that to me was worth it. But adding a premium to a video card, I really can't see that.

Can you really do a test for us like Fourstaff asks? Get up your command console and type> tracert techpowerup.com. What is the time between your rig and your router/modem as compared to total time? I'm using onboard and get 1ms, can't see how a faster NIC will help. I also don't get lag on BFBC2 unless I connect to a server on the other side of the world.

 

[xBruce88x]

i just did that test for the heck of it... most of the latencies were 20-40ms... except one server was 220ms o.o (networklayer.com)

anyone know if they'll make a Killer N card? I'm really thinking of going all wifi sometime in '11.

 

[johnnyfiive]

The killer nics are made to offload as much CPU usage as possible when gaming. A ping test to a server isn't really going to show the benefits of the nic. Running a game and recording fps and latency is the only real way to see if it helps at all. From what I've seen, it does improve fps and reduce latency, but it's marginal.