Linksys has announced their latest in gaming routers, the WRT32X AC3200, developed in partnership with Rivet Networks, developer of the Killer NIC solutions. The boasts are real with this products: Vince La Duca, global product manager at Linksys, had this to say: "Serious gamers are spending money on game play and expect to have technology that provides significant advantages to beat their opponents. The Linksys WRT32X provides advantages that no other routers have - and that is the Killer Prioritization Engine. The router, when paired with a Killer-enabled PC, provides a powerful end-to-end connection to prioritize gaming traffic to reduce peak ping times up to 77%; Providing a real advantage for faster kills over opponents that use regular "so-called" gaming routers."

The new Linksys WRT32X AC3200 Gaming Router, therefore, enables the Killer Prioritization Engine, should your PC's integrated NIC be a Killer solution. This prioritizizes gaming network traffic above all others, thus lessening lag and response times. Linksys is also introducing a new firmware and GUI for this particular router.

EVGA welcomes you to the next generation of ground-breaking performance: the X99 FTW K! The X99 platform redefines high-performance with the introduction of the first ever quad-channel DDR4 architecture fueled by Intel's Haswell-E/Broadwell-E CPU family for up to 128GBs of RAM running at a maximum memory speed of up to 3200MHz+ (OC), all made possible due to the 4-layer memory T-Routing design.

The X99 FTW-K is built with an 8-layer Hybrid Black PCB, featuring a CPU socket with 150% higher Gold content powered by an Advanced 8-phase Digital VRM (IR3563B+IR3350), providing industry-leading stability for all your applications. This board also features a Killer NIC E2400 Ethernet which helps to prioritize and reduce network latency to keep you at the top of your game.

TechPowerUp and MSI announce the Z97 Gaming Facebook Giveaway. Open to contestants worldwide, the giveaway lets you win an awesome MSI Z97 Gaming 7 motherboard, which features everything a modern PC gamer ever needs, including Killer NIC, and gaming-grade audio with ground-layer isolation, and a headset amp. Also featured is support for 3-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX. To win it, all you have to do is "Like" our Facebook page (if you haven't already), fill up a simple entry form (or make Facebook do it for you), and answer a few simple questions. Good Luck!For more details, and to participate, visit this page.

In addition to its overclocker-centric OC Series of motherboards based on the Z97 Express chipset, MSI launched several motherboard models in the Gaming Series. It starts off with the Z97I Gaming for mini-ITX builds, Z97M Gaming for micro-ATX ones, the Z97 Gaming 3, Z97 Gaming 5, and Z97 Gaming 7, built in the standard ATX form-factor. Interestingly, these are not the only Gaming Series boards. There's also the Z97-G43 Gaming, Z97-G45 Gaming, and Z97-GD65 Gaming. A characteristic feature of these boards is a design focus on better audio and wired networking. On the audio front, most models feature AudioBoost audio with ground-layer isolation and headphones amp; while on the wired networking front, the higher-end models feature Broadcom Killer E2200 gaming-optimized NICs. On the ones that lack it, MSI dropped in at least an Intel-made NIC.

Razer, the world leader in high-performance gaming hardware, software and systems, today announced that two of its prizewinning PC systems, the Razer Blade and Razer Edge Pro, are available for in-store purchase at Best Buy. Both the Blade and Edge Pro will be featured in approximately 100 Best Buy locations nationally, including most major markets.

"Two years ago, Razer was known as a niche company that made the world's best gaming peripherals," says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. "Today, we are leading the charge in tablet and laptop innovation with systems available at Best Buy stores across the country. This is truly a gratifying day for our company and for gamers and computer aficionados alike."

For gamers who don't plan on overclocking their CPUs, GIGABYTE announced a new gaming desktop motherboard, branded within its G1.Killer series no less. The G1.Sniper B5 combines the key ingredients of a G1.Killer motherboard, with the mid-range Intel B85 Express platform, supporting Core "Haswell" processors in the LGA1150 package. It's built in the standard ATX form-factor. Since the chipset doesn't support CPU overclocking, GIGABYTE went easy on the CPU VRM, with a 4+1 phase design, which is guaranteed to run any socket LGA1150 CPU at its stock speeds. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors.

Expansion slots include two long PCI-Express slots, but only one of them is wired to the CPU, and supports PCI-Express 3.0 x16 speeds. The other slot is electrical gen 2.0 x4, and wired to the B85 PCH. Two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI, make up the remaining expansion slots. Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s, and two SATA 3 Gb/s ports. The audio solution is based on a Realtek ALC898 CODEC (110 dBA SNR), ground-layer isolation, Nichicon audiophile-grade electrolytic capacitors on the AMP stage, and a removable OPAMP chip. There's no Bigfoot Killer NIC, but a decent Intel-made GbE LAN chip. The board features AMI UEFI BIOS with GIGABYTE's latest G1.Killer series setup program (minus the CPU overclocking options, of course), backed by dual-BIOS.

If you consider online gaming as a fundamental belief, pwning opponents online as a religion that fulfils your life, and the pursuit of a fast and stable internet connection as one of your core values, then ASRock has the answers to probably not all but at least most of your life's questions: ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer Series motherboards! With the integrated Killer LAN chip, serious players may game carelessly with no lag, just frag!

No Lag, Just Frag with Killer LAN!
What makes ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer Series motherboards so special is that it adopts Killer E2200 Intelligent Networking Platform, which boosts the performance of online games, high quality streaming media and other time sensitive UDP (User Datagram Protocol) based applications up to 5 times! Experiments at our lab have proven that Killer LAN is especially good at reducing the latency in online games, for instance the latency in League of Legends can be reduced by 136%, and the latency in Diablo 3 is reduced by 60% and DOTA2 by 47%. When it comes to professional gaming, even millisecond decisions may turn the tides of war, either you kill LAG, or be killed by LAG. Hence with the onboard Killer E2200 LAN solution, LAG will never be an excuse for losing anymore.

Razer, the world leader in high-performance gaming hardware, software and systems, today announced the Blade Pro, the latest evolution of its award-winning 17-inch gaming laptop. Powered by a future 4th gen Intel Core processor, next generation NVIDIA GeForceGTX 765M graphics and groundbreaking storage performance, the new Blade Pro is faster and more powerful than ever before.

"With the Razer Blade Pro, we've designed a gaming laptop for work and for play-appealing to on-the-go hardcore gamers, game developers, creative artists and aspiring video professionals," says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. "The Razer Blade Pro can flawlessly run the most popular creative software applications, and is powerful enough to run the most graphically intensive games on the market today."

MSI, industry leader in motherboard and graphics card technology is happy to announce the availability of its complete Gaming motherboard lineup. At CeBIT 2013 the world got a first hands-on experience with the new models and the completely new look and feel of the motherboards and thanks to that we've received overwhelming positive reviews from gamers and media. As part of the 2013 series of motherboards, the new Z77 Gaming models will be available far into 2014. Together with the recently introduced Gaming Graphics Cards from MSI, they allow awe-inspiring PC builds from PC Gamers and Enthusiasts.

The MSI Z77 Gaming motherboards are designed to have as little lag as possible, to have the best possible input relay connections from your devices (mouse, keyboard and headset) and have the best audio set up integrated in the motherboard and have room for several graphics cards. These are but a few examples of how MSI has tried to perfect this Gaming motherboard for the enthusiasts who want the best hardware to get the best performance where it counts: in-game.

A little earlier today, MSI announced it would be integrating the Bigfoot Killer NIC, a latency optimized network controller that is designed to help online gaming, into some of its gaming notebooks and motherboards. We're hearing that MSI plans to carve out an entirely new gamer-centric motherboard brand extension, along the lines of ASUS Republic of Gamers, Gigabyte G1.Killer, and ASRock Fatal1ty series. MSI transferred branding over from its G-Series gaming notebooks over to create the new motherboard series, one of which was teased to the press earlier today.

Pictured below is a section of a new socket LGA1155 G-Series motherboard. According to sources, the board pictured below looks essentially identical to the Z77A-GD65, with a few obvious changes: color scheme changed to black and red with swanky VRM and chipset heatsinks; and Bigfoot Killer E2200 network controller by Qualcomm-Atheros. The NIC works to minimize latency to game servers, and lets you prioritize available bandwidth to specific apps. One could expect MSI's G-Series motherboard line to be out by Cebit (March, 2013), with a lot more of such teasers along the way.

MSI, the world-leading manufacturer of graphics cards and motherboards, is happy to announce an extensive partnership with Qualcomm Atheros to implement Killer Networking technology in not only MSI's gaming notebooks, but also a new lineup of MSI gaming motherboards. With this implementation gamers and professionals alike can now utilize Killer technology to enhance their gaming and video streaming experience. By adding a healthy dose of intelligence to the networking part of MSI motherboards a lot of work is taken out of the hands of the users who can focus better at the task at hand, be it fragging competitors or professional network services.

MSI announced the GX60, an AMD-powered gaming notebook first spotted at this year's Computex event. The notebook is powered by an AMD A10-4600M quad-core "Trinity" APU, Radeon HD 7970M discrete graphics processor with 2 GB GDDR5 memory, and up to 16 GB dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory. Its storage components include 128 GB SuperRAID SSD, 750 GB hard drive, Blu-ray writer or Blu-ray + DVD-RW combo drive. The 15.6-inch anti-glare screen packs 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution. Other gaming-grade features include Bigfoot Killer NIC, keyboard made by SteelSeries, and HD webcam. Pricing differs with optional components.

At IDF, motherboard vendors got to show off their near-complete socket LGA2011 motherboards based on the X79 chipset. Many of these were half-built and straight out of R&D at this year's Computex event, back in June. Gigabyte showed off its first X79 motherboards, the GA-X79-UD5, GA-X79-UD7, and G1.Assassin 2. Unlike previous generations of high-end Gigabyte motherboards, the UD7 isn't a beefed-up UD5 with added features and better cooling. The two are entirely different right from the PCB, to the features they offer.

The UD5 targets premium users, with eight DDR3 DIMM slots, geared for 3-card SLI/CrossFire, while the UD7 is bleeding-edge with just four DDR3 DIMM slots, but a wealth of overclocking features and support for 4-card SLI/Crossfire. Then there's the G1.Assassin 2, which targets the gamer-overclocker market with neat features such as hardware-accelerated Creative X-Fi audio and Bigfoot Killer NIC, with support for 3-card SLI/Crossfire.

Here are some of the first proper pictures of ASUS ROG Crosshair V Formula motherboard, a set of press-shots leaked to the Czech press, which has since been retracted. The ROG Crosshair V Formula comes in two packages, with and without ASUS Thunderbolt card (an addon card by ASUS that provides Bigfoot Killer NIC and Sound Blaster X-Fi hardware-accelerated audio). The Crosshair V made its first appearance with a box-shot disclosure by NVIDIA announcing SLI on AMD chipset motherboards; later a table listing out specifications of some of ASUS' fist socket AM3+ motherboard was published.

The Crosshair V Formula is a socket AM3+ motherboard based on AMD 990FX + SB950 chipset, supporting AMD's upcoming FX-series processors based on the Bulldozer architecture. It combines the best features ASUS has to offer, targeting both gamers and overclockers. The AM3+ socket is powered by a strong 10-phase Digi+ Extreme Engine VRM, it supports dual-channel DDR3 memory with speeds of over DDR3-2133 MHz. Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 2.0 x16, which configure as x16/x16/NC or x16/x8/x8, with the fourth slot being electrical x4, wired to the southbridge. NVIDIA 3-way SLI and AMD CrossFireX are supported.

Here is the complete socket AM3+ motherboard first-wave of ASUS, the M5A series, short and sweet. Based entirely on AMD 9-series chipset, including 9-series southbridge chips, the first-wave caters to gamer, performance, and enthusiast market segments, and only includes those chipset models that rely on discrete graphics (leaving out AMD 980G, 990GX). The lineup even includes models from ASUS' gamer/enthusiast-oriented Republic of Gamers (ROG) family, and The Ultimate Force (TUF) family.

The lineup starts with three models based on AMD 970 + SB950 chipset, which is a single discrete graphics card platform. The M5A97 is the entry-point, it bases itself entirely on what the chipset offers, plus two USB 3.0 ports. Moving up is M5A97 Pro, which has everything its little sibling has, plus a stronger 6+2 phase Digi+ VRM, and two eSATA ports. The M5A97 EVO, which was pictured a little while ago. This has everything the Pro variant has, plus two front-panel USB 3.0 ports, and FireWire.

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 second motherboard part of Gigabyte's G1-Killer series apart from the recently detailed G1.Guerrilla is the G1.Assassin. Also an LGA1366 motherboard based on the Intel X58 + ICH10R chipset, the G1.Assassin ropes overclockers into the equation. While the Guerrilla has more in for gamers (and support for up to 3 graphics cards in multi-GPU), the Assassin boasts of a strong CPU VRM, an arsenal of overclocker-friendly features, support for up to four graphics cards in 4-way SLI/CrossFireX, while retaining the gamer-appeal. Unlike Guerrilla, Assassin is an XL-ATX motherboard, retaining the same green+black color scheme.

It features the same 16-phase CPU VRM configuration found on the X58A-UD7 (rev 2.0). The four PCI-Express x16 slots are connected directly to the X58 northbridge, apart from one PCI-E x1 and a PCI. USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s are standard features here, too. Like the Guerrilla, it features Bigfoot Killer 2100 hardware NIC. The audio, however, is different. While Guerrilla merely uses an HD audio CODEC backed by X-Fi MB software, Assassin uses an actual CA20K2 processor that can perform hardware mixing over OpenAL in Windows 7 and Vista. The audio processor has its own 64 MB of memory, and the Killer NIC reportedly having 1 GB of DDR2 dedicated memory. A rich array of electrolytic capacitors gives the audio a more natural tone. The Assassin is also expected to have overclocking capabilities on par with the X58A-UD7/UD9 leviathans.

MSI announced a partnership with Bigfoot Networks, the company behind the Killer NIC series of accelerated network interface cards (NICs). The immediate results of this would be the motherboard major bundling Killer NICs with some of its high-end motherboards. MSI also hinted that it could work to integrate the Killer NIC logic onto motherboards. Knowing how MSI was the first to be out with a LucidLogix Hydra Engine motherboard, the idea of integration of Killer NIC onto one of its future motherboards doesn't seem far-fetched.

"We are pleased to be working with MSI," said Michael Howse, CEO of Bigfoot Networks. "The Killer 2100 gaming network card is a perfect complement to the MSI Big Bang family of mainboard solutions that will give gamers a competitive edge in online play." Andy Tung, VP of MSI USA says "MSI mainboards with Military Class components provide a great backbone for any gaming system and the Killer 2100 network card is a way to improve performance and get one step ahead of the competition."

Call it the admin's graphics card or the gamer's network card, but PowerColor seems to have come up with an unusual combination of a graphics processor (ATI Radeon HD 5770) with a hardware-accelerated network processor (Bigfoot Killer), which are seated on the same board, and share the system bus using a PCI-Express bridge chip. The GPU is a fairly standard HD 5770 that packs DirectX 11 support, 800 stream processors, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide interface, while the NPU is an ARM-derived system-on-chip (SoC) which offloads network stack processing completely from the host in a bid to cut system latencies. The inclusion of a PCI-Express bridge chip and the NPU significantly increased the size of PCB, yet the card seems to make do with just a single 6-pin power input. Given that a standalone PCI-E Killer NIC easily costs over $120 and the HD 5770 around the $150 mark, with the $10-odd PCI-E bridge chip, one can expect this product to easily cost over $250.

While AMD has no new GPU product launches slated for this year's Computex event, its partners are letting their imagination go places. PowerColor is doing just that, with as many as five new products and technologies. To begin with, the company is working on the PowerColor HD 5770 Sniper Edition. This graphics card packs a Bigfoot Killer NIC on-board, so graphics and network processing is packaged into a single addon card. From what we can tell, the card is designed using a PCI-Express bridge which is connected to the PCI-Express x16 interface, which gives the Radeon HD 5770 GPU an x16 link and the Killer SoC an x1 link. The Killer network processor has its own dedicated memory and ROM, with which the SoC can offload network processing from Windows, in a bid to reduce latencies, even if improving performance is inconsequential with today's systems with powerful processors.

Next up, is the PowerColor HD 5770 Evolution. Again, another novelty graphics card based on the Radeon HD 5770. This one packs a Lucid Hydra Engine chip on-board, which allows it work in tandem with any other graphics card, ATI or NVIDIA, with 2-way or 3-way multi-GPU support. Third card is probably what will interest a lot more buyers, PowerColor HD 5770 Single Slot Edition. As the name suggests, the card will occupy only one expansion slot. The next card is an even more practical product in the making, a series of low-profile Radeon HD 5770 and HD 5750 cards. Lastly, PowerColor will demonstrate what it calls the Vortex Cooling technology, a unique video card cooler which allows users to adjust the fan's height from the heatsink, and vector its air-flow. Not wanting to reveal too much, PowerColor left us with tiny images, some of which are outlines of the actual images.

Bigfoot Networks, the networking technology company behind the Killer line of gaming networks cards, today announced Killer 2100, its next-generation network interface card (NIC) for online gaming. Killer 2100 combines elements of speed, intelligence and control demanded by gamers with major throughput and latency enhancements and an innovative and easy-to-use software interface. Killer 2100 epitomizes blazing speed and maximum performance as the fastest Gigabit NIC on the planet for gamers.

At the heart of Killer 2100 is Bigfoot Networks' groundbreaking Game Networking DNA technology, comprised of a dedicated network processor (NPU), Advanced Game Detect, Windows stack bypass, Visual Bandwidth Control and other optimizations designed to deliver the best online gaming experience possible. Game Networking DNA accelerates latency-sensitive game traffic while reducing stuttering, freezing and other symptoms of lag, giving online gamers a competitive edge.

Leadtek Research Inc., known globally for its extreme visual graphics technology development, today revealed the latest WinFast Killer Xeno Pro, the only network card designed to provide smoother, more responsive online game play. Leadtek will distribute the WinFast Killer Xeno Pro through online and retail channels in Taiwan, Korea and Japan, improving the competitiveness of millions of online gamers.

The WinFast Killer Xeno Pro gaming network card delivers superior online performance by putting intelligent networking technology inside gamers' PCs. Its dedicated Network Processing Unit (NPU) and innovative architecture offload network traffic, bypassing the Microsoft Windows networking stack and prioritizing competing bandwidth demands from applications such as Web browsing, music streaming, software downloads and voice chat. Its Game Detect technology identifies, prioritizes and accelerates game traffic, giving players a competitive edge in the latest online games, from shooters to MMOs. Intelligent Bandwidth Control keeps the game running smoothly and lets you allocate bandwidth to other applications so you can do more while you game.

VisionTek Products announced a technology partnership with Bigfoot Networks today in conjunction with the North American launch of the VisionTek Killer Xeno Pro Gaming Network Card. The introduction of this revolutionary gaming network card takes gaming to the next level with performance designed to enhance the online multiplayer experience. This new hardware caters to the growing online PC gaming audience and includes custom bandwidth controls to tailor the game play experience to the user's needs. When the dedicated Network Processing Unit (NPU) was born in the labs of Bigfoot Networks, VisionTek made plans to join forces for their next technology launch.

"My technology roots are grounded in the GPU, as the quintessential PC gaming hardware upgrade," said Michael Innes, COO & EVP of VisionTek Products, LLC, "It's too early to say that the NPU will overcome the GPU, but I do know it feels a lot like the advent of the PC graphics card. One thing is certain, online gaming is the dominant factor keeping the PC gaming platform alive."