Well, it seems that we finally get some actual info, not ricer marketing, about the KillerNIC, including the reason for 64MB of DDR. From GD Hardware: There are no consumer products available today that are comparable to Killer. In addition to being a Network Interface Card (NIC), Killer is also a computer within a computer. With Killer’s Flexible Network Architecture (FNATM) you can literally run a Linux command prompt in a window on your gaming PC. This command prompt interface is a Flexible Network Application (FNappTM) that will come on the Killer install disc. Killer is the only network card that runs an open-source version of embedded Linux and allows users to write and download their own FNapps to the card. Killer is also the only consumer level network card that boasts full gaming-network offloading functionality. With Killer, your gaming operating system does not perform any IP or UDP functions or calculations (everything is handled in the card). However, with an MSRP of $279.99, I'm extremely skeptical of the claims this card makes, especially considering it's using the PCI bus. Call me crazy, but the KillerNIC is going to be a tough sell.
Like we discussed previously, it seems they are trying to eliminate the latency associated with the low-quality Windows network stack. It is, in fact, letting a little Linux computer handle the networking for you! [ot]In that case, I have a "KILLER NETWORK CARD!!!!!" with an Athlon XP 3200+ and 1GB of DDR! Beat that, Bigfoot Networks! [/ot]
I just don't see a $280 NIC selling that well, especially when people are going to see an Intel 1Gb one for $50 or so. It's certainly clever, but I don't think it's clever enough to actually get people to buy it en masse. I did e-mail Kyle at [H]ard|OCP if he's going to do any reviews, and he told me he's trying to get a sample to see if this actually does anything. My bets are it won't...or at least not enough for 99% of people to justify a $280 NIC. My gut is that while people will probably say "Hey, that's neat" they're much more likely to invest in a new or second video card instead.
