do Killer Nics work? E2200

[never_here]

So, i was going to buy a new laptop soon, MSI GS60 Ghost.  It comes with a killer NIC.  My old laptop, an MSI GT660 had a killer nic too.  It worked great.  Wireless connection always worked, and worked well, especially with my new router.  What I only realized recently was that when my MSI GT660 was re-downloading my steam library, and my brother was on his mac, plus, my ipad was youtube, i realized almost all my internet was not working well as my laptop was downloading.   I was wondering if this has anything to do with the KILLER NIC?  

 

I know it prioritized internet bandwith to games, and say, on default settings, caps the speed of say, browser use if you are gaming.  But does it also prioritizes internet to my gt660 first above everyone else?  

 

Router:  Apple Airport Extreme (2013)

Brother's Computer :   Macbook Pro R(late 2013)

My Ipad :  Ipad 3

 

Despite the apple gear(thought apple stuff would prioritize if anything), I found it odd that almost all internet stopped working as my laptop was downloading.  I NEVER once had an issue using it for internet things.  But never once realized it did that.  (never had to reinstall games until games i wanted to play got too big for C:, therefore i placed them on the separate partition drive)

 

Also, i noticed that SOME models of GS70/GS60 laptops dont have the Killer NIC, and some do, and they have cost differences, but i haven't really been paying attention to it atm.  I've also read things that some people have problems with the KILLER NIC's on laptops too, where they just ended up disabling it too. 

 

Can anyone tell me if Killer Nics are suppose to steal bandwidth like that?  If it is, i would pay extra money for that as my internet is always being used, and i would love priority to it.  If it isn't suppose to.. then why does it do that?     

[xXxYOLOxSWAGxXx_420BlazeIt]

So, i was going to buy a new laptop soon, MSI GS60 Ghost.  It comes with a killer NIC.  My old laptop, an MSI GT660 had a killer nic too.  It worked great.  Wireless connection always worked, and worked well, especially with my new router.  What I only realized recently was that when my MSI GT660 was re-downloading my steam library, and my brother was on his mac, plus, my ipad was youtube, i realized almost all my internet was not working well as my laptop was downloading.   I was wondering if this has anything to do with the KILLER NIC?  

 

I know it prioritized internet bandwith to games, and say, on default settings, caps the speed of say, browser use if you are gaming.  But does it also prioritizes internet to my gt660 first above everyone else?  

 

Router:  Apple Airport Extreme (2013)

Brother's Computer :   Macbook Pro R(late 2013)

My Ipad :  Ipad 3

 

Despite the apple gear(thought apple stuff would prioritize if anything), I found it odd that almost all internet stopped working as my laptop was downloading.  I NEVER once had an issue using it for internet things.  But never once realized it did that.  (never had to reinstall games until games i wanted to play got too big for C:, therefore i placed them on the separate partition drive)

 

Also, i noticed that SOME models of GS70/GS60 laptops dont have the Killer NIC, and some do, and they have cost differences, but i haven't really been paying attention to it atm.  I've also read things that some people have problems with the KILLER NIC's on laptops too, where they just ended up disabling it too. 

 

Can anyone tell me if Killer Nics are suppose to steal bandwidth like that?  If it is, i would pay extra money for that as my internet is always being used, and i would love priority to it.  If it isn't suppose to.. then why does it do that?     

They are normal NICs with a preconfigured QoS software.  You will be able to achieve the same results manually, or if the cost of the killer nic is less than the value you put on your time then buy that.

[Profquast]

The priorization is all done by the router, which NIC you use has nothing to do with that.

 

edit: it can prioritize which things it downloads at the laptop level, not the amount of bandwith it gets

[never_here]

hmm, right, guess it makes sense,

 

Kinda sucks, really wished the killer NIC did that.  thanks for the quick response. 

[jmaster299]

The Killer NICs provide no benefit over an Intel NIC, as Intel NICs are much better. 

I tried a Kill Xeno Pro from EVGA years ago, and it was the only negative experience I've ever had with EVGA in almost a decade of using their products. I was paying for 100/15 internet service at the time, but the integrated NIC in my system at the time was not doing its job. It was a 10/100 NIC but I couldn't max out my downspeed, but my roommate could. 

I was getting about 80/15 from my integrated NIC, but when I installed the Killer Xeno it dropped to 5/5, and my ping in every game I played more than doubled. I called EVGA to complain and request to return the thing, but the guy tried to argue with me and claim that based on the performance it was "working as intended".

So, with my personally experience with Killer products, and everything I've read about them over the years, they are not worth the premium that they ask for. And as its already been pointed out, you can change the settings of your router to prioritize traffic. Its impossible for a NIC to prioritize network traffic, except for the traffic coming into to that specific computer.

[Thunderjolt]

Funnily enough my Killer NIC on my MSI motherboard does the same thing. What I think is that it happens (might not be the same for you) because my computer is wired through powerline and I get pretty much 76 Mbps (+-2). So when I download something if I don't limit the speed through the Killer driver software, it will download at max speed meaning there is no bandwidth left for other devices on your network.

I think that happens because your bandwidth basically get split up evenly to all devices on your network but if one device requests more data than the others it will get prioritised and then your other devices will lose bandwidth to compensate for the gained bandwidth of whatever you're downloading.

[jmaster299]

Funnily enough my Killer NIC on my MSI motherboard does the same thing. What I think is that it happens (might not be the same for you) because my computer is wired through powerline and I get pretty much 76 Mbps (+-2). So when I download something if I don't limit the speed through the Killer driver software, it will download at max speed meaning there is no bandwidth left for other devices on your network.

I think that happens because your bandwidth basically get split up evenly to all devices on your network but if one device requests more data than the others it will get prioritised and then your other devices will lose bandwidth to compensate for the gained bandwidth of whatever you're downloading.

That's how every NIC works, no special software settings required. Any time you are using a router to provide a connection to more than one device, you need to set the traffic priority within the router settings. Yes you can limit things on you end, but that will just keep that one computer from exceeding a certain amount of bandwidth and will not address the entire network.

By default, no NIC or router will prioritize one type of traffic or connection over another. Any devices you connect will always try and use as much bandwidth as possible. Prioritizing connections and type of traffic using the router settings is the proper and best thing to do. That particular issue has nothing to do with the quality or premium price of Killer brand NICs.