VPN: 900317
Product ReviewsVisiontek Killer 2100 PCI Express x1 Plug-in Card Gaming Network Card
|
29%
63%
4%
0%
4%
|
With 24 User Reviews
|
 Rating: Review Date: 04/21/12  |
Cons: It's very close to my video card, I'm not sure but I think it affects the airflow.
Pros: I get a lot less lag spikes with this card and I like it's look |
|
Rating: Review Date: 04/10/12 |
Cons: price for the benifit isnt that good
Pros: reduce my ping by 5%, internet dowload is much faster Comment:
really good product if your making competition |
|
Rating: Review Date: 04/03/12 |
Cons: price
Pros: Faster connection from computer to routerBetter Packet handlingGood SoftwareNice designPCI-E128 MB memory Comment:
I wanted to try this card out for a bit but couldn't bring myself to pay $100 for a network card. So when I saw it for $70 I went for it.The best part of this card could be it software as it allows you to control everything program bandwidth usage. I know what your saying, "what the software better then the hardware ???". Well seeing my old on board network cards did just as good a job as this card, yes.This card not gonna fix your Internet if you got issues. You have to remember, it may make your network better but once it sends packets out of the card, them packets got to be handled by your router, switch, modem and whatever else you have for networking hardware. Then once it leaves them devices, they got to be handled by your ISP and the hardware on the route after theat.So this card can't fix your internet. what it can do is give a better ping (I see a drop of about 15 - 20) by triming packets and timing by handling them at the card level. Help with lag in games by processing packets faster and not requesting or waiting for a full packet. UDP works well with this a UDP doesn't resend anyway but some games have been adding TCP in so the "TCP No Delay" option is great for that. It also means downloads are a bit faster they they get processed faster.Over all it a great network card, it can help improve network gaming but it can't fix your network. If you have packet loss or slow download speeds due to your ISP then they are still going to happen.This card looks great but the casing around is not really needed. After looking at it, I can't see it connecting to any of the major chips on the card so I don't think it a real working heatsink. But it does add a nice look.Also if you have any red leds in your case, then this card will look great as it lights up with red leds inside. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 02/17/12 |
Cons: -None
Pros: -Low ping-Faster speeds Comment:
This card is awesome. Allows for my computer to have low ping speeds and for the speed to be faster than my onboard network card. i love the software that comes available with the card, and the ability for the end-user to decide where they want to control their bandwidth is very convenient. It is also good to monitor how much bandwidth you have at one time, and how much processing your NIC is doing. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 09/22/11 |
Cons: Speed benefits are overstated
Pros: Versitile, gives you more control over network activity on your machine Comment:
This is my second 'killer' card, I have the early incarnation 'Killer Xeno Pro' in another machine. Click read more to read my full review.First thing first, don't expect miracles with this card. It's not going to make your connection any faster than it is. Where this card really shines is in the way it allows you to control how your applications access your network connection. There are two ways you are able to control the flow of data through this card. The first is by 'priority', and the second is by bandwidth. Any program that uses the network connection will be listed in the Bigfoot application. This allows you to set priority levels for applications, from 1 (highest) to 4 (lowest). You can also 'block' an application from using the netowrk at all. Then there is the 'bandwidth' settings for each program, which allows you to set limits for downstream *and* upstream. So go ahead and download those torrents while you play without worry you will monopolize your bandwidth.You can also limit the bandwidth for the card itself too, if you wish. Should you be sharing a connection and want to limit how much bandwidth the machine uses, you can do that too. What about local traffic? Well you can choose to exclude local network traffic if you so wish.I like this card since it's an extra tool to use in which to customize your machine. Don't expect speed miracles, but do expect that you will be able to better control how things run on your machine. Lastly, this card has an on-board red LED, and since there is a case around the card, the LED shines though the holes and makes an nice pattern on the bottom of the case. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 07/17/11 |
Cons: Price
Pros: Better ping response from servers. Comment:
I was skeptical when I purchased this card, due to it's VASTLY varied reviews. I also waited a bit to post a review.The best way I can describe this card is "subtle", they overstate, and over sell this card, because otherwise you wouldn't give it a second though.Build StatsM4A89GTD Pro/USBPhenom X2 555 (Third core unlocked, overclocked to 4.0ghz)8gb DDR3 Patriot Sector 5 2x4gbXFX 5850HD (overclocked to 950/1250)Asus Xonar DGConnection speed was the same (I did not expect a difference, as it's up to the ISP, not your nic what your speed is, HOWEVER if you have a poor network, or jumbled through multiple devices switches/routers/etc simply because it is efficient at cutting through all the features that bog you down connecting through them.Ping tests, it did increase, albeit slightly, average ping was 15-18 with onboard, 13-16 with D-LINK DWA-552 Xtreme N Desktop Adapter (Excellent card if you have a old onboard nic (2-3 years old), and 11-14 with the killer 2100 (Tests done with speedtest.net and pingtest.net)If you buy this card, you will NOT see drastic ping improvements, it will be more like 10-40ms, which really isn't a ton, my stepfather on the same connection as me has a old Athlon 64 X2 6000+ cpu, whereas I am running a Phenom X2 555 (Unlocked 3rd core and overclocked to 4.0ghz). I will always get better pings over him, as my cpu has more bandwidth to deal with network management.The biggest misconception about onboard, vs physical nic cards is that physical is always better. This is true on lower/mid range cpu's where 80-90% of cpu load is used by application, however a high end I7, or Phenom X6 which has more cpu than is needed, there will be minimal improvements (where a $100 investment is not worth it).I play Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Left 4 Dead 2. There is no noticeable improvement in L4D2. However on BC2, there is an improvement, this is where the subtle I mentioned before comes in. Have you ever squared off with a tango, fired first, and still been killed, and he walked away a little worse for wear? We all have, that is because the outcome of such interactions is based on who's packet (data of shooting) gets to the server first, and his simply did first. With the installation of this card I have noticed a change in that, I very rarely am the one to lose those encounters (dramatic improvement if I play on local servers). More often than not a friend on the other team will tell me, he unloaded on to me, and still got dropped. On my screen they many times didn't even fire a shot before I drop them. This is because the network card pushed my game data outside of windows network labyrinth hell that kills twitch gaming, and my data got to the server before the other guy.Is it worth $100 + hst? No, it is frankly is not, you could spend better money on a high quality router which will do better jobs at regulating your ping/connection. But say if your not in charge of your network? say university lan, which is notorious for being troublesome? Yes.If you see this card on sale, buy it, it will surprise you, but you will not notice it for a while.I gave it a 4/5 simply because of the price absurdity. But it has more than earned those 4 stars, and if Visiontek got their collective heads out of their rears and priced it competitively $50-70, these would SELL, and be worth the price to improvement value. This review was modfied by poster @ 07-17-11 10:41 AM |
|
Rating: Review Date: 04/28/11 |
Cons: No discernible difference in games
Pros: Monitoring software is neat Comment:
The main reason I was disappointed with this is even though I can set higher bandwidth for my games and p2p software, there was really no difference. My speed tests would come back the same for the card as my onboard nic. Absolutely no lower ping in games either.What's worse is that the driver updates are terrible. Using the latest driver my speed would randomly cut down to 10% of what it was and what's worse you couldn't uninstall the software to reinstall it. I would have to manually delete all the files and registry keys myself, and then it might let me upgrade it. This has happened to me twice and it's a known issue, but there still hasn't been a new driver released or an official fix for this and the driver has been out since January. Total waste of money imo. Your onboard nic will be fine. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 03/21/11 |
Cons:
updated software doesnt seeem to be really eaxact had to go manually.received it with the seal broken
Pros: Really works, easy to install and use. Comment:
finally decided to try it at 50$ buck and i'm not dissapointed.was doing 30mb with my isp speedtest and with that card almost reached 45mb.give it 4 star just because i received it with the bag seal broken |
|
Rating: Review Date: 03/20/11 |
Cons:
PriceyDriver Issues (explained below)
Pros: Works (explained below)Ability to throttle bandwidth (explained below) Comment:
Purchased this because my motherboard's onboard NIC would randomly cut out (stop functioning and function again only with reboot). This NIC's software allows for throttling of bandwidth for your applications, so you can set high-priority downloads or games at the top. The latest drivers from Bigfoot actually caused the network speed test to fail for me. Uninstalled and installed the drivers from Visiontek and it worked fine. A good card and one of the few supported actively in Windows 7, but get it on sale. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 02/13/11 |
Cons:
none
Pros: this is such a great product in almost every way! Comment:
This is an amazing product, really simple to install and use! -- I highly recommend this product for any gamer out there. If you want to compete with the best, then you need to use what the best use and that is the Bigfoot killer 2100 gaming network card. Every millisecond makes the diffrence between the Win and Lose screen on the virtual battlefield. Amazing product! |
|
Rating: Review Date: 02/13/11 |
Cons:
Requires an open PCIe slot
Pros: Easy to install and use software Comment:
Bandwidth allocation is great for users who run multiple applications that all require an internet connection but want to prioritize certain ones. This is a great help to gamers who want to be able to run downloads or play music from the internet at the same time as they play games without having a negative effect on their gaming latency. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 02/13/11 |
Cons:
A little bit expensive
Pros: Easy to Install Comment:
It was easy to install and the software is actually pretty good. Tracks what programs are using how much bandwidth and can disable/prioritize certain programs. It does make a moderate boost to download speed and ping, but certainly nothing enormous. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 02/06/11 |
Cons:
little bit expensive
Pros: easy to install, good software Comment:
makes my downloads faster, lowers my ping in game |
|
Rating: Review Date: 02/02/11 |
Cons:
I got it for $70 but I wouldn't get it at $100, other ways to get better performance. TCP transfer was slow also
Pros: I've notice game lag has gotten better and my ping for first person shooters has increased by 40% better. Great for serious gamers. Comment:
I would recommend it for serious gamers, but other than that it isn't needed. Frame rate is really kool to see when you get a head shot. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 01/22/11 |
Cons:
can't comment maybe someday
Pros: not sure have not owned one Comment:
Doesn't a router do the same thing if not better ? a cheap router with the right firmware does the trick. I could be missing something here so please comment if I'm wrong because I was once thinking of purchasing one of these myself but couldn't get passed this question > What for ? |
|
Rating: Review Date: 12/28/10 |
Cons:
- Price when above 50$- Would prolly not hurt to have updates on a more regular basis. Last one is from September 10th 2010 and they said there would be one in Decemember but we're on 28th and still no news about it.
Pros: - Price at 50$- Very small and looks great in ur case.- Good/fast technical support.- You can priorize every applications that use the network.- No need for patch, it just works and do its job with every games.- It DOES improve the overall feeling which isn't just something you can see by the ping. Go by the feeling and you'll see it's an improvement between little to small I'd say. I mostly tryed on Bad Company 2 with a high-end computer. Comment:
I just bought one last month and I can say the following: "At 50$ it's a no brainer if you are still using a cheap onboard NIC" but otherwise anything above this price is rip off. Notice that I also upgraded everything else before this. It was on my list but last priority and I did wait very long until I see it at this price. Of course you are dumb if you think the ping will be 2x better and stuff like that but it definitely helps, just not as much as some people think. You are gonna be disappointed for sure if you expect such a big boost and people always expect big improvement when they pay a lot for something, that's why I say wait for 50$ then expect an improvement between little to small and you'll be happy.I'd highly recommand first that you buy urself a SSD drive if you don't already have one. The improvement will be much easier to notice. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 12/25/10 |
Cons:
Intial Lag for about a second upon enting a game.
Pros: Great Look in Antec Skeleton Case (Red Led's)Less Lag Comment:
This card isn't magic. I like the fact that it takes some heat off of my AMD Phenom II x4 955BE for playing Battlefield Bad Company 2. I decided to bite the bullet for the group I play with and get this card to see if it helps with FPS lag. It does. Sorry I don't have any specs for you. The only issue I have is that it had lag for about a second upon entering a match, Can't say why perhaps it's filling up it's memory banks, IDK. This card is great but it is not night and day like switching from Magnetic HDD to SSD's for example. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 10/31/10 |
Cons:
Showed 0% ping which is highly improbable.Noticed some jerkyness when playing but didn't seem to affect the game much.
Pros: Stopped getting randomly kicked out of servers by punkbuster in battlefield 2142.It seemed to fix the hitbox problem that I was experiencing as well.Had absolutely no problems with installation!!!Reduced the lag and ping noticeably as well. Comment:
Overall a decent network card. I would only purchase for a gaming system. It definately improved my gameplay in bf 2142.The problems I experenced may not be related to the card.The installation was one of the easiest installs I have ever experienced. I was expecting it to be a task.I didn't even have to uninstall my motherboard nic. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 10/29/10 |
Cons:
Installed this on my computer. First it showed much lag when I didn't reset my network IP.
Pros: Extremely stable even when I didn't refresh my network IP. No loss in jitter when I played a game. Comment:
Refreshing your computers IP on your network causes lag spikes, ask your internet provider support about it. Also, I have years of experience from this pain when the first StarCraft came out so I could tell the difference. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 08/21/10 |
Cons:
Sudden price drop, from $125 to $99
Pros: Looks goodRed LEDSNo installation problems Comment:
When i bought this it was $125 pricematched, now it's $99. Sort of a bummer. Seems to work fairly well, I like being able to limit programs bandwidth and turning the leds on and off. The shroud on it also matches my Xifi Titanium. I have no real way to prove how it works, but I have noted that my actions are much more instant in Guild Wars and TF2. I never really cared for ping so I don't remember what it was before. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 08/04/10 |
Cons:
expensive, packaging was poor-allowed to move/slide around inside the box,
Pros: Glowing red lights, attractive inside the case if put in a visable open slot, Comment:
If you want the very best of everything then this product should be on the list of things to have in your case. It looks nice with its glowing red lights (can be turned off) and does not take up alot of room. I have not had it long enough to do a proper review but if it does as specified it will be as important as any other main component. If i was able to see any results it would be mid range shots with bursts of 4 x 100 yards drops badies everytime. Software seems cool but to early to tell. Packaging is awful for something this expensive. A large box with the card tossed in and allowed to bang around and move while in transit...........this can never be a good thing for electonics IMO. Offical web site seems to be manned as responses seem to addressed quickly. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 07/19/10 |
Cons:
one less PCI-E slot
Pros: my ping in wow went from 200ms using on-board realtek nic to 35ms Comment:
I think this shows more of a failure of that motherboard manufacturer than just how good this card is. the fact that I can have such a drastic increase in my gaming shows just how crappy my $400 dollar motherboard is.But hey, the killer 2100 works. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 07/02/10 |
Cons:
-price is still a premium for some
Pros: -lowers my ping in WOW, COD, and Battlefield -reduces lag-increases FPS-awesome looks-excellent software -easy to setup-pcie (fits in x1, x4, x8, or x16 slot) Comment:
All I can say, this is a great investment for those die-hard gamers out there who want maximize their onine gaming performance. I experienced increased FPS, smoother gameplay,and best of all, increased scores after switching to this card. |
|
Rating: Review Date: 05/25/10 |
Cons:
learning curve with it being new technology..
Pros: Boosted online gaming performance, gave faster networking experience, more speed in play ie. less lag, noticed improvement in FPS, ping, latency was great, like the network manager softare to control the network Comment:
Overall faster, better, and smoother online gameplay and being able to see & manage your network is cool..like it |
I bought this about 1 year ago and been using it every days since.In the first time I though it was just snake oil and it was pointless, but after I while I do like the menu and all the information it gatters. The application blocking functions also showed themselves useful many times, a very good NIC overall.