Bigfoot Networks, PowerColor Team Up to Build a Gaming Combo Card
Bigfoot Networks, PowerColor Team Up to Build a Gaming Combo Card
Posted 05/28/2010 at 12:25pm
| by Paul Lilly
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You know Bigfoot Networks as the company behind the Killer NIC series, which are cards designed to improve your ping, Internet connection, and even your framerates while gaming online. Many consider a dedicated NIC to be of dubious value, but would you feel the same way if it came integrated onto your videocard?
That's a question Bigfoot Networks and TUL (otherwise known as PowerColor) aim to find out. The two companies are working together on a combo card that will combine "best of breed PC graphics and networking for online gaming." They already have a prototype avaiable and plan to show it off during Computex in early June.
According to Bigfoot Networks, the combo card is built around ATI's HD 5000 graphics family. For what it's worth, Bigfoot is making much ado over this being the "world's first single card, PCI Express solution combining Bigfoot Networks Killer 2100 Gaming Network Card technology" and ATI's aforementioned graphics.
Computex runs from June 1-5, at which point we'll have more info on this.
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fusobotic
June 03, 2010 at 6:07am
Wouldn't it be cool? A USB 3.0, creative labs sound card, Wi-Fi adapter, and a dx11 graphics card combination. That way you can put 4 graphics cards in your pc without sacrificing the benefit of an expansion slot because of the width of the graphics cards. Although you would defiantly need liquid cooling.
IFLATLINEI
May 28, 2010 at 2:55pm
The only way that makes sense to me would be to combine it with a sound card.
Peanut Fox
May 28, 2010 at 7:44pm
That would be kinda cool except I just know it wouldn't be a quality audio vender. That and shielding the card from the electrical noise the video card makes seems a near impossible task.
They do have audio over HDMI for video cards. Maybe it's not as hard as I imagine.
Keith E. Whisman
May 28, 2010 at 1:30pm
Actually the problem I have with this idea is that a good network card is going to last you for years and years and many computer builds. Network cards usually have a very long shelf life and seldom does a new standard popup. Look at wireless N it's barely started to become common. And we are talking about a wired network card. A gigabit network card. How long will it be before another Gigabit card comes out to make your new card a worthless dinosaur? It's going to be a very long time. In fact Gigabit networking has been around for quite a while now and there isn't much to look forward to on the horizon. So your not going to upgrade your network card anytime soon.
On the other hand a gaming graphics card does have a shelf life of six months and a year to a year and a half if you like to skip a generation when you upgrade your graphics. Your going to replace that graphics card and probably keep the same CPU and Memory and pretty much everything else the same.
Now you have a problem. You buy the fastest new video card and it doesn't have that awesome network card built into it like your old graphics card. Your screwed. You have to use the gigabit built into your MB or pony up more cash for a standalone network card or if your lucky you can upgrade to the latest Graphics card with the network chip built into it. But this is unlikely because I don't see this lasting for more then a generation maybe two at best.
So No I would not invest in such a venture and I would not purchase a card with an awesome network card buit into it. Not unless it was for a computer that I'm never ever going to need to upgrade the graphics on like a Home Server or an HTPC and with that why would I need a gaming graphics card and network card optimized for gaming?
To0nces
May 29, 2010 at 8:15am
I agree. With as fast as things like video cards become outdated, and how more powerful cards are required to run the latest games, they have a lot shorter lifespan than other pieces of hardware. IF I really wanted some highspeed NIC, I would rather just buy it separately, but I'm pretty doubtful on the increased performance these things offer.
Matt_Rapp
May 28, 2010 at 1:10pm
Now this makes much more sence than the discrete network card, I would seriously consider buying a card like this if it didn't cost to much more than the regular card. I just got a 5000 card though and I'm not going to replace it just to get the added networking feature.
I wonder how integrated it will be, same PCB but two different drivers so it doesn't mess with crossfire and graphics stuff.
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