You`ll get a different kind of answer when bad things on the market turn good. As it stands, everybody with a brain in their head will just continue buying intel solutions.
I have this on my motherboard for ethernet. Didnt get the point or see any difference in my use. I removed the drivers as it just made it a mess with weird settings I didnt want to deal with...
The only question that matters: If I find myself stuck with a laptop that includes one of these, can I install the plain Intel driver and expect it to work without any of the Killer nonsense?
I don't want my driver messing with my network traffic. I want it to take the packet from the OS and pass it to the hardware to put on the air/wire. That's it.
Does this mean that OEMs will be able to smear the killer branding on their products for the clueless gamer types, while the rest of us can just install the non-buggy Intel drivers and ignore it?
Why does this shit still exist. Is there a group of users that's actually happy with the Killer trash? I don't even care if Intel manufactures these, I'll never buy another laptop with Killer WiFi in it.
My friend's Dell XPS 13 laptop came installed with Killer wireless chip, and it lives up to its name: it is somehow able to kill the wirless router. Like, you need to pull the plug from it and reboot. A common problem if you read the dell forums.
Although I totally get the often over exaggerated hated about the Killer NICs, mainly driver issues, it's kind of a shame that hardware wise it's not unique anymore. I bought one of the original NICs with the Freescale processor just out of curiosity a while ago. It runs a version of Linux in itself. Which is pretty cool. Of course, the drivers aren't great for Win10. But at this point, this is mainly just a software stack with gamer UI. It's neat in a way to get router-like functionality from a NIC. But I assume most of us have a router already. So there's just nothing really interesting here anymore. It's just that some boards come with the Killer NIC branding, so now, you're not really losing out on anything, especially since there's no PCIe card anymore. So there's no "bad" part. The only issue is that the name elicits a bad reaction.
It's a bit more than just the name. In the past, killer has used decent enough hardware but their add-on software has been a bit flaky (Killer problems usually go away when only the bare drivers are installed). While using intel chips is definitely a step up, that won't help very much until they debug their software. Killer's problem is this: The very people who would most benefit from the extra Killer features are the same people who are least likely to put up with buggy hardware or software.
Aside from hardware and driver quality, which should be largely addressed by Intel making it, my understanding was that the actual _features_ of the Killer network stack were entirely useless and did not impart a perceptible or really even _measurable_ benefit in any scenario whatso-freaking-ever, gaming or otherwise.
Is that not the case? Will a Killer NIC help me get more BOOM headshots in CS:GO now, or whatever?
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StrangerGuy - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
Nope. Total nope.Not touching anything Killer with a 10 foot pole, or a 100 foot one for that matter.
willis936 - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
An article saying that bad things on the market will be less bad elicits a "nope"?Hurr Durr - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
You`ll get a different kind of answer when bad things on the market turn good.As it stands, everybody with a brain in their head will just continue buying intel solutions.
LordConrad - Friday, January 12, 2018 - link
This IS an intel solution.andychow - Monday, March 5, 2018 - link
Intel hardware with killer firmware isn't an Intel solution, not by a long shot.lurker22 - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
I have this on my motherboard for ethernet. Didnt get the point or see any difference in my use. I removed the drivers as it just made it a mess with weird settings I didnt want to deal with...Ian Cutress - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
You can't have it on your motherboard. This is a new chip.[email protected] - Wednesday, January 10, 2018 - link
Not entirely true. He can use this card if his motherboard has the appropriate M.2 slot.Hifihedgehog - Wednesday, January 10, 2018 - link
(One favor. Please delete my comment above. I don't want every spambot in existence knowing my email.)Not entirely true. He can use this card if his motherboard has the appropriate M.2 slot.
wolrah - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
The only question that matters: If I find myself stuck with a laptop that includes one of these, can I install the plain Intel driver and expect it to work without any of the Killer nonsense?I don't want my driver messing with my network traffic. I want it to take the packet from the OS and pass it to the hardware to put on the air/wire. That's it.
Freakie - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
If you can't install the Intel drivers, you can always pick up the Intel AC9260 for $25 off of ebay so it's no big deal.DanNeely - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
Does this mean that OEMs will be able to smear the killer branding on their products for the clueless gamer types, while the rest of us can just install the non-buggy Intel drivers and ignore it?timecop1818 - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
Why does this shit still exist. Is there a group of users that's actually happy with the Killer trash? I don't even care if Intel manufactures these, I'll never buy another laptop with Killer WiFi in it.Gunbuster - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
On the plus side not made by Marvell so you can rest knowing that it's not the worst product on the market.mjrpes3 - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
My friend's Dell XPS 13 laptop came installed with Killer wireless chip, and it lives up to its name: it is somehow able to kill the wirless router. Like, you need to pull the plug from it and reboot. A common problem if you read the dell forums.LordConrad - Friday, January 12, 2018 - link
All of those other Killer wireless chips are Qualcomm or Atheros, these new chips are intel.CheapSushi - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
Although I totally get the often over exaggerated hated about the Killer NICs, mainly driver issues, it's kind of a shame that hardware wise it's not unique anymore. I bought one of the original NICs with the Freescale processor just out of curiosity a while ago. It runs a version of Linux in itself. Which is pretty cool. Of course, the drivers aren't great for Win10. But at this point, this is mainly just a software stack with gamer UI. It's neat in a way to get router-like functionality from a NIC. But I assume most of us have a router already. So there's just nothing really interesting here anymore. It's just that some boards come with the Killer NIC branding, so now, you're not really losing out on anything, especially since there's no PCIe card anymore. So there's no "bad" part. The only issue is that the name elicits a bad reaction.LordConrad - Friday, January 12, 2018 - link
It's a bit more than just the name. In the past, killer has used decent enough hardware but their add-on software has been a bit flaky (Killer problems usually go away when only the bare drivers are installed). While using intel chips is definitely a step up, that won't help very much until they debug their software. Killer's problem is this: The very people who would most benefit from the extra Killer features are the same people who are least likely to put up with buggy hardware or software.schizoide - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
Aside from hardware and driver quality, which should be largely addressed by Intel making it, my understanding was that the actual _features_ of the Killer network stack were entirely useless and did not impart a perceptible or really even _measurable_ benefit in any scenario whatso-freaking-ever, gaming or otherwise.Is that not the case? Will a Killer NIC help me get more BOOM headshots in CS:GO now, or whatever?