onboard LAN vs dedicated network card

[Al.Neri]

I have got my computer spec pretty much sorted now, but I have overlooked the network side of it. as I am intending on buying a top end gaming system, would it be more beneficial to opt for a dedicated network card, or go for the standard onboard LAN option? I plan on doing a lot of online gaming, and I have read that a good can make a difference in performance.

I was looking at the bigfoot killer 2100 in particular, what advice would you offer in this area?

 

[Gorman]

If your machine has the highest end everything in it, such as Triple SLI 480's and a 980x then sure, if not the cash going towards a Killer nic could be better spent elsewhere for a more noticable performance increase.

 

[Sleinous]

Yuk! So maybe if you have fibre optic? No otherwise, theres a zillion other things that will make ur ping skyrocket in multiplayer.

Downloading a file
Network sharing
Other comp accessing net
to name a few..

 

[Al.Neri]

well this is what I have opted for, so....

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-970 (3.20GHz) 6.4GTs/12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® RAMPAGE III EXTREME: 3-Way SLI & CrossFireX, SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM)
12GB KINGSTON HYPER-X TRI-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (6 x 2GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5970 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
80GB Intel® X25-M 2.5" SSD (34nm / upto 250MB/sR | 70MB/sW)***SPECIAL***
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£89)
Power Supply & Case Cooling
CORSAIR 1000W MODULAR PSU (HX1000) 80+ ULTRA QUIET (£169)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO C240 A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£102)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium PCI Express (£59)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Firewire & Video Editing
1 x IEEE 1394a FIREWIRE PORT ONBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)

 

[Sleinous]

Still not extreme enough, and I stick by my 'other' causes of ping theory. I dont see how a network card that has an 'NPU' can make much difference when theres loads of other factors to take into account with ping.

 

[Meds]

I'd agree with the other guys, there are better ways in which the £70 can be spent. Possibly an upgrade in the SSD to the 120GB OCZ Vertex II? It's bigger and faster!

 

[Al.Neri]

I'd agree with the other guys, there are better ways in which the £70 can be spent. Possibly an upgrade in the SSD to the 120GB OCZ Vertex II? It's bigger and faster!

I didn't think of that, ta

so if it's a bigger drive and is faster, why is it only £30 quid more expensive? what's the trade off? or am I just paying for the brand?

 

[Sleinous]

I think slightly less write speed increase than the intel equivalent. Consider waiting for the gen 3 intel ssd's anyway, 160gb will cost around price of current 80gb + better performance.

 

[Phoenix]

The Bigfoot card isn't worth it:
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forum...ller-2100-gaming-network-card-read-here-first.

 

[Al.Neri]

I think slightly less write speed increase than the intel equivalent. Consider waiting for the gen 3 intel ssd's anyway, 160gb will cost around price of current 80gb + better performance.

how long is that likely to be? I'm planning on placing my order tomorrow if all goes well.

The Bigfoot card isn't worth it:
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forum...ller-2100-gaming-network-card-read-here-first.

thanks for the link, interesting reading

 

[Sleinous]

Q1 2011, im just going to mirror my hdd over to the ssd when i buy it, so no need to reinstall everything.

 

[Al.Neri]

hardly worth waiting for isn't it? I could spend years chasing technology and never end up buying anything.

 

[Sleinous]

Well imo it is, im not fussed about performance, im fussed about price, and these drives will nearly cheapen to the price of a high spec 1tb hdd, that is now within my budget.