Wireless Networking Hardware
For wireless support, MSI tapped the excellent Killer™ Wi-Fi 6 AX1650. While Intel may be the gold standard for some, Killer networks wireless adapters have consistently tested better in terms of performance in my experience. I like Intel adapters because they just work, but so far, I’ve never had any issues with the Killer wireless controllers either and they come with an extra speed boost.
WLAN1 (AX1650)
This controller averaged 29.32MB/s in the write test and 62.88MB/s in the read or download test. To put this in perspective, these numbers are closing on 1GbE Realtek wired controllers. Our maximum transfers were a bit higher, but not by much. We saw a write speed of 30.41MB/s and a read speed of 63.24MB/s. Minimums were also not far off the mark at 27.69MB/s in the write or upload test and 62.09MB/s in the read or download test.
CPU usage on this controller was a paltry 2%. Loading characteristics matched that of the integrated E2600. Usage fell even further in the read or download test coming in at 1%. Here we saw the exact same core loading, albeit with less actual load on the cores. Looking at the graphs, the results remained relatively consistent with few if any spikes to note.
As usual, this solution tested better than any Intel I’ve worked with so far. This always surprises me, but I’ve known this for a couple of years now. On the wired controllers I’d generally prefer Intel, but I can appreciate the flexibility offered by the Killer Network solutions and the gaming focus of the MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE if nothing else lends itself to choosing Killer Network controllers.
Of course, this is less of a technical decision and one that’s more of a marketing choice. That said, I did point out that there is a certain flexibility with emerging consumer standards you don’t have on the Intel controllers at this time and may never, given their server and workstation-oriented focus.