If you’re a competitive gamer (or own a gaming-oriented motherboard), you’ve probably heard of Killer Networking, which produces Ethernet products and software that’s supposed to deliver lower latency for a superior gaming experience. How effective they are in increasing kill count is still up for debate, but those who are convinced may want to check out the company’s latest release, the Killer Ethernet E3100.
This is a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet controller that features the company’s exclusive Killer Prioritization Engine, which automatically detects game traffic and prioritizes it for faster gameplay. According to Killer Networking’s marketing materials, users can expect “over 3X better in-game latency performance during peak network usage periods.” The controller also features numerous other technologies – GameFast Technology, Extreme Game Mode Technology, the Killer Intelligence Engine, DoubleShot Pro Technology, and Killer Control Center 2.0 – to ensure that gamers have the best network performance possible.
General Technical Specifications
- 10/100/1000Mbps/2.5Gbps
- Compatible with 2.5GBASE-T Alliance PHY Specification
- Supports 2.5 Gbps with Cat 5e and above
- IPv4 and IPv6 support
- Supports jumbo frame to 16K bytes
- RSS support
- Supports Wake Up Frame or Magic Packet
- Smart speed operation for automatic speed reduction on faulty cable plants
- Supports 2.5G Lite (1G data rate) mode
- Power optimizer support
- Supports APCI and PCI MSI
- Receive Side Scaling (RSS) and MSI-X to lower CPU use in multi-core systems
Other Specifications
- Compliant with Microsoft NDIS5, NDIS6 (IPv4, IPv6, TCP, UDP) Checksum and Segmentation Task-offload features
- Supports IEEE 802.1P Layer 2 Priority Encoding
- IEEE 802.1Q VLAN support
- IEEE 802.1p QoS support
- PCIe Specifications:
Supports PCI Express 2.1
- Compatible with IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.3ab, IEEE 802.3bz
- Supports PCIe L1 substate L1.1and L1.2
- Features inter-connect PCI Express technology
- Supports connected standby
- Supports IEEE 802.3az-2010 (Energy Efficient Ethernet)
- E3100G is 6 mm x 6 mm package; E3100X is 7 mm x 7 mm package
“The industry is accelerating the transition to 2.5 Gbps Ethernet,” said Rivet Networks’ CEO Michael Cubbage. “Gamers that demand the best need the Killer E3100 to get the lowest latency and incredible throughput. With more and more routers and switches hitting the market supporting 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, it is the perfect time for Gamers to upgrade.”
“With MSI laptops featuring Killer E3100, not only do gamers get the benefit of faster gaming connections, enthusiasts and prosumers will also be able to enjoy accelerated connections for home multimedia steaming server or network storage,” said Derek Chen, Sales & Marketing Director of MSI.
“Acer continues to integrate innovative new technologies to enhance the gaming experience on our Predator and Nitro devices,” said Vincent Lin, Associate Vice President, Product Marketing and Planning, Acer Inc. “Network performance is an essential part of online gaming, and the Killer E3100 ethernet controller can give gamers the network connection they need to compete.”