<s>
The	O
Killer	B-Device
NIC	I-Device
(	O
Network	B-Protocol
Interface	I-Protocol
Card	I-Protocol
)	O
,	O
from	O
Killer	O
Gaming	O
(	O
now	O
a	O
subsidiary	O
of	O
Intel	O
Corporation	O
)	O
,	O
is	O
designed	O
to	O
circumvent	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
stack	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
handle	O
processing	O
on	O
the	O
card	O
via	O
a	O
dedicated	O
network	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
standard	O
network	B-Protocol
cards	I-Protocol
are	O
host	O
based	O
,	O
and	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
primary	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
manufacturer	O
claims	O
that	O
the	O
Killer	B-Device
NIC	I-Device
is	O
capable	O
of	O
reducing	O
network	O
latency	O
and	O
lag	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Killer	B-Device
NIC	I-Device
comes	O
in	O
2	O
models	O
;	O
the	O
K1	O
and	O
the	O
M1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
models	O
contain	O
a	O
Freescale	O
PowerQUICC	O
processor	O
,	O
64MB	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
a	O
single	O
Gigabit	O
Ethernet	O
port	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
single	O
USB	B-Protocol
2.0	O
port	O
,	O
intended	O
for	O
use	O
with	O
specialized	O
programs	O
running	O
on	O
the	O
card	O
's	O
embedded	B-Architecture
Linux	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Killer	B-Device
NIC	I-Device
is	O
offered	O
as	O
a	O
stand-alone	O
product	O
or	O
is	O
bundled	O
with	O
computers	O
from	O
OEMs	O
like	O
the	O
Dell	B-Device
XPS	I-Device
630	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
applications	O
run	O
on	O
the	O
embedded	B-Architecture
Linux	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
,	O
and	O
are	O
accessed	O
through	O
a	O
driver	O
interface	O
within	O
the	O
host	O
computer	O
's	O
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bigfoot	O
Networks	O
has	O
released	O
a	O
software	B-Application
development	I-Application
kit	I-Application
(	O
SDK	O
)	O
that	O
allows	O
third-party	O
developers	O
to	O
create	O
their	O
own	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bigfoot	O
also	O
publishes	O
some	O
of	O
their	O
own	O
applications	O
;	O
these	O
include	O
a	O
firewall	B-Application
,	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
client	O
,	O
FTP	B-Protocol
application	O
,	O
and	O
Telnet	B-Protocol
service	O
that	O
allows	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
Killer	B-Device
NIC	I-Device
's	O
OS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programs	O
that	O
download	O
files	O
often	O
use	O
the	O
USB	B-Protocol
port	O
to	O
transfer	O
data	O
to	O
external	O
storage	O
,	O
making	O
the	O
Killer	B-Device
NIC	I-Device
useful	O
as	O
a	O
NAS	B-Application
albeit	O
at	O
the	O
generally	O
higher	O
power	O
draw	O
of	O
a	O
desktop	O
PC	O
,	O
compared	O
to	O
a	O
device	O
like	O
a	O
NSLU2	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
typically	O
applications	O
that	O
benefit	O
from	O
low	O
latency	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Skype	B-Application
or	O
SIP	B-Application
or	O
older	O
VoIP	B-Application
using	O
USB	B-Protocol
devices	O
(	O
NetTalk	O
,	O
MagicJack	B-Protocol
)	O
may	O
benefit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
these	O
increasingly	O
use	O
Ethernet	O
directly	O
to	O
routers	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
generally	O
be	O
a	O
much	O
lower	O
latency	O
than	O
using	O
a	O
PC	O
and	O
USB	B-Protocol
connection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
FNA	O
is	O
not	O
widely	O
supported	O
as	O
of	O
2012	O
and	O
interfaces	O
with	O
more	O
typical	O
router	O
operating	O
systems	O
like	O
DD-WRT	B-Protocol
,	O
OpenWRT	B-Application
,	O
NetBSD	B-Device
,	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
OpenBSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
or	O
with	O
proprietary	O
router	O
OS	O
,	O
have	O
not	O
generally	O
been	O
updated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
reactions	O
to	O
the	O
Killer	B-Device
NIC	I-Device
centered	O
on	O
price	O
,	O
with	O
its	O
initial	O
MSRP	O
of	O
$280	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
benchmark	O
IGN	O
found	O
that	O
the	O
Killer	B-Device
NIC	I-Device
increased	O
framerate	O
from	O
15.41	O
to	O
23.5	O
frame/s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
recognizing	O
the	O
potential	O
for	O
real	O
performance	O
gains	O
,	O
they	O
also	O
noted	O
that	O
the	O
test	O
systems	O
were	O
already	O
struggling	O
with	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
having	O
a	O
higher-end	O
machine	O
in	O
the	O
first	O
place	O
could	O
offset	O
the	O
gains	O
made	O
by	O
the	O
Killer	B-Device
NIC	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
remarked	O
that	O
the	O
potential	O
performance	O
gain	O
with	O
the	O
Killer	B-Device
NIC	I-Device
was	O
probably	O
higher	O
than	O
upgrading	O
a	O
$300	O
video	O
card	O
from	O
one	O
generation	O
to	O
the	O
next	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Anandtech	O
noted	O
that	O
the	O
people	O
who	O
would	O
stand	O
to	O
gain	O
the	O
most	O
benefit	O
from	O
the	O
Killer	B-Device
NIC	I-Device
,	O
the	O
low-end	O
users	O
,	O
would	O
also	O
be	O
the	O
ones	O
least	O
likely	O
to	O
pay	O
$280	O
for	O
a	O
network	B-Protocol
card	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
