Introduction and Technical Specifications
Introduction
Courtesy of MSI
With the Z77A-GD65 Gaming motherboard, MSI takes is award-winning Intel Z77-based board design and melds it with a Killer - a Killer NIC that is. MSI integrated the Killer e2205 GigE NIC into the board's design for the ultimate solution for online gaming. The Killer NIC is well known in gaming circles for its superior hardware-based network traffic prioritization engine, making it a natural integration choice for a top-end gaming board. We put the MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming through our rigorous suite of tests to measures is performance and were not disappointed. At a retail price of $179, this board is a steal.
Courtesy of MSI
In designing the Z77A-GD65 Gaming board, MSI provided a total of 12 digital power phases for the CPU. MSI packed this board full of features: SATA 2 and SATA 3 ports; a Killer e2205 GigE NIC; three PCI-Express x16 slots for up to tri-card support; and USB 2.0 and 3.0 port support.
Courtesy of MSI
Continue reading our review of the MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming motherboard!
Qualcomm & MSI Announce Killer Z77 Motherboard.
Subject: General Tech, Networking, Motherboards | March 5, 2013 - 03:01 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: qualcomm, msi, killer nic, Intel Z77
MSI says “JUST GAME!”... but... I must write up their announcement first...
The computer components company would like us to “JUST GAME!” on their gaming motherboards, of course. This press release is for the MSI Killer Z77 gaming motherboard. The board supports the DDR3-3000, Creative Sound Blaster Cinema with Crystalizer, OC Genie II, and Military Class III initiatives.
But to call yourself Killer, you got some big shoes to fill.
Yes MSI, we get it. Challenge accepted.
What makes it a “Killer” announcement is the addition of a Killer E2200 LAN chip from Qualcomm's Bigfoot Networks. We have a fair amount of experience with the gamer networking hardware company; Ryan wrote a review all the way back in 2006. Since then, the company found themselves scooped up by Qualcomm where they found their technology integrated into motherboards from various manufacturers. They have also dabbled into wireless technology.
MSI proclaims with the E2200 LAN chip, their motherboard will have to use less space to house the chip when compared to the earlier Killer E2100. Also, for users running Windows 8, the E2200 was designed to support that operating system. Linux gamers? You too, but not until the second half of 2013.
If you want to see what the PR people have to say, check out Qualcomm's blog post.
BigFoot Networks may have found their Killer app
Subject: General Tech | August 10, 2011 - 02:38 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: killer nic, bigfoot, wireless, Killer-N 1102
The KillerNIC has had an odd relationship with the PC world, with most reviewers initial impression being that of a solution in search of a problem. In some cases when a person wanted to get fancy with downloading torrents, especially when they were gaming online at the same time, the initial product did offer some advantages. From there it found its self integrated onto some high end motherboards, offering more features than a regular gigabit NIC but again offering limited benefits.
New to the market is the Bigfoot Killer-N 1102 Wireless N device, integrated into some new laptops. AnandTech had a chance to try it out; once they could determine a way to review a wireless device. Finally it seems that BigFoot managed to knock one out of the park, the performance was significantly better than what is offered by the current generic wireless NICs present in most laptops. Check out why it is such an improvement in their full review.
"With that out of the way, let’s discuss what Bigfoot brings to the table, specifically with their Killer 1102 part. Note that there is a faster Killer 1103 part now shipping with 3x3:3 MIMO support; we will try to get a sample for future testing, but for now we’ll confine our benchmarks to the 1102. The core hardware actually comes from a well-known wireless networking company, Atheros. The 1102 uses the AR9382 wireless chipset, but Bigfoot has added their own “special sauce” to improve performance."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Embedded SSDs go connector-less @ SemiAccurate
- ZAVIO F3106 Wireless IP Camera Review @ Real World Labs
- Firm offers 1,000 year discs that use a special optical drive @ The Inquirer
- Fake Firefox update bundles Trojan add-on @ The Register
- Google promises fix for jittery Usenet addicts @ The Register
- Ninjalane Podcast - Overclocking Motherboard Design Video Card Selection
- Weekly Giveaway #10: Thermaltake TR2 700W and TR2 600W Power Supplies @ eTeknix
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