Hey good people,
today I wanna discuss the topic of network cards for gaming. The history behind them is quite similar to the history of soundcards. They just died.
Nowadays, all network functionality is packed into the motherboard. So the title of this post should actually be more like:
Should you care about a gaming network interface on your motherboard?
And that question is in my opinion very easy to answer. No. Why I have this opinion will be discussed in the following.
1. Standard of non gaming motherboards
If you buy yourself a motherborad the chip that is integrated is in most cases the Intel network chip. This is a very good chip that even competitive gamers use. And for the following, I assume that you all game on cable and stay away from the wireless versions that you can buy nowadays on motherboards.
2. What is the advantage of a gaming network chip?
If you believe the manufactures you will see a decrease in your ping. And therefore your games will feel more responsive and so on. One of the most popular one is the "killer" network chip. If you are a bit into techy you may wonder now... How do they achieve that? Because they can't extend the bandwidth...
Image Source: here
3. The real world.
And actually they don't achieve that. Those tests that the manufacturer present are test in an ideal world. And there is no ideal world. If you go out and read up some reviews you will see that many testers are not able to replicate the tests of the manufacturers. The only thing that you can replicate is the additional software that you install with the gaming network chip like the "Killer" suite. These software limits the bandwidth of other programs than your game and this can have a positive impact. But guess what... There is also quite some third party software for your standard network chip. And even more, the best way is to set up your router properly. Then you will never have any problem at all because in most cases the lag is caused by other devices on your network. And not your gaming rig...
You wanna pay an extra 50 bucks for a gaming motherboard because it has a gaming network chip? Don't do that! But be aware, I don't hate on gaming motherboards. There are reasons to get a gaming motherboard! But it is NOT the network chip.
What is your opinion on network cards for gaming? Do you have one? How do you ensure that your Ping is as low as possible?
