What is Xeno?
How does Xeno make online gaming better?
Which online games will Xeno improve?
How does it work?
How much of a performance improvement will Xeno provide?
What are users saying?
How does it work?
How much does Xeno cost?
Is Xeno available outside the U.S.?
What are your tech support hours and terms of service?
What OS does Xeno support?
How can a network card affect FPS?
How do you expect to lower ping, given that most latency is caused by the internet?
What is the difference between Throughput and Latency, and which does Xeno improve?
If I have a dual-core system, will I still see performance benefits with Xeno?
Can I use Xeno for other internet-based applications, such as browsing, email, etc.?
Will Xeno boost my offline game performance?
Can I install this card in my gaming server?
In what situations will Xeno performance improvement be most noticeable?
Will Xeno help my performance in a LAN gaming environment?
| Q: | What is Xeno? |
| A: | It’s a Gaming Network Card, built specifically to give you less lag and smoother, more responsive online gameplay, especially in high-intensity situations. |
| Q: | How does Xeno make online gaming better? |
| A: | Xeno fights lag and increases Frames per Second (FPS) in most online games providing a smoother, more responsive online game experience. |
| Q: | Which online games will Xeno improve? |
| A: | Xeno reduces lag and latency that often occurs in interactive Massively Multiplayer Online Games and First Person Shooter games over the Internet such as Battlefield 2, World of Warcraft, Counterstrike: Source and others. No special patches, system manipulation, or game integration required - just plug it in and start playing. |
| Q: | How does it work? |
| A: | In brief, Xeno utilizes a dedicated onboard Network Processing Unit (NPU) to offload game network processing from the CPU. Bigfoot Networks’ Game Detect™ Technology identifies and offloads game traffic from your CPU, bypassing the Windows network stack. The result is less lag and betterframerates for a smoother, more responsive online gaming experience. Every time game data hits the network card, that data is delivered to the game: no caching, no queuing, no waiting. This delivers crucial data to the game faster and more frequently. |
| Q: | How much of a performance improvement will Xeno provide? |
| A: | Jon Peddie Research Report... |
| Q: | What are users saying? |
| A: | “We made a lot of money playing with the Killer NIC.” - Michael “Odee” O’Dell, Managing Director, Team Dignitas from the Team Dignitas Review. “I would say that this card is outstanding and is worth every penny; never have I seen a piece of hardware like this.” – raz, Team Dignitas Call of Duty 4 player and Call of Duty Player of the Year, 2009. |
| Q: | How much does Xeno cost? |
| A: | The Killer Xeno Pro is available here ( link to Where to Buy pages) for an MSRP of $99.00 |
| Q: | Is Xeno available outside the U.S.? |
| A: | Yes, in Europe and Asia from these partners. |
| Q: | What are your tech support hours and terms of service? |
| A: | Always contact your computer manufacturer or network card manufacturer for support first. Tech Support from Bigfoot Networks is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via forums and self-help knowledge base tools. Phone support, live Chat, email, and ticket submission support will be available Monday-Friday, 10:00AM to 7:00PM US Central Time. |
| Q: | What OS does Xeno support? |
| A: | Xeno is compatible with the following operating systems: Windows XP 32bit Windows Vista 32bit Windows Vista 64bit Windows 7 32bit Windows 7 64bit |
| Q: | How can a network card affect FPS? |
| A: | A standard network card cannot, but Xeno does. Xeno replaces the Window's network stack with a low latency Network Processing Unit specifically designed for online gaming. This leads to improvement in FPS by reducing the CPU overhead associated with processing network calls (even while there is no data to be processed) and speeding up the time that it takes a packet of data to get from your NIC to the CPU. |
| Q: | How do you expect to lower ping, given that most latency is caused by the internet? |
| A: | Xeno can’t fix a slow ISP or overloaded game server, but there is a significant amount of lag that can be addressed inside of a computer. Latency (Ping) as measured in-game also includes the OVERHEAD of the operating system and the network stack, which can add several milliseconds of ping to a game. Xeno shaves off these extra milliseconds while also prioritizing gaming network packets. |
| Q: | What is the difference between Throughput and Latency, and which does the Xeno improve? |
| A: | Throughput matters very little in online games, because games don't send/receive a large amount of network data. Latency, however, is very important because the timeliness of data in online games is the difference between dying and winning. Throughput is defined as the amount of data per second that can flow between two endpoints, and is almost always limited by the ISP. Latency is defined as the round-trip-time between two endpoints (regardless of the amount of throughput). Usually there’s a tradeoff between Throughput and Latency. Xeno’s been designed for low-latency because it’s latency (and not throughput) that affects online gameplay. |
| Q: | If I have a dual-core system, will I still see performance benefits with Xeno? |
| A: | Yes, a multi-core system will still see benefits from adding a Xeno. Most games are written to run their main game loops only in a single core. Multiple cores don’t do a thing with networking, as the Windows network stack always has to run on the first core anyway. As we always say – “You can’t out-core lag.” |
| Q: | Can I use Xeno for other internet-based applications, such as browsing, email, etc.? |
| A: | Xeno is a fully-functional network card, and was optimized for lower latency in all applications. Games are particularly improved by low latency technology, but other applications may also benefit. |
| Q: | Will Xeno boost my offline game performance? |
| A: | No. Xeno does not impact single player or offline game play. |
| Q: | Can I install this card in my gaming server? |
| A: | Xeno is not optimized for server gaming communications. But it should function in a gaming server, provided less than 256 users are playing on the server. It may or may not improve gaming server performance (depending on the game). |
| Q: | In what situations will Xeno's performance improvement be most noticeable? |
| A: | Where the action is most intense is where Xeno shines. World of Warcraft PvP Battlegrounds, where your game updates can mean the difference between pwning and getting wiped. 24x24 CounterStrike: Source. 64-player Battlefield 2. 300-person City Sieges in Aion. These are all times when lower latency and higher FPS give you the control and smoothness you need to win. |
| Q: | Will Xeno help my performance in a LAN gaming environment? |
| A: | Yes. In a LAN setting, the Ping benefit may not be as measurable (due to server proximity) than on the Internet. But remember – Xeno addresses and fights client-side lag – the lag on your PC – so it doesn’t matter where you play online, LAN or Internet. You’ll still get the same smoother, more responsive online gameplay. |