KillerNIC Software Offloads BitTorrent

A beta software download on the KillerNIC Web site allows users to download files via the BitTorrent network and offload them to a USB drive, without touching the main PC.

The concept of the KillerNIC PC card has been a tough sell, since the technology -- essentially a network interface card that has been tuned to eliminate network lag -- competes with the "free" NIC that has built into every desktop PC sold today. ExtremeTech gave it a favorable review but not a recommendation, as the value for money just wasn't there.

Now, however, there's an additional value proposition: an authorized beta application, Killer Bit Torrent FNA, which allows the independent downloading of BitTorrent files without the need for the CPU. On one hand, this sounds like a good deal: Because the KillerNIC is handling the download independently, the PC doesn't need to be bogged down while managing the file. On the other hand, dual-core CPUs and the relatively small footprint of a clinet like uTorrent, for example, sort of marginalizes the advantages.

Oddly enough, I think the most compelling advantage here is not that this functionality frees your CPU -- it's that it frees your I/O; specifically, your hard drive. Downloading torrented game demos and other large files can thrash your hard drive something awful. Since the downloaded torrent isn't touching your system drive, that means it's pretty close to an "independent" download. The kicker is that you still have to have your PC powered up.