ELP Product Reviews
| Date | By | Rating | Reviews |
| 8/11/2009 | voronwe | 3/5 | I keep receiving emails from EVGA telling me to write my review of the EVGA Killer Xeno Pro or I will be removed from the Loaner Program. The thing is I have written the review when I shipped the xeno pro to the next person. Well here it is again. I was never able to get the xeno pro working on my vista 64 ultimate machine. I installed it following the instructions provided and after reading up on it on EVGA and bigfoot networks site. I disabled my onboard nics in the bios prior to installing card and used the drivers provided with the card. I had the disconnect issue that other people have had. I then downloaded drivers from EVGA site and tried again. I first uninstalled the drivers and cleaned out everything, all files and registry settings from first install attempt, I even physically removed the xeno pro and rebooted into windows. Then I began the install again with the new drivers only to have the same results. The xeno pro showed up in the device manager when I clicked on properties it said this device is working properly and there were no conflicts. But I couldn't connect to the internet or anything on my home network which has multiple computers running xp, vista, several flavors of linux, a couple macs, and a nas device. If I tried to ping the computer with the xeno pro from another computer on the network I wouldn't get a reply. I spent many hours on the EVGA and Bigfoot Networks forums and tried every solution that had worked for other people but nothing every worked for me. I even took my computer to my office and tried to get it to connect to the office network with no change in my results. Seven times I removed the xeno pro from my computer removed all drivers, software, registry setting etc. turned my onboard nics back on logged into windows ran updates and made sure there was no other issue with the computer and then began the install again. The hotfix made no difference for me. I really tried everything that had worked for other people it just didn't work for me. I was looking forward to testing this card and was hoping for positive results that made a real difference in my online game playing. I gave the card a 3 rating even thou I never got it working. The reason being I don't believe there was a problem with the card, by this I mean the hardware chipset etc, the problem was software. The xeno pro is a new product and my computer is a very custom configuration, there is a known issue with the card and random disconnect with vista 64 while there is a hotfix for this issue it didn't work for me but I didn't have random disconnect I couldn't ever connect. I'm going to try the xeno pro again. I'm just going to wait a few months and as the xeno pro gets a bigger installation base and the drivers mature I'm hoping my issue, whatever it ways, will be resolved and I can write a review about the cards performance not about being unable to get it working. |
| 8/11/2009 | warthorn | 3/5 | You can find my full review with pictures here: http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=100802571&mpage=1&key=� This product is much like GeForce 3D Vision: it’s meant for a specific audience, and a specific role. But, even more so. Maybe 1% of hardware junkies. This product is, based on my experience, only for people who... >> are extremely proficient with networking or want to learn how to maximize, >> want the on-board USB port/Linux capability to download lots of…stuff, >> already have a very high-end system (including gaming keyboard and mouse), >> are fanatic first person shooter players with firecracker reflexes, >> and have lots of cash to burn. This product is NOT for people who… >> play online games casually, and/or >> play mostly strategy games, >> want better system performance, >> and are on any kind of budget. I’m 100% in the latter category. After two weeks with the Killer Xeno Pro, I think my criticism boils down to one point: **It costs too much for what it provides.** I’ve been saving some money, and will spend it on something that actually matters – like a nice X58 board. If the Xeno cost $30-40, this would be as valuable as a sound card, but believe me when I say it’s not worth it for people who can’t afford the best of everything else first. Use the $130+ to buy a 9800GT for PhysX and Folding, or some nice 5.1 speakers, or 3-4 games, or a sweet keyboard and mouse. You’ll have a lot more fun. One final point: I was unable to reason what kind of internet connection would be best for this. If you have fast internet, the Xeno might help you take full advantage of it… but you might not need it in the first place. If you have slow internet, it might slightly improve your online performance, but the Xeno would be hampered. Middling internet might be best, like what I have. Fast enough to game as is, but far from the best. |
| 8/11/2009 | SmellsLikeTab | 0/5 | Nvidia 3D Vision is a great idea unfortunately when i tested the drivers were not as mature as i had hoped, i believe 2 updates have happened since then so they could be much better now. This tech was very impressive in Age Of Empires III the game looked like a completely different game and had me playing it all over again, if every game worked as seamlessly as AOE3 3D vision would be a huge hit. A few other things i want to comment on: * Its hard for me to imagine competitive gaming using this tech unless some major polishing is done. * 3D vision messes with your peripheral vision so things like trying to grab a soda could be hard or for some people that have to look at the keyboard it would be very annoying. * 120Hz requirement :-( * FPS hit about 30% on avg. Thanks to EVGA for all the promotions they have. |
| 8/11/2009 | drakanious | 2/5 | I was disappointed that there were so few fnapps and that most all of the functionality of the card could be duplicated by a mid-range router. If you have roommates or share an internet connection, I'd recommend a good QoS router before this card. Maybe if they developed some better fnapps (a torrent client would be the killer app for me), this would have better use, but as it stands, I can't connect directly to my modem anyway. |
| 8/11/2009 | dave303 | 4/5 | Packaging was a nice plus when I received it in the mail to review. Box was made to last and hold up to use. The box is easier to use to hold the board as you add the, processor, heat sink and ram before you place it into the case. I used the 920 processor with Zalman 9500 Cooler, 12gigs of ram, 9800gtx Evga video card, 500Gig HDD, DVD burner , 750W PSU. Windows 7 Beta 64bit. System stayed cooled even during some long War hammer games (dawn of war and expansions). City of hero ran like it always does, High GFX and one of the fast loads for people in the game. Chip set cooler looks a lot better than the one on the X58 SLi and 790 boards I own. Over all the board preformed great, like some of the added features over the X58 X3 SLI. My typical games ran well, Windows 7 worked with little need for support. |
| 8/11/2009 | mwilliams35 | 3/5 | I can't say this card improved my gaming experience. I didn't see any increase in kill ratio in call of duty but do know some times you win some times you lose. I tried several different settings with card example making sure it had it's own IRQ. I think it would be nice if someone had a descriptive settings that card perform best. It's one of those things though if you have to tweak card to be better than your onboard nic and not really see a difference then ask why spend $80 to $100 for card. I tried several severs with low pings and high pings and game play felt same as my onboard NIC. I ran into one problem after removing killer nic and uninstalling driver my gaming experience was horrible. I went with my 3rd drive with vista which has ghost image before installing killer nic and game ran smooth. I'm not sure what uninstalling killer nic did but glad I had a back up plan, if not the rating would be 1. |
| 8/11/2009 | TheGoat Eater | 5/5 | While I personally had problems with the overclocking of the board on my own, I think it was dues to my lack of knowledge of optimal settings for the board. while I was in Detroit for what is now called EVGA Motor City OC Event I got the chance to learn to use the board with Peter Tan aka Shamino, under Liquid Nitrogen and I was able to get Peter's W3570 up to and arouse 5.2GHz with ease. So while my experience with the board by myself just learning it I ran into trouble, but realize that with time I could come to know what my setup would like and really be able to dial it in. So overall I recommend the board and will say that you should take you time to tweak and learn what all the setting do... If you are buying a $400USD motherboard you should really take time to learn all the features it has... Also I want to report that there will be a new external overclocking which was nicknamed "the clicker" and its approximately the size of an ipod classic and is able to tweak the board just like the eleet tool but its all hardware, and no this is not a usb attachment - it plugs into a header on the board... |
| 8/11/2009 | BGable | 4/5 | The Samsung monitor had a much better picture than I expected. I have become very used to my NEC 24" and really thought that the Samsung was relatively close. My suggestions for improvement would be a 24" screen and slightly better viewing angles, (i really hate seeing differences in the screen if I change my seating position slightly). The glasses and monitor do really draw you into the game more, you really become immersed in the game play. I thoroughly enjoyed Crysis and UT3! I actually found myself negotiating certain maps differently, just due to the different perception that the glasses and monitor provide. While I completely enjoyed the depth that the monitor and glasses offered, I found that I unintentionally ended my gaming sessions earlier than normal. After realizing this, I began to pay closer attention in my subsequent gaming sessions. It seems that the glasses are not well designed for everyone's faces, (or should I say heads?). After about 30 minutes, I became aware of a little uncomfortable feel around my ears. After 45 minutes, there was a little pain, and after 60 minutes, I felt the need to remove the glasses. If nVidia can get passed the issue of the frame of the glasses not fitting properly, I would think that this would become a very viable product. |
| 8/11/2009 | Tetronrabite | 4/5 | The glasses were pretty interesting, I didn't find myself using them often enough to warrant a purchase though. They made the games a lot more realistic, and it really added to the atmosphere of games like L4D, where seeing a zombie rush in 3d was quite a sight to behold. I'd recommend the glasses for the innovation factor alone, but I wouldn't find myself using them daily. |
| 8/11/2009 | Mastermurph | 1/5 | I was excited when I first got the product in the mail and put it in right away and installed all drivers and set it up correctly. I was running 64x Vista and I would randomly disconnect every hour or so and this got to be extremly annoying. The hotfix didn't download or install properly and disabaling the xeno tray. Didn't help, I finally just took it out of my computer and said to the heck with it. Even when it was working I had only minimal improvments. This would have to be the worst thing that I have ever put into my computer. I would doubt that if I would of spent more than 2 weeks on it I would of got it working, it was frustrating and overall poorly planned especially for 64x vista users. Getting a hotfix actually requires the internet which I only had for an hour at a time or less. |