Stream lag a lot with MSI-Z87-G45 (killer Network e2200)

[Keizo Nishi]

Hello, i tried several time to stream some game from my main comp to my MBP retina i7 (or NUC i5 ) and every game lag a LOT. like one frame every 5 seconds.
And it lag at the game startup. It lag for example on game like Rogue Legacy or Dust: an elysian tail.

I think this came from the ethernet chipset that is on the motherboard...
If it doesn't come from the ethernet chipset (a Killer E2200 chipset) i don't know what could cause such issue..

Does anyone know a test procedure in order to determine if it come from the ethernet chipset on my PC ?

i have my main PC with the MSI-Z87-G45. (GTX770 gfx card and 16Go Ram + SSD)
i have a NUC i5 with a lot of ram (i think it's 16 Go as well and a 128Go SSD)
i have a MBP retina i7 with 8Go ram and 156 Go SSD)

my main PC and NUC are connected through a gigabit switch and my MBP through wifi n.
my router is a Freebox Revolution (quite nice box) that provide gigabit ethernet and a wifi n connection.

on the switch there is only my main PC, my NUC, my TV and my receiver.

My NUC and main PC have also a wi-fi card that can use wifi n too. i use them only as backup if the wired fail for any reason.

I want to make with the help of the community a lot of test in order to find if the Killer E220 chipset is the reason of the issue and then send a mail to MSI or Killer in order to get a driver update (or steam in home streaming update.).

Kind regards,

[wildcat_paris]

Hello, ... enfin bonjour :)

my 2 cents,

check the class of ethernet cables you are using, minimum type 5e for 1Gb/s

try a separate switch instead of the internal Freebox switch.

I am using a separate switch to avoid using the FB internal switch due to old problems.

Regards,

Guillaume

[Ed™]

Try to change your "Limit Bandwith" in client option to Automatic to see if it helps.

[Keizo Nishi]

Originally posted by wildcat_paris:

Hello, ... enfin bonjour :)

my 2 cents,

check the class of ethernet cables you are using, minimum type 5e for 1Gb/s

try a separate switch instead of the internal Freebox switch.

I am using a separate switch to avoid using the FB internal switch due to old problems.

Regards,

Guillaume

Hello, Bonjour Guillaume;

i am using a external switch. it's a D-Link DGS-108 switch. it look ok for a switch.
And i use only gigabit cable.

Originally posted by Edtide25:

Try to change your "Limit Bandwith" in client option to Automatic to see if it helps.

Hello Edtide25, my bandwith was to illimited so i will switch that to automatic in order to see if it fix but i'm pretty sure i tried early to change that.

[Keizo Nishi]

Soooo !
I tried some multiple thing tonight !

I installed rogue leguacy as a benchmark game test on my NUC.

i unpluged the network cable on the freebox SO there will be only my switch, my NUC and my PC connected.
The issue is still here when i launch streaming (NUC as server => main PC) the issue is a VERY slow network. like several second of lag.
Since it's a NUC there is some slow encoding but for rogue leguacy i think it will not affect so much the gameplay.

I tried both way (NUC as server to PC and PC as server to NUC.) still the same issue.

Then i thought to connect my MBP on the switch with an adapter usb to ethernet.
i connected my MBP to the NUC and it run well !
so i replugged the Freebox cable to the switch and tested it through Wi fi (MBP connected to WiFi and NUC to ethernet) and same as before the game run well !

So the issue comes from exclusively my main PC.

i tried to connect through wifi and unplug the ethernet cable. same issue. slow network.
i deactivated the wifi. plugged the Apple usb ethernet and connected the ethernet cable that was connected to the Killer E2200 port and still Slow network issue.
If i plug the Apple usb ethernet on my MBP (with the ethernet cable use on the Killer e2200) it work well !

So it come from my computer ! in any way i use any kind of connection.
What the ♥♥♥♥ on my computer could cause this kind of issue ?
My motherboard ? the drivers on my GC ? my SSD ?

The only thing that come in mind is to reinstall Windows but it's so a pain in the ass that i'm not motivated at all to reinstall that...

My PC is made of :

1 intel core i7 4770K
1 MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING (sorry i though it was a G45 model)
1 MSI Geforce GTX 770 Twin Frozr
2 Kingston HyperX 8G DDR3 1600Mhz CL10
1 old OCZ Vertex Series 120 Go (firmware 1.7)

And installed a legit version of Windows 7 professional in french. (thanks to MSDNAA)

[wildcat_paris]

Hello, Bonjour,

So ok your MB ethernet chip (Killer 2200) is not working properly... only possible conclusion so far

just googling : killer 2200 network problems

Killer 2200 is meant to improve network traffic but (my guess) if the other ethernet chips on your network are not "compatible" you get a mess, don't you?

So if you can get an PCI Express ethernet card, I guess it would solve your issue and would be better than the USB2Ethernet spare solution.

On my side, I have no strange streaming issue with my host PC Win7, MB GA-990XA-UD3 rev3.0 with an integrated Realtek GbE LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) from Ubuntu desktop/laptop guests with ethernet.

Kind regards,

Guillaume

[Amos_Keeto]

Hi Keizo

I'm running the same CPU, mobo and GFX as you are.
I have yet to try in-home streaming (hopefully this weekend, had to fix my htpc first). As soon as I do, I will post again.

However, in the meantime, I will say that the Killer E2200 is easily the worst NIC I have ever had the misfortune of using. :( It could just be the drivers, but if I knew what I was letting myself in for, I would not have bought that particular motherboard.

Whenever anything else on my network was even as much as looking at the internet, the e2200 would throw all it's toys out and refuse to let me access the internet. At. All.
The only way I could find around this, was to disable all the features the drivers provide. I uninstalled everything, installed the new drivers, but every time it asks me to activate the features, I pick the "no" option.
Since then it's been peaceful.

Like I mentioned, as soon as I try on my side, I will post my experience.

In the meantime, I would suggest either reinstalling the drivers in an effort to avoid the extra "features", or perhaps follow the advice in the following link (more geared towards windows 8 stability, but may be helpful in this case as well).

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/guide-turn-your-killer-e2200-nic-into-qualcomm-athero-ar8161.198899/

I hope you come right, otherwise it does not bode well for me.

[Keizo Nishi]

Originally posted by wildcat_paris:

Hello, Bonjour,

So ok your MB ethernet chip (Killer 2200) is not working properly... only possible conclusion so far

just googling : killer 2200 network problems

Killer 2200 is meant to improve network traffic but (my guess) if the other ethernet chips on your network are not "compatible" you get a mess, don't you?

So if you can get an PCI Express ethernet card, I guess it would solve your issue and would be better than the USB2Ethernet spare solution.

On my side, I have no strange streaming issue with my host PC Win7, MB GA-990XA-UD3 rev3.0 with an integrated Realtek GbE LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) from Ubuntu desktop/laptop guests with ethernet.

Kind regards,

Guillaume

Well i used the Wifi connection on my PC (a Intel Centrino Advanced N6205 PCI express card)
in order to avoid using the Killer E220 chipset network and the Apple usb2ethernet. And the issue is still happening. So i think the issue doesn't come from the network chipset. (either wifi or wired connection).

So i will try

Originally posted by Amos_Keeto:

link in order to test this week end how it gonna be.
And i am also waiting its tests in order if he have the same issue i got.

i count on you dear Amos_Keeto !

[Arazius83]

I'm using the same board with an i5 and a GTX 650 Ti and I have never had problems. sounds like the issue could be with the way the switch handles the traffic.

Also, what client settings are you using, beautiful balanced or fast? My host with the e2200 through a 50 ft cat6 into the POS netgear my isp gave me lets me stream over wireless g to my laptop. Fast gives me a super playable framerate, balanced looks better but loses a frame or two on occasion. This is with action heavy games like Castlevania and Arkham Asylum. I have noticed that certain processes on my host affect the stream like say raptr origin or plex. I usually turn them off completely when I stream.

[Amos_Keeto]

Hi Keizo

It seems I may be the bearer of bad news.

I updated my steam on my gaming machine (the one mentioned) and I installed steam on my htpc and my laptop.

I mainly tested Borderlands 2 (an arena) and King of Fighters. Both games ran pretty good on both machines. No lag I could detect. Well, ok, when I ran the info panel overlay on the htpc my input went to hell in a hand-basket.

My desktop is running the beta steam client, all streaming settings "out of the box" standard.
(I am running the killer drivers, but I don't have them "activated". Every time I boot up, the driver control window pops up and asks me to activate the enhanced stuff, and I just click no.)

I have an ancient Linksys "blue and black" router with a very old version of DD-WRT flashed onto it.

I used a wired XBOX 360 controller to test (no drivers installed, straight out of the box 'nix install)

The htpc is running XBMCBuntu (14.04 base) and is an old AMD dual-core with a gig ram and an AMD 5450HD (without the proper drivers, I only reinstalled a couple of nights ago and I was lazy). I have the beta steam client on the htpc and it is hard-wired into the network. Like I mentioned, I ran Borderlands 2 and KOF. The inputs felt fine, no perceptible lag. I played around with the settings on the client, but the only change I could spot, was that it looked uglier, and as mentioned the info overlay just ruined the input on Borderlands 2. Literal multi second delay between input and reaction. I also tooled around with the settings in the games, but it made no difference I could see. I do, however, have the stuttering sound issue on the htpc.

The laptop is a Fujitsu i5-2430M with 6GB ram and a Nvidia 640M, Ubuntu Gnome 14.04 installed. I have linrunner installed (power management) but I do not have any GFX drivers installed on the laptop. (Hosed my install the other day, blah blah, too lazy to put Bumblebee back.) I ran it plugged into the wall for power and I tested over wifi.
I ran the normal (non beta) steam client. All settings "out of the box". It performed better than the htpc in tests. The only issue I had, was every now and again after a couple of minutes, the game would stutter (like in the olden days when a pc was stuttering and trying to catch up after loading a bunch of assets mid level) but it wasn't regular, and it wasn't input lag. I figure it has more to do with the wifi. Also, I had no sound issues at all.

So, sorry mate, but unless I'm misunderstanding your issue (which is possible) I'm not having the same issues. I admit, I've only played around a bit, and only on two games, so it may pop up later, but I feel the games I picked would be pretty sensitive to lag if it was there.

On the plus side, your gaming pc hardware is probably fine ;)

[Keizo Nishi]

Originally posted by Amos_Keeto:

Hi Keizo

It seems I may be the bearer of bad news.

Thanks a lot for the help !

I think the issue come from the install of my OS that is corrupt.
I have frequently (many times a day) the process explorer.exe crashing.
For now it's not so annoying since the process relaunch by itself.
Well if i have the time i will reinstall my OS and will retest.

Thanks all !

[ShineSs]

hello all !!

for all who have that **** killer e2200 look that link it works for me :).

Enjoy !! now my network works like a charm.

here[www.techpowerup.com]