Intel Killer NIC WiFi 7 Notebook Wireless Chipset Review

1. Introduction2. MSI Vector 16 HX AI A2XWIG and ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE983. Intel Killer NIC Software4. Intel Killer NIC Analysis5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

The Intel Killer NIC has been around for a while, amidst plenty of claims about its capabilities, even before Intel acquired the technology in 2020 when it bought Rivet Networks. While the configurability is nice to have, it's the throughput that really impresses. With the combination of the MSI Vector 16 HX AI A2XWIG laptop and the Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 router you get the fastest WiFi 7 throughput we have seen by a country mile.

You also get gaming like a wired connection at up to 10m distance from the router. We didn't have the kit to try this with multiple systems at once, but with just one you'd no longer have to ensure a wired connection to get game-winning ping and low latency.

One of the promises of WiFi 7 was that it could deliver performance on a par with Gigabit Ethernet without the need for wires. While our tests so far had shown a welcome bump over WiFi 6 up close, we hadn't quite seen capabilities that completely blew away what went before. Now we have. The Intel Killer NIC really gets the best out of a high quality WiFi 7 router like the ASUS one we used for testing. If you really want a notebook with the best WiFi 7 currently available, choosing one with Intel Killer NIC networking would be a sound choice.

The MSI Vector 16 HX AI A2XWIG is available from Scan UK for £2,699.99 inc VAT.

The ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE98 is available from Scan UK for £599.99 inc VAT.

Pros:

• Phenomenal WiFi 7 performance.
• Lots of useful optimisation features in the Intel Killer Performance Suite software.
• Ability to throttle applications that interfere with your gaming.
• GameFast automated game and video streaming prioritisation.
• Access point choice optimisation features.

Cons:

• DoubleShot Pro requires your wired LAN chipset to be Intel Killer NIC as well (our test system's wasn't).
• Access point frequency channel display doesn't show you which network is which.
• Only as good as the WiFi router you're connected to.

KitGuru says: The Intel Killer NIC WiFi 7 chipset gets the best throughput we have ever seen by a big margin out of the new wireless networking standard, delivering gaming like a fast LAN connection without the need for a wire.

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