ATi Radeon 9800 Pro

ATi is bringing out their new card, the Radeon 9800 Pro, and all of the hardware review sites which depend on ATi's generosity for pre-release hardware have released their necessarily favorable reviews. Here's a few: Hothardware.com, Hexus.net, HardOCP.com, Anandtech, Tom's Hardware, Extremetech, PCWorld.

Comments

Independent review sites?

[JKR]

So, are there any independent review sites out there? How do they get their hands on pre-release hardware? Just how close to payola is the whole thing, anyway?

Enquiring minds want to know (before they blow ${WEEKS_WAGES} on new toys...)

Jon.

Re:Independent review sites?

[Zathrus]

So, are there any independent review sites out there

What do you mean by independant? They all take ad revenue now, and often that ad revenue is from either hardware companies or retailers. Most of the reputable ones (AnandTech, Tom's, Sharky's, etc) have guidelines on who they will and will not accept ads from - in the case of retailers they usually have to have a good rating.

How do they get their hands on pre-release hardware

The hardware companies aren't freaking stupid. It's called marketing, and the marketing departments make sure that the top reviewers get the hardware ahead of time. Sure, you could send them something the day it's out, but that hurts the marketing push. Especially since it can take a couple weeks to do some reviews. And you want to make sure that if the reviewer has a problem they can get help.

At least it's better than the old print reviews, where they would get the hardware before release and then print a couple months after release -- since print cycles are so freaking long (especially for monthly magazines).

Just how close to payola is the whole thing, anyway?

Most reviewers have to return the hardware afterwards. Of course, there's always swag, and they get tons of it. From everyone. Occasionally they'll get to keep the hardware, and upon occasion the big sites will have charity auctions or giveaways for random stuff (although that's often just another marketing gimick - the site is donated hardware specifically for the purpose of giving it away).

If you want a "truely" independant site that gets no stuff from anyone, then go look for the chintzy sites that review stuff weeks to years after it's out. You know... the sites that you think suck and are horribly outdated.

If you want to know what you should buy then read the reviews from a couple of the top sites, and then go scan some forums. The forums are by average geeks and will give a wonderfully negative review of pretty much any product.

What were you expecting?

[WIAKywbfatw]

...and all of the hardware review sites which depend on ATi's generosity for pre-release hardware have released their necessarily favorable reviews.

Err, what were you expecting? If you give a kid a new toy that's faster, shinier and has more bells and whistles than his old one then he's going to be impressed and say that it's faster, shinier and has more bells and whistles than the old one.

I have no doubt that if nVidia, ATi, Matrox or whoever released a card that stank the place right up then these guys would write about it - what do you think they'd do, michael, fake benchmark results?

Do these cards represent good value for money? No, not unless you have money to burn. Are they interesting to gamers? Yes, because what's in a $600 graphics card today is what'll be in a $200 one in a few months time.

Re:What were you expecting?

[simong_oz]

I have no doubt that if nVidia, ATi, Matrox or whoever released a card that stank the place right up then these guys would write about it - what do you think they'd do, michael, fake benchmark results?

hmmm ... not so sure I agree with you. I'm confident they don't fake benchmark results because there are far too many sites out there running numbers on all the latest hardware - it would be too easy to spot this kind of blatant bad reviewing.

But I'm not so sure that a bad product will get a negative review, particularly if the product manufacturer is a big player. Some of these review sites are big names (in the right circles; gaming for example) and their opinions count with consumers. But the sites themselves also depend on "breaking the news first" for their customers. A bad review might lead to a hardware company not being so willing to give out pre-production stuff in the future. I'm not saying that the reviewers are kissing manufacturer backsides, but I wouldn't be surprised if they temper their bad reviews.

just a thought ...

Re:What were you expecting?

[NerdSlayer]

And what's in a $200 graphics card after a few months will be in a $50 graphics card in a few more months, at which point I'll buy one.

Why does this get modded up? That's great that you don't have much interest in 3d gaming and/or you don't feel the need to buy the latest and greatest. Lots of people have different interests in different things. If the latest video card doesn't interest you, move on.

However, just because you're not throwing down $400 for a new graphics card, you're no saint. You didn't save any whales, the world hasn't been made a better place. People need to buy the latest and greatest shit so that the technology can eventually filter down to you. That's how it works.

Letting the world know you don't care to spend money on a top dollar video card is about as insightful as me saying how I'm not going to smoke crack and kill hookers all day today.

Hey Michael...

[gpinzone]

I'm an NVidia fan, too. However, we can do without your digs to the reviewers. So much for unbiased journalism.

Re:Hey Michael...

[the_consumer]

I don't think it's really fair to hold a simple slashdot story submission up to the standards of professional journalistic integrity. It is fair, however, to question the bias of hardware reviewers who recieve free pre-releases to play with and depend on those pre-releases to provide the reviews which earn them a living.

Re:Hey Michael...

[gpinzone]

I don't think it's really fair to hold a simple slashdot story submission up to the standards of professional journalistic integrity.

I think it's extremely fair, especially since the submission came from an editor, not an anonymous source.

It is fair, however, to question the bias of hardware reviewers who recieve free pre-releases to play with and depend on those pre-releases to provide the reviews which earn them a living.

There's no evidence that these reviews were biased in any way. There is only supposition of guilt, which is preposterous, because these same reviewers have the same relationship with ATI's competition.

Re:Hey Michael...

[Surak]

I agree. And I'm an nVidia fan as well. And I'll tell you -- healthy competition is NICE. It gives consumers choices. Neither nVidia nor ATI own the market ... and that's the point. Look how they each keep pushing the other, and look how quickly new products come out with more and more features and performance.

Now look at the operating system market and the lack innovation there. Imagine what we COULD have if Microsoft DIDN'T own the market.

More ati = more gooder

[Vodak]

I'm glad to see Ati released another video card. the more ati competes the less likly NVidia will become a company likly Microsoft.

Re:More ati = more gooder

[NerdSlayer]

I'm glad to see Ati released another video card. the more ati competes the less likly NVidia will become a company likly Microsoft.

Yay. And then in two years, ATI will be the big scary company, Nvidia will be the underdog, and we can all applaud Nvidia for providing ATI with some competition. The cycle will complete itself, ad nauseum.

I'm starting to think that Slashdot readers are actually communists; nobody's allowed to root for the big guy (who presumably got bigger because of the better products).

And the good news is...

[ackthpt]

It should bring down the price of the ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, where a punter like me can afford it =)

Tho I won't have the top of the line =(

It beats having the bottom of the line =)

Cut the editorializing crap please

[dnadig]

All of these sites do decent work, I read them daily, and they all PILE ON when something is released that is a POS. Whatever axe you have to grind, keep it to yourself or back it up please.

I have BOTH bleeding edge cards right now, and unfortunately for NVDA, it's just plain "true" that the Radeon's are top dog at the moment. If you don't believe them, run your own benchmarks.

It is fair.

[juuri]

Slashdot calls itself "News" that simple blip alone is enough to require the editors to keep their opinions constrained somewhat. Sure it is okay to have a slant when calling yourself news, but some editors here, Michael especially, place very strong opinions in almost every link they post. This isn't news, this is treating the site as a personal log.

Thats all well and good if you aren't a paid employee with customers, but this site stopped being that years ago. Unfortunately, we, the slashdot readers let them get away with it time and time again while paying their salaries by adding content and viewing the ads.

GeForce FX taught nVidia a good lesson

[Morgaine]

Well, nVidia fans (like myself too) may be severely disappointed that the GeForce FX turned out to be an almost total turkey because of noise, power consumption, and barely adequate basic performance, but it's actually pretty healthy that ATI is now back in the lead.

Hopefully nVidia will recognize that it made a dreadful mistake way back at design and specification time on the FX, and learn from it. If it doesn't then it's commercially dead, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Within the company, this probably requires booting out some managers and pressing some engineers' noses onto red-hot heatsinks.

I agree, there's no need to bash the reviewers. Everyone knows that they try to butter up the hardware suppliers, but they still deliver fairly objective reviews, so there's no real problem.