Slashdot Mirror
MSI and ASUS Accused of Sending Reviewers Overpowered Graphics Cards (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader writes from a report via The Verge: TechPowerUp discovered that the MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X card they were sent for review was running at faster GPU and memory clock speeds than the retail version. This was because the review card was set to operate in the OC (overclocking) mode out of the box, whereas the retail card runs in the more regular Gaming mode out of the box. This may result in an unobservant reviewer accidentally misrepresenting the OC performance numbers as the stock results from the card, lending MSI's product an unearned helping hand. The site found this was a recurring pattern with MSI stretching back for years. Fellow Taiwanese manufacturer ASUS, in spite of having better global name recognition and reputation, has also show itself guilty of preprogramming review cards with an extra overclocking boost. Needless to say, the only goal of such actions is to deceive -- both the consumer and the reviewer -- though perhaps some companies have felt compelled to follow suit after the trend was identified among competitors. The Verge notes that TechPowerUp revealed its finding on Thursday of last week, and has not received any official response from either MSI or ASUS. They did update their story to note that MSI addressed the matter, in a comment provided to HardOCP Editor-in-Chief Kyle Bennett, back in 2014.
It's not "sites like reddit" claiming it.
It started with techpowerup article, mentioning exactly what was wrong: cards running at higher frequencies than normal retail versions: Here is it:
MSI and ASUS have been sending us review samples for their graphics cards with higher clock speeds out of the box, than what consumers get out of the box. The cards TechPowerUp has been receiving run at a higher software-defined clock speed profile than what consumers get out of the box. Consumers have access to the higher clock speed profile, too, but only if they install a custom app by the companies, and enable that profile. This, we feel, is not 100% representative of retail cards, and is questionable tactics by the two companies. This BIOS tweaking could also open the door to more elaborate changes like a quieter fan profile or different power management.
http://www.techpowerup.com/for...
It's a catch-22 though, and video game reviewers have the same issue.
If you get a review copy, you don't just get it FREE- you get it EARLY. That means you can write a story before someone who has to wait for the product to ship. Since most of the hype occurs before the launch (obviously- if you are super into product X and it is out, you go and buy it and are happy), this means that most of the readers about product X will want to read about it before it launches, be it a video game or a video card.
This gives the companies a lot more power over the "journalist" (if you can call a product reviewer that at all, lol) than you might see elsewhere.
Real reviews are done by places like Consumer Reports. They do blind purchases, don't accept advertisements, and they do their reviews based on objective things decided ahead of time. This isn't nearly as glamorous as luxury items like games, video cards, etc.
Don't feed the professional Russian trolls seeding discord.
~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.