[Hardware.fr] Asus, MSI and the "special press" bios

[f2bnp]

I'm going to lose tons of sleep tonight over 2%, even though I manually overclock all my cards well past the maximum specs the card can come with out of the box.

See above:

You think it is fine to intentionally mislead the consumer? There have been class action lawsuits against larger companies for this type of behavior. It is not a question of whether or not the 1-2% improvement in benchmarks as much as the intent of the action that is the problem.

It's a matter of principle and ethics. Sure, this is a non-issue for pretty much everyone right now, but you are sending a message that "yeah it's okay, you can do that MSI/ASUS". Nothing stops them from doing even greedier stuff, 970 3.5GB is probably one of the worst ones pulled off in recent history.

But yeah that's okay, you don't need to worry about that.

 

[Bacon1]

I'm going to lose tons of sleep tonight over 2%, even though I manually overclock all my cards well past the maximum specs the card can come with out of the box.

Glad you read the OP:

Obviously, Asus and MSI have made the calculation that getting these small gains brought more benefits than criticism among some troublemakers. Sure, after all, so these bios boost perhaps the performance of the cards by 1%, but that’s no reason to look elsewhere! After 1%, it will be what? 2%? Then 3%? Then widespread cheating contest?

 

[misuspita]

Also, when you see a vs between equal cards, say 980ti and both show in print that work at 1300Mhz (random nr). Msi outputs 101 fps, the other one 99fps. IN REVIEW. Of course MSI has then a better image, and many might be swayed to buy the faster card. Based on a fake review.

Who knows, next time it might advertise it supports DX12 better than the competition when in fact it doesn't? ......oh wait.... /potshot

 

[3DVagabond]

Why am I not surprised that this is acceptable to some of our members? :SMH:

 

[Good_fella]

Why am I not surprised that this is acceptable to some of our members? :SMH:

If it was acceptable when AMD send golden samples why now it should be not acceptable?

 

[96Firebird]

Glad you read the OP:

Sounds like he disagrees with the article in the OP.

This is how forums work.

 

[Zanovar]

Not surprised.agree with post 4.

 

[tviceman]

Glad you read the OP:

You fight the crusade and report back to us when... no, wait. I still don't care about 1%. As I already said (and I too am also glad you read) I overclock my all my cards past their stock specs, making this situation entirely moot to me.

 

[nurturedhate]

If it was acceptable when AMD send golden samples why now it should be not acceptable?

It wasn't acceptable then either. But thanks for making sure you attempted to turn this thread into Nvidia vs AMD. Your boss must be happy.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Those numbers 1080 1070, triggered a few defense mechanisms. This is no longer about Asus or MSI now but the point remains that it doesn't matter who in the industry does these things, it is just unacceptable and undefendable.

Sent from my HUAWEI MT7-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[amenx]

Guru3d spotted this as well but made sure their reviews of the products reflected the retail products. Hilbert H the reviewer had requested from Asus the retail bios which they then supplied. As for MSI he offset the core clock by 25mhz to match that of the retail version.

 

[Atreidin]

You fight the crusade and report back to us when... no, wait. I still don't care about 1%. As I already said (and I too am also glad you read) I overclock my all my cards past their stock specs, making this situation entirely moot to me.

Great, thanks for explaining that you don't care that they're using immoral tactics, like giving reviewers something to review that consumers can't possibly buy, to try to gain marketshare. Congratulations on your apathy, your award will come in the mail soon after somebody cares enough to send it.

 

[amenx]

And btw, this isnt an Nvidia vs AMD thing, if Asus/MSI did it with Nvidia, they would likely do it with AMD just as well. Its cheating, plain and simple if you ask me. However, now that the issue is out, hopefully they would refrain from such practices.

 

[IEC]

If it was acceptable when AMD send golden samples why now it should be not acceptable?

It's not acceptable for any AIB partner or IHV to do this. And it is also unacceptable and lacks professionalism and ethics for a tech "journalist" to not actually pursue journalism.

The issue as with news media "journalists" is unfortunately that money talks.

 

[Good_fella]

Asus made statement:

“ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 graphics cards come with exclusive GPU Tweak II software, that provides silent, gaming, and OC modes allowing users to select a performance profile that suits their requirements. Users can apply these modes easily from within GPU Tweak II.

The press samples for the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 OC and ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1070 OC cards are set to “OC Mode” by default. To save media time and effort, OC mode is enabled by default as we are well aware our graphics cards will be reviewed primarily on maximum performance. And when in OC mode, we can showcase both the maximum performance and the effectiveness of our cooling solution.

Retail products are in “Gaming Mode” by default, which allows gamers to experience the optimal balance between performance and silent operation. We encourage end-users to try GPU Tweak II and adjust between the available modes, to find the best mode according to personal needs or preferences.

For both the press samples and retail cards, all these modes can be selected through the GPU Tweak II software. There are no differences between the samples we sent out to media and the retail channels in terms of hardware and performance.”

http://videocardz.com/61171/asus-issues-official-statement-on-boosted-review-samples

So if Damien Triolet is so smart he should knew that and not bringing up "optimized BIOSes to the press" from toilet. D:

 

[tviceman]

Great, thanks for explaining that you don't care that they're using immoral tactics, like giving reviewers something to review that consumers can't possibly buy, to try to gain marketshare. Congratulations on your apathy, your award will come in the mail soon after somebody cares enough to send it.

Hey fellow forum dweller! Thank you, too, for making your opinion known. You and I can share the forums together and make it a better place.

 

[Bacon1]

Asus made statement:



http://videocardz.com/61171/asus-issues-official-statement-on-boosted-review-samples

So if Damien Triolet is so smart he should knew that and not bringing up "optimized BIOSes to the press" from toilet. D:

All you are doing is proving that Asus sent different "stock" setting cards to reviewers than to retail users. Which means, "out of the box" performance is going to differ.

That means that performance, temps, power usage and noise are all going to be different from a review than from retail. And if you are taking the time to make sure your review samples are set to OCing, you might as well send better performing cards along the way (golden samples).

 

[3DVagabond]

If it was acceptable when AMD send golden samples why now it should be not acceptable?

Two wrongs don't make a right. Have you ever heard that before? And what are you calling Golden Samples? Got a link so I understand?

 

[Good_fella]

All you are doing is proving that Asus sent different "stock" setting cards to reviewers than to retail users. Which means, "out of the box" performance is going to differ.

That means that performance, temps, power usage and noise are all going to be different from a review than from retail. And if you are taking the time to make sure your review samples are set to OCing, you might as well send better performing cards along the way (golden samples).

All it proves is that was caused by different mode in software not some mythical only for press BIOS.

Also MSI 980 Ti Gaming also comes with 3 modes. Why nobody complained then?

Two wrongs don't make a right. Have you ever heard that before? And what are you calling Golden Samples? Got a link so I understand?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonev...radeon-290x-golden-press-sample/#28fd57d0671b

 

[CakeMonster]

I just want that BIOS tool so I can set these myself in the BIOS and not have to bother with software for OC'ing.

 

[Gorbugal]

nvm.

 

[3DVagabond]

All it proves is that was caused by different mode in software not some mythical only for press BIOS.

Also MSI 980 Ti Gaming also comes with 3 modes. Why nobody complained then?



http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonev...radeon-290x-golden-press-sample/#28fd57d0671b

The issue with the "Press Bios" is that the Press cards are set differently out of the box than the retail samples.

In your example of AMD, if I am understanding correctly, in "quiet mode" there was a variation in fan speeds. AMD acknowledged it and corrected it.

Now, to the real kicker. It's not AMD nor nVidia that are being accused here. It's Asus and MSI. lol at all these people trying to turn it into an nVidia defense force initiative. FWIW these companies both make AMD cards as well.

 

[Bacon1]

All it proves is that was caused by different mode in software not some mythical only for press BIOS.

Also MSI 980 Ti Gaming also comes with 3 modes. Why nobody complained then?



http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonev...radeon-290x-golden-press-sample/#28fd57d0671b

It is a different bios though, because the bios is set to use the higher clocks by default instead of the lower (retail) ones.

This isn't AMD vs Nvidia, its calling out Asus and MSI, who make cards for BOTH. They shouldn't be doing this for any cards. If they want the press to review the different settings, then tell them to install the software like a normal user would have to. Don't give them higher perf than anyone buying the card would out of the box.

 

[Sonikku]

I wish I could buy a review sample card instead of retail version. Cherry picked bastards.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I wish I could buy a review sample card instead of retail version. Cherry picked bastards.

Gainward Golden Sample, anyone? Are they still around?