ArsTechnica misses of the point of the nVidia farce

[Quitch]

ArsTechnica has done another of its Games.Ars things. I love this sight, great insights into many elements of computer hardware... but here they truly miss the point.

http://arstechnica.infopop.net/Open...&m=8680985585&r=7520946585#7520946585

Interesting quote here:

Originally posted by reflex-croft
I am sorry, but having seen nVidia's drivers myself for years from inside Microsoft I can tell you now that there was nothing magical about thier performance improvements over time. They have *always* sought ways to lower image quality in little noticed fashions to produce performance boosts. I have always considered it a cheat and bad faith to their customers. It is why I do not purchase their products.

 

[Florin]

What IS the point, then

 

[Quitch]

Well, considering he comes out guns blazing in defence of nVidia, saying we're all being so mean to them, you have to wonder where he's been all this time.

 

[Florin]

I'd hardly call it guns blazing, but more a call for people to remain calm. Yes there are issues, but the venom in some of the posts on this board for instance is amazing.

As the article puts it quite reasonably:

The situation is remarkable: people are burning effigies, boiling pots of oil, and sharpening their knives over the speculation of how the GeForce FX will perform on an unreleased game. And better yet: most gamers are too broke to afford a Radeon 9800 Pro or a GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, anyway (but if you're in the market, go with ATI .

 

[Hanners]

I think the venom has built up over the last twelve months of lies and deceit, it's got progressively worse the more nVidia have tried to pull the wool over our eyes.

 

[Tim]

I'd hardly call it guns blazing, but more a call for people to remain calm. Yes there are issues, but the venom in some of the posts on this board for instance is amazing.

As the article puts it quite reasonably:

The situation is remarkable: people are burning effigies, boiling pots of oil, and sharpening their knives over the speculation of how the GeForce FX will perform on an unreleased game. And better yet: most gamers are too broke to afford a Radeon 9800 Pro or a GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, anyway (but if you're in the market, go with ATI .

But the same issues exist in an even higher degree with the 5600 vs. 9600. This is not only a 9800Pro vs. 5900Ultra issue it exist at all price points.

And not only speculation based on an unreleased game.

 

[Quitch]

I think by this point people are thinking "If now isn't the right time... when the hell is?" If almost a year of lies isn't enough to convict nVidia, then what's the point of monitoring them, if all we'll do is sit around and procastinate ourselves to death.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I think the venom has built up over the last twelve months of lies and deceit, it's got progressively worse the more nVidia have tried to pull the wool over our eyes.

Spoken like a true 5900 owner.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I think by this point people are thinking "If now isn't the right time... when the hell is?" If almost a year of lies isn't enough to convict nVidia, then what's the point of monitoring them, if all we'll do is sit around and procastinate ourselves to death.

It's why Nvidia keep promising good things for the future. You can keep people (and websites) sweet for a long, long time just by promising you will fix everything in "the next" version. Of course, by the time that person finally gets fed up and snaps, the backlash is that much greater.

Nvidia has used up a lot of sympathy and good will with a lot of people, and I think that it's finally reached it's limit. The Valve presentation has become a catalyst, and the dam is now beginning to break - people are just fed up of Nvidia and have reached the end of their tethers.

EDIT: However, bear in mind that for a lot of the mainstream, this is a new issue that has only just appeared. For some of us, this has been going on for more than a year, since the rumours of NV30 delays due to poor performance and poor scores on 3Dmark2003, and the constantly moving back NV30 release date. Those of us in right at the beginning probably have less tolerance to Nvidia lying and cheating than those who have only just found out about the issue.

 

[Doomtrooper]

I'd hardly call it guns blazing, but more a call for people to remain calm. Yes there are issues, but the venom in some of the posts on this board for instance is amazing.

People want to be to told the truth about $500 Dollar video cards, go figure

 

[WaltC]

As the article puts it quite reasonably:

The situation is remarkable: people are burning effigies, boiling pots of oil, and sharpening their knives over the speculation of how the GeForce FX will perform on an unreleased game. And better yet: most gamers are too broke to afford a Radeon 9800 Pro or a GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, anyway (but if you're in the market, go with ATI .

But I don't think it is really true that people are "burning effigies, boiling pots of oil, and sharpening their knives,".....

They are upset at the constant misrepresentation coming out of nVidia. For months most of these people have been "calm"--it's just that now people are reaching their tolerance points. The thing is, is that the problems with nVidia's drivers and its nV3x chips have been developing over months of time, and people are just sick and tired of it. I'm just amazed at how obstinate and blind nVidia is as to its own role in indelibly tarnishing its reputation. Who believes nVidia these days? Not many...

 

[Heathen]

But I don't think it is really true that people are "burning effigies, boiling pots of oil, and sharpening their knives,".....

You promise not to look in the box under my bed don't you?

 

[WaltC]

But I don't think it is really true that people are "burning effigies, boiling pots of oil, and sharpening their knives,".....

You promise not to look in the box under my bed don't you?

Sigh...OK, well...no effigy burnings past midnight...no boiling oil out of the upstairs window past 3 a.m., and I really have to put my foot down about the stabbings--if you absolutely must--confine yourself to one of the older sofa cushions....ah, the younger generation...what to do???

 

[Pete]

Lay off Caesar, folks, if for no other reason than I bit too hard at his rant and he deserves some relief. .

 

[3dilettante]

I can see where he's coming from in his statements.

While I do think Nvidia has been doing some pretty shady things, a lot of accusations about Nvidia's drivers detecting screen captures, pressuring developers, and trying to submarine the competition with hardware-specific shaders haven't been proven. In fact, until Half Life2 and a real comparison between the det 45s, beta 50s and final release 50s, a whole bunch of what Gabe Newell (at an Ati event) said can't be proven.

Not that I think Valve has been bribed to make such accusations, but the time and place of the announcements can only promote no small amount of speculation about how why they decided to make the statement at that time and place. I'm sure things would be a lot more clear if more were said about why they came to their decision. It may simply be that they found all the cheats in the detonator drivers shortly before Shader Day and their anger and their sense of urgency prompted them to make things known.

I would really like some hard evidence about a lot of some stuff I still find hard to believe anyone could have sunk so low as to try.
Not that there isn't some serious circumstantial evidence building up.

 

[Pete]

While I do think Nvidia has been doing some pretty shady things, a lot of accusations about Nvidia's drivers detecting screen captures,

The suspicion is with 3DM03, but I'll admit this is a whopper that I'd like to see backed up.

pressuring developers,

See Eidos retracting their latest TR:AoD patch.

and trying to submarine the competition with hardware-specific shaders

Do you mean Dave's comment about TW2003? Or 3DM03/01?

haven't been proven.

Well, some have. Others will basically require nVidia to fess up, which they won't.

 

[3dilettante]

pressuring developers,

See Eidos retracting their latest TR:AoD patch.

The big thing here is that there's no proof that Nvidia actually made Eidos pull the patch. It looks bad, but there's nothing incriminating.

and trying to submarine the competition with hardware-specific shaders

Do you mean Dave's comment about TW2003? Or 3DM03/01?

Yeah, TW2003, which was second hand information to begin with. It sounds bad, but once again, there's no proof.

haven't been proven.

Well, some have. Others will basically require nVidia to fess up, which they won't.

Yeah, that's the problem I see with this situation. The 3DMark fiasco is terrible, but now all those who would know the most have been silenced.

Where's a whistle-blower when you need one?

 

[Heathen]

Sigh...OK, well...no effigy burnings past midnight...no boiling oil out of the upstairs window past 3 a.m., and I really have to put my foot down about the stabbings--if you absolutely must--confine yourself to one of the older sofa cushions....ah, the younger generation...what to do???

Yes sir.

Spoilsport