Boycott Sapphire

Jabbah · Jun 15, 2004

Found this interesting site of the inquirer-

http://www.boycottsapphire.com

However, it apears the only error is the link to the product description that the sites link to on Sapphires site. The products been sold do not say they are the pro and clearly have the 128bit in the title.

Am i missing something here? Are Sapphire being underhand devious demons in this cut throat business?

nutball · Jun 15, 2004

whql · Jun 15, 2004

Saw a thread over at Rage3D telling people to boycott Sapphire - looks someone got suckered into buying a 128-bit PRO from an online store that didn't list it as such. The 128-bit PRO's from Sapphire were reported about a month ago:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20040521081115.html
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/akiba/hotline/20040522/newitem.html

Seems like Sapphire have done their part, these people would be better off directing their efforts at getting the stores to list them correctly.

ANova · Jun 16, 2004

Twas only a matter of time.

ben6 · Jun 16, 2004

Hehehe or how about Albatron? 12 models of 5700 card.

http://www.albatron.com.tw/english/it/vga/pro_list.asp

Mendel · Jun 16, 2004

nutball said:
No worse than Gainward, who seem to label a good fraction of their product line-up as "Ultra", regardless of whether or not it is Ultra or not:

I disagree, it is a lot worse than that. At least none of those 6800s have crippled memory bus.

Pete · Jun 16, 2004

I think there's a 64-bit GAinward FX5200 "Ultra," though I'm not sure.

But I agree that those Sapphire "9800" "Pros" are a total farce. Not just NOT 256-bit, but not even Pro clocks (it's 128-bit with just 9800 325/290 clocks)!

Lockon · Jun 16, 2004

ANova said:
Twas only a matter of time.

Indeed, the makers have been stiching(or trying to) consumers for far too long. for example, the abomination of a card called 9600se, imagine the surprise on the poor punters face when upgrading from a 91/200

, to find that everything runs slower, and paid an extra $80 more than what he payed for his 9200 for the privlege. this is only one of dozens of possible outcomes because of the current state of affairs.

but, i think the onus should go back to ati and nvidia, as its their lack of enforcing some kind of rule-set for Mftrs to stick buy, eg, you must have "x" interface, "y" ram, "z" core to be able to name your card to xxxxx.
or, simply not allow any(lower spec)deviation off reference design, and if that means ati and nvidia needs to add a couple more cards to the line up, so be it, and stop the madness.

.

davefb · Jun 16, 2004

last year , i'd got a 9500pro and my mate went to get what seemed to be one of the last into the country.... *luckily* on the way home he stopped at my house to compare ( mine was sapphire his was albatron) . i got a bit susp coz it didnt quite seem the same (this is before sticking the card in),, now of course the box is just "same box for all parts" , but we looked up the product code online,,, 9500 NOT 9500pro..........

went back to the shop (quickly) and took ages talking to the guy there,, the problem they had was that there are no real discerning features, but they believed the product code information..... after about 15 mins they refunded the money .

they werent happy,, they'd been "stung" by their supplier ,,, mate decided to buy a 9700pro instead ( from somewhere else coz they didnt have any in stock)

-dave-

SsP45 · Jun 16, 2004

davefb said:
last year , i'd got a 9500pro and my mate went to get what seemed to be one of the last into the country.... *luckily* on the way home he stopped at my house to compare ( mine was sapphire his was albatron) . i got a bit susp coz it didnt quite seem the same (this is before sticking the card in),, now of course the box is just "same box for all parts" , but we looked up the product code online,,, 9500 NOT 9500pro..........

went back to the shop (quickly) and took ages talking to the guy there,, the problem they had was that there are no real discerning features, but they believed the product code information..... after about 15 mins they refunded the money .

they werent happy,, they'd been "stung" by their supplier ,,, mate decided to buy a 9700pro instead ( from somewhere else coz they didnt have any in stock)

-dave-

I believe ATI's online product codes are borked. I think they show all 9800-class cards as being the same.
________
Honda fcx

kemosabe · Jun 17, 2004

Well it seems Sapphire has wisely chosen to take the high ground.

cthellis42 · Jun 18, 2004

...and they also take steps to correct the confusion in the future.

At least they know how to say "I sowwy!"

Mendel · Jun 18, 2004

* For end users in the USA, phone 909-594-3128. You will need to present the product, sales receipt and provide the discounted retail price difference of $25.
* For end users in Asia contact +852-2689-8888 and request the procedure for upgrade.

Sapphire? Hello? Earth station talking here! You hear me? Good!
Now...
Take that plastic globe map ball of yours if its handy! Ready? Ok!

Now...

Search for Europe! No... not Eyrup. Eirat? Close... but...

E-U-R-O-P-E! Found any? No? Try again!

(edit: At least us Finns still in boycott, edit2: at least we're cautious

edit3: Hell actually I don't even know if they sell them here anyways, see post below)

Dave Baumann · Jun 18, 2004

Were they on sale in Europe?

Mendel · Jun 18, 2004

Actually the situation is so confusing, I have no idea if they are or aren't on sale here.

I do know that there are HUGE amount of different named Sapphire products for sale around here in tens of different stores, most of which operate in Internet and mark their products real badly.

Anyways the 128bit interface has been a news item here too so I was assuming that of course those cards were for sale here, but now that I'm searching for them, I can't be sure if I've found any. People are, however very cautious now about buying any "Sapphire Radeon 9800 Atlantis Pro 128 Mt AGP" of which there are a lot for sale for about 230 euros.

However, it now seems probable that most likely that 128 bit r9800 pro sapphires are not meant to be for sale here, at least through official channels. Unofficial importers are a different story altogether, however.

Now that would explain the lack of return options for europe at least

Striker · Jun 19, 2004

From their PDF explaining the issue and prompting users for returns:

" For end users in Europe please mail request for upgrades to 9800pro@sapphiretech.de ".

We still get e-mail support, that's something eh? =)

Tahir2 · Jun 20, 2004

DaveBaumann said:
Were they on sale in Europe?

We were offered some by a supplier, we refused of course. This was about a month ago IIRC.

Boycott Sapphire

Jabbah

nutball

whql

ANova

ben6

Mendel

Mr. Upgrade

Pete

Moderate Nuisance

Lockon

davefb

SsP45

kemosabe

cthellis42

Hoopy Frood

Mendel

Mr. Upgrade

Dave Baumann

Gamerscore Wh...

Mendel

Mr. Upgrade

Striker

Tahir2

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