Other Types of Reviews

If you can do them as much in depth as the graphics cards review then sure. If it's just going to be the standard stuff then leave it to the myriads of sites that already do this on "a daily basis" so to speak.

 

Well I said review more stuff...

Anyway if you do a sister site that would be good too, but the best thing would be to make it a seperate entity with the same homepage if you get my drift. In otherwords the front page here and there have same news stories, but different people are responsible for the content that way youguys don't get to busy and destroy the excellent site you have.

 

Sooooo... you have a twin sister.....

Yeah, I would create a secondary site that would review other forms of hardware. Any ideas for a name if it does become a reality?

 

I personally don't like the sister site idea, sometimes when you split your focus like that you also fracture your readership.

I doubt it'd happen here, but you never know. :?

 

Only if the reviews of 3d hardware won't suffer even one-half a percent. These video card reviews are so much more knowledgeable than anything else out there.

 

the only other type of review i want to see at beyond3d is something like arstechnica article about cpu .. same depth than beyond3d's video card review but about cpu

 

can we refrain with all the silly posts please. thanks

I do think that b3d should expand. I think both hardware and software should be looked at. I was split on whether it should be inclusive or part of a sister site. Either would be fine, i voted for it to be part of this site.

epic

 

To me the sister site would be the better option. I like the idea of broadened reviews, but at the same time I think depending on how it's done it could attract a different type of reader. Beyond3d has a certain way of doing things that is unlike anyone else out there and I hope it continues just as sucessfully. Bringing in other types of reviews might cause some people to think differently about the site, or give newcommers the wrong impression of the site.

Then again I barely post or understand most of whats being discussed but find it interesting to try and follow the discussion. From what I can tell B3D has a unique perspective and is much more informative than any other site (especially all the goodies that get dropped in the fourms ). Maby I'm not the right person to be commenting on the decision, regardless I'll keep reading!

 

:?

I voted for a sister site. I bet this isnt the first time vou've pondered this Dave....

 

The more I think about it, the more I am inclined to say that is should be a sub-section of this site. DW's points about about fracturing I think are relevent. As was also stated, it shouldn't dilute the quality of content that is already on B3D's main site.

 

I also voted sister site, but it may be better for business reason to just integrate it as another heading under the Beyond3D.com domain (read: more views = more ad dollars). It should be a relatively simple task of dividing the front page to accomodate both the main, original thrust of this site, and these new, related doo-dads. You might have to expand the main page to assume a 1024x768 screen res to comfortably fit the new content, though.

You'll want to provide a distinct forum for that, though, or specify a current forum (Hardware Gab) for it.

 

I honestly don't care I generally come here for the forum

 

You guys are known for your 3D coverage. Stick to it.

However, an article concerning power consumption of current cards and the demands on PSU's would have been of interest to me. I know xbit did an article on this, but I'm sure you guys could come up with your own twist.

 

I voted for a sister site, precisely because I've spoken with you in the past about other hardware reviews and I'm 100% certain you can do your best with it, as you do with the current site and its focus.

Good luck with whatever you do

Rys

 

Even though I'd like to read Beyond3D style reviews of other hardware, I'd say: Don't do it. Sounds to me like opening up a can of worms.

Also please let me quote from an older thread:

Please don't be angry with me, but this lets me seriously doubt, whether reviewing PSUs would be a good idea...

(hides and runs away)

 

Well if you do other reviews I'd like to see reviews on cpus etc involve minimum framerates, or even better framerate graphs (ie framerate throughout the test) when it comes to games as this seems to be something completely ignored in reviews on other sites. Only place I've seen it before was the a64 FX-53/3800+ review on driverheaven which showed the gain in min fps from the FXs 1MB cache was far more than the gain in average fps, however that was just single game (painkiller) and pretty much chucked in as a side point.

 

Well, given the premise of a sister site not impacting the 3D-business I find it hard to say no. But your quality as a 3D-site is more important than also reviewing other hardware. Is the no impact-premise realistic?

Also, you should probably make sure that you really know what you are doing when reviewing other stuff. Otherwise it may cast doubts on your 3D articles, fair or not.

 

My biggest pet peeve doesn't seem to be represented in the poll. That being direct comparisons with products in the same price range. I know that you are loath to make comparisons between competing IHV's. Personally I think it is a dam shame that is the case. For instance I am going to buy a two Radeon 9600 xt products for the kids computers this Christmas.. but look here see what I find here on B3D for product comparisons.

http://www.beyond3d.com/reviews/ati/rv360/index.php?p=4

The content is fine.. but look at what your comparing it with. The 9600 Pro and the 9500 pro. The 9500 pro is no longer for sale and the 9600 Pro is the same core without low k dielectrics. The comparisons are easy enough to conclude before you read the article. What is the point of that anyhow? You might as well just benched the card by itself. I want comparative reviews based on price range as a consumer. Anyhow I had to go looking around for reviews to get better comparisons.

I would not mind seeing B3D do other hardware reviews. Motherboard and CPU tests would be great IMO. What about game reviews? I think it would be a nice change to see a broadening of the review base but it would be wise to keep a focus on the graphics aspect particularly. A tight sister site would be ok but that would not be much different then say clicking on one of my favorites to see reviews. I think the best option would be to introduce your own hardware reviews with a stronger focus on 3D hardware of course. But I want to see shoot outs and product comparisons for given price ranges from multiple IHVs. [/rant]

 

I voted for a sister site. As a long time reader of Beyond3D I would like to the site expand their method of reviews to cover other hardware.

I suggest though if you want to maintain the high quality of your reviews, you should look into putting on a couple of reviewers dedicated to the task of reviewing the other hardware. With proper screening you should be able to find a couple of guys/girls that are upto your standard, and that would make sure the extra content didn't effect your video reviews.

 

I voted for a sister site