NVIDIA has begun shipping new GTX9xxM cards with a vBIOS that blocks core

[Prastupok]

After doing some looking... I can't seem to find any information about this being true. Nothing on NV's site or anything like that, or on news. So...

[Albatross]

This sucks for the laptop users.

[LAwLz]

"This is the memory layout of the 970 and this is how it works, it's still a great card though!" - no 970 shitstorm.

They did go out and explain the memory layout of the 970. They did it fairly quickly as well (not from the start but they did do it just a few days after the rumors got widely spread). The "Official Nvidia GTX 970 Discussion Thread" which is over 90 pages at the time of writing this was created after Nvidia went out and told everyone how the memory in the 970 works.

I wouldn't be surprised if we would have gotten a pretty decently sized shitstorm even if Nvidia had said it from day 1. Probably not as big as the one we have right now, but still very big.

 

 

No, but we most definitely need comments labeling anyone who disagree with Nvidia's decisions as "bandwagon hate from idiots." The double standard is real.

I haven't seen anyone call someone a "bandwagon hater" or "idiot" for simply disagreeing with Nvidia's decision. In fact, if you read posts from for example me, or Victorious Secret in the other thread (or this one even) you will see that we disagree with Nvidia's decision. It's just that we disagree with the anti-Nvidia extremists as well.

It's okay to disagree with a company but you have to:

1) Do it in moderation. A lot of things on the Internet gets blown way out of proportions. I mean just look at Ubisoft. People are basically searching for new things related to them to be upset over.

2) Don't lie to make them seem worse than they are. An example of this would be in the 970 thread where we have (won't emotion any names) people say that the card really only has 3.5GB of VRAM and you can't use any more than that whatsoever. We also have people with baseless accusations of crippling AMD's performance with GameWorks (with 0 evidence to support their accusations).

 

 

I have a problem with the lack of an actual source... a forum post doesn't count.

I don't browse TechInferno but Prema seems like a pretty trustworthy user. You're right though, it's best to wait for more sources before grabbing the pitchforks. We don't know if it's Nvidia that are doing it or if it's the laptop manufacturer doing it either.

[Prastupok]

I don't browse TechInferno but Prema seems like a pretty trustworthy user. You're right though, it's best to wait for more sources before grabbing the pitchforks. We don't know if it's Nvidia that are doing it or if it's the laptop manufacturer doing it either.

 

We don't know if ANYONE is doing it. Everyone is pissed for zero reason as of now.

 

One non-respected source? I don't buy it.

[Skrizzles]

Hasn't this already gone full-circle? The new driver disabled over-clocking. Consumers got pissed. Nvidia allowed people to download and install old firmware that enabled it. End.

[Guest]

They did go out and explain the memory layout of the 970. They did it fairly quickly as well (not from the start but they did do it just a few days after the rumors got widely spread). The "Official Nvidia GTX 970 Discussion Thread" which is over 90 pages at the time of writing this was created after Nvidia went out and told everyone how the memory in the 970 works.

I wouldn't be surprised if we would have gotten a pretty decently sized shitstorm even if Nvidia had said it from day 1. Probably not as big as the one we have right now, but still very big.

 

I'm not saying that they should have said so once people found out, they should have said so as soon as the thing got released. Reviewers should have been made aware of it before release even. We had a similar situation with the 660, assymetrical memory layout for a new GPU. The difference was that people were aware of it (if they did their research) and that reviewers talked about it and focused on it.

As I said, it's a totally legitimate way of cutting down a GPU and maximizing yields for Nvidia, people just want to know what exactly they're buying. I disagree entirely, I think there would have been absolutely zero backlash if they openly talked about the "issue" from the very start.

[Lewellyn]

I haven't seen anyone call someone a "bandwagon hater" or "idiot" for simply disagreeing with Nvidia's decision. In fact, if you read posts from for example me, or Victorious Secret in the other thread (or this one even) you will see that we disagree with Nvidia's decision. It's just that we disagree with the anti-Nvidia extremists as well.

It's okay to disagree with a company but you have to:

1) Do it in moderation. A lot of things on the Internet gets blown way out of proportions. I mean just look at Ubisoft. People are basically searching for new things related to them to be upset over.

2) Don't lie to make them seem worse than they are. An example of this would be in the 970 thread where we have (won't emotion any names) people say that the card really only has 3.5GB of VRAM and you can't use any more than that whatsoever.

 

"Calm the fuck down people! Fucking bandwagon up in here jeez. Like this actually affects any of you..."

 

It's on the first page until it's removed, where criticism from the community is called "bandwagon" in less than 15 posts. You can choose to ignore the double standard, it still exists.

 

Nobody (very very few) actually legitimately says that the card cannot access more than 3.5GB, it's a joke - so don't straw man the actual opposition's position.

[MoonSpot]

This is stupid. For the life of me I don't understand the people defending nvidia here or the ass backward logic they're using to declare that others shouldn't be overclocking their laptops.
Its like people don't understand that the actual value people are able to extract from OC'ing is when the device is at the end of its product life and not off the bat when they first buy it.

That said I'm down with manufacturers locking up the ability to OC CPU/GPU via bios/drivers, so long as they unlock it a year or so after warranties expire. Or allow users to do so, but void the warranty of the entire laptop if done.

 

:edit: Mobile spelling

[FakezZ]

Well I have a laptop that cost me 2k and I don't care if I can't OC, it's a laptop...! lol

Maybe the performance does satisfy you for now, but what about later down the road? It's just a good thing to have.

[Lord Baal]

What's it matter to Nvidia they have no competition in mobile GPU's and well even on desktop they have so many blind fanboys that'll defend any anti consumer practice they engage in and still buy their products and then come here and call others stupid for not being as blindly brand loyal. 

Anyone ever think this could have been done by request of a major laptop manufacturer? Even the effort involved in receiving the laptop back under warranty and finding out it was user inflicted damage then shipping it back wastes money and time it's more then likely someone got sick of it and requested the core clock be locked it's not like there's a bunch of laptops running unlocked intel CPU's and I'd venture a guess there's good reason for it.

[LAwLz]

"Calm the fuck down people! Fucking bandwagon up in here jeez. Like this actually affects any of you..."

 

It's on the first page until it's removed, where criticism from the community is called "bandwagon" in less than 15 posts. You can choose to ignore the double standard, it still exists.

 

Nobody (very very few) actually legitimately says that the card cannot access more than 3.5GB, it's a joke - so don't straw man the actual opposition's position.

Oops I missed that post. I don't quite see how that's a double standard but yeah I was wrong about nobody shouting bandwagon.

I am not making a strawman because there are people who say the card only has 3.5GB of VRAM. Some are not saying it as a joke either, they want Nvidia to change the packaging to say 3.5GB. I never said you said that, but I said that some anti-Nvidia extremists are lying about things to make them seem worse than they really are.

That's not a strawman in the same way you pointing out that "calm the fuck down people" post on the first page is not a strawman.

[JuztBe]

.

Its like people don't understand that the actual value people are able to extract from OC'ing is when the device is the end of its product life and not off the bat when they first buy it.

 

Really good point here.

And those people who are telling us "Why do you care, not that you own 980M". Well I'm pretty sure there are at least one of your comment at 970 gate threads and you do not own 970. And it's not about "does it affects me". People that are interested in technology ( in this case all in this discussion) do care about 980M locked clocks in a same way as a people interested in politics cares what other country politicians have to say even if it does not affects them.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Maybe the performance does satisfy you for now, but what about later down the road? It's just a good thing to have.

 

Well I won't be able to, my laptop will overheat. 

[PopReference]

Wow, this is moving fast and typically leaves much confusion.
 

This was already addressed last week–
 
 
You can revert to old drivers to re-enable overclocking while waiting for new driver update.

This has to do with the vBios on new cards blocking OC, not dirvers.
 

Prepare $$$ for "unlocked" GPUs...
On a serious note: But can It be OCed via flashing?

Yeah, the source for the OP is The guy that can/will do it.

[Syntaxvgm]

Calm the fuck down people! Fucking bandwagon up in here jeez. Like this actually affects any of you...

Actually, it does. A lot. 

[FakezZ]

Well I won't be able to, my laptop will overheat. 

Yeah you got a point there.

[Prastupok]

I'm still waiting for my real source for this information that everyone is so pissed about.

[SuperPug]

Actually, it does. A lot.

Really tho? Even if desktop graphics weren't overclockable i wouldn't care. So you dont get 10% additional performance in exchange for your laptop melting whats the big deal?

[thebennyboy]

The Nvidia defense league is out in force today... my god. I have a laptop with an 880M so thankfully wouldn't be affected by this, but still; Why should Nvidia dictate what it's users do with their laptops? If they overclock it and burn it out then that's the users issue. My laptop has a pretty beefy cooling system so can actually handle a mild overclock without any issues, i'm not going to allow Nvidia to dictate if i overclock or not so i'm staying on the old drivers until they re-enable overclocking.

[LAwLz]

Why should Nvidia dictate what it's users do with their laptops? If they overclock it and burn it out then that's the users issue.

Because if the laptop dies Nvidia will have to pay, not the customer. It's not the customer's issue if their laptop dies from overclocking, it's the OEM and Nvidia's issue.

[thebennyboy]

Because if the laptop dies Nvidia will have to pay, not the customer. It's not the customer's issue if their laptop dies from overclocking, it's the OEM and Nvidia's issue.

 

Could just have it as a disclaimer.

[LAwLz]

Could just have it as a disclaimer.

Disclaimer how? They don't have any way of checking if the GPU died because of overclocking, and where I live it's up to the manufacturer to prove that the damage was done by the customer. If they can't prove it then it is covered by the warranty. If it weren't for the water detectors in my phone I could just drop it into a glass of water and they would have to repair it for free, unless they caught me on tape doing it or something.