AMD Polaris Tech Day is Today

[Trixanity]

6 minutes ago, zMeul said:

my opinion on NDAs - total bullcrap

 

take the HB SLI bridge shit that went on before the NDA lift

someone from EVGA posted on their forums that there will be only 2 way SLI - and that was true; but the internet went apeshit because people with the info weren't allowed to talk

some other people leaked the info that nVidia will allow 3way+ but only with a driver key they can supply at request - and that was also true

 

so .. what's the reason for NDAs?! to restrict access to information?! for what purpose exactly?

 

I understand putting an embargo on review release date so every outlet can have a decent amount of time to do theirs

but, information that is crucial to the consumer so he'll make a informed purchase should not be withheld

Nobody likes NDAs but that's how it works.

As for the reasons: sales and marketing. You want to hype up things until you present your product by only revealing the bare minimum and over a span of time you'll put out small bits to keep the hype fed. You want to present your product on your own terms in order to present it in the best possible light and give the audience the full marketing speech without filter, so you only reveal the product at a big venue to give it the space and attention it needs to win over the audience. You want to keep the competition out of the loop about what's going on, making it hard for them to react appropriately; they might know something is coming and have an idea of what to expect but they won't know the full story.

And there's probably many more reasons. I'm not studying in that field (thankfully).

[zMeul]

8 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

Nobody likes NDAs but that's how it works.

As for the reasons: sales and marketing. You want to hype up things until you present your product by only revealing the bare minimum and over a span of time you'll put out small bits to keep the hype fed. You want to present your product on your own terms in order to present it in the best possible light and give the audience the full marketing speech without filter, so you only reveal the product at a big venue to give it the space and attention it needs to win over the audience. You want to keep the competition out of the loop about what's going on, making it hard for them to react appropriately; they might know something is coming and have an idea of what to expect but they won't know the full story.

And there's probably many more reasons. I'm not studying in that field (thankfully).

present the thing and launch it the same day - make a live broadcast about it

nVidia, for example, said absolutely nothing about Pascal before their presentation couple of weeks ago - there were more leaks than actual info, and leaks can cut both ways

 

take AMD case - this Macau event and the NDA, doesn't make them look good

why? because it gives credit to the rumors there might actually be something wrong with Polaris

they aren't launching Polaris for another month, meanwhile nVidia has enough time to launch a GTX1060 with decent performance / price, might even be good enough for VR if it presents itself on same perf levels as GTX970 is now

[Trixanity]

22 minutes ago, zMeul said:

present the thing and launch it the same day - make a live broadcast about it

nVidia, for example, said absolutely nothing about Pascal before their presentation couple of weeks ago - there were more leaks than actual info, and leaks can cut both ways

 

take AMD case - this Macau event and the NDA, doesn't make them look good

why? because it gives credit to the rumors there might actually be something wrong with Polaris

they aren't launching Polaris for another month, meanwhile nVidia has enough time to launch a GTX1060 with decent performance / price, might even be good enough for VR if it presents itself on same perf levels as GTX970 is now

I don't think I know of a company who doesn't use NDAs including Nvidia, so I don't know where you're getting your ideas from. As for Pascal vs Polaris information war. I don't believe AMD has done that much more than Nvidia. AMD showcased at CES, Nvidia showcased CES (albeit a fake/prop product). Both have released tiny bits here and there but never something substantial (pre-launch events that is). Although I do think AMD might have been a bit more forthcoming and marketed it more but that's because they need it. Nvidia cards almost sell themselves these days even when it is without merit, unfortunately.

 

As for silence giving credit to something being wrong, perhaps. That's up to the individual to decide. It could also be a sign of everything going according to plan. Revealing all your cards too early leaves you vulnerable. For example, Nvidia has launched their cards too early meaning only two SKUs in a staggered launch. No other SKUs are ready and these two launch in limited quantities at a ridiculous price. That might as well be a sign of desperation.

 

I'm sure AMD has learned from past mistakes with long paper launches and stock shortages. If not, then it would be very disappointing to see AMD taking so long considering they had a working sample to show off at CES (if I recall they actually had something to show in December as well). Their strategy seems to be a full Polaris launch meaning as many SKUs as they can with only perhaps a smaller staggered release cadence instead of Nvidia's a SKU here, then a SKU two weeks later and two more six weeks later or whatever they are doing.

[zMeul]

2 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

As for silence giving credit to something being wrong, perhaps. That's up to the individual to decide. It could also be a sign of everything going according to plan. Revealing all your cards too early leaves you vulnerable. For example, Nvidia has launched their cards too early meaning only two SKUs in a staggered launch. No other SKUs are ready and these two launch in limited quantities at a ridiculous price. That might as well be a sign of desperation.

last generation nVidia also launched Maxwell v2 with 2 cards, where are you getting your ideas from?

 

and yes, since AMD had a working sample since January, begs the question: where is Polaris? unless something it's not quite right with it

comparatively, nVidia hasn't shown public Pascal demos before the event couple of weeks ago

[Trixanity]

13 minutes ago, zMeul said:

last generation nVidia also launched Maxwell v2 with 2 cards, where are you getting your ideas from?

 

and yes, since AMD had a working sample since January, begs the question: where is Polaris? unless something it's not quite right with it

comparatively, nVidia hasn't shown public Pascal demos before the event couple of weeks ago

Yes, they may have launched two cards previously, but were they launched in such limited quantities as to warrant a "Founder's Edition" with a big premium tax attached to it? Don't recall that happening.

 

As for your second paragraph. The lack of any early reveals could just be the sign of a rushed release with no prior opportunity to show it off. AMD has showcased some of their work on previous events where applicable. It seems like Nvidia just had a few cards ready off the assembly line before going forward with the launch.

 

In any case: you see how easy it is to draw conclusions out of thin air? We can go back and forth like this all day.

[zMeul]

6 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

The lack of any early reveals could just be the sign of a rushed release

rushed release? based on what?

 

even AIB partners have shown their custom boards - that means they had access to Pascal GPUs for quite a while now

 

where as, AMD's AIB partner were the ones that supposedly aren't happy with AMD for not delivering a Computex launch - and guess what, there's no Computex launch

[Nineshadow]

1 hour ago, zMeul said:

my opinion on NDAs - total bullcrap

 

take the HB SLI bridge shit that went on before the NDA lift

someone from EVGA posted on their forums that there will be only 2 way SLI - and that was true; but the internet went apeshit because people with the info weren't allowed to talk

some other people leaked the info that nVidia will allow 3way+ but only with a driver key they can supply at request - and that was also true

 

so .. what's the reason for NDAs?! to restrict access to information?! for what purpose exactly?

 

I understand putting an embargo on review release date so every outlet can have a decent amount of time to do theirs

but, information that is crucial to the consumer so he'll make a informed purchase should not be withheld

Uh...the information will get to the consumer. Just not now, not before the product is officially announced, then later released.

[zMeul]

4 minutes ago, Nineshadow said:

Uh...the information will get to the consumer. Just not now, not before the product is officially announced, then later released.

riight, like it was in the 3xx series case where it was full of rebrands while AMD continuously telling people they weren't

that's the shit NDAs protect, lies and misinformation to prevent people from making a proper informed purchase

 

it is also true with the GTX1080 FE thermals - a big fucking mistake nVidia should not've done, or explain it better

redeeming factor for that - NDA lifted before actual release date

[Trixanity]

12 minutes ago, zMeul said:

rushed release? based on what?

 

even AIB partners have shown their custom boards - that means they had access to Pascal GPUs for quite a while now

 

where as, AMD's AIB partner were the ones that supposedly aren't happy with AMD for not delivering a Computex launch - and guess what, there's no Computex launch

Based on the fact they decided to launch without supplies in proper order. They could have waited a month and had a full launch of both SKUs with no Founder's Edition bullshit. As for designing custom boards, they only need some engineering samples, as far as I'm concerned, to do that; not actual production chips.

 

And you're quoting rumors and made up fairy tales. So we're back at it again: we can do this back and forth with stuff pulled from everywhere but actual facts.

[zMeul]

5 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

no Founder's Edition bullshit

from nVidia's point it makes a whole lot of sense - to gouge people that can't wait

from a informed buyers standpoint, it makes no fucking sense to buy FE

 

and we get back to NDAs, there was no info that AIBs will have their own cards at launch

the card availability a rumor came from [H], and guess what ... AIBs have already their own cards in stores

[Deli]

1 hour ago, Trixanity said:

Based on the fact they decided to launch without supplies in proper order. They could have waited a month and had a full launch of both SKUs with no Founder's Edition bullshit. As for designing custom boards, they only need some engineering samples, as far as I'm concerned, to do that; not actual production chips.

 

And you're quoting rumors and made up fairy tales. So we're back at it again: we can do this back and forth with stuff pulled from everywhere but actual facts.

 Yeah, but from actually production to shipping and marketing. It isn't like they get the clips from Nvidia and then will have the cards in the shops in two weeks.

[Trixanity]

26 minutes ago, Deli said:

 Yeah, but from actually production to shipping and marketing. It isn't like they get the clips from Nvidia and then will have the cards in the shops in two weeks.

No one has said it takes two weeks. What I've said is that Nvidia should have waited a month to ensure stock. There is a big difference. And it could have made a big difference in the presentation of the product and the reaction of consumers.

Instead, this obvious plant of a screaming Nvidia lady happened (my toes curl involuntarily):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it3HVZMSBfY&feature=youtu.be&t=4267

[awesomeness10120]

14 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

No one has said it takes two weeks. What I've said is that Nvidia should have waited a month to ensure stock. There is a big difference. And it could have made a big difference in the presentation of the product and the reaction of consumers.

Instead, this obvious plant of a screaming Nvidia lady happened (my toes curl involuntarily):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it3HVZMSBfY&feature=youtu.be&t=4267

It's obvious that stock is going to be a major problem with Nvidia. Not only do they have a new process in its infancy, but they also have new memory being manufactured by only one company. Nvidia's going to manufacture way more 1070s than 1080s

 

[Energycore]

3 hours ago, zMeul said:

riight, like it was in the 3xx series case where it was full of rebrands while AMD continuously telling people they weren't

that's the shit NDAs protect, lies and misinformation to prevent people from making a proper informed purchase

 

it is also true with the GTX1080 FE thermals - a big fucking mistake nVidia should not've done, or explain it better

redeeming factor for that - NDA lifted before actual release date

I'm glad we can agree that Nvidia dropped the ball by showing the 1080 perform better in thermals than it actually does.

 

On that topic, do we know how the 1070 performs thermally? It's got 83% of the TDP but the cooler doesn't have a vapor chamber. Tomshardware didn't show thermals allegedly because of lack of time.

[Briggsy]

1 hour ago, Energycore said:

I'm glad we can agree that Nvidia dropped the ball by showing the 1080 perform better in thermals than it actually does.

 

On that topic, do we know how the 1070 performs thermally? It's got 83% of the TDP but the cooler doesn't have a vapor chamber. Tomshardware didn't show thermals allegedly because of lack of time.

Apparently around 76-77C at stock speeds.

 

 

[Energycore]

10 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

Apparently around 76C at stock speeds.

 

I liked Hardware Unboxed's test procedures. I'll sub them!