2017 Hardware Thread

Cliff S · 05 Mar 2017

sygnus21 said:

Yeah, I kind of get some of it and understand timings, but in the end still can't figure if enabling/disabling nets any real performance to be of any worries. And, I'm still not sure if Windows 10 itself needs this done in OS as well, or if Windows 10 does it automatically. A lot of the talk on the OS side of enabling mainly centers around Windows 7, though there is some 8 & 10 talk. In the end, I can't tell if there's a performance boost or not. It's all maybe; it depends; probably.

I tend to let Windows take care of things, and even run winsat formal to let it know of changes, so it can adjust things like this.

wordsworth · 05 Mar 2017

essenbe said:

Well, I think it is a given that Ryzen can't run on an Intel Platform, so they would have to be talking about hamstringing the 'competition'.

If, and I emphasize if, AMD is telling reviewers to do that, I have a few observations.

1. They are absolutely stupid. Word getting out of them doing this would ruin AMD's reputation, not to speak of the reviewer's reputation.

2. Again, if AMD is telling reviewers to do that, it is very unethical and borders on defrauding the public. It would also show how high they regard their customers.

3. It would be a tacit admission that they cannot compete with Intel.

I would really like to know what @kipper has to say about this. Does it sound like something AMD would do and is this type of request common among reviewers?

I would like to know which reviewer that came from. I honestly find it hard to believe that AMD would be that stupid.

But if this is a motherboard manufacturer enhancement for only Intel chips, does this not then give a "cheat" to Intel chips over AMD? If so then it would make sense, from AMDs' perspective, to want this disabled in review tests. I've never built an AMD system so I don't know if they're is something similar built-in by motherboard manufacturers on boards for AMD chips. Edit: I would expect not however else AMD would suggest to turn that on.

MultiCore Enhancement: The Debate About Free MHz

essenbe · 05 Mar 2017

They gave a list to tweaks to improve the performance of AMD CPU's then requested a tweak that would reduce the performance of Intel CPUs. If the motherboard companies could have/could enhance the AMD CPUs, they would. Maybe they did, we just don't know. They are in the business of selling boards. If their boards make the CPU run better/faster, they will sell more boards. Pure and simple. AMD was looking for an unfair advantage either way you look at it. Whatever was done or not done, it wasn't without AMD and Intel knowledge.

Dude · 05 Mar 2017

It is fine to recommend settings to enhance their platform, but asking to set things to lower the competitions is wrong I think.

doorules · 05 Mar 2017

Read that some of the reviewers at least were asked to use dual channel ram as opposed to quad on the Intel tests, because Ryzen uses dual. Hardly Intels fault.

Personally I hope Ryzen is a massive success. The more pressure on Intel the better product at a reasonable price they put out there.

kipper · 05 Mar 2017

essenbe said:

Well, I think it is a given that Ryzen can't run on an Intel Platform, so they would have to be talking about hamstringing the 'competition'.

If, and I emphasize if, AMD is telling reviewers to do that, I have a few observations.

1. They are absolutely stupid. Word getting out of them doing this would ruin AMD's reputation, not to speak of the reviewer's reputation.

2. Again, if AMD is telling reviewers to do that, it is very unethical and borders on defrauding the public. It would also show how high they regard their customers.

3. It would be a tacit admission that they cannot compete with Intel.

I would really like to know what @kipper has to say about this. Does it sound like something AMD would do and is this type of request common among reviewers?

I would like to know which reviewer that came from. I honestly find it hard to believe that AMD would be that stupid.

In all the years that I did reviews I personally was never coached or asked to do anything but my unbiased review........I did reviews for all of the major board companies but I will add that in most cases the company sending the board would have their suggested settings for optimization of the board to highlight the latest technologies have been incorporated into the new product........I cannot find fault with that tactic which was or is not to discredit competition but to show what their R&D is bringing to the consumer...

I also found that when an item that I was reviewing did not perform well or as intended when I informed the manufacturer of my findings that they would ask for time for their technical folks to checkout my findings and in some cases a firmware or BIOS update would come which fixed the area of concern.......This was especially true in the early days of DVD and later Blu-ray burners when the demand was for faster burn speeds.....

As for reviewer integrity I can only answer for myself; if I would not buy the item I was reviewing then I would not recommend it to those reading my reviews....You must understand that if ASUS is bringing out a new board that they will do the necessary research to bring a better product to the public than their competitors; and all manufacturers do this. It is a dog eat dog world they live in...

essenbe · 05 Mar 2017

Thanks Kipper. I don't have a problem at all with tweaks to improve the performance of their product. That's what they should do. I don't have an issue with board manufacturers enhancing the performance of a CPU. If Asus can find a way of making my CPU run faster/smoother/better, I want it! But, hamstringing the competition, I have a big problem with that and any reviewer who would do it. Just my 2 cents.

kipper · 05 Mar 2017

essenbe said:

Thanks Kipper. I don't have a problem at all with tweaks to improve the performance of their product. That's what they should do. I don't have an issue with board manufacturers enhancing the performance of a CPU. If Asus can find a way of making my CPU run faster/smoother/better, I want it! But, hamstringing the competition, I have a big problem with that and any reviewer who would do it. Just my 2 cents.

Steve......I honestly do not think any reviewer would do that. It would be so obvious, his integrity would be brought into question and his reputation destroyed........Having said that I must add that it has probably happened but that reviewer's tenure was or will be short lived.......

solarstarshines · 05 Mar 2017

essenbe said:

Thanks Kipper. I don't have a problem at all with tweaks to improve the performance of their product. That's what they should do. I don't have an issue with board manufacturers enhancing the performance of a CPU. If Asus can find a way of making my CPU run faster/smoother/better, I want it! But, hamstringing the competition, I have a big problem with that and any reviewer who would do it. Just my 2 cents.

Paul even mentioned this why would he turn off his settings to boost AMD the performance should already be there they boasted to beat the 6900k so i mean if you need smoke and mirrors to do so then you really aren't beating anyone

If they could beat intel straight up with no extra tweeking namely disabling features on the competition then they can take the crown i would not mind but coming from Intel to AMD back to Intel it is apparent that AMD is a good company for people who have less money bottom line

AMD is good for beginners and someone who is a professional will always go to the top level equipment like Intel it is well known and a big brand

AMD is looking good for Content Video etc but everyday task it is so so gaming shouldn't even be a problem when most games are GPU dependent most of the time

solarstarshines · 05 Mar 2017

kipper said:

Steve......I honestly do not think any reviewer would do that. It would be so obvious, his integrity would be brought into question and his reputation destroyed........Having said that I must add that it has probably happened but that reviewer's tenure was or will be short lived.......

Most of the people i seen will not even go there you can't claim to have a chip to beat down the King but the King is disabled by 50% lol that's not a fight anyone would take

At this point AMD just needs to get those Bios updates and microcodes out not everyone is going to use this as Ammunition against AMD i think they done something like this before when Bulldozer showed up