NVIDIA's New GPP Program Reportedly Engages in Monopolistic Practices

[rtwjunkie]

@bug I can certainly agree that one of us has misread it, and I’m willing to bet only time will tell.

I like @the54thvoid possibility too. What if all AIB banded together and said NO to Nvidia? Then they would have to abandon this preferential treatment and status quo exists.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Time for perspective.

So, if you dont sign up to GPP, you keep going as normal? If MSI, Asus and Gigabyte don't sign they can still do all the things they do. The only anti-competitve part will be if Nvidia withhold the OEM boards/chips that they buy up to produce their AIB cards (and that would lead them straight to court if it was found to be so). Conversely, if you do sign up you must brand your AIB cards with the Geforce/Nvidia logo and you get help with marketing and engineering help. Kyle has used anonymous sources to say Nvidia will not allow you to sell AMD. That can't be trusted at face value unless we're being utterly hypocritical. How often do we criticise TPU for 'unsourced' news material yet we're willing to believe Kyle because he says it on the back of his report?

This one has to be watched as it develops. I'm not bothered either way. If I want the best AMD card, I'd probably buy from AMD only brand Sapphire anyway (the largest supplier of AMD graphics cards in the world).

And why do you suppose has saphire turned into Amds main card partner could it be that they exclusively make Amd cards because no one else is, and many aibs stopped making as many variations of Amd card a few years ago hmmnn timelines

Also unsurprisingly it was AMD that gave the first hints to kyle and id wager they Know what's going on.

@bug how can you see all GPU makers top Gaming brands going soley Nvidia as anything but anti competitive , if the Gaming brands were all Nvidia wtf do you call the Amd line.
If you're marketing pushes your top gamng brand as the best for gaming then exactly how do you describe option B without it being derised by your own marketing.

This stuffs bad for customers and should not be put up with imho.

 

[iO]

I like @the54thvoid possibility too. What if all AIB banded together and said NO to Nvidia? Then they would have to abandon this preferential treatment and status quo exists.

Yea but who is going to say No to a briefcase full of "marketing funds" and the possibility to gain an edge over the competition?

 

[bug]

@bug how can you see all GPU makers top Gaming brands going soley Nvidia as anything but anti competitive , if the Gaming brands were all Nvidia wtf do you call the Amd line.

Now we have "all GPU makers top Gaming brands going soley Nvidia"? Where did that come from.

And let's be clear: I don't think we should blindly trust GPP is harmless until rpoven otherwise. I'm trying to see (past this news' and HardOCP's titles) what is the actual potential harm.

@bug I can certainly agree that one of us has misread it, and I’m willing to bet only time will tell.

I like @the54thvoid possibility too. What if all AIB banded together and said NO to Nvidia? Then they would have to abandon this preferential treatment and status quo exists.

Well, that's exactly what they should do, instead of crying to journalists like little girls. They're world-wide businesses after all, not kids the Nvidia can bully as they please.

 

[kruk]

Well, that's exactly what they should do, instead of crying to journalists like little girls. They're world-wide businesses after all, not kids the Nvidia can bully as they please.

nVidia already bullied their partners 10 years ago and now they are even stronger (https://www.fudzilla.com/news/graphics/10251-nvidia-to-leave-only-six-partners - Compare Fuad's list with current AIB state, you will be surprised how true it was).

I doubt anyone will take the risk ...

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Now we have "all GPU makers top Gaming brands going soley Nvidia"? Where did that come from.

And let's be clear: I don't think we should blindly trust GPP is harmless until rpoven otherwise. I'm trying to see (past this news' and HardOCP's titles) what is the actual potential harm.

Well, that's exactly what they should do, instead of crying to journalists like little girls. They're world-wide businesses after all, not kids the Nvidia can bully as they please.

Look ,i said all because that's what Nvidia is pushing for though not likely to get , there's saphire after all i was being a bit extreme i admit.
But the point after stands unanswered by you ie my main point????.

And yes they're all world wide businesses set to deliver the best gpu package they can and sell as much as possible so if they say no

Wink wink

They're inventory to sell empties quickly (especially atm)

And they lose advertising funds the company down the road saying yes does not , what shareholder is having that shituation mate.

 

[iO]

And let's be clear: I don't think we should blindly trust GPP is harmless until rpoven otherwise. I'm trying to see (past this news' and HardOCP's titles) what is the actual potential harm.

The potential harm is that AMDs already bad reputation for being always underperforming and only the low-budget oriented second choice would be artificially fueled and get even worse.

Well, that's exactly what they should do, instead of crying to journalists like little girls. They're world-wide businesses after all, not kids the Nvidia can bully as they please.

Nvidias marketshare gives them quite some leverage, they can basically do what they want...

 

[R0H1T]

I say good on them ~ put your monies where your mouth is! This goes for Nvidia, the AIB partners & consumers ~ shame on everyone involved if Nvidia get away with the same sh!t yet again

 

[bug]

nVidia already bullied their partners 10 years ago and now they are even stronger (https://www.fudzilla.com/news/graphics/10251-nvidia-to-leave-only-six-partners - Compare Fuad's list with current AIB state, you will be surprised how true it was).

I doubt anyone will take the risk ...

Interesting. I went to newegg, looked for Nvidia video cards and found 27 manufacturers. A handful of them look iffy, so let's say we have 20.
Yet somehow, something that was a rumour 10 years, is today reality in your head.

 

[kruk]

Interesting. I went to newegg, looked for Nvidia video cards and found 27 manufacturers. A handful of them look iffy, so let's say we have 20.
Yet somehow, something that was a rumour 10 years, is today reality in your head.

I specifically wrote AIB. Please, stop quoting my comments if you don't read them properly.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/partner-locator.html

 

[dyonoctis]

If the article on hardcop end up to be spot on, I must say, this is a pretty stupid move from Nvidia.
- "We are making a lot of money, we are the leader in the segment, so what should we do next ?"
- "What about openly abusing our dominance, and crush the competion to the ground by a making a deal with AIB that will be illegal on some aspect, sure to be heavily debated by the community, and would probably be closely watched by the juridic system of several continent/country ?"
- " Give this man a cookie !"

However when looking at the antitrust case of Intel:
- They weren't fined by the FTC, they just got a small slap on the hands.
- They never admited having done something wrong, and in september 2017 they managed to get a review on the European fine.
- In the end it never really mattered, as long as the product is good, people won't care if it was made by a company doing shady stuff, Intel is still "THE BRAND" for many people.
So i guess that Nvidia is trying his luck to see how much of a benefits they can make before getting sued.

 

[bug]

I specifically wrote AIB. Please, stop quoting my comments if you don't read them properly.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/partner-locator.html

View attachment 98175

That doesn't make much sense. Authorized board partners are those that provide card based on reference designs. How many of those do you need?

 

[Steevo]

Now we have "all GPU makers top Gaming brands going soley Nvidia"? Where did that come from.

And let's be clear: I don't think we should blindly trust GPP is harmless until rpoven otherwise. I'm trying to see (past this news' and HardOCP's titles) what is the actual potential harm.

Well, that's exactly what they should do, instead of crying to journalists like little girls. They're world-wide businesses after all, not kids the Nvidia can bully as they please.

I too am only after fair market practices, wherein we the consumers only have a couple choices due to existing patents, and complexity of manufacturing. But much like utilities and other "monopolistic" entities we allow to exist for the betterment of all, while providing more than reasonable profit....... there have to be laws in place. Every source https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasone...olistic-anti-consumer-practices/#58b40f482241 comes to the same conclusion, the GPP as written is likely illegal in most modern countries, violates consumer protection laws by creating an uneven playing field with the profits received from not only the public domain, but also the government contracts. Considering people were fearful of their jobs and repercussions if they spoke out..... it doesn't sound like its ethical, legal, and pro-consumer.

 

[BiggieShady]

AIBs can easily bypass nvidia's stupid restriction ...
... for example Asus has a line of graphics cards called 'Strix', so they separate amd gpus into a special 'AMD Strix' line. Effects:

1. Strix line keeps its recognition
2. AMD gets extra marketing for mentioning their name
3. Nvidia gets their separate product line

Soon, nvidia calls asking to change their line from 'Strix' to 'Nvidia Strix'

 

[kruk]

That doesn't make much sense. Authorized board partners are those that provide card based on reference designs. How many of those do you need?

Enlighten me please, into which category exactly do partners that build custom boards go.

Here is a list to get you started:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/become-a-partner.html

And also a category that "mislead" me:

Authorized Board Partners

Partners who use NVIDIA® GeForce® technology and reference designs to build graphics cards for customers

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[bug]

I too am only after fair market practices, wherein we the consumers only have a couple choices due to existing patents, and complexity of manufacturing. But much like utilities and other "monopolistic" entities we allow to exist for the betterment of all, while providing more than reasonable profit....... there have to be laws in place. Every source https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasone...olistic-anti-consumer-practices/#58b40f482241 comes to the same conclusion, the GPP as written is likely illegal in most modern countries, violates consumer protection laws by creating an uneven playing field with the profits received from not only the public domain, but also the government contracts. Considering people were fearful of their jobs and repercussions if they spoke out..... it doesn't sound like its ethical, legal, and pro-consumer.

Well, I'm not saying GPP is a Godsend. I'm just trying to look past the inflamatory titles and understand what exactly is wrong with it.

Enlighten me please, into which category exactly do partners that build custom boards go.

Here is a list to get you started:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/become-a-partner.html

And also a category that "mislead" me:



¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Use your brain. Custom designs are obviously in the hands of each manufacturer, there's no program at Nvidia for that.
Though there was a point several years ago where Nvidia tightened the grip on how much every builder had on their custom designs. It's hard to say whether that was a bad or a good move, but between that and Microsoft tightening the rules on how to write drivers, copmpared to 10 years ago, today we get almost no blue screens at all.

 

[Vya Domus]

However when looking at the antitrust case of Intel:
- They weren't fined by the FTC, they just got a small slap on the hands.
- They never admited having done something wrong, and in september 2017 they managed to get a review on the European fine.
- In the end it never really mattered, as long as the product is good, people won't care if it was made by a company doing shady stuff, Intel is still "THE BRAND" for many people.
So i guess that Nvidia is trying his luck to see how much of a benefits they can make before getting sued.

Because no one would realistically punish them to any significant degree such that it would disrupt their operations , that's never the goal of these organizations. They would all like to avoid issuing billions in fines because of the economical and political aftermath. In the end , the most they can do is "a slap on the wrist" as pathetic as that is.

 

[oxidized]

I got that, but apprently my reply didn't convey it well enough

Aw ok

 

[kruk]

Use your brain. Custom designs are obviously in the hands of each manufacturer, there's no program at Nvidia for that.

Why so hostile? I just wanted to know if AIB partner Fuad is talking about is equal to Authorized Board Partner. And I don't think you cleared it up, although I might be misreading things - in that case I'm truly sorry.

And I would love to see that list of 20+ nVidia video card manufacturers on newegg you mentioned, because this is what I see for the Geforce GTX 900 and 1000 series when searching for "nvidia video card".

Even going back to Fermi shows only 10 manufacturers. Maybe there is some geo filtering going on, I really don't know.

Please clear this up as it's really bugging me .

 

[Th3pwn3r]

Meh, I don't care about this personally. Throwing around the word monopoly when there's a huge shortage of cards from BOTH AMD and NVIDIA. If you have warehouses full of your products because of supposed monopolies then start crying. With the current state of things I couldn't care less about this news.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

It's this simple for me, Nvidia join intel on the" buy only if have to list", instead of being a general option, that's a shame since I'm already labelled biased by some but the facts are fairly plain to see and have been for four or more years though infinitely hard to definitively prove, Nvidia closed out some partners and have moved onto bullying others I'm voting with dollars and will take the stick as necessary.

 

[bug]

Why so hostile? I just wanted to know if AIB partner Fuad is talking about is equal to Authorized Board Partner. And I don't think you cleared it up, although I might be misreading things - in that case I'm truly sorry.

Sorry, didn't mean to come across as hostile. I meant, in the absence of explicit info, we can easily deduce bla, bla.

And I would love to see that list of 20+ nVidia video card manufacturers on newegg you mentioned, because this is what I see for the Geforce GTX 900 and 1000 series when searching for "nvidia video card".

View attachment 98184

Even going back to Fermi shows only 10 manufacturers. Maybe there is some geo filtering going on, I really don't know.

Please clear this up as it's really bugging me .

I didn't filter by generations, didn't think that would make a difference. It obviously does, but otoh I know we can add at least Galax and Palit/Gainward to the list.

 

[newtekie1]

Mountain, meet mole hill.

 

[fdl]

Obviously, the issue is the phrase “Gaming Brand Aligned Exclusively with GeForce”.

The meaning, implication and legality shall be tested in the context.

Now, when a consumer look for a card at Amazon.com, he will see something like “Gigabyte Geforce GTX 1050 2GB GDDR5 128 Bit PCI-E Graphic Card”.

Here Gigabyte is the name of the manufacturer and is the brand.

Obviously, “Gigabyte Corporate” won’t give up a long established brand.

So, the “Gigabyte Corporate” will be forced to use “gigabyte” for the brand of Nvidia products and establish a new brand for AMD products from ground up.

Is that legal???

 

[bug]

^^^ Asus' gaming brand is ROG. EVGA arguably doesn't even have gaming brand. That's why I said I'm not sure about the implications of that phrase.