TechPowerUp Selects PNY as Graphics Card Provider for Review Test Systems

[Timbaloo]

That's it for me. Now all TPU reviews will be biased towards NV/PNY. This site has lost all of its credibility. I'll switch to a resource that has completely unquestioned work ethics: The Linus Media Group...

/s

 

[FoulOnWhite]

That's it for me. Now all TPU reviews will be biased towards NV/PNY. This site has lost all of its credibility. I'll switch to a resource that has completely unquestioned work ethics: The Linus Media Group...

/s

Linus He's a boy in a mans body

I saw the /s btw

 

[Hugis]

Any spares , rofl

 

[W1zzard]

Any spares , rofl

Congrats on being the first one to ask ^^ Thanks for your service to our community, I'm sure I can find something for you. What's your native monitor res?

 

[Hugis]

for real @W1zzard ? erm 1920*1080(have been looking @1440p monitors), wow.........

I would be quite happy to raffle off my old 1080ti FE to a tpu member, lets see what happens!

 

[FoulOnWhite]

for real @W1zzard ? erm 1920*1080(have been looking @1440p monitors), wow.........

Nice, wish i'd thought to ask.

 

[lexluthermiester]

This will leave the door wide open for criticism of review bias.

The whiners always whine anyway, at least with this, everyone will know what they're actually whining about.

I personally have no doubts that @W1zzard & crew will remain objective and impartial.

To me, this seems like a good partnership. PNY(and Palit, the designers for most of PNY's PCBs) are well known and trustworthy.

 

[tpa-pr]

I normally try to remain somewhat measured in my responses here but the questioning of TPU's integrity because of a partnership is, frankly, ridiculous. And insulting to those who work hard to garner the hardware needed for timely reviews.

W1zzard has given us no reason to suspect bias in the past and until shown otherwise I'd prefer to take this announcement as the good fortune for TPU it is. Perhaps it's worth holding off on accusations of bias or doom saying until we have some actual hard evidence?

Not everything on the internet needs to be battle or a conspiracy.

 

[W1zzard]

for real @W1zzard ? erm 1920*1080(have been looking @1440p monitors), wow.........

I would be quite happy to raffle off my old 1080ti FE to a tpu member, lets see what happens!

4060 Ti it is then, do you have any special constraints in terms of physical size?

 

[Hugis]

No i do not boss!

 

[RayneYoruka]

I´ll just wonder how the next "unbiased" Review of an PNY gpu in the future will look like or won´t there be any PNY reviews in the future?

I was about to say but idk

I guess time will tell

 

[R-T-B]

Congrats on being the first one to ask ^^ Thanks for your service to our community, I'm sure I can find something for you. What's your native monitor res?

You are a saint sir.

 

[alwayssts]

I swear, you step away from the keyboard for a couple days...

Hey W1z, mind if I ask which (older) cards are/will be from PNY (as I am that very weird guy that thinks about things down to the clock states when comparing a new product review versus a blanket non-descriptive card on the chart)? Is it all (and only) the 40 series? I had assumed most were FE (where applicable), as IMO that makes the most sense as a non-biased baseline. Not only from a value perspective, but nVIDIA also generally appears not to give themselves the most garbage bins of their chips (unlike AMD, where it may be a choice to make their partners look better and/or be a worse-case scenario). I don't want to say where I think those chips go....people can look at performance of past cards from different vendors of the same chip and come to that conclusion for themselves. Let's just say it would make sense if they end up at Best Buy rather than a dedicated computer site like Newegg (for people are much more savvy about the intricacies of what they're buying.)

Let it be known that as a close observer of the space that I do not like this. While there's always been the possibility, if not overwhelming likelihood that a site like TPU could receive golden samples and the like, this just muddies that water even further. I know you know, but the importance of your charts as a resource for people *could* mean all kinds of things, down to even nVIDIA/PNY straight-up binning parts FOR YOU that show a particular threshold result that may not be indicative of most (or certainly PNY) typical performance. You may think that's crazy, but it really, really isn't. It's marketing 101. This site and your reviews are a very important resource within this scene, and make no mistake that PNY is doing this to bolster their (kind of second-rate) reputation within it. To think they won't do everything in their power (conceivably aided by nVIDIA) to rig perception is naive. That is literally the point of stuff like this. I would go so far as to say you are perhaps the best bang-for-buck for a sponsorship, as your site/reviews are a much-cited 'hard' resource in a world that is converting from written media to video (Youtube) wrt revenue. They also know that.

You being businessman that has put decades of work in for the community, I completely understand wanting to profit from that reputation. You rightfully deserve recognition and to profit from your work because of what you've done.

I really just wish there was some other way. I know it's tough for print/websites competing versus YT, and TPU doesn't doesn't have the foothold there it rightfully should given the quality of content. But still.

I will support you regardless, and I know/trust you do your best to be unbiased, but please be aware this does open a door for someone to come in and do something similar without those thoughts in the back of peoples' minds.

That's not something I ever thought I would say about this site.

Understand while many other sources generally develop Computer Hardware Reviewer Syndrome eventually, your reputation has stood the test of time like almost no other; the clout is real. You have that clout for NOT doing this.

If nothing else, I appreciate you being transparent with the/your community. Also very cool of you to donate a card to a reader. "Little" things like that go a long way in this world imo, and you probably made their day/week/month/year.

Thanks again, for all that you do. Just, you know, think about it. There's so few sources (left) of your rep/caliber that haven't been destroyed by buying up their talent or tarnishing their cred/skewing perceived reality through sponsorships.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

The fact tha W1zzard told us proves how honest and genuine he is, he could have just kept this to himself and none of us would have been any the wiser.

 

[Hugis]

The first post say's these are the various review machines that have the PNY cards (see below).
I think your reading to much into this, the cards are for the review machines :- ssd,cases,etc so giving "golden samples" would not make a ssd or case review any better or worse.
And yes this site to me is the bastion of great hardware reviews and a great commuinty to boot, i really dont think having a GPU supplier on board as a sponsor is a bad thing, just good buisness practice?
Also thank you for noticing that W1z has offered me a shiny new gpu, I really didnt expect anything when i asked, honestly.
And i really want to get my 1080ti out to a TPU'er who needs it.

 

[alwayssts]

I think your reading to much into this, the cards are for the review machines :- ssd,cases,etc so giving "golden samples" would not make a ssd or case review any better or worse.
And yes this site to me is the bastion of great hardware reviews and a great commuinty to boot, i really dont think having a GPU supplier on board as a sponsor is a bad thing, just good buisness practice?

Perhaps I am wrong about them being/becoming the defacto for GPU charts (and CPU reviews)? If I am, please clarify that is not the situation. I am under the impression they will be.
While I don't want W1z to have to write out the model for every card in a chart, this does cloud the picture especially if say he uses a "XLR8" (which these pictures ALL show) versus a stock card from PNY and/or AMD. XLR8 is their premium brand and not reflective of a 'stock' card.

I think my points still stand regardless of how negligible the impact in some scenarios. People see these things and they DO matter, or else the sponsorships wouldn't exist.

No, I do not think it's a good business practice in his line of work, especially given his reputation: that's precisely my point. You may not see it that way, but some will. Others won't know the difference.

I respect your opinion though, of course. Congrats on your card. Like I said, really cool to see that connection. Thanks also for your work on the site, you deserve it.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Perhaps I am wrong about them being/becoming the defacto for GPU charts (and CPU reviews)? If I am, please clarify that is not the situation. I am under the impression they will be.
While I don't want W1z to have to write out the model for every card in a chart, this does cloud the picture especially if say he uses a "XLR8" (which these pictures ALL show) versus a stock card from PNY and/or AMD. XLR8 is their premium brand and not reflective of a 'stock' card.

If you look closely at the pictures, you will see they are just being used as the necessary GPU in a system designed to test other parts (CPU coolers, Motherboards, CPUs, SSDs, Memory). If W1zzard gets his hands on a 7900X3D (for example), he will need a GPU that does not bottleneck the CPU. It really doesn't matter what type of 4090 he uses; the point of the review is the 7900X3D.

 

[alwayssts]

If you look closely at the pictures, you will see they are just being used as the necessary GPU in a system designed to test other parts (CPU coolers, Motherboards, CPUs, SSDs, Memory). If W1zzard gets his hands on a 7900X3D (for example), he will need a GPU that does not bottleneck the CPU. It really doesn't matter what type of 4090 he uses; the point of the review is the 7900X3D.

I disagree. It gives an idea of a 7900x3d with an overclocked 4090 some people wouldn't know is overclocked, which then skews how EVERY cpu looks on gaming/other workload charts.

Like I said, if he chooses to use them in CPU/GPU reviews I think that skews the picture, especially to those uninformed, and that damages his credibility in my eyes.

When I see a GPU chart from the 40 series, I expect it to be running at ~2730mhz because that is an accurate representation for most peoples' ootb experience unless they choose to buy an overclocked AIB model (or do it themselves). That is why the charts are labeled as the vanilla part number. Anything different DOES skew things towards nVIDIA. To not see that, especially when nVIDIA sells their cards at VERY particular clockspeeds so their cards have market segmentation/planned obsoletion in many enthusiasts eyes (when they drop below 60/120fps mins on his charts, for example) is just....well, just wrong and also exactly what they want. I come here for an accurate picture so that I can both pick apart the market as well as help people to the best of my ability. To do that, things must be fair.

If stock isn't and/or no longer will be the case, then W1zard should accurately display the AIB, model, and clockspeed on each card benched...Just as many other credible sites do.

Yes, it does look like shit when they do that. No, I don't want that and think his graphs are very succinct. That is why they must be stock.

Like I said, this muddies the water (likely on purpose from nVIDIA/PNY). You can choose to believe or not believe that, but that's how good marketing works. It's also how credibility dies and makes my job of trying to reccommend a card/cpu to someone based on accurate information of both what it is doing and can do very difficult. I'm sure nVIDIA loves that. As a human that prefers honesty/ground truth, I hate it.

I'm not arguing for the sake of arguing. If W1zard uses stock PNY cards then the problem is completely solved (as long as that card is accurately reviewed itself). I am very curious if XLR8 models are in the contract. I'm not saying it's guarenteed they are, but I'd be willing to guess they are.

Hey, listen, I'd LOVE to be wrong. MAYBE I AM. But, MAYBE I'M NOT. I've just seen this shit way too many times and that's exactly why most consumers are fooled.

W1zard can do what he wants, but I prefer him to be completely transparent and now I have to question that.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

When I see a GPU chart from the 40 series

The entire point of the post was that there were to be used for other charts, not GPU charts.

I disagree. It gives an idea of a 7900x3d with an overclocked 4090 some people wouldn't know is overclocked, which then skews how EVERY cpu looks on gaming/other workload charts.

The entire point is to prevent a GPU bottleneck in a CPU test. A higher-performing card can only help that.

 

[OneMoar]

I disagree. It gives an idea of a 7900x3d with an overclocked 4090 some people wouldn't know is overclocked, which then skews how EVERY cpu looks on gaming/other workload charts.

Like I said, if he chooses to use them in CPU/GPU reviews I think that skews the picture, especially to those uninformed, and that damages his credibility in my eyes.

When I see a GPU chart from the 40 series, I expect it to be running at ~2730mhz because that is an accurate representation for most peoples' ootb experience unless they choose to buy an overclocked AIB model (or do it themselves). That is why the charts are labeled as the vanilla part number. Anything different DOES skew things towards nVIDIA. To not see that, especially when nVIDIA sells their cards at VERY particular clockspeeds so their cards have market segmentation/planned obsoletion in many enthusiasts eyes (when they drop below 60/120fps mins on his charts, for example) is just....well, just wrong and also exactly what they want. I come here for an accurate picture so that I can both pick apart the market as well as help people to the best of my ability. To do that, things must be fair.

If stock isn't and/or no longer will be the case, then W1zard should accurately display the AIB, model, and clockspeed on each card benched...Just as many other credible sites do.

Yes, it does look like shit when they do that. No, I don't want that and think his graphs are very succinct. That is why they must be stock.

Like I said, this muddies the water (likely on purpose from nVIDIA/PNY). You can choose to believe or not believe that, but that's how good marketing works. It's also how credibility dies and makes my job of trying to reccommend a card/cpu to someone based on accurate information of both what it is doing and can do very difficult. I'm sure nVIDIA loves that. As a human that prefers honesty/ground truth, I hate it.

I'm not arguing for the sake of arguing. If W1zard uses stock PNY cards then the problem is completely solved (as long as that card is accurately reviewed itself). I am very curious if XLR8 models are in the contract. I'm not saying it's guarenteed they are, but I'd be willing to guess they are.

Hey, listen, I'd LOVE to be wrong. MAYBE I AM. But, MAYBE I'M NOT. I've just seen this shit way too many times and that's exactly why most consumers are fooled.

W1zard can do what he wants, but I prefer him to be completely transparent and now I have to question that.

sigh mind not talking out your butt?

go lookup the clock table before spouting off the xrlr8 cards are not factory ocd or binned they are pnys entry level reference clones with a fancy cooler


but ill shut you down with this

clock speed doesn't matter the impacts are negligiable certainly no ware near enough to tip the scales one way or the other considering how terrible amds cards are at anything other then raster performace which like it or not is DEAD. btw even clock to the moon at 2800mhz the 4090 still looses in some raster tests


please gather up your outrage and show your self the door thanks

 

[W1zzard]

Hey W1z, mind if I ask which (older) cards are/will be from PNY (as I am that very weird guy that thinks about things down to the clock states when comparing a new product review versus a blanket non-descriptive card on the chart)? Is it all (and only) the 40 series? I had assumed most were FE (where applicable)

from the news post: "However, it's important to note that for graphics card reviews, the baseline values continue to be obtained from reference design graphics cards."

For the GPU reviews, nothing will change

GPU charts

No. PEOPLE PLEASE READ THE ORIGINAL POST. NOTHING CHANGES FOR GPU REVIEWS

and CPU reviews

Yes, they have .. for around a year .. since I replaced my EVGA 3080 FTW3 with a PNY RTX 4090 .. interesting that just now I'm hearing about this

 

[Dragokar]

Honestly? Congrats to the new partner!

Could you, if possible, ask your contact about these topics?

PNY RTX4070TI XLR8 high RPM hat 30% Fan Speed

Hello, I bought a PNY RTX4070TI XLR8. According to your test, it should be very quiet and run at around 1100-1200 RPM. Mine already has 1450 RPM at the minimum speed of 30% and is therefore very audible. With the power limit at 70%, the card only warms up to 52 degrees, but it always rotates at...

www.techpowerup.com

PNY GeForce RTX 4070 XLR8

Hello;), I have a question for the owners of PNY GeForce RTX 4070 XLR8 or other people who have relevant information, whether the new rtx 4070 from PNY have the same problem with a different bios and higher minimum fan speeds, similarly to the rtx 4070 ti? I didn't find any information about it...

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PNY RTX 4070 Ti XLR8 OC - New worse BIOS/version?

Hi, I recently bought a >>PNY RTX 4070 Ti XLR8 OC

www.techpowerup.com

I don't like it when a customer changes the bios and fan profile this “much” within the lifecycle of the card without calling it v1 or v1.1 or whatever.

 

[W1zzard]

Could you, if possible, ask your contact about these topics?

PNY RTX 4070 Ti XLR8 OC - New worse BIOS/version?

PNY has been silent since the beginning of this case, I sent the question to them through all possible channels and... Silence. Anyone willing to send a question to PNY? The more tickets they get on this issue the sooner we know their explanation. Flash a new card and risk turning it into a...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Nice never used one before now that evga is gone guess it's time to consider a new gpu maker

 

[neatfeatguy]

Yes, they have .. for around a year .. since I replaced my EVGA 3080 FTW3 with a PNY RTX 4090 .. interesting that just now I'm hearing about this

I don't recall anyone bitching about you using strictly EVGA cards the past few years before you moved on to the PNY 4090 or am I just not remembering correctly? From what I see in past reviews you had an EVGA 2080 Ti and then an EVGA 3080.

Where is the outrage from folks for that decision?

Sadly, people need to bitch just to bitch, I guess. I think it's great a company sees your work and feels that not only you could benefit from having a sponsor for your work, but also provide you a line of cards to test your systems out with so you're not having to fork out your own cash for such things. I wouldn't care if XFX came back to making Nvidia cards and they became your GPU provider for your bench systems.