eissa
Artanis "Altáriel" Nerwen Nos Finwe
https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/4inkge/impressed_with_pascal_thinking_of_leaving_team/
To understand this post you'll first have to read (or be familiar with the topic in) the GamersNexus article, the "Difference Between GTX 1080 'Founder's Edition,' Reference, & AIBs."
The TL;DR is that the Founder's Edition is a standard reference edition card. It's not a specially binned part, it doesn't have higher clocks - it's a reference card. Nvidia claim (according to GamersNexus' interpretation) that the Founder's Edition is priced at a premium over the AIB partner cards so that they do not compete with their own AIB partners and they are aiming to achieve this by overpricing their reference cards into a higher price bracket.
In the case of the GTX 1080 that "Founder's Edition" reference card comes in at a $100 premium ($700 vs. the $600 MSRP of the AIB versions). For the GTX 1070 it's a $70 premium ($450 vs. $380).
Quite frankly... this is beyond bizarre. If Nvidia wanted to avoid competition with their AIB partners then they should have launched the reference edition at the same price as the MSRP for the AIB variants.
Why is this less competitive? For the same reason that custom cards usually win out against reference cards when their MSRPs are very close - the custom boards clock higher, have better features and longer warranties - add an equal price to that list and why on earth would you buy a reference card unless you needed one for custom watercooling and a standardised block to go with it?
Consumers recognise these factors as a no-brainer in making a decision between such uneven scales. The inherent imbalance is enough to ensure AIB partners are favoured.
Come to think of it, if Nvidia were really concerned about competing with their partners then why not give them a better rate on the reference cards and let them price them as they wish?
But what has Nvidia done? They've abandoned the "reference" nomenclature in favour of a premium sounding nomenclature coupled with a premium price.
Why?
Nvidia are nowhere near to "green" when it comes to marketing. In my opinion they are banking on confusion making them more money than the status quo of calling and pricing reference as reference. So if they call it a Lamborghini, and price it as a Lamborghini... will anyone realise it's a Porsche before they put their cash down?
Take note that "Founder's Edition" cards are likely to accompany the release of the rest of this generation's cards in Nvidia's lineup - so the possibility for confusion and price overlap isn't limited to just the two cards above.
Enthusiasts will do their homework before they make their purchases, but Nvidia has the kind of volume of mindshare outside of that group that many may not notice their mistake until they start bragging about their Founder's Edition online - and you can bet there will be replies along the lines of "LOL, why did you pay more for a reference edition you moron?"
And what reason will they have? I don't know about you guys, but if I found out about my mistake via anonymous insult I'd feel very foolish for assuming a higher priced and fancier named card was in fact just a reference card. That'd sting my pride a little, enough for some resentment to fester, and I'd be looking for someone other than myself to blame. Nvidia.
In fact, how the hell can Nvidia claim they have the consumer's best interests at heart when they knowingly market an inferior product (and the Founder's Edition nomenclature change is clear intent of marketing) over the much better value their AIB partners can provide? That is disingenuous to the consumer who's hard earned cash could have been better spent and disingenuous towards their AIB partners hard work to innovate on build quality, features, performance, support, software - and price! - only to be beaten by their own supplier's marketing trick!
This is madness!!!
[Before we continue, even if all of this is not Nvidia's design there is a chance AIB partners will price their cards at Nvidia's Founder's Edition price point because they might recognise how this scheme could hurt them. Alternatively there may be an unspoken "gentleman's" understanding between them that the $600 MSRP is a false flag meant only to advertise Nvidia's INTENT to offer better value. In either case Nvidia wins.]
Think I'm running with a conspiracy theory here? Please, re-read the first two paragraphs of this article before you continue reading this post.
NVidia's bombastic GTX 1080 & GTX 1070 release signified the shift from “Reference” card nomenclature to one more fitting of a Kickstarter campaign, branding its $700 version of the 1080 the “Founder's Edition.” In our ensuing video coverage of the card, viewer comments indicated a clear disconnect with nVidia's intentions regarding the “Founder's Edition” GPU, its differences between the “normal” GTX 1080, and the GTX 1080s from add-in board partners. We're here to demystify that.
NVidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang hosted the official GTX 1080 ($700) unveil. On stage, Huang indicated – whether intentional or not – that a few different versions of the “reference” GTX 1080 would ship. The price structure was a markedly affordable $600 MSRP for the GTX 1080, or $700 for the GTX 1080 Founder's Edition (or “Legendary Edition,” as we've taken to calling it). Based upon the stage presentation, the Founder's Edition also carried with it a mark of higher overclocking support.
We've learned that's not quite how it works.
Do any of you honestly believe Jen-Hsun Huang's ambiguity during an on-stage rehearsed livestream broadcast to (and archived for) hundreds of thousands of potential customers in combination with the unclear rebranding of "reference" was a coincidence? Conveniently Nvidia's clarification won't reach the majority of those viewers. The damage was done, or from Nvidia's perspective - objective achieved.
This is insane. This is unethical. How is it possible that Nvidia are getting away with this? If this were the first unethical stunt Nvidia had pulled I would be more reserved and less certain, but the pieces fit too snugly, the money is too easy to follow.
Aren't Nvidia a strong enough company to stand upon the merits of their product?
You're not a bad person if you do decide to buy Nvidia products (let's have none of that thrown around here please - and a shout-out to EVGA for their amazing customer support) but a company should not be praised for bad behaviour. Do yourself a favour and educate consumers. Keep at it and strike when the opportunity presents itself, when you have something to add to the conversation. No one expects you to become a crusader.
It may seem like it's not making a difference but it is. I'm typing this on a laptop running Linux Mint because someone somewhere thought it was worth the time to educate me. For me that move was a net positive one. If you can connect consumers with enough real benefits to convince them to make the move to Radeon hardware they'll thank you for it whether you're around to hear it or not.
I understand that for practical reasons some of you have to use Nvidia hardware, that you're tied into their ecosystem (there are edge cases for everything) but for those outside that group - your purchasing decisions really matter. At the very least speak up for your interests and the health of the industry.
In spite of where they are and how much they've fought to overcome, the competition doesn't do stuff like this - they don't need to.
AMD believe their road to profit is built on the foundation of happy customers. Value. Performance. Longevity.
What the hell does the corporate body of Nvidia believe in besides fast cards, development behind closed doors and marketing? For the benefit of their own company culture and the fulfilment of their employees - hold them to a higher standard.
i love these videos
