Its always uncertain until it happens. Maxwell/Pascal for example got absolutely no benefit from their support of a higher DX12 feature level or even DX12 itself.
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Hardware Unboxed claims Nvidia has banned them from receiving future FE samples because they did not focus much on Ray Tracing.
- Thread starter unrealist
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Unfortunately for Nvidia their scumbag tactics backfired as HU are not so small they can be bullied. Glad they got support from the biggest tech tubers.
It worries me that they'll be able to employ these tactics on smaller outfits that dont have as much of a voice to hit back.
IIRC Maxwell/Pascal where DX12 compatible only software wise (or at least partially when it comes to Pascal), but were never actually build with DX12 in mind. GTX 9xx series was released only 7 months after DX12 was even officially a thing.
But this only reinforces my point, Nvidia didn't reap the DX12 benefits (and eventually started lagging behind) because they were only focused on the present, while AMD was the forward-looking one, which is a reverse of the situation we had with RTX 2xxx vs AMD 5xxx cards.
As far as anyone outside Nvidia knows, there was full hardware support for DX12. Microsoft requires specific hardware functionality to clam compliancy. Again we dont know what the impact of DX12U features such as sampler feedback and mesh shaders will be. All we have are Nvidias own demos/claims of support. They heralded both Maxwell and Pascal as designed for best in class DX12 performance and we see how that turns out in actual software written by developers.
Fair enough, although everything points out that DX12U features will become a standard in game development once current gen consoles get left behind, so it's very likely that GPU's that don't support it are going to struggle, especially if mesh shaders are gonna bring as major change as NV and MS says.
I assume that both Ampere and Turing fully support DX12U right?
Watching now. I remember him dropping sponsors for VPN and other things, calling companies or 3 and dating no more business with them. Unless they do complete 180 and earn back trust over time. Lesse how he treats Nvidia.
I would argue otherwise. I would say that Nvidia being angry at a tech journalist and other tech journalists calling it out on its shitty behavior shows that these channels are pretty independent.
TechSpot being the host for written versions of Hardware Unboxed's reviews and as thus affected by Nvidia's PR ploy by extension have published their long informative take on the story:
www.techspot.com
Edit: Another notable thing, this tweet by Steve:
So 20 years of working relationship between HU and Nvidia couldn't prevent the inane and insane email the latter still sent only to backtrack less than 48 hours later.
The ugly side of Nvidia: A rollercoaster ride that shows when Big Tech doesn't get it
As a corporation, it's Nvidia's prerogative to decide on the reviewers it chooses to collaborate with. However, this and other related incidents raise serious questions around journalistic...
www.techspot.com
Edit: Another notable thing, this tweet by Steve:
So 20 years of working relationship between HU and Nvidia couldn't prevent the inane and insane email the latter still sent only to backtrack less than 48 hours later.
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They are definitely testing the waters and will bully smaller reviewers in the future that don't have the clout to say "we don't need you".
Sure, but if anything this would affect the most negatively positive reviews for Nvidia themselves and somewhat boost trust in AMD. That seems particularly counterproductive....
If that was the plan it backfired massively lol. It just served to prove that Nvidia is a shady and scummy company, and to prove that independent reviewers have a very strong integrity and sense of unity.
One is dependent on pre-release review samples to publish a review to the dependent set embargo.
For me that is not independent to begin with.
We do not know how many times this has happened in the past.
I'll back you up here with a reference, Gamer's Nexus certainly do sometimes source parts independently in order to be free of obligations / implied bias, and I'm sure the fact that they do this on occasion gives them even more clout to disregard any pressures to focus more on this or less on that should they crop up.
Here is their Ryzen 3600 Review, with the serial# obscured in the B-roll so it's source could not be identified, and the official twitter saying that:
Like, they can pretty easily say / imply to Nvidia if need be "There's no point in telling us to not do a teardown on your provided 3070 FE, we'd just get one elsewhere anyway and use that one"
I remember another video where Intel(?) gave him a pre paid credit card voucher for "expenses" at some event, and he torched it in the opening to a video lol, saying "we don't accept gifts of money from any manufacturer and always pay our own way thanks to our kind patreons" or something similar - but I can't find that one right now.
As somebody who likes Hardware Unboxed and is on the fence regarding a new gpu purchase, I kind of want to buy a RX 6800 just to spite those assholes over at Nvidia.
As a shareholder maybe you should be annoyed by that fuckwit Brian Del Rizzo dragging Nvidias name through the mud with his lame ass attempts to control the message.
I'm a little disappointed to read this comment considering your outlet has directly benefitted from early NVIDIA access but early access in general. It has been pointed out that since NVIDIA gets final approval of who gets access to ANY pre-release hardware that has their chip, they could very easily attempt to take the step of banning them across the board.
Your comment reads to me like your more bothered by the one line of explicit pressure - because it's bad PR- versus the actual implications for "hardware benchers" large or small.
To be clear, I'm not saying you can't/shouldn't share your opinion, Just saying that as a supporter of your outlet and a fan of your content, I am disappointed reading it.
As I see it I find myself emotionally unattached to the idea that a publisher or manufacturer HAS to provide review samples. Not everything game journalists or benchers touch are review samples. A lot of our game's coverage for example. After being in this field for a tiny amount of time I have been in there, I have come to the rather detached emotional position where I just do not expect much of any help or support or fair play from corporations to enable journalism exactly. So I do not get affected by such a thing.
The big corporations leave journalists high and dry rather often actually - it just never blows up on twitter exactly.
But I do get affected by the idea of editorial being tampered with - which is the sacred cow of journalism, much more than immediate material access.
edit: Actually here you are on point and I am off-base here. Still a Gray Area Yeah it should also upset me that an outlet does not get hardware access given the way things are these days.
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If anything this sheds more light on how these suppliers operate and try and control reviews. Same thing happened by a very well known console game developer who are 1st party. They are bullies plain and simple and they think the bigger they are the more influence they should have.
Here is their "apology" email for those curious.
It's cute how they attempt to blame the possibility of lockdown fatigue for a professionally-written email that obviously had a lot of thought put into it. Bryan is such a complete idiot for allowing something so stupid to be sent with his name (if it wasn't him).
I'm glad the response from Nvidia has been to straight-up give them the access which was the point of contention in the first place. It's frustrating that backlash (seemingly) needed to play into this decision at all, but the material result is ideal, and the only harm done in the meantime was to Nvidia's own reputation.
You do realize that the e-mail would've had the same implication even if they hadn't put that line in there about editorial direction?
In fact, it's pretty arrogant/incompetent that NVIDIA outright stated it when they didn't have to:
Phew, and I thought Nvidia was being the bad guy here, folks
Here is their "apology" email for those curious.
Nvm then, it was the lockdown's fault. Nothing to see here everybody!
Here is their "apology" email for those curious.
just a heated lockdown moment
Seriously.
"Not well worded"? Seemed pretty clear cut to me. Also love how he doesn't acknowledge they were wrong about the reviews to begin with.
I doubt that'll happen within the next 5 years. DX11 performance will be just fine given the large number of Non DX12U GPU's out there.
Why are you okay with Nvidia witholding FE GPU's? Not giving them cards just makes Nvidia look childish, it fucks with Hardware Unboxed as they need to cover this hardware in a timely fashion, and it achieves absolutely nothing. All Nvidia have done here is stick their dick in a giant hornets nest and created a bunch of negative PR for no material gain whatsoever.
I have no idea how you turn "this reviewer doesn't want to get in NVIDIA's line" to mean "No independent journalism in tech" instead of drawing the opposite conclusion i.e. the power of independent coverage of technology by folks such as Linus Tech Tips, Gamers Nexus, Hardware Unboxed, JayzTwoCents, etc. is what caused NVIDIA to reverse course.
I see Del Rizzo had a Gamer Moment™.
Here is their "apology" email for those curious.
What a pathetic excuse for their badly conceived plan to sabotage HU.
Really now?
Can you really say that after Linus, JayzTwoCents, Gamers Nexus and other outlets collectivelly shat on Nvidia for this and forced them to reverse their decision?
If anything this proves that they have a really strong integrity and sense of unity. This boosted my trust in them.
User Banned (3 Days): Accusations of shilling, previously warned for hostility
I've always thought people who say Digital Foundry are Nvidia shills were being way over the top. Now I don't know what to think.
re-read my edit - I reconsider my stance ^^You do realize that the e-mail would've had the same implication even if they hadn't put that line in there about editorial direction?
In fact, it's pretty arrogant/incompetent that NVIDIA outright stated it when they didn't have to:
People who said that ARE being over the top. Nvidia has made the highest-performing cards for the last half decade-plus. That's a fact.
DF is all about evangelizing new tech. They don't really emphasize price/cost per frame, productivity, availability, etc. and that's fine. That's what outlets like Hardware Unboxed and Gamers nexus are for.
DF are not infallible but they don't pretend to be something they are not.
Lol "plz share with your fans"
yeah that's a bit odd, but ehh, it's a fair thing to want. idk.
I saw it more as him caring about his image than trying to get the dialogue to stop, since no one in their right mind would think it would.
Then again, no one in their right mind would ever even start this dumb debacle in the first place.
The stance above was incredibly short sighted by DF. Which is a shame since ei am a pretty big fan of theirs.
Here is another consequence of the Nvidia debacle. It gives more ammo to all the fanboys and anyone who is going to be positively reviewing an Nvidia card will be piled on as paid off by Nvidia now. Its stupid but thats how things roll.
Lol "plz share with your fans"
Basically 'I got caught trying to bully an outlet so I'm sending this insincere apology as its blowing up and I want to keep my job. Please let everyone see it'.
Note how he's not really distancing himself from any of the original mail's content there. The only references to it is that "it was not well worded" (the wording wasn't the issue, the content was) directly follow by an excuse for said wording.
Here is their "apology" email for those curious.
Impacted by a bit of lockdown fatigue is also showing no real accountability. The intent is and will continue to be there, just not as direct.