Nvidia to leave only six partners (see the list here)

[rwayne]

I can't believe that quality Nvidia partners like BFG and PNY did not make the cut. These are some of the best manufactures and their cards are widely circulated in retail stores.

What is BFG going to do? To the best of my knowledge 95% of their business is Nvidia cards. ATI is not taking on any more partners.

I am surprised that some of the other manufactures beat them out. (Assuming this article is true that is which at this point I am having a hard time believing.) It will be a shame if this happens.


http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10035&Itemid=1

Very well informed sources said that Nvidia will cut all but six partners. The ones to stay are EVGA, PC partner (Zotac), Asus, MSI, Palit and XFX.

We don't know anything more than the list and it looks that Nvidia will announce this very shortly.

Everyone else who is not on this list will be cut off and this will make much better breathing space for the remaining six partners. At press time we don't have any more details than that.

 

[alvine]

Kind of diturbing since I don't like either MSI or Palit to stay.

Palit has a sonic frog as their logo....I mean wtf

MSI is known for their bad quality.

So why didn't they take out those two and have BFG with their lifetime warranty and Pny? :<

 

[rwayne]

Palit & Zotac kind of surprised me however from what I understand they are pretty big sellers over in Europe.

ASUS in some ways surprised me however they are regarded by many as being thee best motherboard manufacture so in many ways it makes sense to keep them.

Nvidia's logic really confuses me. ASUS and MSI make BOTH Nvidia and ATI cards. You would think Nvidia would be loyal to partners who are loyal to them like BFG & PNY who are "Nvidia Only" card vendors.

I could kind of see PNY being dropped but not BFG which offers a great warranty with their cards and good customer service from what I understand.

Far as MSI...I think they only reason Nvidia kept them is because they tend to include after market coolers standard on their cards and offer them at a low price.

I just hate to see loyal partners get the SHAFT in this deal.

 

[The Phantom]

Why on god's green earth Zotac?! They have neither been around for as long as others, nor are they that great. Regarding Palit, they are big and also own Gainward which is a good brand.

I'm also surprised that they didn't list Gigabyte, they make good non-reference cards and certainly the best passively cooled ones.

 

[rwayne]

Another point on BFG. Earlier in the year around March and April Sapphire was offering proposals to BFG for a buy out. However the deal never went through.

What will happen if Nvidia closes the door on BFG?

If that happens it will be interesting to see if Sapphire comes back and purchases the remains of BFG for a fraction of the original proposal. Say like 1/10th or less.

Because at that point they will just be purchasing the name and the current retail contracts with companies like Best Buy.

And that brings up another point. With BFG and PNY off the shelves at Best Buy what is going to go in their place? MSI cards? ASUS cards? What is going to fill the void?

If this happens get ready for some killer clearance sales at Best Buy on PNY and BFG cards.

 

[VoidNull]

They may have cut down to 6, but we all know that at the end of the day they really cut back down to two, it should read "more room for EVGA and XFX."

I am kinda interested to see where all of this is going.

First the bad G92 chipset fiasco, and the being sued by their investors. They loose the price/performance benchmark crown to ATI and now they are cutting back their manufacturers.

nVidia is either collapsing from the inside out, or they are setting up for something big.

Either way, should be fun to watch.

 

[aevm]

They should have kept BFG and dumped Zotac, Asus, MSI, Palit. I think they kept the cheaper brands because the economy is in the dumpster.

 

[emp]

I'm assuming that they reason they kept both ASUS and MSI is because they probably complain less about their financial status as long as they can cover their manufacturing expenses, since they both have strong motherboard and ATI graphics divisions to keep the income flowing in for the time being.

Even though BFG had a good warranty, you guys have to remember that this one in particular was a bit of a niche. They usually priced their cards higher than the competition for no apparent reason, and financially they probably returned less income than the ones you see there.

All in all, I think this was carefully analyzed and they kept the partners that sold the most products and at the same time provided competitive prices, which seems to be the case if you look closely on each partner that was kept. Zotac and Palit probably rock europe, XFX and EVGA america, and MSI and ASUS have strong footing in Asia.

 

[rwayne]

Did anyone see that article earlier in the year that EVGA and XFX have signed contracts with Intel for their graphic cards coming out in 2010?

The article states that partners were tired of the slim profit margins Nvidia was giving them plus all of the rules and regulations Nvidia demanded.

EVGA asked ATI if they could become a board partner to produce R700 cards but ATI said "Thanks, but no thanks" because ATI wanted to reward those companies who stayed with them during hard times.

What would Nvidia do then if their two flagship brands EVGA and XFX went to Intel exclusively? They would be screwed unless they were able to bring BFG back which probably will not even exist that point or will be bought out by someone else.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

One has to remember that another competitor comes in next year or so, and that nVidias sales have been cut due to ATIs marketshare gains. This move allows leverage, or more leverage with current partners regarding outside competition, and eliminates inside competition, which in itself, was causing the other partners alot of dismay, as nVidia had to make certain moves and leaving certain partners hurting

 

[rwayne]

One has to remember that another competitor comes in next year or so, and that nVidias sales have been cut due to ATIs marketshare gains. This move allows leverage, or more leverage with current partners regarding outside competition, and eliminates inside competition, which in itself, was causing the other partners alot of dismay, as nVidia had to make certain moves and leaving certain partners hurting

That is a very good point. I did not think of that. +1 on the post

 

[maximiza]

I think with fewer partners it will be easier for Nvidia to price fix. This really is not good news. When ever you start to control competition you start on a slipperly slope too even less market share. It is possable this was not Nvidias decision at all but the partners. That would sound worse if they stated that some partners are dropping Nvidia.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

I wouldnt look at it that way, as price fixing etc. I look at it more that nVidia can now be more aggressive in market

 

[rwayne]

Well, Nvidia and ATI just walked out of court last week from being sued for price fixing. Both were found innocent however with that fresh on their minds I don't think you will see prices going up any time soon.

I think there is so much competition right now between the 2 that prices will not escalate unless Nvidia can come out with a new chip that is totally dominate. However that is a long way off from happening if it ever does.

BTW...has anyone seen the prices on the GeForce 9800GTs lately? It is unreal. It is like $100 after rebate for several brands. Talk about a great deal!

I also noticed that there are some 4850s on new egg right now going for $134 after rebate.

I am really enjoying this price war.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

No, thats the coming of the 4830 doing that. nVidia is trying to sell off early, before the competition arrives

 

[bobbknight]

Asus=**** repair service so I don't see why they were kept

 

[Shadow703793]

PNY, I don't know. But BFG has pretty good quality stuff, and has good warranty and something smiler to EVGA StepUp.

Also note take FUDZilla with a grain of salt.

 

[nrnx]

Its reasons like this why I left Nvidia after the 7800 Series....

 

[rwayne]

Fudzilla is now backtracking on their article correcting themselves.

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10059&Itemid=1

We got word from the director of Nvidia EMEA Public Relations Luciano Alibrandi and he said that our original news that you can read here, is absolutely not true.

Let us quote him: “This is absolutely not true” and we apologize for all the confusion that we might have created. These six will get special treatment, but it looks like the rest won’t be cut off. There will be cuts, but the holy six won't be the only ones to stay on board.

We are sure that this is not the last story about this special list, but some things might have been misinterpreted.

BFG will be around to stay.

Point of View claims they feel they will stay too. I don't know why they feel so confident. Do you know anyone who has ever purchased a Point of View card in their life?

That would definately be a partner I would cut off.

 

[JeanLuc]

I can't believe anyone here takes Fudzilla seriously, it has to be one of the most disreputable technology news sites on the net.

 

[Liderc]

I'm surprised they dropped BFG, they have amazing warranties and step up programs. Very surprised with this move by nvidia.

 

[B-Unit]

/Facepalm

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/ces-200...o-company-you-ve-never-heard-of,news-318.html

I wouldnt be too shocked to learn that Palit makes cards for BFG and PNY.

Also, in response to all the MSI hate, I have owned 3 MSI video cards and all 3 were of superior quality with very nice aftermarket coolers attached.

 

[L1qu1d]

I think BFG should be at the top of the chain, with XFX and EVGA (although EVGA has some idiotic Customer service...my god how dumb they are).


BFG is everything and superior to EVGA, 10 days extra step up, less picky about what you send back, you don't need the box just the video card itself.

Zotac is just sin, and KFA/Galaxy is just a gamble card...damn cheap foxcon!.

Either way I think if they would've cut off BFG it would've just shocked me.

BTW, MSI i heard alot of failed cards, but when I had an MSI 9600 GT it worked fine! So I dunno.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

What's all this dump palit crap? From what I've heard they're actually the biggest, just new to NA. Which is why they've always been able to make the largest deviations from reference designs.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Some will probably get dropped, as they compete against each other in certain markets. nVidia wants good distribution thruout all markets. As usual, theres some truth to some of this, but at this point, we dont know how much