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Hardware reviews just scams?

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DOOM   12-10-2003 at 01:45:05 AM

After seeing jaw dropping numbers time and time again on review boards and then being repeatedly frustrated when I actually BUY the components and put together a rig, the thought occurs to me: Do hardware reviewers get parts specifically binned for them?

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1851&p=4" target="_new">AnandTech</A> reports running an <b>1160 FSB</b> on the P4C800-E Deluxe at "default voltage". This is just plain nonsense. Anybody who has ever used this board knows it's a fight to get the thing above 900FSB. Personally, I have <b>never</b> been able to successfully overclock any system to even half of what most reviewers claim.

So what's the deal? How do reviewers typically obtain parts to test? If they get "special packages" straight from the manufacturer, then I'm suspect. Think about how many tens of thousands of dollars are at stake for Intel on a new product. When it only costs them about an hour, why <b>wouldn't</b> they test a few samples and find the best one in the batch to mail to reviewers?

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silverpig   12-10-2003 at 03:24:55 AM
- 0 +

That's a good point. I doubt CPU manufacturers do that as they don't like overclocking, but motherboard manufacturers are known for trying to cheat a little. Before it was pointed out in many review sites, most companies overclocked their FSBs slightly, from 1-4 MHz above stock, just to give them that 1% performance edge. Lately though they've been good as the hardware sites have pointed it out.

CPUs may or may not o/c better than the review site's versions as overclocking reputations are usually spread via sites like overclockers.com or other user forums. Motherboards, yeah, they might, but to what extent I don't know. Of course, it could just be luck of the draw.

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.

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Crashman   12-10-2003 at 03:41:09 AM
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Do you own a P4C800-E? If so, I'd LOVE to see your MBM5 logs, to see how they compare to mine. I set mine to 5 seconds and 60 instances so it records 5 minutes of log.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

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caseman   12-10-2003 at 05:19:21 AM
- 0 +

You mention the word "repeatedly", so I don't know how much this applies, but mayhap you got a bum board...? I only say this because I have recently built two systems using the P4c800-E and gotten decent overclocks on both. One brought my 2.8 to 3.5 (250fsb) at 1:1 with memory, and the other brought a family member's 2.4 to something around 3.45 (285fsb) at 5:4 with memory. Both are completely stable.

Default voltage is Auto, which I'm not using, but I did set it at 1.625 and 1.65 which is not too outrageous.

It would not surprise me at all to learn that engineering "test" samples use the highest quality parts. Build it the best you can, see what it does, then bring down expense (e.g.. with cheaper, lower quality parts) until performance takes a noticeable hit.

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shadus   12-10-2003 at 01:52:55 PM
- 0 +

Definetly a factor in some cases where the manufacturer supplies the component. At the same time there is a massive luck factor involved, if you get a giant -- grats, if not either deal with it or try again. I know when trying for seriously large oc's more than one chip is a good idea... and alternate cooling isn't a bad idea in most cases.

Shadus

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shadus   12-10-2003 at 01:58:13 PM
- 0 +

Also of note is the lack of them describing a cooling solution... they could have easily been using a vapochill.

Shadus

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HardWareBoss   12-10-2003 at 04:47:51 PM
- 0 +

What ram are you using?

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