Micro Center recently showed a clear bias against AMD graphics cards in a blog post on the topic of choosing hardware for your PC build. The company's CEO has since apologized, claiming that the post doesn't reflect how Micro Center feels about AMD's graphics cards.
As spotted by Twitter user MeyerTechRants, the post argued that while AMD graphics cards are cheap, they require owners to carry out modifications or regular upkeep to keep them working as intended.
The post went on to say that Nvidia graphics cards are plug-and-play, like video game consoles. It's ironic, considering that Nvidia's latest GeForce RTX 3090, RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3080 graphics cards are the ones that benefit from a thermal pad swap.
Here's the excerpt from the post:
"Typically AMD graphics cards are more affordable but can require some modification or regular maintenance to keep working as intended. On the other hand, Nvidia graphics cards function much like video game consoles and essentially work in a plug-and-play fashion. The ease of use and stability of Nvidia GPUs have made them the most popular choice among gamers and streamers. Nvidia cards also support Ray Tracing and DLSS, which work together to provide gamers the highest quality graphics possible without sacrificing frame rates."
After the receiving backlash, Micro Center's President and CEO Rick Mershad issued a public apology on the company's website.
"Incorrect information pertaining to AMD graphics cards was inadvertently published on our website. This was published without properly vetting the information within, and we deeply apologize for the error," he said.
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Mershad added that AMD Radeon graphics cards do have good things going for them, like their "top-of-the-line performance" and features, including ray tracing and the latest FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology, AMD's response to DLSS.
"AMD graphics cards offer top-of-the-line performance, including ray tracing and AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (AMD FSR) for maximum visual performance, as well as easy installation, with no upkeep beyond standard driver updates. We are proud partners of AMD and will continue to offer their cards as a premium component for all custom PC builds," Mershad wrote.
We do wonder if there was any reasoning behind Micro Center's original post, such as RMA data. But for the normal consumer, driver maintenance is probably the only thing on the to-do list for the first couple of years of owning the graphics card. Eventually, the topic of repasting the GPU or replacing the thermal pads can come up, but that's normal for any graphics card, whether it be Radeon or the best graphics card from Nvidia.
Zhiye Liu is a news editor, memory reviewer, and SSD tester at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.
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Brian28 Maybe Microcenter should offer a discount for those "inferior" cards. I'm not holding my breath.Reply -
King_V That's a little odd. I don't follow their blog or anything, but it's weird. I don't know who posts them, but it almost sounds like one of those typical trollers that trot out ages old claims that get repeated over and over got in somehow and started ranting.Reply
Any AMD/ATI card I've dealt with has aged out of driver support before I had to do anything. ONE particular Gigabyte card developed a fan rattle in one of its two fans, but, being a Windforce OC card, that cooler design is Gigabyte's, not AMD's. And, it only rattles at a very specific RPM.
It's like they allowed an Nvidia fanboy to hop in for a moment or something.
Bizarre. -
MMorris666 I've been gaming on pc for several years now, started with 980's then 2080ti and after getting a new tv i needed hdmi 2.1 to get the most out of it, so i got a 6900 xt. now i might have a dodgy card or something but ive been really disappointed. micro stutter in some games, others black screen and restart the pc. the fans ramp up twice as loud as the other cards ive had and the heat its putting out is crazy.Reply -
irish_adam ReplyMMorris666 said:I've been gaming on pc for several years now, started with 980's then 2080ti and after getting a new tv i needed hdmi 2.1 to get the most out of it, so i got a 6900 xt. now i might have a dodgy card or something but ive been really disappointed. micro stutter in some games, others black screen and restart the pc. the fans ramp up twice as loud as the other cards ive had and the heat its putting out is crazy.
Yeah you need to send it back, I have the 6800xt and it's got to be the quietest reference card I have ever owned and I've had more than a few from both teams. I have not had any of the issues you describe at all so either you got a dodgy card or you're a troll -
MMorris666 Reply
Troll? niceirish_adam said:Yeah you need to send it back, I have the 6800xt and it's got to be the quietest reference card I have ever owned and I've had more than a few from both teams. I have not had any of the issues you describe at all so either you got a dodgy card or you're a troll
its not a reference card ether, its the red devil. like i said it could be the card, it could be it doesn't play well with my old system. when i get some time and can be bothered i will look in to it more. -
saudor Yeah it’s kinda true to be honest. Multi monitor power consumption is through the roof for the longest time on AMD. Even with a clean install of windows, my AMD crashes on wake from sleep regularly. Connecting a display to the iGPU does help a bit for some reason. Also blasts so much heat into my case it‘s not even funny.Reply
Other computers in the house with AMD cards also exhibit bugs (although not as extreme)
It’s definitely a driver issue since on hackintosh with macOS drivers, absolutely no issues. Sleeps like a baby. Wakes up fine. -
blppt ReplyMMorris666 said:I've been gaming on pc for several years now, started with 980's then 2080ti and after getting a new tv i needed hdmi 2.1 to get the most out of it, so i got a 6900 xt. now i might have a dodgy card or something but ive been really disappointed. micro stutter in some games, others black screen and restart the pc. the fans ramp up twice as loud as the other cards ive had and the heat its putting out is crazy.
I have a RedDevil factory oc'd 6900XT, and its by far the most stable and quiet air-cooled AMD/ATI GPU I've ever had. Even the drivers have been remarkably good since day 1, which has definitely not been my experience in the past with AMD/ATI. Something might be up with yours. Or maybe the upgraded cooler that ships with the custom cards is that much better?
Edit: I didn't see that you have the same card as me, lol. Scratch that list bit about the upgraded cooler.
Yeah, I think something is up with yours---I used it with an Intel 390/9900KS until I could find a 5950X in stock. Its now being used with the 5950X and X570. No issues with either setup. No superclocked fans, no black screens, no crashes. -
Giroro Its always so weird to see Micro Center treated like it's some big national chain.Reply
It's not. There are exactly 25 microcenter locations.
There's twice as many Best Buy stores between me and the nearest micro center than there are micro center stores on earth. I say this, knowing that for the first time in my life I finally live within driving distance of a micro center... so long as you consider 4 hours round-trip to be driving distance.
Does Micro Center get so much attention because there isn't anything else? Is America totally depleted of electronics stores? Because best buy doesn't exactly scratch that itch.