bp9801 Posted September 10, 2015 Posted September 10, 2015 If you have been patiently waiting for the OverclockersClub AMD Radeon R9 Nano review, well, we have some bad news for you. There won't be one. Neither will there be a Nano review for our sister site Neoseeker, or affiliate site HardOCP, or even to places like Tech Report and TechPowerUp. The reasoning behind this is rather curious, especially when all these sites, including OCC and Neoseeker, were invited to the paper launch for the Nano video card. It appears that AMD wants to send the new card to review sites that will give it a "fair review," whatever that means, and implies AMD is heavily cherry picking which sites it even wants to deal with. That isn't exactly good business as it heavily skews opinion of the card, because after all, if a product can only be seen in a positive light, how can you know it's truly all that it seems? A big picture of this problem has been highlighted by HardOCP's editor-in-chief Kyle Bennett in an editorial, and the main thing to take away from it is how AMD PR is handling the situation. AMD's Corporate Vice President of Alliances Roy Taylor replied on Twitter to several people about certain sites not receiving Nano review samples with the line, "reviews need to be fair." When Kyle reached out to the PR, as well as Roy Taylor, the reply was less than great and pretty much backed up what Roy had said on Twitter. HardOCP received a sample of the Fury and Fury X, which apparently fits with the website, but the Nano did not. And that is with AMD sending one of the HardOCP forum users a Nano to use in a build log. Roy's response was again a little damning, "I stand by the statement that the world needs fair reviews, I am sure you agree, pretty strongly I’d have thought!" When pressed a little further, Roy's next response pretty much shut the door on the matter: "My position is that we need fair reviews. I doubt there is anyone in our entire industry who would disagree. That's the beginning and the end of this." That's pretty much the end of things. AMD is choosing what review sites are receiving a sample of the Nano to test in order to guarantee a fair review of its product. It may just be a ploy to drive up demand for sales, but the Nano cannot be purchased. Neither can the Fury X. Newegg has two Fury cards to purchase, but the Fury X cards are all on auto-notify. Both OCC and Neoseeker have yet to receive a review sample of the Fury or Fury X, and given the lack of supply of those cards, odds are slim we'll ever get one of those, too. No Nano, no Fury X, and no Fury. Just what exactly is the end game of AMD here? Its PR seems poised to alienate and piss off review sites that attended the paper launch of the Nano, or were invited to attend it, by withholding review samples for "fairness." Add in how Roy Taylor is negatively affecting the PR by publicly stating AMD wants review sites that will produce a fair review, and things aren't looking too great. Maybe at some point we'll all get some clarification on this, but given this situation and the dire financial straits AMD is facing, there may be bigger problems at foot the company isn't saying. At any rate, OCC will not have an AMD Radeon R9 Nano review, nor a Fury X or Fury review, because of a lack of response and AMD's apparent desire to avoid sites that can test a card without any bias. Source: HardOCP Back to original news post Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
road-runner Posted September 10, 2015 Posted September 10, 2015 Sounds like there are grasping for a life vest as the ship sinks.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikeSoprano Posted September 10, 2015 Posted September 10, 2015 (edited) I guess this was one of their chosen sites http://www.techspot.com/review/1061-amd-radeon-r9-nano/ Good review or bad review, not worth a dam if there isn't any stock out there to buy ! Edited September 10, 2015 by SpikeSoprano Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
That_Guy Posted September 10, 2015 Posted September 10, 2015 Not sure what they mean. If they have a suspicion that certain reviews purposefully lowering AMD or bumping NVidia cards benchmark results, i am quite confident such reviews would be long called out by AMD or AMD enthusiasts. Until such a proof is in place, all the excuses sound pretty much hollow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
potatochobit Posted September 10, 2015 Posted September 10, 2015 they are too expensive to give out for free anyone can buy one and review it once they are on sale Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black64 Posted September 10, 2015 Posted September 10, 2015 I've never felt OCC has "unfair" reviews. I do now think AMD is hiding something, just the fact alone that they are not giving OCC the chance to review the card will make me avoid AMD cards now and in the future. It's as simple as that, if you have a good product you will want as many people you can see it, otherwise, it's not a good product. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El_Capitan Posted September 10, 2015 Posted September 10, 2015 F**k AMD, then. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braegnok Posted September 10, 2015 Posted September 10, 2015 (edited) Not sending review samples to OCC isn't going to help AMD compete with Nvidia in the graphics market. Edited September 14, 2015 by Braegnok Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccokeman Posted September 11, 2015 Posted September 11, 2015 Its not just us. HardOCP, TPU and a ton of other sites were given the no thanks approach. We will work with their AMD partners to try and get one for review. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick2500 Posted September 11, 2015 Posted September 11, 2015 Sapphire was usually pretty good about letting OCC review their cards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boinker Posted September 13, 2015 Posted September 13, 2015 Well. Guess that means the AMD card I was considering will NEVER find its way into my system. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braegnok Posted September 14, 2015 Posted September 14, 2015 Perhaps after seeing the MSI 980 Ti Lightning review,.. Roy Taylor figures there new Fury line just don't have the moxie to compete in a full review on the best damn review site on the planet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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