Arguing with the salesmen and e-Mailing XFX has led to nothing, so I had no other option but publish what is going on and hope this will eventually lead to a resonse. If not, then at least I have aroused an interesting topic. If I'm breaking any rules please let me know.
I'll start off by saying that the market conditions in Egypt are surprisingly very good. For example, an ASUS P43 motherboard sells for $75. A Phenom II 920 sells for $195. And you can buy a WD6400AAKS hard drive for $63...And the list goes on. These prices are much cheaper than Europe and maybe even the US in some cases.
The problem only lies in video cards. Not all video cards. I mean Nvidia. No, actually not all Nvidia. Only XFX. Let me elaborate:
AMD cards are cheap. A Powercolor HD4850 for example sells for $140. Nvidia cards may be a little expensive for what they offer, but you can find an excuse like PhysX for buying them.
The XFX distributor, however, takes it to a whole new level and manages to sell 9500GT cards (with 1GB DDR2 memory running at half its intended frequency) for more than the price of a HD4670, and actually outsell the HD4670 and even most of the competing Nvidia brand cards. Pricing is not what concerns me, and it shouldn't. It's the practices the distributor is doing that made me go through writing this topic:
1) Spreading propaganda on how XFX video cards are superior to competing brands as Gigabyte.
2) Spreading propaganda on how Nvidia video cards are superior to AMD. They even refused to import XFX AMD video cards because that would contradict with what they have been claiming for the past several years. One of their salesmen specifically claimed that an Nvidia 8400GS is better than an AMD HD4870.
3) Claiming that XFX low-end cards and motherboards with built-in video cards can run demanding games at maximum settings.
So far, I have no proof for what I just said. But these pamphlets/posters they are distributing and publishing in newspapers will give a clear indication of their honesty and knowledge, or lack of thereof.
The articles can be found here:
http://www.cairocomputer.com/news.html
In the 7-series days, they made a popular Egyptian soccer player sponsor a 7300GS video card. Sponsoring such a low-end card both is both demeaning to the player (same applies to Fata1ty and midrange XFX video cards but to a greater extent), and misleading to the consumers as they will think it is a powerful gaming card.
Here's the translation:
1) PWM is a marketing gimmik because the competing video cards from other brands can already reduce the speed of their fans when idle. XFX just made it more dynamic, which brings no real gains to the consumer.
2) Nearly all current video cards reduce their fan speed when idle. The article clearly misleads the consumer into thinking otherwise.
3) 33dB is loud. Not...
4) Running the fan at 100% all the time doesn't necessarily mean it will fail quickly, or at all.
5) PWM is not activated when using a simple application as Word. It is activated when no 3D applications are running.
6) PWM doesn't reduce the power consumption of the whole video card by 50%. It is the reduction of the GPU and memory clock frequencies that does so. If the pamphlet said "up to 50%", then maybe nobody could have argued. But stating 50% as a fact is blatantly wrong.
Here's also another topic:
1) It's called PhysX, not Physics.
2) It doesn't improve the performance of the video card. It actually reduces it because it adds more particles.
3) It only works with few games. Otherwise it has no effect.
4) The latest version can be downloaded safely and quickly directly from Nvidia. Uploading it on rapidshare makes no sense, and actually exposes XFX to a legal vulnerability for uploading it there and claiming it is theirs.
5) An 8400GS, as a dedicated PhysX card, cannot accelerate PhysX effects with reasonable performance, let alone doing both graphics and PhysX calculations. Also PhysX should be the least of the concerns of a 8400GS user.
6) They made no mention that XFX AMD video cards don't support this feature. They don't need to because they have no intention of importing XFX AMD video cards in the near future.
7) They made no mention that only 8-series cards or later support this feature.
I'm translating this article especially as-is, so any spelling or grammar mistakes are intended. This is also an article from the 7-series days. It is so funny that I will not even comment on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal1ty
I'll start off by saying that the market conditions in Egypt are surprisingly very good. For example, an ASUS P43 motherboard sells for $75. A Phenom II 920 sells for $195. And you can buy a WD6400AAKS hard drive for $63...And the list goes on. These prices are much cheaper than Europe and maybe even the US in some cases.
The problem only lies in video cards. Not all video cards. I mean Nvidia. No, actually not all Nvidia. Only XFX. Let me elaborate:
AMD cards are cheap. A Powercolor HD4850 for example sells for $140. Nvidia cards may be a little expensive for what they offer, but you can find an excuse like PhysX for buying them.
The XFX distributor, however, takes it to a whole new level and manages to sell 9500GT cards (with 1GB DDR2 memory running at half its intended frequency) for more than the price of a HD4670, and actually outsell the HD4670 and even most of the competing Nvidia brand cards. Pricing is not what concerns me, and it shouldn't. It's the practices the distributor is doing that made me go through writing this topic:
1) Spreading propaganda on how XFX video cards are superior to competing brands as Gigabyte.
2) Spreading propaganda on how Nvidia video cards are superior to AMD. They even refused to import XFX AMD video cards because that would contradict with what they have been claiming for the past several years. One of their salesmen specifically claimed that an Nvidia 8400GS is better than an AMD HD4870.
3) Claiming that XFX low-end cards and motherboards with built-in video cards can run demanding games at maximum settings.
So far, I have no proof for what I just said. But these pamphlets/posters they are distributing and publishing in newspapers will give a clear indication of their honesty and knowledge, or lack of thereof.
The articles can be found here:
http://www.cairocomputer.com/news.html
In the 7-series days, they made a popular Egyptian soccer player sponsor a 7300GS video card. Sponsoring such a low-end card both is both demeaning to the player (same applies to Fata1ty and midrange XFX video cards but to a greater extent), and misleading to the consumers as they will think it is a powerful gaming card.
Here's the translation:
Here is some misleading or inaccurate information I've spotted:
1) PWM is a marketing gimmik because the competing video cards from other brands can already reduce the speed of their fans when idle. XFX just made it more dynamic, which brings no real gains to the consumer.
2) Nearly all current video cards reduce their fan speed when idle. The article clearly misleads the consumer into thinking otherwise.
3) 33dB is loud. Not...
4) Running the fan at 100% all the time doesn't necessarily mean it will fail quickly, or at all.
5) PWM is not activated when using a simple application as Word. It is activated when no 3D applications are running.
6) PWM doesn't reduce the power consumption of the whole video card by 50%. It is the reduction of the GPU and memory clock frequencies that does so. If the pamphlet said "up to 50%", then maybe nobody could have argued. But stating 50% as a fact is blatantly wrong.
Here's also another topic:
Here are a few points:40% increase in performance from XFX with PhysX technology by Nvidia:
What is Physics (Not PhysX
Physics technology is the one responsible for improving everything related to movement and special effects that can occur in games, with the picture you are supposed to see regardless of the power of the graphics card...as explosions that create dust and others...
Physics technology is the only one capable of producing graphical effects at the highest and most powerful degree of awesomeness.
Physics Technology increases the performance of the video card by 30-50% over its normal performance.
And to ensure that XFX - Cairo Computer keep their leadership in the video card world, we have ensured that this technology reaches all XFX video card users.
Previously, you had to purchase a separate card from the video card to have PhysX technology, and its price would reach $300. Now you can have Physics technology for free with all XFX video cards, starting from the "Geforce8400GS". This makes the video cards as if they have been resurrected, because this technology gives higher speed and performance to all cards (but with differing percentages according to the card model).
Physics Technology is available in two versions: one is compatiable with Windows XP, and the other for Windows Vista. You can also get a CD including these two versions from the XFX festival in Elskhawy Mall when you buy any XFX video card.
*Then they put two rapidshare links, one for an XP driver, and the other for a Vista driver*
Now my dear client, if you are an XFX user you can enjoy games in a way different from the past.
1) It's called PhysX, not Physics.
2) It doesn't improve the performance of the video card. It actually reduces it because it adds more particles.
3) It only works with few games. Otherwise it has no effect.
4) The latest version can be downloaded safely and quickly directly from Nvidia. Uploading it on rapidshare makes no sense, and actually exposes XFX to a legal vulnerability for uploading it there and claiming it is theirs.
5) An 8400GS, as a dedicated PhysX card, cannot accelerate PhysX effects with reasonable performance, let alone doing both graphics and PhysX calculations. Also PhysX should be the least of the concerns of a 8400GS user.
6) They made no mention that XFX AMD video cards don't support this feature. They don't need to because they have no intention of importing XFX AMD video cards in the near future.
7) They made no mention that only 8-series cards or later support this feature.
I'm translating this article especially as-is, so any spelling or grammar mistakes are intended. This is also an article from the 7-series days. It is so funny that I will not even comment on it:
For those who don't know what Fatal1ty stands for:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal1ty
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