[DrNip]

Unreleased technology not applicable for HWBoints.

As the result of a recent on-going discussion at the Hwbot staff quarters, the HWBot crew has decided that as of the 1st of October (2009) unreleased technology, which is in other words still under NDA, will no longer be applicable for points but will be given a “no-boints” status. This means that hardware categories for upcoming new products will still be added to the database (e.g: HD 5870), that people will still be allowed to submit results of this new technology, that those results will still be ranked and visible to everyone in the World Records Page, but none of those scores will be awarded any points until the products are available in shops.

This decision is based on the following arguments:

First of all, we believe that using new, unreleased, non-available technology is in conflict with one of the main principles of the HWBoints concept which states that the competition is (as) open (as possible) to everyone. We are aware of the fact that a lot of side notes can be made to this principle as you do in fact need a certain amount of financial input to compete at the very top, but using unreleased technology, which might annihilate the current top benchmark results, is even a step further as it’s available to only a very select group of people within the enthusiast community.

Secondly, we hope that not awarding points to unreleased hardware might spice up the competition as pushing current-gen hardware to the absolute maximum will not become obsolete from the moment it’s clear that next-gen technology is performing at a much higher level.

Lastly, it also serves a more social purpose. If new technology beats the current generation of hardware and, thus, makes getting points much easier, HWBot creates a market for those unreleased products. As the technology is not widespread available, but only to a very select group of people, the price of the next-gen hardware could shoot up. At HWBot, we do not want to create this kind of market or even be an incentive to spend huge amounts of money only to compete in the HWBoints rankings. Extreme overclocking has already come to a stage where requires quite a financial input that creating extra costs is something we want to avoid. Note that we do not want to make the HWBoints rankings appear to have more influence than it really has, but in this case it’s better to keep on safe side.

SOURCE:
http://www.hwbot.org/hwbot.post.do?postId=1166

I thought I would post this for everyone to see. I know that some won't agree with it, mainly those this applies to but I like it and glad to see it come around.

[Neuromancer]

Yah that is pretty nice, on the other hand it kind of punishes those that are rewarded with that free hardware because of their effort in pushing so hard...

Hmm will be interesting to see if this has an effect on the number of review samples they distribute. Less as they are losing a means of free advertising or more... want to target more advertising avenues to spread the word.

Probably the former.

[Kal-EL]

It certainly creates quite a bit of buzz doesnt it? Excellent means of advertising by releasing "Cherry-Picked" "ES" samples prior to launch. Isn't this one of the reasons Intel is being sued in the UK?

[thebanik]

Nice actually......but anyways guyz who are being awarded with hardware will eventually get the points when the product becomes available in the retail market, so I guess its not a biggie for them......

[Kal-EL]

Originally Posted by thebanik

Nice actually......but anyways guyz who are being awarded with hardware will eventually get the points when the product becomes available in the retail market, so I guess its not a biggie for them......

Yah, the same guys will continue to get the good stuff. I'm not hatin on them at all, good 4 them. It just makes sense for Intel to keep givin the good stuff to the guys that advertise for them

[Chicken Patty]

I'd have to agree, and think this is a good move.

[Neuromancer]

5870s are officially released 21 minutes ago. So keep an eye on the bot

[Chicken Patty]

Originally Posted by Neuromancer

5870s are officially released 21 minutes ago. So keep an eye on the bot

I see they have added the 5850/5870 to the list but no results yet. Should be interesting as the results start to come in.

[Neuromancer]

I am excited, as it is an upgrade I am looking to make when the price comes down

It is great to get boints and all, that is the "reward" for your efforts, but it is not the end all be all of it. We tweak and mod and overclock because... well its a guy thing. And running my PC balls on the table bleeding edge, is a lot cheaper (and safer) than doing it to my car

(plus its a lot cheaper to have a second PC around around the house, in case you wrap your PC around a telephone pole at 100 MPH )

[Chicken Patty]

Originally Posted by Neuromancer

I am excited, as it is an upgrade I am looking to make when the price comes down

It is great to get boints and all, that is the "reward" for your efforts, but it is not the end all be all of it. We tweak and mod and overclock because... well its a guy thing. And running my PC balls on the table bleeding edge, is a lot cheaper (and safer) than doing it to my car

(plus its a lot cheaper to have a second PC around around the house, in case you wrap your PC around a telephone pole at 100 MPH )

dude same here, It's a much cheper hobby dude. But that last quote about the pole, is priceless!!!! I might put that in my sig!