News ATI snaffles Macci

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2005/12/05/ati_macci/

 

[QUOTEWould you buy an ATI board that was engineered and endorsed by Macci[/QUOTE]
If it performed well!

I tell you one thing for sure, I'd rather buy a mainboard with Macci's name on than that Fatal1ty guy - damn he gets on my nerves!!! (maybe I'm just jealous? lol)

I'm looking forward to RD580, should be decent and now v overclockacle. I reckon this may well form the basis of my next upgrade!

Slightly off topic - are ATI working on a chipset for intel or just letting intel add crossfire support to their own chipsets??

 

Both - they already have an Intel-based CrossFire chipset. We did have a board, but it was pre-release and flakey. We're waiting for a full retail board

 

Oh cool!

It'll be interesting to see what kind of performance it can give as often intel chipsets are more stable/better clockers than their counterparts (even if they do tend to cost a lot to start with!).

Back on topic:
I'm just wondering how much involvement Macci actually has in the development of RD580 as I have just read a preview of it on another tech site, and as it's expected release is January so it must be just about finished - of course there is probably a lot of work still to be done on the bios/drivers so he may just be helping out with that (doesn't seem quite as good somehow as it would be if he was working on MB layout/hardware)... Still, with or without his help RD580 looks to be a winner.

Now they just need a decent southbridge to pair it with!

 

I don't think he's got a great deal to do with engineering - he's in the marketing department. I guess his involvement will be as an 'Alpha' Tester - someone who tests the creations and helps develop them further to make a more rounded product by the time it reaches the hands of reviewers (and later consumers).

 

he would be better than Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel i just hate that corperate marketing whore, but it would depend what it would bring, if it does mean they are tested and a lot smoother than Nvidia then iw ould consider getting one if it was just a label then forget it

 

Aint that the truth, cause you know Macci is actually doing some work with ATI, not just selling his name to anyone that pays the price.

 

Honestly, so would I; Im also leaning towards RD580 for that Ultimate Motherboard Ive got going here

 

I honestly think overclocking is terribly important to the average consumer. Doesn't overclocking void the warranty and shorten the life span? I really wouldn't wanna do either of those two things to a brand new video card or processor. I think the product should be ideal right out of the plastic and foam. But then again, no one would of ever made a "Shelby Mustang" if everyone was satisfied with the stock model.

 

Hopefully he'll get the to solve the coldbug thats been plagueing their recent offerings of graphics cards

 

definaly a better name to put on a board than that gamer guy who gets on my nerves, macci and the slit was the people who first got to 6ghz on a p4 wern't they?

at least he is actualy doing work for them instead of having some lame "consultant" position. I guess all he will get to change is the BIOS options though.. as I can't imagain that he will be able to design the actaul chips on the motherboard

 

1st: I would buy a Macci board IF it was stable and fast such as nVidia SLI boards atm.
2nd: What the hell are you crying about that Fatal1ty boy? If I was that good (and don't anyone dare telling me he wasn't good back at Quake3 times) and Abit came to me and said: "Here you got like 50000$ for just letting us put your name on this mainboard and another 50000$ for putting your name on this toilet..." HELL YEA I would say yes without a second of thinking about it! Be honest guys who wouldn't? It's easy money though.

 

Fair enough, but that doesn't make it any less of a gimmick and cheap marketing ploy. At the end of the day this guy has added nothing to the product bar letting them use his name. The board is aimed at enthusiasts and it should be marketed on it's own merit and not claim to be the best as it shares its name with a gamer!

If a 'Macci edition' or something does arrive as a result of his work with ATI then I'm all for it. He is one of the most skilled (crazy?!) overclockers out there and he really knows what makes a motherboard decent for overclocking and stability. As such any involvement he has is going to be positive.

At the end of the day, associating a 'famous' name with a product is always going to form some sort of marketing ploy, but in the case of Macci at least there is some truth to his involvement and influence on the product.

 

I dont understand why anyone would buy into the fact that buying a 'Fatal1ty' motherboard would somehow make your gameing skills better. I mean, i doubt this guy has any special knowledge of what makes a computer better in the first place. All he does is play games for money, if i ever saw Fatal1ty on a motherboard, i would steer clear of it.

 

I'd pay particular attention to Macci edition motherboard reviews, to see if they were any good. On the other hand, Fatal1ty products are the pre-riced motherboard equivelents to the saxo vtr/s only they come with w**ker lights preinstalled.

 

Im a ATI- Fan ..So Yeah I would get a Macci Version, so i have started to save to buy one when it on the market and stable......it ain't going to be cheap!

 

Overpriced was what you wanted to say...

 

Fatal1ty more than just a name on a board!

This statement above is an urban legend! Fatal1ty had very real input into the design and features found on the Fatal1ty line of motherboards. He spends at least a month a year at our R&D department discussing and brainstorming to emphisize the features he finds important to make his gaming better. Without a doubt, the next Fatal1ty motherboard from ABIT will level the playing fields. Mark my words.
On this note, ABIT is doing a survey with US$10 000+ worth of prizes up for grabs. where gamers, oc'ers etc can give their input to help determine what the next series of boards from ABIT will feature. Look out for it, starts soon.

 

so, we'll be seeing more red led's then?

Joking aside, what input does he actually give you? I'm assuming he has a very very limited knowledge of motherboard and graphics card design. (as do I)

 

lmao!

About the mobo thing, I agree - I for one only have limited knowledge on mobo design, sure I know what features I like it to have (x usb ports, x sound, x gigabit lan ports, no legacy crap, etc) but I don't feel that me going down to Abit R&D and spouting this babble is going to get me noticed and end up with my having my very own series of boards. I would be very interested to hear what kind of things this Fatal1ty guy has suggested and especially which ones he has mentioned which he feels are important to his gaming - I'm not entirely sure what I would suggest bar the latest and greatest incarnation of SLI/xfire and having some sort of crazy 7.1 HD onboard sound, neither of which would warrant my name on a product line-up? I wonder what comments he would write in the ultimate motherboard thread Roto started?

Plus, the Fatal1ty line up doesn't stop with Abit and motherboards, it also contains products such as sound cards (the latest Creative x-fi) and coolers (Zalman make it). This guy is either both pretty smart and very technically competent, or just a small part of a big marketing scheme. I know I'm probably being judgemental, but I know which of those I find more believable.

I know that the Fatal1ty mobo is pretty decent, I know that it does use high quality components and I know that is can be seen as a serious contender to other top end boards. I'm not denying any of that. But, I don't see how this has anything to do with the guys input. I know you say he has spent a month with Abit but knowing that with my background (over 10 years using computers, over 7 of them spent building and tweaking them and a degree in computer science) and the fact that my use to Abit, Creative and Zalman would be little more than useless, I find it hard to believe some guy that has spent his life playing games is able to make a good job of it. As I asked above, has he seriously made any suggestions beyond the trivial? If he has I'm happy to change my opinion of the Fatal1ty brand.

As this is all off topic so I'll try and bring it back by a small mention of Macci. We all know he is very technically minded. He spends his life tweaking systems trying to get every last bit of performance out of them. He knows exactly which bits are causing the system to bottleneck and I imagine that he can put forward some very good ideas to try and resolve such issues. Sure, if his name does get put on a product line-up there would be an element of marketing in there, but at least he would have earnt it and actually had a real influence on the product.

I'm pretty certain that if you put up a poll asking whether people would rather buy a board influenced by a gamer, or one influenced by one of the worlds craziest overclockers, I think we all know what the result would be.

Wow, this is a long post, possibly my longest EVER!
Hope it makes sense, it is damn early for me

Just noticed that the Fatal1ty guy has a branded beanie for sale on his site, I wonder what input he had on that and how much faster my computer will go/how much better my gaming skills will be if I buy it