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News New EC regulations could kill off high-end graphics boards

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 15 Oct 2012.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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  2. DBA

    DBA I do my modding with a spoon

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    In other news: Every household is now restricted to only owning one (1) television with a maximum size of 22" due to energy efficiency. Furthermore a new legislation is made restricting the size of refrigerators only being allowed a maximum size of 50 x 50 x 80 cm, again also due to energy efficiency.

    Or have I got it wrong?
     
  3. r3loaded

    r3loaded Minimodder

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    So efficiency is calculated purely by looking at memory bandwidth? Who the hell came up with this crap?

    Also, the graphics card market is largely self-regulating in terms of efficiency - the market demands power-efficient cards since power-hungry cards don't sell as well and get panned (see GTX 400 series). Why regulation in this area is required is beyond me.
     
  4. Sylvester20007

    Sylvester20007 What's a Dremel?

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    Ouch. While this comes as bad news, every gray cloud has a silver lining.
    Think about it, right now we are willing to accept large ammounts of heat and noise from fans in the name of those extra few FPS. This could push companies like AMD and NVIDIA to rebuild the GPU from the ground up in the name of getting the FPS without the high power draw, heat and noise.

    Humans are good at just throwing more power at a problem, Slow FPS = Result, more Ghz's, More RAM, redesign heat sink and then feed with More WATTS. This could see more FPS with less heat and noise, AMD and NVIDIA have more than enough money to invest in some new R&D and the end result will be a better product for us.

    I think its about time they took the money we give them when we buy there products and use more of it for R&D and less to pay some boad of directors a stupily high anual bonus.

    I welcome this move, if it doesnt work out so well then we can ask a friend to buy one in the US and send it over....
     
  5. Jaybles

    Jaybles Minimodder

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    5,0001MHz o_O

    It looks like cards will end up being imported.

    If this was worldwide I think it would be a good thing because it would force companies to put a lot of research into making cards more power efficient. (Not saying they don't already or that its even possible) As it is the EU will just get gimped cards.
     
  6. Sylvester20007

    Sylvester20007 What's a Dremel?

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    After all, most GPU's are at some level the same as there brother that came before it, what we need is some new DNA in the mix, not some inbread redneck of a GPU.... lol
     
  7. fix-the-spade

    fix-the-spade Multimodder

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    Irrelevant, this will be another one of those EU directives that precisely no one follows, or everyone circumvents by means of some numeric jiggery pokery.

    Why are we part of the EU again?
     
  8. damien c

    damien c Mad FPS Gamer

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    WOW just WOW!!!

    We will just have to find a way of getting things from the states without paying so much in Import Tax etc.

    Think I might have to buy a couple of graphics cards next year and run SLI so I am somewhat safe for a few years.
     
  9. Brooxy

    Brooxy Loser of the Game

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    A glimpse to the news, just before these rules come into force (if all these restrictions appear)...


    Royal Mail, UPS, DHL and other courier companies are struggling with demand, after a knee jerk reaction to an EU ban on high performance PC. It is estimated that some deliveries will take months to catch up, as a 4000% increase in the sales of graphics cards and other PC components has been reported.

    People have taken to rioting on the streets to protest this new legislation and crime has increased due to thieves specifically targeting high end graphics components, as supply begins to outweigh demand."

    Shares in the Dixons Group have increased, due to stores such as PC world still having a supply of high performance graphics cards. DSG have already increased their already high component costs by 1000%, to maximise profit in this time. Our analysts believe DSG still have this stock, because most enthusiasts would rather shop online due to lesser costs and superior customer service.

    In other news, console users have named this day 'Victory Day' as they now believe that they can have an edge over PC gamers - something that has previously eluded them due to the fixed hardware within a console.

    EA have said they will no longer release Battlefield 6 in Europe due to these issues - the chairman of EA said provided this comment in an exclusive interview with us:

    "Now that the citizens of the EU have computers with the graphical capabilities of a toaster, we will no longer be shipping Battlefield 6 to Europe. The engine that powers the game cannot be supported by the restricted cards. In short, what's the point? To give EU citizens something to do, we will be rereleasing Battlefield 3, along with another 20 expansion packs"

    The story continues
     
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  10. Picarro

    Picarro What's a Dremel?

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    Eh. Just sell the cards "locked down" and release and "unlock tool" which will unlock the full performance of the cards. Just remember to make it clear that using the "unlock tool" is a violation of EU Code 11282908490 to 128390829038.
     
  11. ShinyAli

    ShinyAli What's a Dremel?

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    Pointless, if it happens at all it will be circumnavigated (think chipping consoles) and of course the companies that sell overclocked graphic cards will cash in, illegal or not I'm sure they will find a way around it :rolleyes:

    They should be focusing on what is still the weakest link in the energy efficiency chain, we are still burning coal and oil to generate power :confused:
     
  12. GuilleAcoustic

    GuilleAcoustic Ook ? Ook !

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    I'm 5000% for efficient hardware, and it is my first criteria when I have to buy something. But this is a silly law.

    They should focus on house insulation, solar panel, stores / offices that don't swithc their light off outside of opening hours, etc.
     
  13. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

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    I don't quite understand how a component of a product made up of many components can be outlawed. A twin turbo charger on an efficient engine isn't a very efficient component but that turbo charger wouldn't be outlawed, the vehicle as a whole is assessed. I know they are two completely different things but the principle is similar.
     
  14. monkiboi

    monkiboi Minimodder

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    Buy this paper clip for £350 and we'll also throw in the GTA2343 MEGAWATT SEXY BEAST graphics card - ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!!!!!!
     
  15. MrJay

    MrJay You are always where you want to be

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    + Rep. My sides hurt!
     
  16. .//TuNdRa

    .//TuNdRa Resident Bulldozer Guru

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    That's such a completely arbitrary restriction, what next? Nothing computer related is allowed to be sold that has the colour red anywhere on it, because it might inspire people to try and force it to perform faster?

    I would hope that someone actually stops to think about this. If not; US imports are going to get a hell of a lot more common, which will probably lead to further EU legislation to try and prevent "inefficient" graphics cards being pulled in. The only way I see this working is if they release dramatically under-clocked cards, then just provide a warranty that allows for it to be clocked up to the normal limit, or we're only going to get middle to low-end GPUs from now on.
     
  17. blacko

    blacko What's a Dremel?

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    you could just buy 2 lower spec cards and SLI /XFire them.
     
  18. Guinevere

    Guinevere Mega Mom

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    Sorry guys but it would seem you've taken NH at face value and not performed your own research. Okay you've taken their "EU cripples future graphics cards" headline and rolled your own with a "Could" in there, but the links being thrown around are way out of date and the most up the date information on this isn't being reported.

    This I learned in 2 minuted of "This surely can't be right?" research.

    The only document that NH is able to reference is a report that states a PC as "3 GHz processor (or
    correspondingly), built-in graphics card, 512 MB RAM and 80 GB HDD" This report was written in 2007, for a directive from 2005. And I understand that directive was abandoned.

    The correct documentation includes sentences such as (When referring to a review of the guidelines that will be understaken)

    "The review should in particular assess, in the light of new technologies entering the market, the possibility of improving the energy consumption targets and reducing or eliminating the energy allowances in particular for graphics processing units (GPUs)."

    So in one two minute bit of research we've gone from the EU completely killing the market for high end graphics cards to the discussion that the rules may be removed from GPUs at some point.

    Seems to me that NH has done a bit of sensationalist scaremongering.

    It's probably good that these regulations get publicised while they are still being worked on, but I think we need all the facts before we can start moaning about the EU.
     
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  19. Deders

    Deders Modder

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    Could we petition them with actual facts about power draw? How power consumption has improved over the years, and how Electricity actually works?

    Even with 10 speakers and a sub blasting music, and my PC running Prime64 and Furmark, my whole room doesn't draw more than 2.5A from the wall.
     
  20. theshadow2001

    theshadow2001 [DELETE] means [DELETE]

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    With the current trend towards tablet computing and the fact that high end graphics cards is such a niche area, along with more ubiquitous low hanging fruit in consumer electronics such as massive tvs. I'm putting this into the same bin as the mythical straight bananas law until I see more evidence of this coming into action.
     

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