The last time ATI ripped me off.

[fefox]

Does anyone remember WAY WAY back ATI came out with a high end video card and they didn't play nice and added something to the firmware to make the benchmarking programs show the card was way faster than it really was?

early 90's maybe? if my memory is correct it was a short stubby card with a massive HS/FAN

anyone remember this? what was the card?

[JD]

No idea, but it's still done to this day. NVIDIA and ATI both optimize their drivers towards benchmarks and games used for benchmarks. NVIDIA has been caught doing it a lot more though IMO.

[fefox]

That time ATI im pretty sure got sued or something, was a massive scandal and hurt them for awhile.

[On the Lam]

i bought my first pc in 1997, and it had a rage3d 2mb vid card - so if you really mean early 90s, then I have no idea...

[fefox]

Yes im pretty sure very early 90's and that's probably why I can't find anything about it on the net.

[sswilson]

Probably because you're thinking of Nvidia when it comes to a big deal being made over it. Both companies have been guilty of the practice in the past, but the only really big stink I can remember was pinned on Nvidia (probably 3 - 4 years ago).

[fefox]

it was ATI for sure, and now that I think about it was kinda pre-graphic based internet like when most people used Bulletin Board Systems for email and forums....

It driving me nuts that I can't remember!

[joeperson]

How ATI's drivers 'optimize' Quake III - The Tech Report - 2001
ATI Technologies Admits Cheating the Drivers To Achieve Higher 3DMark03 Score. - 2003

Two quick google examples. I didn't bother looking for nvidia although they're probably just as bad. Neither of those is early in the 90's though. Earliest benchmark cheating I can find, I think, is with the Rage Pro Turbo in '98.

[Dr_BenD_over]

The first card I can think of with a massive cooler was the FX5800, ATi didn't really have anything big cooler wise until the x800 series.

[bojangles]

Isn't it a good thing to optimize benchmarks and games though? Don't we want cards to perform the best they can for the most popular games in reviews because those are the games that the general public plays? I could care less about benchmarks really. They show no significance in the real world. IMHO, games really show their doom and gloom (I guess folding could be issued here too) and that's where reviewers should focus their light on.

Now I may not have been around to see this "cheating" dilemma take place as I was just getting into computers at that time, so I don't really know if there was such a thing as cheating.