Nvidia: Difference between revisions

Since assuming its dominant position at >90% of the consumer GPU market, Nvidia has been credibly accused of {{wplink|Shrinkflation|shrinkflation}} across its entire modern {{wplink|GeForce|GeForce}} product line by multiple renouned yet credible reviewers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burke |first=Steve |last2=Clayton |first2=Jeremy |last3=Makhnovets |first3=Vitalii |last4=Thang |first4=Jimmy |date=2025-04-08 |title=The Great NVIDIA Switcheroo {{!}} GPU Shrinkflation |url=https://gamersnexus.net/gpus/great-nvidia-switcheroo-gpu-shrinkflation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250702064302/https://gamersnexus.net/gpus/great-nvidia-switcheroo-gpu-shrinkflation |archive-date=2025-07-02 |access-date=2025-07-02 |website=GamersNexus}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nexus |first=Gamers |date=2025-06-26 |title=NVIDIA's Exploitation {{!}} Waste of Sand RTX "5050" for $250 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caU0RG0mNHg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250715180737/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caU0RG0mNHg |archive-date=2025-07-15 |access-date=2025-07-15 |website=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Unboxed |first=Hardware |date=2025-07-10 |title=Real Stagnation: 6 Years Of GeForce RTX 60 Class GPUs |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIftP0Ut2lU |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250715180805/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIftP0Ut2lU |archive-date=2025-07-15 |access-date=2025-07-15 |website=YouTube}}</ref>

{{Main|{{wplink|GeForce Partner Program}}}}

On March 1, 2018, Nvidia in a blog post first announced the marketing program<ref>{{Cite web |last=Teeple |first=John |date=2018-03-01 |title=GeForce Partner Program Helps Gamers Know What They’re Buying |url=https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2018/03/01/geforce-partner-program/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710012207/https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2018/03/01/geforce-partner-program/ |archive-date=2023-07-10 |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=NVIDIA Blog}}</ref> which aimed to provide partners with benefits such PR support, video game bundling and market development funds. Kyle Bennett from HardOCP spoke with seven companies off the record and they more or less had the same to say:<blockquote>

</blockquote>Nvidia cancelled the program on May 4, 2018, citing "The rumors, conjecture and mistruths go far beyond its intent. Rather than battling misinformation, we have decided to cancel the program." <ref>{{Cite web |last=Teeple |first=John |date=4 May 2018 |title=Pulling the Plug on GPP, Leaning into GeForce |url=https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2018/05/04/gpp/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504191609/https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2018/05/04/gpp/ |archive-date=4 May 2018 |access-date=15 Jun 2025 |website=Nvidia Blog}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Forrest |first=Derek  published |date=4 May 2018 |title=Nvidia Ends Notorious GeForce Partner Program |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-ends-geforce-partner-program,37008.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250325085921/https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-ends-geforce-partner-program,37008.html |archive-date=25 Mar 2025 |access-date=15 Jun 2025 |website=Tom's Hardware}}</ref>

{{Main|PCIe power connector design linked to melting GPU cables}}

12VHPWR and its revision 12V-2x6 (H++) are modern PCIe power connector standards published by the [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI-SIG PCI-SIG] that aim to deliver more power to PCIe devices such as GPUs but in a smaller foorprint than the older PCIe 6- and 8-pin connectors.{{Citation needed}} Since 12VHPWR's debut on Nvidia's RTX 40-series GPUs,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Burke |first=Steve |last2=Lathan |first2=Patrick |last3=Makhnovets |first3=Vitalii |last4=Coleman |first4=Andrew |last5=Thang |first5=Jimmy |date=2024-10-07 |title=12VHPWR is a Dumpster Fire {{!}} Investigation into Contradicting Specs & Corner Cutting |url=https://gamersnexus.net/gpus/12vhpwr-dumpster-fire-investigation-contradicting-specs-corner-cutting |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250715184806/https://gamersnexus.net/gpus/12vhpwr-dumpster-fire-investigation-contradicting-specs-corner-cutting |archive-date=2025-07-15 |access-date=2025-07-15 |website=GamersNexus}}</ref> the connector's been infamous for its design flaws that make it quite prone to ignition.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wallossek |first=Igor |date=2022-10-27 |title=The horror has a face - NVIDIA’s hot 12VHPWR adapter for the GeForce RTX 4090 with a built-in breaking point |url=https://www.igorslab.de/en/adapter-of-the-gray-analyzed-nvidias-brand-hot-12vhpwr-adapter-with-built-in-breakpoint/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250715181914/https://www.igorslab.de/en/adapter-of-the-gray-analyzed-nvidias-brand-hot-12vhpwr-adapter-with-built-in-breakpoint/ |archive-date=2025-07-15 |access-date=2025-07-15 |website=igor´sLAB}}</ref> The minor revision 12V-2x6 aimed to mitigate these issues but ultimately succumbed to its predecessor's shortcomings.<ref name=":1" /> As of July 2025, there are still reports of the connectors catching on fire even when using accessories that advertise less risk of catching ablaze.{{Citation needed}}

Nvidia is heavily involved in training AI models though plagiarism.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cole |first=Samantha |date=5 Aug 2024 |title=Leaked Documents Show Nvidia Scraping ‘A Human Lifetime’ of Videos Per Day to Train AI |url=https://www.404media.co/nvidia-ai-scraping-foundational-model-cosmos-project/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250414032908/https://www.404media.co/nvidia-ai-scraping-foundational-model-cosmos-project/ |archive-date=14 Apr 2025 |access-date=15 Jun 2025 |website=404 Media}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Morales |first=Jowi |date=6 Aug 2024 |title=Nvidia accused of scraping ‘A Human Lifetime’ of videos per day to train AI |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/nvidia-accused-of-scraping-a-human-lifetime-of-videos-per-day-to-train-ai |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250211081108/https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/nvidia-accused-of-scraping-a-human-lifetime-of-videos-per-day-to-train-ai |archive-date=11 Feb 2025 |access-date=15 Jun 2025 |website=Tom's Hardware}}</ref><!-- Elaborate on the scale of the data collection, companies that also do this, and possibly how it ties into lobbying for no regulation -->

Following the release of the RTX 50 series GPUs, several RTX 5090 and 5080 cards were noticed to be missing Raster Operation Units (ROPs), which are fundamental part for rendering and caused affected cards to suffer from lower performance.

On 14 December, 2020, Hardware Unboxed uploaded a video on YouTube explaining the controversy from their viewpoint.

Nvidia on stage when introducing the RTX 5070 on stage, branded it as having the same performance as a RTX 4090 but for half the price.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leadbetter |first=Richard |date=2025-01-13 |title=DF Weekly: can the new RTX 5070 really match RTX 4090 performance? |url=https://www.digitalfoundry.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2025-df-weekly-can-the-new-rtx-5070-really-match-rtx-4090-performance |url-status=live |access-date=2026-01-15 |website=Digital Foundry}}</ref> This disingenious marketing was disproven by multiple credible reviewers who showed that the 5070, even when using MFG 4x Frame Generation could not achieve parity with the 4090.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burke |first=Steve |last2=Gaglione |first2=Mike |last3=Makhnovets |first3=Vitalii |last4=Phetdara |first4=Tim |last5=Thang |first5=Jimmy |date=2025-03-13 |title=NVIDIA is Selling Lies {{!}} RTX 5070 Founders Edition Review & Benchmarks |url=https://gamersnexus.net/gpus/nvidia-selling-lies-rtx-5070-founders-edition-review-benchmarks |url-status=live |access-date=2026-01-15 |website=GamersNexus}}</ref>

Starting 2025, Nvidia started the practice of pre allocating review units to select review media platforms for "preview". Previews when compared to reviews are highly restricted on which benchmarks can be presented. Most often involving the presentation of cherry picked and biased benchmarks towards the latest model of GPU. Hence previews end up touting the same message as Nvidia's marketing. This practise was first implemented with the RTX 5070. <ref>{{Cite web |last=James |first=Dave |date=2025-03-01 |title=Nvidia RTX 5070 hands-on preview: a sneak peek at my unreleased RTX Blackwell card hitting triple digit frame rates in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p and Avowed at 4K |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/nvidia-rtx-5070-hands-on-preview-a-sneak-peek-at-the-unreleased-rtx-blackwell-card-hitting-triple-digit-frame-rates-in-cyberpunk-2077-at-1440p-and-avowed-at-4k/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250803093257/https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/nvidia-rtx-5070-hands-on-preview-a-sneak-peek-at-the-unreleased-rtx-blackwell-card-hitting-triple-digit-frame-rates-in-cyberpunk-2077-at-1440p-and-avowed-at-4k/ |archive-date=2025-08-03 |access-date=2025-08-03 |website=PC Gamer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Guyton |first=Christian |date=2025-05-17 |title=I tested the RTX 5060 - is 8GB of VRAM really enough in 2025? |url=https://www.techradar.com/computing/gpu/i-tested-the-rtx-5060-is-8gb-of-vram-really-enough-in-2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250803100453/https://www.techradar.com/computing/gpu/i-tested-the-rtx-5060-is-8gb-of-vram-really-enough-in-2025 |archive-date=2025-08-03 |access-date=2025-08-03 |website=TechRadar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hayton |first=Phil |date=2025-05-17 |title=I spent my first few hours with the RTX 5060 playing Doom: The Dark Ages, and it feels pretty slick for under $300 |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/hardware/desktop-pc/i-spent-my-first-few-hours-with-the-rtx-5060-playing-doom-the-dark-ages-and-it-feels-pretty-slick-for-under-usd300/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250803100549/https://www.gamesradar.com/hardware/desktop-pc/i-spent-my-first-few-hours-with-the-rtx-5060-playing-doom-the-dark-ages-and-it-feels-pretty-slick-for-under-usd300/ |archive-date=2025-08-03 |access-date=2025-08-03 |website=GamesRadar+}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=England |first=Jason |date=2025-05-17 |title=I played 5 games on the RTX 5060 — is this budget GPU actually enough? |url=https://www.tomsguide.com/gaming/pc-gaming/nvidia-geforce-rtx-5060-first-impressions |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250803100745/https://www.tomsguide.com/gaming/pc-gaming/nvidia-geforce-rtx-5060-first-impressions |archive-date=2025-08-03 |access-date=2025-08-03 |website=Tom's Guide}}</ref>

On May 18, 2025, GamersNexus, a pro consumer tech publication and YouTube channel, uploaded a video to their YouTube channel exposing Nvidia's scheme of threatening them. Nvidia strongly suggested to GN that access to their engineers for future interviews would only be possible if GN underwent an editorial change according to Nvidia's specification. The company's ransom was for more postive and longer emphasis on their new MFG (Multi-frame Generation) technology in GN's future reviews of their GPUs.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Nexus |first=Gamers |date=2025-05-18 |title=NVIDIA's Dirty Manipulation of Reviews |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiekGcwaIho |url-status=live |archive-date= |access-date=2025-07-11 |website=YouTube}}</ref>

During their GTC Washington keynote, Nvidia announced a strategic partnership with [[Palantir]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-28 |title=Palantir and NVIDIA Team Up to Operationalize AI — Turning Enterprise Data Into Dynamic Decision Intelligence |url=https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-palantir-ai-enterprise-data-intelligence |url-status=live |access-date=2026-01-19}}</ref>