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Gigabyte v. Asus – the sequel
Author: Gareth HalfacreePublished: 22nd May 2008
Gigabyte isn't sorry, and claims that its GA-EP35-DS3L board has DES technology that beats Asus's EPU.
The spat began with Gigabyte's claims that an energy saving chip invented by Asus was nothing more than smoke and mirrors, calling the technology – which Asus claims can offer CPU power savings of up to 80 percent when idle - “fake” and “pure[ly] software based, not hardware.”
If Gigabyte had left it there, it would simply have been an unremarkable event, but the company – in a fit of pique that a seven-year old would have been proud of – went on to accuse Asus of “cheating end users” and remarked that “everything Asus say are lies.” in a presentation on the technology released to press. Which wasn't very politic, really.
As we reported yesterday, Asus has rubbished the claims of its competitor and is even threatening legal action against Gigabyte for spreading such “disinformation,” but Gigabyte isn't finished yet.
In a statement released to press, the company has re-iterated that the comments it made came from “direct comparisons and testing results [...] between the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L motherboard and our competitor's P5K-SE EPU.” The company goes on to apologise for “any confusion this situation may have caused our competitor's customers,” but vows to “stand by our statements and testing report 100 percent, and eagerly await our competitor to clarify the issues we raised in order to avoid any further confusion.”
Gigabyte also took the opportunity to have a swipe at claims by Asus that the Energy Processing Unit technology was “an Asus exclusive hardware implementation,”, pointing out that it has a similar technology it dubs Dynamic Energy Saver featuring up to six “gears” compared to the EPU's two.
While the language of this latest press release is a great deal more circumspect than the last to come from Gigabyte – you won't find the words “liars” or “fake” for a start – the general thrust is a rather belligerent “we think we're right, so sue us if you can prove us wrong.” The company even takes the opportunity to have a subtle dig at Asus in the closing paragraph, claiming that Gigabyte “promises to continue providing higher quality, better spec and greater performance products to our customers,” without going so far as to add the rider “than Asus” that was clearly in the author's mind at the time. The piece closes with a thinly-veiled accusation that its rival is playing catch-up, claiming “other motherboard manufacturers have followed [our] lead by introducing higher quality components on their products,” again being careful not to name names.
Whatever the truth behind Gigabyte's claims, I can't help but feel they're – to borrow a phrase – writing cheques their body can't cash. Still, the ball is now in Asus's court, and this game of schoolyard name-calling doesn't look to be over yet. Whether Asus will respond with yet more empty threats or a full analysis comparing the EPU technology to Gigabyte's DES and disproving its competitor's claims, or even the vague possibility of a lawsuit between the two, remains to be seen.
Has this latest salvo made you change sides in the Geek Fight of the Motherboard Manufacturers, or do you think that the two should just grow up and concentrate on making the best products they can instead of slagging off their competitors? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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Comments (19)
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This is the reason we need a geek "Hello!"
@ Arkanrais
Lol, thats what i was thinking :P
Go ASUS GO!
Hsssss!
[Slash, slash.]
MmmmRrrrrr! Hsss!
we have geekcoms!
Bit tech should start a poll!
It would be interesting to have an independent test done with some background research into who came up with what first, how each one works and generally which one is better. Then while youre at it do a review of every aluminium capped transistor and other piece of poo they market us as a massive advantage :p
Companies should have to release a peer reviewed paper with scientific results and references whenever they make a claim to anything they see as factual and if they cant do that, they must state it is 'in their opinion'.
"if you don't stop acting like this, you can go sit in the naughty corner"
any how i am on the Asus side of things as i like they product, and they seem to be more "adult" about this.
It just so happens...
;)
I suggested a tree planting competition - 1 field, two teams, 100 small trees.
What do tree's have to do with Motherboards? heh
Now i know why my Asus board has recently expired, not because it was shocking (Striker Extreme) but because Gigabyte sent some form of mutation into my Bios which has killed le board.
Sam