Question Is Anandtech dying? Why do they not have their own 4090 review on the front page?

[Fragbert]

On 10/11 every relevant hardware review site and tube channel released their preemptively exhaustive reviews of the new Nvidia RTX 4090. I'm an old-timer here and have a soft spot for the pioneers still around like Anandtech and tomshardware; when I saw the aggregate list of sites with reviews I noticed Anandtech was missing. I thought this can't possibly be, my last impression of AT was that it was going on strong even after the founder's departure. Sure enough, there's no review, and a still flourishing forum with nobody else stating the obvious?

What am I missing? Is there a rift with NV and this site? Or is this just not the site it once was?

 

[jpiniero]

It's been like 2 years since they reviewed a GPU.

 

[n0x1ous]

They haven't reviewed GPU's in years. First it was that they would get to it later, like GTX 960 or something. Ryan Smith has been asked but no clear reasons other than, they are time intensive.

 

[Saylick]

It takes a lot of time to review a GPU, and they've chosen to prioritize their limited bandwidth on other things:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1572312850856816640

 

[Fragbert]

I see the site at least mentioned the 3090 Ti in late March upon release in a PR-ish type post - arguably the last relevant GPU put out before yesterday, so I assumed they are still on top of this stuff? There's not even a mention of the 4090 on the front page. I have no way to rationalize it other than this is a site in a death spiral?

 

[n0x1ous]

I see the site at least mentioned the 3090 Ti in april upon release in a PR-ish type post - arguably the last relevant GPU put out before yesterday, so I assumed they are still on top of this stuff? There's not even a mention of the 4090 on the front page. I have to way to rationalize it other than this is a site in a death spiral?

yeah, If they can't make time for one of the most premier PC components sad to say you are right. Site is a shell of what it used to be

 

[Fragbert]

It takes a lot of time to review a GPU, and they've chosen to prioritize their limited bandwidth on other things:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1572312850856816640

Sorry to sound harsh but that is inexcusable coming from this site (based on the resources it used to have). You can only review CPUs and motherboards for so long - is that really worth more of your time when you run a consumer/hobbyist PC hardware site and the main driver of performance for the last decade is GPUs? What is more time intensive that demands priority?

 

[blckgrffn]

Sorry to sound harsh but that is inexcusable coming from this site (based on the resources it used to have). You can only review CPUs and motherboards for so long - is that really worth more of your time when you run a consumer/hobbyist PC hardware site and the main driver of performance for the last decade is GPUs? What is more time intensive that demands priority?

TBH, they don't review much of anything at Anandtech proper anymore. Some tech dives and that's about all.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[DeathReborn]

Sorry to sound harsh but that is inexcusable coming from this site (based on the resources it used to have). You can only review CPUs and motherboards for so long - is that really worth more of your time when you run a consumer/hobbyist PC hardware site and the main driver of performance for the last decade is GPUs? What is more time intensive that demands priority?

Unfortunately AT has become a small cog in a big machine and the resources it used to have are far greater than what they have now (or in the last 2 years even). Have they even said they will not be doing the much promised GTX 960 review? I recall a lot of "because of the fire" then over time just nothing on GPU reviews.

 

[Saylick]

TBH, they don't review much of anything at Anandtech proper anymore. Some tech dives and that's about all.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeah, the only reason I come here is for the forums/community and that's about it.

 

[mastertech01]

Anand was doing reviews when he was a teenager like some of you are just now, before some of you were born. He has grown up and moved on. With all the websites doing reviews today you have far more choices than Anandtech was back in the 90s. You should appreciate the ground breaking that he set an example for and if you need reviews just do a search on the internet, you will find many. I remember back when you couldnt even watch an online video review on the internet until the first one I remember Anand doing. Technology has grown so fast and Anandtech is no longer the final word on hardware/software reviews it once was. Get over it and just be thankful we still have the forums to visit daily. One day Anandtech will just be a fond memory.

 

[UsandThem]

I thought this can't possibly be, my last impression of AT was that it was going on strong even after the founder's departure. Sure enough, there's no review, and a still flourishing forum with nobody else stating the obvious?

What am I missing? Is there a rift with NV and this site? Or is this just not the site it once was?

Anand sold Anandech to Purch back in 2014, which was resold to Future in 2018.

My guess is you haven't visited too many times since then.

Future bought and consolidated many of the once popular tech sites, and I don't think they know what they want to do with a "deep dive" site like Anandtech when pretty much all Gen Z and later consumers would rather watch an "social influencer" on YouTube to be told what to think.

I rarely go to the main page anymore because there is hardly ever any new content. 99% of reviews/news is given to our sister site, Tomshardware.

 

[Oyeve]

This site hasn't had a decent review on ANYTHING in years, unless you count PSUs and minor crap like that. Hell, they don't even suck up to apple products much any more. I come strictly for the forums, and even that is waning.

 

[Mopetar]

Anand sold Anandech to Purch back in 2014, which was resold to Future in 2018.

My guess is you haven't visited too many times since then.

Future bought and consolidated many of the once popular tech sites, and I don't think they know what they want to do with a "deep dive" site like Anandtech when pretty much all Gen Z and later consumers would rather watch an "social influencer" on YouTube to be told what to think.

I rarely go to the main page anymore because there is hardly ever any new content. 99% of reviews/news is given to our sister site, Tomshardware.

I'm probably in the minority, but I always liked AT for the deep dives. If that's all they did with their GPU articles then I'd be happy. A dozen other sites can have all the gaming benchmarks they want, but how many will have any insight into the architecture and the changes made? That's in far shorter supply.

 

[UsandThem]

I'm probably in the minority, but I always liked AT for the deep dives. If that's all they did with their GPU articles then I'd be happy. A dozen other sites can have all the gaming benchmarks they want, but how many will have any insight into the architecture and the changes made? That's in far shorter supply.

I'm in the same boat. Out of all of the old school sites (Tom's, [H], etc), I always enjoyed the way Anandtech did things.

But I fear those days are in the past, and at some point they're probably going to hire a fast talking young social influencer to do quick-hit YouTube videos instead.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

IMO I'd honestly be happy with articles and discussion topics around the actual GPU and tech rather than necessarily reviews. No one showed up to AT for the actual performance numbers portion of a review since there were so many other sites that had much more comprehensive and involved review processes.

I would love to see articles about how ancillary features/tech works like DLSS 3.0 or SER or OREO or Chiplet Packaging etc. Refer back to other sites (Tomshardware perhaps if they're all under the same ownership) to bring in performance numbers to reinforce findings and further the discussion. Pose questions for discussion, propose other avenues of investigation, etc.

I've come to accept that AT isn't ever going to be what it used to be, and even the deep dives are dead. OK, then use the front page like a blog and just talk through stuff and pontificate on stuff as narrow as a specific feature to as broad as the general state of the industry and where it is going.

You don't need to have the physical stuff in hand to theorycraft.

 

[Shmee]

It is a pity. Most techtubers are pretty annoying and clickbaity I find. And I like easy to read graphs/charts.

 

[Hotrod2go]

It is a pity. Most techtubers are pretty annoying and clickbaity I find. And I like easy to read graphs/charts.

I agree, we must be from the same generation? Seems the millennials & Gen Y learn by watching moving pictures instead of taking the time to read AND comprehend walls of text & graphs. Does this reflect on the "progressiveness" of the education system from the last few decades already?

 

[Saylick]

I'm probably in the minority, but I always liked AT for the deep dives. If that's all they did with their GPU articles then I'd be happy. A dozen other sites can have all the gaming benchmarks they want, but how many will have any insight into the architecture and the changes made? That's in far shorter supply.

The deep dives were what brought me to AT to begin with, because back in the day you literally couldn't find a better tech website that did it, let alone a tech website that did deep dives at all. It's a shame that the demographic that appreciates deep dives are in the minority, and it's even more of a shame that the phrase "deep dive" has been diluted in meaning because I've seen even bottom-rung tech websites use the words "deep dive" to describe anything that is even remotely technical. I'm looking at you, WCCFTech! You can't call your article a deep dive when all you've done is just take the vendor-provided technical slide deck and just write an article which just regurgitates the bullet points on the slide. I can read the slides myself, thank you very much, and I'm sure as heck positive that you don't even know half the stuff you are regurgitating. You literally didn't even go deeper than what was given to you, so it ain't a deep dive!

*hops off soap box*

 

[Shmee]

I agree, we must be from the same generation? Seems the millennials & Gen Y learn by watching moving pictures instead of taking the time to read AND comprehend walls of text & graphs. Does this reflect on the "progressiveness" of the education system from the last few decades already?

I think it depends on how you define millennial, but I was born in the late 1980s. So not sure. I just can't get past some of the expressions on these guy's faces sometimes in the thumbnail, and the terrible clickbait titles, so I don't bother to watch. Maybe I am just grumpy these days

 

[Hotrod2go]

I think it depends on how you define millennial, but I was born in the late 1980s. So not sure. I just can't get past some of the expressions on these guy's faces sometimes in the thumbnail, and the terrible clickbait titles, so I don't bother to watch. Maybe I am just grumpy these days

According to the marketeers, your a millennial then. I must just be young in mind.... lol... Don't worry, the grumpiness seems to happen more, the older you get!

 

[blckgrffn]

I agree, we must be from the same generation? Seems the millennials & Gen Y learn by watching moving pictures instead of taking the time to read AND comprehend walls of text & graphs. Does this reflect on the "progressiveness" of the education system from the last few decades already?

Meh, I think its perhaps PC use is more ubiquitous and less and less the domain of engineers and nerds.

The best content creators can just make more money by pandering to the larger crowd who doesn't want walls of texts, they just want answers. And while videos take some production, they simply require less actual work in terms of research to create. So you can do less, know less and make more money? Seems like a no brainer.

That and the fact YouTube, etc. really wasn't a thing when Anand spun up, and he is definitely more an engineer, gave us this great site. Turns out Anand can make more money at Apple and likely get more of his influence into actual products.

I follow the money for the explanation.

Anandtech.com will live on forever because it's backlink profile is RIDICULOUS and they have some evergreen content in terms of researching older products that will make it a valuable platform basically forever, so it will be a shambling zombie if nothing else.

 

[Shmee]

According to the marketeers, your a millennial then. I must just be young in mind.... lol... Don't worry, the grumpiness seems to happen more, the older you get!

Yeah I just looked it up, apparently millenial and gen Y are the same thing, and then comes gen Z and gen alpha. I think these newbies are the ones that we need to worry about

 

[Hulk]

Is this not a hardware review site anymore?

 

[Fallen Kell]

Is this not a hardware review site anymore?

Pretty much... Unless it is a CPU or possibly a power supply or possibly the odd motherboard chipset, you won't see it here anymore it seems (especially since the 2018 sale). It was still going half decent after the initial 2014 sale, but ever since the 2018 sale the only thing left of this site is the forums (which have been slowly dying as well, mainly due to the death of the review side of the site).