Pro/Forums - View Single Post

Marci · 02-22-2005, 10:46 AM

Jumping in late on this thread with my 2p (hmmm, looking back over the length of the post, £20) worth... here goes...

This site is responsible for me no longer reviewing cooling hardware. Only this site.

HOWEVER.... that is no bad thing.

I used to review stuff left right and centre, admittedly a lot of the time for the freebies, but my job required it of me... but from reading on here, I've learnt MUCH more and realised that my reviews of cooling hardware generally weren't worth the paper they were written on as the results weren't sufficiently quantifiable and comparable, nor controlled.

Is this a bad thing? In my mind, no.... but that's cos it's me. I realised my reviewing methodologies were flawed, and also realised that I didn't have the resources to correct the flaws and test using uniform methods, therefore it was my decision to stop writing reviews and I'm perfectly happy with that decision. I'm happier knowing that any falsehoods knocking about the scene aren't being knocked about by me (but there's still stuff I don't know so some advice I give may be inaccurate from time to time, but that's all part of the learning curve). Sadly, watercooling retailers in this game cannot afford to employ thermo-dynamically skilled staff, or cannot afford the hardware needed to allow accurate reviews to be published. In my position I am "the technical authority" of more or less everything at over-clock.com, and the members of our forums and the consumers all demand of me technical info that I attempt to provide as best I can, however, when it comes to reviews and figures I always firstly point out that figures are only comparable if uniform methodologies are in play when talking about others' reviews, and then inevitably send whoever it is asking the question I can't answer here, or come here myself to find it.

I see this place more as the hidden resource for the Technical Representatives around the globe in this scene, and would be thrilled to see representation from EVERY online store selling watercooling, as that way we can be sure that everyone knows the same info and is giving out the same facts etc.

Things can get tricky tho... y'see, we've just made up a set of radiators, however cannot send them to Bill for reviewing as he did with the previous line (ThermoChill HE series) for obvious reasons.... I obviously can't review the new rads due to lack of equipment and testing-knowhow, and the company doesn't have the funds to correct that situation....

So, I have sat here a set of rads that I cannot quantify. I've e-mailed all I can think of to get them reviewed via uniform methodologies, and can't find anyone willing to undertake the task, and a huge chunk didn't reply to my initial e-mail either... I don't want to write a single word on these rads as I know for a fact that if I did any figures I produced would be 100% useless to those in the know, and n00bs and consumers will just accept what they're told by any old monkey the majority of the time, especially those who base their purchasing decisions on "my mates is better than mine" - I just don't feel comfortable in misleading them, and then being publicly accused of providing misleading information elsewhere online by other sites as that does nothing for the reputation of the business and myself.

So there's the partial downside and upside in one... the risk of total published reviews diminishing, but the quality and usefulness of the reviews that ARE being published being 200% more accurate and useful than those that are no longer being written.... now you've gotta get the public looking at the good ones, and ignoring the bad ones.

Now yes, this site does scare of a lot of n00bs etc, but again, that preserves the information in the forums and stops all the general spam suffered by other sites (same questions over and over and over and over by folks who obviously haven't looked into a thing) so the information which IS here is of FAR more use to anyone than it would otherwise be if the site was more friendly to the average "uninitiated" newcomer...

Perhaps the solution would be to offshoot - have a user-friendly section of the forums for the average user, and then section off an area for the highly technical info with a warning that if you come in here spouting crap you're likely to get it forced back into the anal cavity via the same orifice it left from... straight down the throat.

It's a tricky game, but tbh I'm glad this site is how it is as that's what I rely on.... brute force honesty ensuring the facts are presented and the myths and falsehoods exposed and made public. All of them.

Possibly the trickiest question I've ever seen asked on this site!
So there ya go... I'm off to fix me motorbike now seeing as I slid it sideways down a road last night and left half of it naked!

02-22-2005, 10:46 AM	#140
Marci Cooling Savant Join Date: May 2003 Location: Wakefield, West Yorkshire, UK Posts: 486	Jumping in late on this thread with my 2p (hmmm, looking back over the length of the post, £20) worth... here goes... This site is responsible for me no longer reviewing cooling hardware. Only this site. HOWEVER.... that is no bad thing. I used to review stuff left right and centre, admittedly a lot of the time for the freebies, but my job required it of me... but from reading on here, I've learnt MUCH more and realised that my reviews of cooling hardware generally weren't worth the paper they were written on as the results weren't sufficiently quantifiable and comparable, nor controlled. Is this a bad thing? In my mind, no.... but that's cos it's me. I realised my reviewing methodologies were flawed, and also realised that I didn't have the resources to correct the flaws and test using uniform methods, therefore it was my decision to stop writing reviews and I'm perfectly happy with that decision. I'm happier knowing that any falsehoods knocking about the scene aren't being knocked about by me (but there's still stuff I don't know so some advice I give may be inaccurate from time to time, but that's all part of the learning curve). Sadly, watercooling retailers in this game cannot afford to employ thermo-dynamically skilled staff, or cannot afford the hardware needed to allow accurate reviews to be published. In my position I am "the technical authority" of more or less everything at over-clock.com, and the members of our forums and the consumers all demand of me technical info that I attempt to provide as best I can, however, when it comes to reviews and figures I always firstly point out that figures are only comparable if uniform methodologies are in play when talking about others' reviews, and then inevitably send whoever it is asking the question I can't answer here, or come here myself to find it. I see this place more as the hidden resource for the Technical Representatives around the globe in this scene, and would be thrilled to see representation from EVERY online store selling watercooling, as that way we can be sure that everyone knows the same info and is giving out the same facts etc. Things can get tricky tho... y'see, we've just made up a set of radiators, however cannot send them to Bill for reviewing as he did with the previous line (ThermoChill HE series) for obvious reasons.... I obviously can't review the new rads due to lack of equipment and testing-knowhow, and the company doesn't have the funds to correct that situation.... So, I have sat here a set of rads that I cannot quantify. I've e-mailed all I can think of to get them reviewed via uniform methodologies, and can't find anyone willing to undertake the task, and a huge chunk didn't reply to my initial e-mail either... I don't want to write a single word on these rads as I know for a fact that if I did any figures I produced would be 100% useless to those in the know, and n00bs and consumers will just accept what they're told by any old monkey the majority of the time, especially those who base their purchasing decisions on "my mates is better than mine" - I just don't feel comfortable in misleading them, and then being publicly accused of providing misleading information elsewhere online by other sites as that does nothing for the reputation of the business and myself. So there's the partial downside and upside in one... the risk of total published reviews diminishing, but the quality and usefulness of the reviews that ARE being published being 200% more accurate and useful than those that are no longer being written.... now you've gotta get the public looking at the good ones, and ignoring the bad ones. Now yes, this site does scare of a lot of n00bs etc, but again, that preserves the information in the forums and stops all the general spam suffered by other sites (same questions over and over and over and over by folks who obviously haven't looked into a thing) so the information which IS here is of FAR more use to anyone than it would otherwise be if the site was more friendly to the average "uninitiated" newcomer... Perhaps the solution would be to offshoot - have a user-friendly section of the forums for the average user, and then section off an area for the highly technical info with a warning that if you come in here spouting crap you're likely to get it forced back into the anal cavity via the same orifice it left from... straight down the throat. It's a tricky game, but tbh I'm glad this site is how it is as that's what I rely on.... brute force honesty ensuring the facts are presented and the myths and falsehoods exposed and made public. All of them. Possibly the trickiest question I've ever seen asked on this site! So there ya go... I'm off to fix me motorbike now seeing as I slid it sideways down a road last night and left half of it naked!