(a least that’s what I would like to think).
There’s the issue of relevance though
where for the sole purpose of reaching
an even higher synthetic score, we turn to
GPU setups that cost several thousands of
dollars. In the same way that we appreciate
quarter mile runs with highly tuned cars, it
is not of mass market interest and there’s
no real way to make it so. The volumes of
people who can appreciate that exercise,
but are capable of partaking in it are
almost not worth counting. That doesn’t
mean it’s not something we shouldn’t have.
Consider however that a quarter mile drag
competition with regular street legal cars
is a lot more accessible. That very same car
will go on a shopping run after the sprint.
This is exactly how a competition with
unmodified hardware or mass hardware can
be significantly more attractive. That very
same computer that was taking part in the
competition for the highest Hitman frame
rate is well and truly capable of actually
running that game.
That is to me probably the most direct
way to engage everyone in this common
interest and passion for hardware. How long
it took for us to get a UHD/4K benchmark
is indicative of this disparity between the
competitive overclocking scene and the
general enthusiast and/or gamer. There
should not be a situation where you can get
more information about game or system
performance using a singular title, than you
can with a benchmark which only serves the
purpose of gauging system performance.
I must add that it need not be a
coordinated effort by all involved to do this
and perhaps it falls to the vendors more
than anyone else to make these changes.
After all, they are the entities that stand
22 The OverClocker Issue 32 | 2014
to gain the most from this. With all the
above said, I’m well aware that within the
hardware industry, creativity is a distant
second to mimicry and maintenance of
the status quo. It is always perplexing to
come across so many within the various
companies that are not in tune with their
customers. This is overclockers and gamers
alike. It is possibly the only industry where
every product or component goes from
engineering to retail, with every step
between only serving to facilitate that. As
such, all the above is probably esoteric at
best to those which can affect this change.
Vendors make this hardware for “gamers”
and market them by way of overclockers
and competitive overclockers. Yet, neither
of these two demographics is understood in
any capacity that resembles adequate. Alas,
that