The GeForce Partner Program, known as GPP in the industry, is a “marketing” program that looks to HardOCP as being an anticompetitive tactic against AMD and Intel.
Original source of the story.
This is where I heard about this the first time.
Nvidias own blogpost.
And this is the only non-nvidia pro GPP post I could find.
(Thanks @Steinwerks)
(again thanks @Steinwerks)
https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20180330PD207.html
KitGuru Says: From the sounds of it, if this plan is being put into motion, all of the popular ROG coolers will also be available on AREZ- so it’s not exactly comparable to what happened at MSI recently, with ‘Gaming X’ series cards disappearing from the RX 500-series lineup on the official website. For enthusiasts, the situation will continue to be as simple as figuring out whether you want to go with Nvidia or AMD, but the brand names on each box will be a bit different.
How do you guys feel about GPP and the direction its going? Would ROG becoming an exclusively Nvidia GPU brand hurt AMD?
Linus is basically asking openly for a leak at this point.
From the latest Videocardz.com Rumor Roundup:
We exclusively told you that ASUS is in the process of making new series of graphics cards. Those series were made specifically for Radeon cards. As it turns out, we were right and ASUS already has a website dedicated to new series (but so far rather empty of any products).
The AREZ series will be ASUS’ response to NVIDIA’s GeForce Partner Program, which requires dedicated gaming series for GeForce products only. Therefore, AREZ series should theoretically replace ASUS as a brand on marketing materials.
Well, here is AMD’s answer:
https://gaming.radeon.com/en/radeon-a-gamers-choice/
Kyle Bennett and Jason Evangelho have written up a bit of background story regarding AMD’s Scott Herkelman on [H]ardOCP and a short analysis of Herkelman’s post targeting Nvidia’s GPP on Forbes.
The full text
Our proud pastime of PC gaming has been built on the idea of freedom. Freedom to choose. How to play the game. What to do and when to do it. And specifically, what to play it on. PC gaming has a long, proud tradition of choice. Whether you build and upgrade your own PCs, or order pre-built rigs after you’ve customized every detail online, you know that what you’re playing on is of your own making, based on your freedom to choose the components that you want. Freedom of choice is a staple of PC gaming.
Over the coming weeks, you can expect to see our add-in board partners launch new brands that carry an AMD Radeon product. AMD is pledging to reignite this freedom of choice when gamers choose an AMD Radeon RX graphics card. These brands will share the same values of openness, innovation, and inclusivity that most gamers take to heart. The freedom to tell others in the industry that they won’t be boxed in to choosing proprietary solutions that come bundled with “gamer taxes” just to enjoy great experiences they should rightfully have access to. The freedom to support a brand that actively works to advance the art and science of PC gaming while expanding its reach.
The key values that brands sporting AMD Radeon products will offer are:
• A dedication to open innovation – AMD works tirelessly to advance PC gaming through close collaboration with hardware standards bodies, API and game developers, making our technologies available to all to help further the industry. Through our collaboration with JEDEC on memory standards like HBM and HBM2, Microsoft on DirectX and Khronos on Vulkan, and through the GPUOpen initiative where we provide access to a comprehensive collection of visual effects, productivity tools, and other content at no cost, we’re enabling the industry to the benefit of gamers.
• A commitment to true transparency through industry standards – Through industry standards like AMD FreeSync technology, we’re providing the PC ecosystem with technologies that significantly enhance gamers’ experiences, enabling partners to adopt them at no cost to consumers, rather than penalizing gamers with proprietary technology “taxes” and limiting their choice in displays.
• Real partnerships with real consistency – We work closely with all our AIB partners, so that our customers are empowered with the best, high-performance, high quality gaming products and technologies available from AMD. No anti-gamer / anti-competitive strings attached.
• Expanding the PC gaming ecosystem – We create open and free game development technologies that enable the next generation of immersive gaming experiences across PC and console ecosystems. These efforts have resulted in advancements such as AMD FreeSync adoption on TVs for Xbox One S or X, integration of forward looking “Vega” architecture features and technologies into Far Cry 5 without penalizing the competition, and inclusion of open sourced AMD innovations into the Vulkan API which game developers can adopt freely.
We pledge to put premium, high-performance graphics cards in the hands of as many gamers as possible and give our partners the support they need without anti-competitive conditions. Through the support of our add-in-board partners that carry forward the AMD Radeon RX brand, we’re continuing to push the industry openly, transparently and without restrictions so that gamers have access to the best immersive technologies, APIs and experiences.
We believe that freedom of choice in PC gaming isn’t a privilege. It’s a right.
And the video:
Also, here is a little message from videocardz.com’s twitter:
It seems that Nvidia is trying to fling some mud.
What the GPP does to the notebook market:
(@Steinwerks at it, again. 
)
Looks like Nvidia is trying to pull it’s dick out from fucking everyone.
I’m sure there already is jizz all over the place.
NAW Show is skeptical about it being over.
Steve has things to say… and he barely keeps his calm.
Jensen is BSing so hard even his leather jacket is cringing. (Thanks @RevampedTech )
