How much do you read from a TPU review?

[McSteel]

As someone who has written reviews in the past, and knowing what goes into it, I read the whole thing. Of course, some reviews on stuff that's of no interest to me (currently pretty much only the stuff that's nowhere near available to me), I do skip altogether.

 

[PLAfiller]

I gotta say, very different and mature opinions. I never thought people "use" the website in this manner. The poll doesn't really do justice, but it's better this way. Fail fast, fail cheap and learn.

So many people come for the GPU reviews, and that's probably one of the rarest for me (together with 1kW PSU's and NAS). Both are products which I either: can't afford, or have a need for altogether or are not available at all in my country. For me personally most interesting are PC cases/ mice/ mouse pads/ headphones and some random products which are unique. PSU can get interesting if they review something smaller like SFX or Flex format.

 

[revin]

I disagree on the PSU statement. Most review sites don't even know how to read an oscilloscope properly.

I hope he just means jonnyguru. I found many years ago his site and was really only PSU's, then add in his hotbox section, and I was sold.
So when I'm shopping, it's only between his, and TPU for a PSU.

 

[Solaris17]

I usually only need something specific from a review. I read the segment I really want to know about IE: voltage regulation or head chracteristics. Then I usually read the conclusion and score. followed by the pics.

 

[qubit]

I don't think there is a right or wrong way to read a review, and I don't expect people to read the full review.

The typical pattern I expect is: go to last page, look at score (that's why we have it), then decide if it's worth reading the conclusion, read conclusion, then branch out into summaries or power/heat/noise, then pics.

Dammit you've just described me. I do tend to look at the pics though, even before the conclusion.

If it's something I've been especially waiting for, such as the upcoming full Maxwell-based graphics card, whenever that will be, I'll carefully read the whole review in sequence, resisting the temptation to skip to the end first and enjoy the whole thing.

Personally, I really appreciate the effort that goes into any review on any website. I did some basic graphics benchmarking for my own use with a couple of graphics cards and one game a few years ago and wrote the results down in a spreadsheet. The sheer attention to detail required to get valid results (including starting over when I forgot somethng) tediousness and length of time it took to just do that little bit really brought home just how much work there is in one of these reviews. Respect to reviewers everywhere.

 

[a_ump]

If its the same architecture i just check the specs and then the graphs, like last 3 or 4 pages. or if there's new games i check those.

Only on new architecture/chips do i read the whole thing.

 

[qubit]

I usually only need something specific from a review. I read the segment I really want to know about IE: voltage regulation or head chracteristics. Then I usually read the conclusion and score. followed by the pics.

You know Sol, I think the way to solve this problem of out-of-order reading by the likes of us, is to use DRM in the articles. You can only read it when logged in and can only flip to the next page after a preset time, plus the whole review must be read within a certain time limit or it resets. Finally, you can only flip back and forth a set number of times. Yeah, that'll solve it.

Love that CSS mug avatar, btw.

 

[Steevo]

If its a new card I read up on the architecture, layout, and other information, new features, and other information provided. Move to three or four of the common game titles that I/we know of as good stable games, move on to performance per X, overclocking, power scaling and conclusion. Go back and read up on anomalies.

I have used these reviews to buy/reccomend many graphics cards, recently my brother was looking at something for a small form factor, less than 100W, less than $100 for some light gaming. Low and behold, searching the egg, TPU and other associated sites.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0713&cm_re=low_profile-_-14-150-713-_-Product

I couldn't find anything from Nvidia, he was using a 610, and hated it till it died. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviewdb/Graphics-Cards/AMD/R7-250/

It made the choice, especially with a rebate, very simple. It will pair nicely with his i3 system, and provide enough rendering power for the 270W PSU available without the need for an additional power plug. I suggested getting a box fan too, to help blow air across the card, or into the system.

 

[Delta6326]

If it's a review by Cad I'll read the whole thing. Otherwise I only read the whole thing if I maybe purchasing it. If I'm not buying then I scan, look at all the data, etc.

 

[EarthDog]

I disagree on the PSU statement. Most review sites don't even know how to read an oscilloscope properly.

You do? Sounds like you agree as I said, JG is #1 and the ones here are solid as well. There are not many sites that test properly. JG is one, here is another. [H] does ok as well. There are others that are ok, but JG is by far the best and most thorough.

 

[AsRock]

Whole thing although it depends on what the review is on.

 

[TheMailMan78]

You do? Sounds like you agree as I said, JG is #1 and the ones here are solid as well. There are not many sites that test properly. JG is one, here is another. [H] does ok as well. There are others that are ok, but JG is by far the best and most thorough.

I think TPU has the same amount of info but is better written when it come to PSU's.

 

[EarthDog]

I am more concerned about facts than a writing style. Both are quality reviews and by the book as it were... the rest is simply subjective between the two.

Whole thing although it depends on what the review is on.

Huh?

 

[TheMailMan78]

I am more concerned about facts than a writing style. Both are quality reviews and by the book as it were... the rest is simply subjective between the two.

Huh?

What does JR have for facts that TPU misses? Now I'm just curious.

 

[AsRock]

I am more concerned about facts than a writing style. Both are quality reviews and by the book as it were... the rest is simply subjective between the two.

Huh?

If a PSU \ motherboard is in question then the whole thing, if it's a CPU i normally just look at the benchmarks. As for video cards if i am in the market i will read the whole thing if i am not however i will just hit the performance sections and the end of the review.

 

[Hilux SSRG]

In this order:

1. Score and conclusion.
2. Comments.
3. Read the review and ogle the pics.

I really enjoy the depth of the reviews and learn a lot from them and the comments made from the tpu community.

 

[EarthDog]

What does JR have for facts that TPU misses? Now I'm just curious.

No clue. I didn't mean to allude otherwise...in my feeble mind, JG was the original that did these right...everyone else just follows that lead.

Outside of the psu thing...One thing I don't look at here or anywhere else that does this are numeric scores. why? Can an author even quantify the difference between a 7 and a 7.1 or 7.5 or.... Get my point? scores here are essentially subjective if there is nothing to say why it gets docked a tenth here or a point there.

 

[cadaveca]

No clue. I didn't mean to allude otherwise...

Outside of the psu thing...One thing I don't look at here or anywhere else that does this are numeric scores. why? Can an author even quantify the difference between a 7 and a 7.1 or 7.5 or.... Get my point? scores here are essentially subjective if there is nothing to say why it gets docked a tenth here or a point there.

I can say with my own reviews, if you read everything (and I know you do), then there is info which directly reflects the score I give. I either liked or disliked certain aspects, but that said, in motherboards, I do tend to have a fair bit of stuff to look at, and because there are things like custom Turbo profiles, benchmark scoring is kind of irrelevant, and final score is far more important, but must be considered with other boards for the same market, rather than vs all boards overall.

 

[EarthDog]

There is info to support it... Sure. But the score is still subjective in the end because of a lack of defined deductions.

Scores hold more water if the system of deductions are defined... for example, jonnyguru uses scores that make sense as he defines how much he takes off for each metric.

Pros and cons is where I stop in most reviews with 'scores'.

 

[RealNeil]

I usually read the conclusion and "Likes" and "Dislikes" first.
I will extrapolate from that info, and delve deeper into the review afterwards.
I find that I read more of the content when it is brand new technology that I've never seen.
GPU reviews are usually read thoroughly for a new cooling feature's effectiveness or the lack of the same.
I love to see SLI and Crossfire results too.

 

[Easy Rhino]

I only read past the score if MailMan trolled the comments section.

 

[HossHuge]

For GPU's, I read the overall performance summary and the overclock section. I really don't care about power usage. I used to read the comments section but then realized it's pretty much the same for every gpu released.