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The New Commodore Rocks – Because I Said So!

Commodore Gaming comes to HardOCP looking to get some free press about its new gaming machines in North America. Check out what happens when you ask this tech company to back up its performance claims. You wanted free press, here ya go!

We here at HardOCP get literally hundreds of press releases each month. Almost all get looked at personally by me. The ones we think are worthy of publishing a news item on get forwarded to Steve Lynch and he handles it from there. Steve also culls through the PRs every morning as well and pulls the ones he sees fit to publish on our news page. Sometimes I get PR statements that invite questions to be asked, such is the case with Commodore Gaming’s PR from the 29th of August and the reason for this editorial.

Stamford, Conn. August 29, 2007 - Commodore Gaming, a leader in high-performance PC gaming solutions, announced today that it has opened a new North American Headquarters and hired a veteran from the video games industry to run it.

Obviously Commodore is a brand that brings with it much emotion in the enthusiast hardware sector for many of us. Back in March it announced that “Commodore” branded PCs would be making their way to market. Solid sites such as bit tech have reviewed Commodore boxes and come away with good things to say although it would be hard to say they were overly impressed, giving it a 7 out 10 score.

So the Commodore XX represents good value, and the skins offer some variety even if the case is a bit ambiguous underneath. If we had to drop £3,000 on a pre-built PC, the Commodore would still be a definite consideration for the shopping list but we'd probably still go for a Vadim or Dell XPS 720.

Now while we are no longer in the business of reviewing fully built performance computer systems, we have had our fair share of it over the last couple of years with H Consumer. So when I see a press release that states “Commodore Gaming, a leader in high-performance PC gaming solutions,” I want to know exactly what makes them a leader, so that is exactly what I asked David Tractenberg of Traction Public Relations who happens to be the gentleman that sent me the press release.

What exactly makes them a leader?

Kyle R Bennett

I have dealt with many PR reps over the last 10 years and I expected that my simple question would open the doors for him to gush about Commodore’s achievements so far, which is basically what I wanted to know. I am fully ignorant as to what specifically Commodore Gaming is doing beyond what I heard from PR firms back in March. The boxes are not sold here in North America yet so I figured I would get some more self-glamorizing statements, with at the very least, a list of review sites that have sung Commodore Gaming praises. This is the email reply I got back in its entirety.

Really, were you being serious? Just need to know if want a real answer on this one…

-Dave

Wow! OK…well. I am not dumbfounded too often, but this is one of those times. I responded and asked David the same question again. This time I got a bit more focused response.

Commodore systems have managed to beat every other high performance PC on the market without overclocking our chips. In some cases we have beat major gaming systems by 30% in 3DMark tests. This will all come out more here as US units start being reviewed and tested. This makes them a leader since they are very clearly winning the performance wars overseas. If nothing else they use the top components from a verity of name brand manufacturers which puts them at or near the top even without testing.

-Dave

A couple of things got my attention. First off the statement of fact that their Commodore machine, “…beat every other high performance PC on the market…” Secondly, you all know that 3DMark is fairly useless as a true performance indicator in gaming, but it is a widely used measuring stick in our industry especially when it comes to fully built gaming computers. Beating a comparably equipped computer by 30% in 3DMark is no small feat.

To put it simply, if Commodore can pull off huge performance advantages by picking the right components and configuring them as it sees fit, I want to know what it is doing that other companies and enthusiasts are not. Obviously, if Commodore can actually do what David says they are doing, this would be something we want our readers to know about. Most of you build your own boxes, but many of us have much greater responsibilities than we used to and need a retailer that we trust to build a great gaming box.

So I asked…

How exactly do you contribute 30% 3DMark score increases to a comparably equipped PC?

Kyle R Bennett

This time I got a more detailed answer albeit somewhat vague.

I’m the PR guy and not an engineer. If you want a true explanation than I can setup an interview for you. As I understand it though our guys test the components in different configurations to find the ones that work best together. The example they gave me had to do with memory. While there is faster RAM on the market with lower CAS latency, it did not make the system faster at all and actually slowed it down a notch. Our guys tested dozens of different modules to see which one gave us the fastest results and we used that one in the systems. By looking not just at individual components but at the system as a whole Commodore created a PC that is greater than the sum of its parts.

-Dave

Do keep in mind that Commodore Gaming is using completely off-the-shelf hardware, besides its C64 emulator which is the only thing that links this box to the original Commodore systems. Intel processors, Corsair Memory, GeForce graphics, and X-Fi sound are noted components in its Commodore xx gaming PC. Now obviously if Commodore were to build a PC that is 30% faster than a comparably equipped box, it should have extensive documentation outlining its processes used to achieve such performance. After being in this space for the last decade, I suspect that one of two things is going on with Commodore Gaming and their PR representative. It is my opinion that David is either outright lying, or he is twisting the data to unconscionable levels. So in order to figure out what is going on, and certainly allowing Commodore Gaming the chance to prove its statements, I asked…

Have the engineer send me the test data that backs up your 30% claim with system specifications and BIOS settings. Should not be a hard thing for a leading company in the PC space to produce. I would love to review it.

I left for the rest of the day to handle some personal business. I returned later to find a message on my answering machine from Dave. He said that I sounded “bitter,” and wondered aloud what they had done to “anger me.” He said he wanted to figure out why I was “picking on this press release in particular.” “WOW,” again I thought. Now keep in mind that I have never spoken to Commodore Gaming about its systems nor have I ever talked to David Tractenberg about these systems. You have read every email up to this point in its entirety above. After listening to Dave’s message on my answering machine, I found this mail in my inbox.

I just tried calling you but I got your machine. I left my number though and please feel free to call me back. I’m not sure why you are picking on this press release quite so much, every release that goes out any agency’s door has a tag line in it talking about the company in the first sentence. They all have an element of branding in them and this one is no different. However there is no misstatement of facts at all, so I’m confused why you are harping on it. If you like I can just put you on the review list and you can run your own tests. I’ll send you out a unit and you can see for yourself what the system can do. However our system in not overclocked and your site is all about that. We would not send you a unit unless you tested it stock and reviewed it against other stock machines. If my claims are false then you will have your answers, if they are true I’d expect a pretty nice review though. It would be a few months before a unit came in that wasn’t already spoken for, are you up for it?

-Dave