Antec and Tyan Respond to Compatibility Issues

A few weeks ago we published an insider article on compatibility issues with . Antec's PR company released a statement to AnandTech about the issue, copied below.

It has come to the attention of Antec and Tyan that there are allegations made in a recent AnandTech public report of widespread incompatibility between specific Tyan platforms and Antec power supply models. Based on the information received through AnandTech, both Antec and Tyan jointly performed a detailed investigation into each and every point listed in the AnandTech report and found the claims to be disproven by joint testing efforts in the laboratories of both companies. In order to present our joint position in light of the AnandTech report, both companies have provided the following information in order that customers and readers of AnandTech can take this evidence into account and make their own judgment. We hope in the end that all parties, especially AnandTech readers and customers, will find this information helpful in making solid, logical conclusions about products from both Antec and Tyan. FACT SHEET: 1. Antec Customer Support has received no pattern of contacts that would lead to a suspicion of any incompatibility or widespread undervolt problem. 2. Tyan has done extensive testing on a number of systems both based on these boards and power supplies, as well as boards not listed in AnandTech's report, and could find no evidence of stability or undervoltage problems while using Antec power supplies. 3. Monarch Computers, who are not named in the report but who are the alleged source of the information, apparently did encounter a failure. Monarch contacted Antec asking if it was a "known problem." Antec answered that it was not, and since there was no issue to resolve it was forgotten by all parties until the appearance of the AnandTech report. This original brief inquiry from Monarch remains the only contact Antec has received regarding the incompatibility alleged in the report. 4. The report is written as consistent with a random failure, and provides no data or numbers required to draw as broad a conclusion as stated in the report. 5. The reporter who wrote the report allegedly checked with Antec, Antec's PR firm, and Tyan to confirm the story. No one at Antec or Antec PR received a contact from him until after the story broke, and no representative at Tyan confirmed to him the existence of an incompatibility. In addition, the reporter's and editor's stories regarding their attempts to confirm their data have changed over time as named organizations denied claims made. It is Antec's and Tyan's firm belief that the widespread promulgation of this false report throughout the Internet has caused both companies unfair damage to their reputation and caused unknown harm to their businesses. In closing, both Antec and Tyan feel that in order to help close the issue of the report, we formally request an apology and retraction of the report from AnandTech. If there any questions please do not hesitate to contact each of our representatives via the contact information below. Antec Name: David Forster Position: Communications Manager Phone Number: (510) 770-1200 x388 Email: dforster@antec.com Tyan Name: John Nguyen Position: CSPM/PMM, Sales and Marketing Division, NA Region Phone Number: 510-651-8868 x5209 Email: john@tyan.com

Oddly enough, the same PR representative for Antec that sent this statement was the same one we sent the original inquiry to on November 15th asking for a response. As I mentioned to Antec, we've only retracted one story in the five years I've been at AnandTech ().

When hardware vendors come to us claiming a problem and we test and find the same problem, we then publish on it. Is the problem more widespread than just the motherboards we tested and listed? It's possible - you might just have to wait for our next power supply round up.

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