HardOCP
Encyclopedia
[H]ard|OCP is an online magazine
that offers news, reviews, and editorials that relate to computer hardware
, software, modding, overclocking
and cooling, owned and operated by Kyle Bennett, who started the website in 1997.
reviews. [H]ard|OCP does not review products based upon performance in synthetic benchmarks
such as 3Dmark
but instead bases its reviews on the computing experience that the product provides to the end user.
concerning Infinium Labs, (now named Phantom Entertainment
), and its CEO, Tim Roberts. On February 19, 2004, Infinium's lawyers sent a letter to Bennett, alleging libel and demanding a retraction. Bennett responded by filing suit against Infinium under the Declaratory Judgement Act
, which allowed KB networks (the legal entity behind [H]ard|OCP) to force legal resolution of the issue. Facing sanctions from the Court and an order to produce detailed financial information, Infinium settled the suit by admitting all of the allegations in the complaint, dropping their co-pending lawsuit, and paying approximately US$
50,000 to [H]ard|OCP.. [H]ard|OCP reportedly incurred close to US$250,000 in expenses during the course of this lawsuit., during which time they began charging users for certain levels of access.
(based on vBulletin
) called [H]ard|Forum which has over one hundred thousand registered users and hosts over 8.5 million posts. [H]ard|Forum comprises several dozen subforums covering numerous topics related to computer hardware and software. It is also the birthplace of the General Mayhem forum community, which was split off from the [H]ard|Forum.
Several years later, [H]ard|OCP's General Mayhem subforum was reopened, and is now operated on a subscription-based access.
's President, Kelt Reeves, had a dispute with [H]ard|OCP, which had received a system from Falcon that performed less than optimally, with noted instability, and reported these findings to their reader base.
In the exchange that followed, Reeves disputed [H]ard|OCP's findings, saying that [H]ard|OCP had publicized incorrect claims with questionable objectivity about to which piece of hardware was the true cause of the instability. (Reeves stated that both he and [H]ard|OCP had initially assumed that the problem lay with the motherboard but later discovered that the video card was at fault.) Falcon quality assurance testing included 14 hours of looping the 3D graphics benchmark 3DMark 2005 in an 85°F room, but upon receipt of the returned system, it could no longer complete that test without crashing. Falcon Northwest offered to repair the system and send it back to [H]ard|OCP for testing, which refused this solution, stating that it would interfere with the anonymous testing process.
based gaming community founded by "Duck" and "Hondaman", friends of Bennett. They received web and server hosting from [H]ard|OCP, but operated without interference from anyone at the mother community. During their 5 year run, 2001–2006, they enjoyed a number of regular gamers, and hosted several tournaments and stats-based prize competitions. All prizes were donated by [H]ard|OCP, often previously tested hardware from recent reviews. [H]ard|Gaming closed in Winter 2006, after many attempts by Duck to maintain a working server setup. The cause of the community's decline was due to insufficient support of Valve Software
, the maker of Counter-Strike.
Online magazine
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...
that offers news, reviews, and editorials that relate to computer hardware
Computer hardware
Personal computer hardware are component devices which are typically installed into or peripheral to a computer case to create a personal computer upon which system software is installed including a firmware interface such as a BIOS and an operating system which supports application software that...
, software, modding, overclocking
Overclocking
Overclocking is the process of operating a computer component at a higher clock rate than it was designed for or was specified by the manufacturer, but some manufacturers purposely underclock their components to improve battery life. Many people just overclock or 'rightclock' their hardware to...
and cooling, owned and operated by Kyle Bennett, who started the website in 1997.
Product Reviews
[H]ard|OCP is known for reviewing products and technologies in an untraditional form by focusing on "real-world" gameplay opinions when it comes to computer hardwareComputer hardware
Personal computer hardware are component devices which are typically installed into or peripheral to a computer case to create a personal computer upon which system software is installed including a firmware interface such as a BIOS and an operating system which supports application software that...
reviews. [H]ard|OCP does not review products based upon performance in synthetic benchmarks
Benchmark (computing)
In computing, a benchmark is the act of running a computer program, a set of programs, or other operations, in order to assess the relative performance of an object, normally by running a number of standard tests and trials against it...
such as 3Dmark
3DMark
3DMark is a computer benchmarking tool created and developed by Futuremark Corporation to determine the performance of a computer's 3D graphic rendering and CPU workload processing capabilities. Running 3DMark produces a 3DMark score with higher numbers indicating better performance...
but instead bases its reviews on the computing experience that the product provides to the end user.
[H]ard|OCP vs. Infinium Labs
On September 17, 2003, [H]ard|OCP writer Steve Lynch posted, an investigative reportInvestigative report
An investigative report is a document that is meant to provide information on a certain topic that is not easily obtained. It is meant to present the reader with a wealth of easily understood information and usually contains an interview or two on the subject...
concerning Infinium Labs, (now named Phantom Entertainment
Phantom Entertainment
Phantom Entertainment, Inc. is a company making keyboards, founded in 2002 by Tim Roberts.-Company history:...
), and its CEO, Tim Roberts. On February 19, 2004, Infinium's lawyers sent a letter to Bennett, alleging libel and demanding a retraction. Bennett responded by filing suit against Infinium under the Declaratory Judgement Act
Declaratory judgment
A declaratory judgment is a judgment of a court in a civil case which declares the rights, duties, or obligations of one or more parties in a dispute. A declaratory judgment is legally binding, but it does not order any action by a party. In this way, the declaratory judgment is like an action to...
, which allowed KB networks (the legal entity behind [H]ard|OCP) to force legal resolution of the issue. Facing sanctions from the Court and an order to produce detailed financial information, Infinium settled the suit by admitting all of the allegations in the complaint, dropping their co-pending lawsuit, and paying approximately US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
50,000 to [H]ard|OCP.. [H]ard|OCP reportedly incurred close to US$250,000 in expenses during the course of this lawsuit., during which time they began charging users for certain levels of access.
[H]ard|Forum
[H]ard|OCP maintains a forum communityInternet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
(based on vBulletin
VBulletin
vBulletin is a proprietary Internet forum software produced by Jelsoft Enterprises and vBulletin Solutions, both subsidiaries of Internet Brands. It is written in PHP and uses a MySQL database server.-History:...
) called [H]ard|Forum which has over one hundred thousand registered users and hosts over 8.5 million posts. [H]ard|Forum comprises several dozen subforums covering numerous topics related to computer hardware and software. It is also the birthplace of the General Mayhem forum community, which was split off from the [H]ard|Forum.
General Mayhem
The original [H]ardForums contained an area for off-topic discussion, known as "General Mayhem or "GM" for short." Kyle closed the General Mayhem subforum on July 3, 2002, and many users who disagreed with this decision were banned. On July 4, 2002, some forum members broke off and started their own website, Genmay.com. Sanjay Sabnani acquired Genmay.com in 2002, and founded General Mayhem, LLC in May 2004. On April 2, 2008 merged into CrowdGather, Inc., CRWG.OB. This independent incarnation of General Mayhem was responsible for the Christopher Walken for President campaign.Several years later, [H]ard|OCP's General Mayhem subforum was reopened, and is now operated on a subscription-based access.
Dispute with Falcon Northwest
In 2005, Falcon NorthwestFalcon Northwest
Falcon Northwest is a personal computer manufacturing company located in Medford, Oregon, USA which was founded in 1992 by its current president, Kelt Reeves. The company began its existence focusing on high-end systems for Flight Simulation...
's President, Kelt Reeves, had a dispute with [H]ard|OCP, which had received a system from Falcon that performed less than optimally, with noted instability, and reported these findings to their reader base.
In the exchange that followed, Reeves disputed [H]ard|OCP's findings, saying that [H]ard|OCP had publicized incorrect claims with questionable objectivity about to which piece of hardware was the true cause of the instability. (Reeves stated that both he and [H]ard|OCP had initially assumed that the problem lay with the motherboard but later discovered that the video card was at fault.) Falcon quality assurance testing included 14 hours of looping the 3D graphics benchmark 3DMark 2005 in an 85°F room, but upon receipt of the returned system, it could no longer complete that test without crashing. Falcon Northwest offered to repair the system and send it back to [H]ard|OCP for testing, which refused this solution, stating that it would interfere with the anonymous testing process.
[H]ard|Gaming
[H]ard|Gaming was a Counter-StrikeCounter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
based gaming community founded by "Duck" and "Hondaman", friends of Bennett. They received web and server hosting from [H]ard|OCP, but operated without interference from anyone at the mother community. During their 5 year run, 2001–2006, they enjoyed a number of regular gamers, and hosted several tournaments and stats-based prize competitions. All prizes were donated by [H]ard|OCP, often previously tested hardware from recent reviews. [H]ard|Gaming closed in Winter 2006, after many attempts by Duck to maintain a working server setup. The cause of the community's decline was due to insufficient support of Valve Software
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
, the maker of Counter-Strike.
The End of [H] Consumer and [H] Console
In the summer of 2006, then-Managing Editor Chris Morley left [H]ard|OCP to take a job at Velocity Micro as Director of Product Development. On 26 April 2007, [H] Consumer was shut down for financial reasons. Jason Wall, Managing Editor of [H] Consumer, posted a forum topic which explained why the section was shutting down. It was made clear that the old articles of [H] Consumer will still be available for visitors to read. [H] Console was also shut down.Similar pages
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