Will EU Regulations Effectively Ban High-End Video Cards?

New submitter arun84h writes "An update to an energy law, which will apply in the European Union, has the power to limit sale of discrete components deemed 'energy inefficient.' GPU maker AMD is worried this will affect future technology as it becomes available, as well as some current offerings. From TFA: 'According to data NordicHardware has seen from a high level employee at AMD, current graphics cards are unable to meet with these requirements. This includes "GPUs like Cape Verde and Tahiti", that is used in the HD 7700 and HD 7900 series, and can't meet with the new guidelines, the same goes for the older "Caicos" that is used in the HD 6500/6600 and HD 7500/7600 series. Also "Oland" is mentioned, which is a future performance circuit from AMD, that according to rumors will be used in the future HD 8800 series. What worries AMD the most is how this will affect future graphics cards since the changes in Lot 3 will go into effect soon. The changes will of course affect Nvidia as much as it will AMD.' Is this the beginning of the end for high-end GPU sales in the EU?" The report in question. Each performance category of hardware has a power draw ceiling; in this case, regulators are increasing the minimum bus bandwidth for the highest performance category, bumping all hardware on the market into the next lowest. Unfortunately, no current hardware or planned hardware on the high end will come under the power draw ceiling for that category.

Loophole

[Anonymous Coward]

I only read a few bits of the document, but I think there's a loophole. ...
This Regulation shall not apply to any of the following product groups: ...
(v) game consoles; ...
Game console means a mains powered standalone device which is designed to provide video game playing as its primary function. ...

IANAL but looking at the draft regulations...

[Chrisq]

IANAL but looking at the draft regulations they have this totally wrong.

1.1.3. Category D desktop computers and integrated desktop
computers meeting all of the following technical parameters are
exempt from the requirements specified in points 1.1.1 and
1.1.2:
(a) a minimum of six physical cores in the central processing
unit (CPU); and
(b) discrete GPU(s) providing total frame buffer bandwidths
above 320 GB/s; and
(c) a minimum 16GB of system memory; and
(d) a PSU with a rated output power of at least 1000 W.

So the high end cards in high end systems are not banned but exempt. Anyone who is a lawyer care to comment on my interpretation?

Re:Just ship with a low-draw driver

[ebbe11]

Or just let the consumer buy online from a non-EU retailer.

When buying from sources outside the EU and when the price is above a certain limit (which the price for any high-end graphics card exceeds), one usually has to pay customs and for the handling by the customs authorities. In the cases that I have encountered, this added about $50 to the original price.

Re:Just ship with a low-draw driver

[Angostura]

Well, the UK for one.

Re:Not to defend it but...

[Alkonaut]

This is a usual complaint with regulations such as this. The other obvious example is the light bulb ban. The problem with your approach is that adding a tax on electricity that is big enough to give an impact on peoples' shopping behavior when it comes to light bulbs, would mean industry would pay through the nose for electricity that actually creates jobs, and electricity that does work that can't be done more efficiently. The difference between that electricity and a light bulb is that at low power bulb can light a room with much less power than an old style 60W bulb. If we increase electricity taxes and don't wan't to lose competitive power in our industry, then we have to have a VERY complex system of energy subsidies to industry. A simple ban on a few consumer products is way simpler to implement and regulate, even though it might seem like micromanagement.

Re:Maybe...

[Firethorn]

If AMD can't make them fit in the limits, where does that put NVidia? Hate to say it, but for at least the last 3 generations I've studied, NVidia offers the highest performance cards, but ALL of their cards have a performance disadvantage when you look at performance per watt.

re: Bandwidth

[Lonewolf666]

Yes, that seems to be misreported.

The only reference to bandwidth I could find is in the following:

1.1.3. Category D desktop computers and integrated desktop
computers meeting all of the following technical parameters are
exempt from the requirements specified in points 1.1.1 and
1.1.2:
(a) a minimum of six physical cores in the central processing
unit (CPU); and
(b) discrete GPU(s) providing total frame buffer bandwidths
above 320 GB/s; and
(c) a minimum 16GB of system memory; and
(d) a PSU with a rated output power of at least 1000 W.

In short, it is an exemption for very high end computers from certain power requirements, not a ban. Nordic Hardware's Jacob Hugosson has delivered a very bad article there.

Re:Nobody read the source?

[DNS-and-BIND]

"It is at first denied that any radical new plan exists; it is then conceded that it exists but ministers swear blind that it is not even on the political agenda; it is then noted that it might well be on the agenda but is not a serious proposition; it is later conceded that it is a serious proposition but that it will never be implemented; after that it is acknowledged that it will be implemented but in such a diluted form that it will make no difference to the lives of ordinary people; at some point it is finally recognised that it has made such a difference, but it was always known that it would and voters were told so from the outset."
-- Times editorial, published on August 28, 2002

Except it's the EU, so you can eliminate that "voters" bit above.

Re:Betteridge's Law of Headlines

[AmiMoJo]

What usually happens is some journalist gets hold of an early draft of some proposal and writes a story as if it were a firm plan in the process of being implemented. Then over the next few years it is debated and the problems ironed out, and all the predicted badness fails to materialize.

Either that or the press just lies. Straight bananas [youtube.com], anyone?

Re:IANAL but looking at the draft regulations...

[L4t3r4lu5]

Care to tell me how you know for certain that the next-gen gaming consoles or even set-top cable boxes won't meet all of these requirements 5-7 years from now? That's a hell of a lot of "server farms" running in damn near every household.

I know for certain that neither next-gen gaming consoles, nor set top cable boxes, will have a 1 Kilowatt draw. I will bet lots and lots of money on it, because the only consumer items which draw upwards of 1KW of electricity are used to either to cook your food or heat your home.

All criteria must be met to be exempt. It's stated in the very first line, right above the specifications list.

Re:Just ship with a low-draw driver

[dgatwood]

You misunderstood the summary (which is not entirely your fault—it was pretty hard to read up until the last paragraph, which explained it reasonably well). They didn't limit bandwidth. They increased the minimum bandwidth that a card has to achieve if it wants to draw a certain amount of power.

The regulations divide graphics cards up by their peak bandwidth (or maybe average bandwidth—I'm not sure which). Low-bandwidth devices are not allowed to consume much power. The next tier of devices have higher peak bandwidth and are allowed to consume more power. And so on. They increased the minimum bandwidth requirement for the highest-tier category (the category containing the fastest cards). The result is that video cards that previously fell into the top-bandwidth bucket now fall into a lower-bandwidth bucket and are no longer allowed to draw as much power.

So the card vendors' options are: A. find a way to draw less power or B. increase the peak bandwidth so that they qualify as a high-end graphics card again. And what the article is saying is that none of the current or upcoming high-end cards have enough bandwidth to fall into that top category, but they all draw too much power to meet the criteria for the next bucket down.