Techreport Explained

Techreport
Commercial:Yes
Type:Technology website
Registration:None
Language:English
Owners:The Tech Report Inc.
Key People:Vlad Melnic, Alpa Somaiya, Amy Clark
Author:Scott Wasson and Andy Brown
Current Status:Active

Techreport (formerly stylized "The Tech Report") is a technology news site that was established in 1999[1] with the first article being published on October 30th, 1999.[2]

Techreport currently publishes technology news, while occasionally publishing hardware reviews[3], including republishing historical reviews originally written prior to its sale in 2019[4] .

Historically the site hosted an active community forum[5], published system build guides[6] as well as an active podcast.[7] Some of the site's investigative articles regarding hardware benchmarking were cited by other reputable technology news sites like Anandtech and PC World.

The site went through an ownership change and major redesign in the middle of 2019, moving to be more of a general technology news site, resulting in the elimination of the podcast, system build guides and eventually the forums.

History

Tech Report was founded by Scott Wasson, and Andy 'Dr. Evil' Brown.[8] Both started writing at Ars Technica in 1998[9] [10] . The site eventually grew into a business enterprise with multiple full-time staff members.[11]

On December 2, 2015, Scott Wasson, the remaining founder and Editor-In-Chief stepped down as he accepted a role in AMD's graphics division.[12] [13] Wasson subsequently sold the company in March 2018 to Adam Eiberger, the site's business manager.[14]

On December 21, 2018 Jeff Kampman stepped down as Editor-In-Chief.[15] The site was subsequently sold to investors John Rampton and John Rall, and Renee Johnson took over as Editor-in-Chief.

On July 7, 2019, coinciding with the release of AMD's Ryzen 3 CPUs and Navi GPUs, a site redesign was launched, moving from the Tech Report's former custom CMS and functionality to a WordPress template. On July 9, Johnson posted an introduction to the design.[16] The new redesign was met with criticism from the users.[17] In August of the same year, TechReport's senior editing team experienced a series of changes, which was also evident in a change in direction in terms of the focus of the site, no longer covering hardware reviews and creating system guides.[18]

AMD TLB bug investigation

In 2007, Tech Report was one of the first sites to document and benchmark the flaw in the translation lookaside buffer (TLB) of AMD Phenom CPUs. AMD initially claimed that the BIOS patch needed to address this issue would result in only a 10% performance decrease. Subsequent benchmark tests conducted by Tech Report revealed that the performance impact from the patch was significantly larger, up to nearly 20% on average, with some applications such as Firefox experiencing a performance hit of 57%.[19] Tech Report also broke the news that AMD had stopped shipping affected processors.[20] [21]

Video game and GPU performance benchmarking research

On September 8, 2011, Scott Wasson posted an article titled "Inside the Second: A New Look at Game Benchmarking." This article demonstrated that frames per second (FPS) are not the only factor that matters in "smooth" gameplay, with frame latency also having a large impact.[22] [23] This innovative benchmarking method was later mentioned and acknowledged by other publications such as Anandtech, which described this method as "a revolution in the 3D game benchmarking scene"[24] [25] and with Overclockers noting how Tech Report pioneered measure frame timing.[26]

SSD Endurance Experiment

In 2013, Tech Report started an experiment using several SSD drives to determine how many writes they can endure. This test lasted for more than 18 months before all drives used in this test failed, enduring much larger amount of written data than rated by manufacturers themselves,[27] [28] and even prompting one of the manufacturers, Samsung, to release a humorous music video dedicated to this test.[29]

Historical Site Structure

Main Page

A large portion of the main page was dedicated to "News" and "Blog" entries. Among the news entries were "Shortbread" posts which offered a summary breakdown of reviews and news offered by other sites. Featured articles were often reviews of newly released PC hardware that had been tested by the site's editors and judged on several metrics including performance and value compared to other available hardware.

Podcast

Adapting to the general trend of more content for digest, The Tech Report launched its podcast on February 9, 2008, hosted by Jordan Drake. While the schedule varied it provided a casual yet in-depth look back at the topics that made news from a panel of the site staff. After 2015 episodes were released irregularly, frequently discussing the release of a new microarchitecture with David Kanter of Real World Technologies. The last episode was made in January 2018.

Community and Forum

Until 2024 Tech Report had a phpBB-styled forum that was unrestricted in read-only form and open to the public for contribution via simple registration. The forum was primarily structured around computer technology and related topics, but debates also ranged from politics and religion in the "opt-in only" R&P forum to general random chatter in the Back Porch. Financial supporters of the website also had access to a restricted forum called the Smoky Back Room.[30] Registered users had the ability to respond to news topics and other entries posted on the front page in an isolated threaded comments section that automatically attached to each new entry. Although access to the main page comments was linked to the user database, the discussions were logged separately from the forum area of the site and not counted toward the user forum statistics.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Tech Report - The scoop on PC hardware, software, cool toys, etc. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20000412102108/http://www.tech-report.com/news_archive_overview.x . 2000-04-12 . 2026-02-25 . www.tech-report.com.
  2. Web site: Wasson . Scott . Mac Unreal Tourney Demo released... . https://web.archive.org/web/20001010202555/http://www.tech-report.com/onearticle.x/9 . 2000-10-10 . 2026-02-26 . www.tech-report.com.
  3. News: Reviews Archives - Techreport . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20251008095801/https://techreport.com/review/ . 2025-10-08 . 2026-02-25 . Techreport . en-US.
  4. News: Gasior . Geoff . 2025-05-02 . Our SSD Endurance Experiment Had Some Interesting Findings . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20250913082250/https://techreport.com/review/the-ssd-endurance-experiment-only-two-remain-after-1-5pb/ . 2025-09-13 . 2026-02-25 . Techreport . en-US.
  5. Web site: TR Forums - Index page . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20240816015652/http://techreport.com/forums/ . 2024-08-16 . 2026-02-25 . techreport.com . en-gb.
  6. News: The Tech Report System Guide: May 2017 edition . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170818181936/http://techreport.com/review/31846/system-guide-current . 2017-08-18 . 2026-02-25 . The Tech Report.
  7. Web site: Archive - The Tech Report . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190330111003/http://techreport.com/archive.x?tags=Podcast . 2019-03-30 . 2026-02-25 . techreport.com.
  8. Web site: The Tech Report - About us . http://web.archive.org/web/20000123120711/http://tech-report.com/about.x . 2000-01-23 . 2026-02-26 . tech-report.com.
  9. Web site: Wasson . Scott . 1998-09-18 . The making of the DamageBox . 2026-02-25 . Ars Technica . en.
  10. Web site: Ars Technica: Kenwood 52X TrueX CD-ROM Review - Page 1 (2/99) . 2026-02-25 . archive.arstechnica.com.
  11. Web site: About us - The Tech Report . https://web.archive.org/web/20150315004122/http://techreport.com/aboutus.x . 2015-03-15 . 2026-02-26 . techreport.com.
  12. Web site: Into a new era. techreport.com. 2 December 2015 . http://web.archive.org/web/20160123160036/http://techreport.com/blog/29390/into-a-new-era. 23 January 2016.
  13. News: Smith. Ryan. Scott Wasson Announces His Retirement from The Tech Report. https://web.archive.org/web/20151204061514/http://anandtech.com/show/9832/scott-wasson-announces-his-retirement-from-the-tech-report. dead. December 4, 2015. 22 March 2018. Anandtech. 3 December 2015.
  14. News: The Tech Report secures an independent future . http://web.archive.org/web/20180301023725/https://techreport.com/blog/33308/the-tech-report-secures-an-independent-future . 2018-03-01 . 2026-02-26 . The Tech Report.
  15. Web site: So long, farewell. techreport.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20190109033629/https://techreport.com/blog/34333/so-long-farewell. 2019-01-09. dead.
  16. Web site: Home - The Tech Report . http://web.archive.org/web/20190709223237/https://techreport.com/ . 2019-07-09 . 2026-02-26 . The Tech Report . en-US.
  17. Web site: Something's different... - TR Forums . http://web.archive.org/web/20191117120706/https://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=122158 . 2019-11-17 . 2026-02-26 . techreport.com . en-gb.
  18. News: About - The Tech Report . http://web.archive.org/web/20190824123229/https://techreport.com/about/ . 2019-08-24 . 2026-02-26 . The Tech Report . en-US.
  19. Web site: AMD's Phenom TLB errata benchmarked. Swinburne. Richard. www.bit-tech.net. 2019-07-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20241127030006/https://bit-tech.net/news/tech/amds_phenom_tlb_errata_benchmarked/1/. 27 November 2024.
  20. Web site: TLB bug turns AMD's plans upside down big time. G. Andreas. www.nordichardware.com. 2019-07-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20190719200221/https://www.nordichardware.se/nyheter/tlb-bug-turns-amds-plans-upside-down-big-time.html. 19 July 2019.
  21. Web site: Phantom Phenom's perplexing processor problem behind product delay. Hruska. Joel. www.arstechnica.com. 3 December 2007 . 2019-07-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20250823030522/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2007/12/phantom-phenoms-perplexing-processor-problem-behind-produdct-delay/. 23 August 2025. live.
  22. Web site: After almost 20 years, GPU benchmarking is moving past frames per second. Hruska. Joel. www.extremetech.com. 2019-07-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20251129211414/https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/154089-after-almost-20-years-gpu-benchmarking-is-moving-past-frames-per-second. 29 November 2025.
  23. Web site: Inside the second: A new look at game benchmarking - The Tech Report - Page 1 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150212085831/http://techreport.com/review/21516/inside-the-second-a-new-look-at-game-benchmarking . 2015-02-12 . 2026-02-26 . techreport.com.
  24. Web site: AMD Frame Pacing Explored: Catalyst 13.8 Brings Consistency to Crossfire. https://web.archive.org/web/20130804051315/http://www.anandtech.com/show/7195/amd-frame-pacing-explorer-cat138. dead. August 4, 2013. Smith. Ryan. www.anandtech.com. 2019-07-19.
  25. Web site: AMD Comments on GPU Stuttering, Offers Driver Roadmap & Perspective on Benchmarking. https://web.archive.org/web/20130329080428/http://www.anandtech.com/show/6857/amd-stuttering-issues-driver-roadmap-fraps. dead. March 29, 2013. Smith. Ryan. www.anandtech.com. 2019-07-19.
  26. Web site: Our Take On NVIDIA's FCAT GPU Testing. Vaughan. Jeremy. www.overclockers.com. 2019-07-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20260203084803/https://www.overclockers.com/nvidias-fcat-gpu-testing-pursuing/. 2026-02-03.
  27. Web site: Which SSDs are the most reliable? Massive study sheds some light. Hruska. Joel. www.extremetech.com. 2019-07-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20251010121458/https://www.extremetech.com/computing/201064-which-ssds-are-the-most-reliable-massive-study-sheds-some-light. 10 October 2025.
  28. Web site: Grueling endurance test blows away SSD durability fears. Paul. Ian. www.pcworld.com. 2019-07-19.
  29. News: 2015-12-22 . Samsung Delivers 'I Will Survive Parody', Celebrating Success In The Tech Report's SSD Endurance Experiment . http://web.archive.org/web/20160223070605/https://techgage.com/news/samsung-delivers-i-will-survive-parody-celebrating-success-in-the-tech-reports-ssd-endurance-experiment/ . 2016-02-23 . 2026-02-26 . Techgage . en-US.
  30. Web site: Subscriptions - The Tech Report . https://web.archive.org/web/20150315010624/https://techreport.com/subscriptions.x . 2015-03-15 . 2026-02-26 . techreport.com.

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