Lasercutting

It’s well known that when you buy a cpu, it’s speed is “locked” to a certain frequency, when recognized by a motherboards bios(unless, of course, you buy a cpu that is NOT LOCKED, such as Intel’s Extreme Edition, and AMD’s Black Edition). It’s known that the bios must read specific values, programmed into the cpu, to know what speed is set…but how does the manufacturer set those values, and not have them changed?

In the past, all cpus from AMD came “unlocked”. In turn, there was a ton of counterfitting because of this, and AMD then decided to lock it’s cpu’s multiplier, to prevent such from happening. Right about that time, I was trying to figure out how AMD did this, with a “Thoroughbred B” AMD cpu, which had laser cuts easily accessible on the top of the cpu. People told me I was wasting my time.

Many years have passed, and now every cpu has a metal cover, for better heat distribution…and there are no visible electrical bridges underneath…so how do they set a cpu’s speed?

While there may be no visible bridges, one common thing under both Intel’s and AMD’s metal cpu tops, is a thin black strip…

Ever wonder what’s under that strip?

I know I don’t…

The 5870 is launched…or is it?

Yes, you can now buy one. Yes, like I said earlier, AMD paid software developer Codemasters to code DX11 into the pc-version of the newly-released “Dirt 2″, and a coupon is in the box of every HD5870, like Valve’s “Half-Life 2″ and “The Orange Box”, that were in the ATI cards for DX9c(HalfLife2), and for DX10(The Orange Box). Like those previous coupons that came with ATI graphics cards, it will be several months before those coupons can be put to use…but at least in this instance, with Dirt 2, we know 100% for sure that the game is done, and any extra time taken is due to the extra coding involved in adding extra features, and testing for hardware compatibility. We must also await the relase of Microsoft’s newest Operating System, “Windows 7″.

And, yes, I suppose I never said it came in the box with the HD5870, but when you come from the future, some things will break the time continuum! Sometimes you must read between the lines!

There are HUGE numbers of these cards already made. Unlike product launches of the past, there will be a continous flow of cards into the retail space, and although the number from each ATi-Partner is limited, this comes for a reason. A very good reason. EXCLAMATION POINT!

And it’s not the reason that is out in the public domain, either.

Yield on this graphics chipset is very good…due to the enormous amount of time ATI has had with the chip already. When the rumours of TSMC having issues on 45nm floated around, this rumour actually pertained to these new ATI graphics chipsets, and when we heard that TSMC had solved the “45nm yield problem”, the HD5870’s specifications were set in stone.

There are still rumours to come about these chips though, and it might not be pretty. At least not for everyone.

Myself, I recently had to return one set of HD4890’s back to the ATI-Partner, XFX. These cards were never overclocked, or modded; as I normally do with my graphics cards; and they lasted only 2 short months, almost to the day, before the problems were such that I could bear the issues no longer, and started the return process with XFX. Almost 5 weeks later, XFX has finally shipped out my replacements. But we’ll talk about all of that next time…AND, we will be talking about cpu manufacturing, and how cpus are laser-cut into specific parts. Until then…take care!

So, DO You Like it? EyeFinity? 24 monitors, ONE pc? You bet.

Yeah, so the details are out. Check out you favorite hardware enthusiast site for exact details…what I see DOES NOT impress.

I mean really…6 monitors, powered by one single card…6 monitors @ 2560×1600…but note…no monitor available today will work! Samsung, AMD’s launch partner, doesn’t have thier panels ready! Will they meet the deadline for launch, set by AMD? Or will consumers have to wait?

Heh. Dell 3007WFPs grace my desk. And guess what…6 of them…won’t work with Eyefinity. Such a joke…who can afford such tech given today’s financial climate? And when will the required monitors for Eyefinity even hit store shelves? And what will be the total cost for the GPUs, and the 6 monitors?

In my last post, I mentioned that details would be marketing only…and such they are. Eyefinity is good, really…but not good enough. Quake on 24 monitors…um…Quake? How many YEARS old is that title? Five? Six? Marketing at it’s best…

Here’s Simon, giving a presentation: LINK

So, take a look…the new 2.5 Teraflop cards are here…more than double the performance of the last generation of gpus from AMD…DX11…EyeFinity…and tomorrow, more details…specific details on just how fast this gpu really is, expected cost, launch date(s)…

But let me leave you with some words of wisdom…WAIT BEFORE YOU BUY. If you are going to buy a 5-series gpu from AMD, make sure it has 2GB of VRAM. This card is going to last quite some time on the market…because none of the development houses making games for DX11 are any where near launching titles…and it’s looking like “DiRT 2″, a final farewell to Rally Driving’s best ever, Colin McCrae, will be the first DX11 title…but only on pc, as no current console is even DX10-compliant(all three feature DX9-class gpus or older, as is the case with the Wii). And as such, 2GB should be a pre-requisite…you’ll understand why, in The Future…

And do you want to know how much AMD paid for CodeMasters to delay the launch, just for DX11 functions?

Yes, CodeMaster’s delayed “DiRT 2″ launch for the PC platform is entirely due to AMD’s “GET IN THE GAME” program…and I know the numbers…and I am very shocked…but at the same time, pleased..

Hit me up with your thoughts…I’ll be sure to pass them on to Simon Solotko. After all, every tech guy needs a muse…and I ain’t the tech guy…;)

Note: Today is a special anniversary for many people. I myself, shall be remembering those that paid the price of thier lives, 8 years ago…take a moment and reflect on the importance of this day. We shall NOT forget.

FOr those that are interested, here is also the details from the Offical AMD Press Release, given today:

Press Release

AMD Demonstrates the PC’s Next Act
at Experience Events Worldwide

— AMD and PC industry leaders unveil ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology, a powerful experience-enhancing technology that unlocks near eye-definition resolutions —

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Sept. 10, 2009 — At “experience events” on three continents this week, AMD (NYSE: AMD) and its industry partners introduced ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology, a revolutionary feature in the upcoming next generation ATI Radeon™ family of DirectX® 11 enabled graphics processors.
• This unique AMD innovation gives PCs the ability to seamlessly connect up to six ultra high definition displays in a variety of portrait and landscape configurations giving viewers a stunning new perspective on their PC experience. ATI Eyefinity is powered by one AMD graphics card for up to 12 times 1080p high-definition resolution, which approaches eye-definition optical clarity.1
• ATI Eyefinity technology brings AMD closer to delivering true eye-definition experiences, where the display of a virtual environment is so detailed that it seems optically real to the human eye. Using ATI Eyefinity technology in a single PC, it is now possible to power displays with a combined theoretical resolution of 268 megapixels,2 roughly equivalent to the resolution of a 90 degree arc of what the human eye sees.3 For reference, today’s average 19 inch LCD display typically has an image quality of only slightly more than 1 megapixel. 4
• PCs with ATI Eyefinity technology expand game and virtual world environments to the largest ever experienced, allowing gamers to dominate the competition. For entertainment, education, and productivity applications, ATI Eyefinity practically obsoletes scrolling through vast desktop real estate that puts more information and stunning detail at users’ fingertips.
• AMD is working closely with leading display partner Samsung Electronics to introduce ultra-thin bezel monitors and compatible stands that can easily be tiled to create an even more immersive and virtually seamless ATI Eyefinity experience. The ultra-thin bezels will enable customers to create their own scalable display matrix. Samsung is the first to bring these displays to market.

A More Engaging PC Experience: Eye-Definition Gaming
Set to debut in retail and e-tail outlets before the Windows® 7 operating system is launched, the next generation ATI Radeon family of graphics processors is set to bring computer enthusiasts and mainstream consumers the benefits of the most powerful processor ever created.5 To showcase the new experiences next generation ATI Radeon graphics will bring to PC users, AMD presented:
• PCs armed with the new ATI Radeon processors, capable of rendering incredibly complex virtual environments and characters unlike anything seen before.
• Scenes and digital actors that are almost indistinguishable from reality, rendered in real-time and shown as completely interactive.

A More Intuitive PC Experience: Making Things Simple
Further demonstrating the power of its approach to the market, AMD demonstrated how this new technology will work within AMD PC platforms to provide consumers a more intuitive experience. For example:
• AMD spotlighted the conversion of a home video file for use on a personal media player in Windows 7. The technology preview showed the potential of notebooks and PCs powered by new ATI Radeon graphics processors, where users simply drag a file like an HD video produced by popular pocket cameras, and an easy, visibly accelerated conversion of the file takes place.6

• The speed and intuitiveness of this popular processing-intensive task is unmatched by all-Intel platform offerings costing much more.

A More Empowering End-to-End PC Experience
ATI Eyefinity technology and the next generation family of ATI Radeon graphics processors were introduced as a part of a series of vivid demonstrations showing the next act for the PC: a total experience transformation from the moment consumers walk into a store, to easier access to advanced video processing, to the quality of entertainment experience new PCs deliver in the home or on the go.
Additional groundbreaking new technologies and concepts were also introduced by AMD and industry-leading partners:
• The AMD Next Generation Notebook Platform and the AMD Second Generation Ultrathin Platform for Notebooks also launched this morning, with a multitude of innovative OEM notebook designs on display. Notebooks based on the two platforms were shown to clearly demonstrate a superior visual entertainment experience—allowing consumers to enjoy HD videos on HD-capable panels, games and the Windows® 7 operating system, all at their best, on the go.
• These new notebook platforms and upcoming graphics technologies are the technological foundation for a new consumer merchandising campaign called VISION Technology from AMD, also announced today. The campaign is designed to make it easier for consumers to make informed PC buying decisions based on entertainment- and social networking-intensive customizations for the way PCs are used today, succeeding the outmoded industry approach of primarily emphasizing one part inside the PC. In mock retail settings at the “experience events,” AMD brought this new retail experience to life for its business partners across retail, OEMs, software providers, news media, industry analysts, and online communities.

Supporting Quotes
“ooVoo continues to push the boundaries of how people communicate online, giving people a simple, cost-effective video conferencing solution to connect with up to six people at work, at home and on-the-road,” said Philippe Schwartz, CEO of ooVoo. “And, with new ATI Eyefinity technology from AMD, users have the opportunity to experience a complete video conferencing experience that used to be available only with expensive hardware solutions.”

“Samsung has worked tirelessly to give consumers high-quality monitors that deliver both superb image quality and amazing design and ergonomics, and with our latest line of ultra-thin bezel displays, we’re bringing the best of both worlds to bear for a phenomenal computing experience using PCs with ATI Eyefinity technology,” said Young Bae, Director of Display Product Marketing for Samsung Electronics America, Information Technology Division. “Samsung’s ultra-thin bezel displays combined with ATI Eyefinity technology gives PC users a virtually seamless canvas on which to enjoy the latest games, entertainment and productivity applications.”

“As a worldwide leader in next-generation game development, Crytek is constantly looking for new and innovative ways to advanced the art of games to bring consumers the most exhilarating experience possible, and AMD’s new platform technologies answer that call,” said Cervat Yerli, CEO and President, Crytek. “Through the seamless multi-display ATI Eyefinity technology, and the raw compute power packed into the latest ATI Radeon graphics processors, Crytek has an incredible new canvas on which to present our latest PC games in ways that consumers have never experienced before.”

“Today’s revelation of the new experience made possible by PCs powered by AMD technology has been a long time coming,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Products Group, AMD. “Today marks the culmination of more than a million hours of design innovation from thousands of AMD engineers over the last few years, and the commitment of more than 100,000 channel partners. Today AMD marks a revolution in the PC experience powered by the most powerful processor in the world. More important though, is the experience we’re giving consumers today, making the PC more empowering, engaging and intuitive than ever before.”

Supporting Resources
• Blog: ATI Eyefinity’s Panoramic Future
• Pictures: See photos of ATI Eyefinity technology, examples of eye-definition gaming, and new PC technology logos on Flickr
• Press kit: More information on VISION Technology from AMD
• Press release: More information on the Second Generation AMD Ultrathin Platform and the 2009 AMD Mainstream Notebook Platform
• Twitter: Follow news from the AMD on Twitter at @AMD_Unprocessed
• Facebook: Become a fan of AMD technology on Facebook

About AMD
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and technology partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home and play. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

1. Full HD resolution is considered 1080p (1920×1080 = ~2.1 megapixels). One ATI Radeon graphics card with ATI Eyefinity technology supports 2560×1600x6 = ~24.6 megapixels for 12 x full HD resolution.

2. 268 megapixels is supported only with low refresh rates on future generation 8K x 8K display technology. For 3D gaming using current generation monitors and 60Hz refresh rates, 98.4 megapixels can be achieved.

3. Based on third-party research that explores theoretical eye resolution: http://clarkvision.com/imagedetail/eye-resolution.html. According to the formula at the link provided, the effective amount of viewing arc is proportional to the square root of the number of pixels. ATI Eyefinity technology is capable of 8192×8192 pixels, making the maximum image size per graphics card 67 megapixels, or ~41 degrees of viewing arc. With four ATI Eyefinity-enabled graphics cards in a single system, the image size equals 268 megapixels or an 82 degree field of view.

4. Based on a 19 inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 1024.

5. Previously the fastest processor was the ATI Radeon HD 4890 graphics processor capable of 1.36 TeraFLOPS of raw compute power. Internal calculations show that processors in the newst ATI Radeon processor family can achieve upwards of 2.5 TeraFLOPS.

6. Not all media players are compatible with the Windows 7 drag and drop functionality.

©2009, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, ATI, the ATI logo, Radeon, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

So, You Are Watching…oh well…ATI’s 5-series isn’t MY concern.

It’s not like I don’t want to say more…I’d love to build the hype up. Creating discussion on what might be, or why it won’t be…

When RV770 launched, noone talked about almost 1 BILLION transitors…none talked about 800 shader processors, noone talked about anything near reality.

Except me. It’s funny too, because you can go and hunt down the forum postings, check it out for yourself…who was the one with the details? And where did I get them from?

Such as sad state of affairs this launch is. In 48 hours or less, the “media” will get thier info, spoon-fed. They’ll be told what benchmarks to show, and what not to show, told what details they can release, and when…and when to expect the REAL launch…they’ll be given drivers, a card or two, a bunch of papers with info, and some will get multiple cards. Tech Marketing at it’s best…

However, at the end of the day, it’s just marketing. Hype building…teasing…and possibly…fake cards and drivers. AMD will put it’s best foot forward, like they tried to do with the TWKR chips…and we all know how well that went…noone is even posting results with those any more…maybe a few will use thier TWKR chips to run benhcmarks for GPU releases…but it’s doubtfull…

Everyone wanted me out. For being honest. Honesty currently isn’t part of a marketeer’s vocabulary though…thier job is to get people excited, so chips sell. Even if they have to fib a little bit to the fans. Sadly, the most deserving of product previews…the real fans…are left out in the cold.

I got sick of it, really. Rather than using those fans, making them cream thier pants when a “covert” product shows up..making them jump up and down, and shout from the mountain tops “I GOT ONE!!! YESSSS!!!” isn’t something marketeers see as useful. They aren’t concerned with Joe Gamer hitting his weekend lan, and talking to all his friends about what he got…they aren’t concerned with a “grassroots” following…they’re concerned with making money, and keeping thier friends happy.

So remember…in 48 hrs…Non-Disclosure Agreements will be signed, and those that will be giving the info…will just be parroting what they were told. Favortism for certain brands is faked to create hype, in hopes it will be swallowed whole, no chewing involved.

And this time…I’ve got NOTHING to do with it. And boy, does it feel good.

On a lighter note, I’m thoroughly enjoying my Gibson Dark Fire. It’s an amazing guitar. Instead of beating my fingers on the keyboard, I’m beating them on the strings, making my own music, rather than following the beat of a drummer whose ego gets in the way of making the band a success. And loving it….

It’s all about BANDWITH, BABY!

…And that’s all I can say about that. One must wonder…why is everyone ignoring the scheduler changes? AMD has openly stated that the scheduler within the DX-11 compliant 5-series will be almost twice as complex as previous generations. I’m not sure why people are ignoring this myself, so the question MUST be asked. I think at this point though, it’s far too late.

If the scheduler is responsible for managing data in-flight within the gpu, and is twice as complex, what brings the need for that complexity? What really justifies the chip real-estate, given that the gpu MUST be of a certain size in order to have enough landing points to connect to the PCB? Why is the scheduler given that priority, instead of other lacking elements, like render outputs and texture memory units?

It’s laughable to read all the speculation coming from seemingly knowledgable people…I don’t mean to toot my own horn…but without me sitting there hand-feeding people info, everyone seems truly lost.

I know it’s policy to not comment on unreleased products, for many companies. This is contrary to effective marketing, in my books, though; what hype can you build if everyone is left guessing? We need a changing of the guard, and quick, before the fallout from a lack of a proper effort negatively affects sales.

And on that note, there’s not much left to be said. AMD has never been run haphazardly, as some would like to suggest…really the truth has effectively been buried by the wrong hype. Note that although AMD’s TWKR effort was distributed to numerous people, nobody is talking about those specific chips? One month, and that’s it? Obviously AMD gave those chips to the WRONG people. It was my idea, after all. But I’ve yet to see one? Um, Mr Simon, pull your head out of the sand, so I can smack you!

What am I left with? Well, this is what I’ve got to say….

“Toot, toot!”.

Update:

At least some people out there seem aware of what’s going on. Those that have read my posts on forums over the past 7 or so years know I’ve been pro-ATI since day one. ATI’s biggest fan. They’ve lost that support in the enthusiast circles, the HOURS every day I put into it. ~CS~ knows what’s up, but because I’ve stirred the pot so forcibly that it spilt all over the floor, noone’s gonna say anything. But me. Then again, it’s always been me…

See his post here.

AMD aquires ATI, Unspun.

We can now consider AMD’s aquisition of ATI 100% complete. The two seperate entities have converged at the crossroads, and only one is left to continue. Now that the fight is over, who will we crown the winner?

Examining the aftermath always takes time, no matter what war has been waged. The dead must be counted and buried, and focus must shift from destruction to new growth. In the aftermath of the battle of AMD and ATI, the casualites were high but the potential for new growth vastly surpasses anything we’ve witnessed before.

ATI stands tall and victorious.

ATI, the small gpu maker from Canada, has fully assimilated AMD now, 3 years and 3 weeks later, after the public announcment. Add in what was most likely many years more of planning before this amazing plan from ATI execs was set into motion, and you might actually see the players. K. Y. Ho didn’t retire “just because”, and Dave Orton didn’t succeed him without having an amazing plan of action. Even if that’s not how the media spins it. Dave didn’t get kicked out a year later “just because” while Dirk Meyer stayed, and Rick Bergman didn’t step up to take over the ATI products division, in Orton’s former shoes, and then assume the mantel of control over the entire AMD product line, without clear goals of his own.

And where was Mr. Rick Bergman when this all began? Senior Vice President and General Manager, PC Business Unit, ATI Technologies, perhaps? K. Y. Ho saw the writing on the wall, and walked away from the plans he saw. The people “in charge” at each business back then, have all gone thier seperate ways. And if we look back to before the merger, and how each business was organized and ran itself, and look at AMD now, ATI’s controlling presense rings loud and clear. Hats Off and Congratulations Rick, that’s one heck of an execution. Well done.

Why am I talking about this now? Very soon we will see some of this new growth sprout it’s first leaves…

Start-up Success

I’ll never understand why people get into business for themselves to make a quick buck. Business today is saturated in every market, so how do you set yourself apart from others, and gain market share?

Recently, AMD won a small legal victory in the EU, due to Intel’s selling practices, and ultimately, what they did to keep thier customers happy…because happy customers buy more product, even if it’s not needed. The price Intel must pay to the government, to have the right to keep it’s customers happy the way it wants to? 1.45 BILLION.

That’s more than Microsoft paid when fined for somewhat similar market-stifling actions. Almost double. And yes, we must be clear…who gets that money? Not AMD. And does Intel have to thereby lower it’s earnings reports, making it a less successful business? I’ll keep an eye out for how they deal with it, and where those funds actually go, for sure.

The actual veracity of the lawsuit is still in question for alot of people, but the courts DID decide that Intel was guilty of giving buyers bonuses/rebates for buying Intel’s product exclusively. Intel is currently appealling the judgement, as I understand it, so this verdict may not hold, but this also isn’t the only court battle between the two big CPU manufacturer’s.

The lesson hidden in all of this? Keeping your customers happy, and making a profit, doesn’t always go hand-in-hand. Intel tried both, possibly irreversibly affecting the market, and has had it’s hand slapped a tiny bit, while AMD remained honest in this context, generally just trying to be successful at meeting it’s customer’s needs.

Truly considering the timing of the allegations, and considering product performance, Intel surely didn’t need to offer such incentives…yet AMD was able to prove to the court Intel went out of it’s way to ensure Intel retained that unimportant metric called market share. Today, the actual financial value of those market strategies is questionable…but like Microsoft, Intel will continue to operate, as that amount is but a small drop from thier coffers.

Tomorrow…it may have all been worthwhile.

ATI 5-series Subjected to Inquiry

One tech product from the future is the long-awaited 5-series from AMD. Boasting specifications that out-shine the competition, AMD’s 5-series of GPUs(Graphics Processing Units) are currently rumoured to top 2 billion transistors, in a monolithic die cut.

Unlike today, in years previous, unofficial details from ATI/AMD on upcoming GPUs were pretty easy to come by…mostly in part due to ATI hand-crafting their products for Microsoft, to test future APIs as they are developed. Each and every ATI-based videocard boasts features not needed in the current graphics API in use by Microsoft’s most current OS. DirectX 9, 10, and recently, 11, have all been developed using ATI/AMD gpu hardware. Unfortunately, that development has come with a price for both the hardware, and software, parties involved in development of the DirectX API.

nVidia, ATI/AMD’s main gpu competitor in the enthusiast space, openly commented on just how useless DirectX 10 was, in interviews prior it’s release, sweeping under the carpet a snub directed at them, by way of Microsoft’s choice of ATI gpus for the XBOX360(versus the nVidia GPU in the origianl XBOX) . Those “in the know” were more than aware that nVidia flexed it’s software development muscle in response to Microsoft shunning them from the console space, and as a direct result, software based purely on DirectX 10 functions is a rarity in the market today, a sure cry that DX10 failed, given the launch of DX11 is mere months away. The real cause of DirectX 10’s failure isn’t well known…

And it’s not like Jen-sun Huang didn’t tell them so…

Now that ATI/AMD’s 5-series is upon us, and with cards already seeded to development houses, one must wonder whether we will see a repeat of the DX10 fiasco, and whether nVidia will start supporting the software market, or will continue to push it’s own agenda? Windows 7 brings with it DirectX 11…and the 5-series from the “Red Team” will launch to meet this functionality. Are they Red from the blood of thier wounds, or from wearing thier heart on thier sleeve? The answer lies in the future, but the truth is already set in stone.

The Future is Already HERE.

In the World of Technology, hidden behind clean rooms, white suits, and a flurry of Non-Disclosure-Agreements, are the “toys” of the future. Cell phones, LCD HDTVs, and other consumer devices, are all being gingerly tested, tortured, and redesigned, all in the hopes of meeting the future consumer’s needs.

Most don’t realize that these devices exist for many months, if not years, before gracing store shelves. Product development takes time, as things as simple as packaging and manuals have to be made long before any comsumer can buy a tech product, and things like this need to be designed for multiple languages in multiple markets, further adding to the time it takes to bring products to market.

During this time, many people have access to these devices, including marketing gurus, who must drum up hype and steer the consumer’s attention towards the product they are about to sell. The best never state who they are and what they do…but you see them all the time, carrying the latest and greatest, maybe in the car passing you in the express lane on the freeway.

These people number in the 100’s of 1000’s…and they are the secret agents and “spies” of today. Coded, encrypted messages are thier norm, and sometimes, the stress of this environment leads to thier untimely demise, as we’ve seen recently with Apple’s undercover new iPhone, which has garnered media attention, as seen at this link: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1469213/plot-thickens-apple-worker-suicide.

One must wonder, is the price paid to bring us this tech worthwhile, and is living in the future worth it?

Slave Labour, oh yeah.

Paying for the opportunity to examine Chinese business is money well mis-spent. They didn’t take offer this service just for fun, after all.

The journey portrays a different aspect…will a worker look you in the eye and smile, or avoid your gaze? Did you expect anything but a good presentation? What would you do if you knew a bunch of strangers were coming into your home? Why do you expect anything different?

It’s cheaper to make something overseas and then pay to ship it here for a reason…they pay thier people a pittance you’d scoff at. Yet it does give them an income they might not have had…

So you have to ask yourself…do you pay more, and “Keep it Local”, or go foreign, and support what would be slave labour here? I know my answer.