Gamers Nexus accuses Linus Tech of having flawed tests

Linus Tech Tips (LTT) is today the largest YouTube channel covering computers, with founder Linus Sebastian starting the project nearly 15 years ago. Nowadays, the channel is part of a larger conglomerate in the form of Linus Media Group (LMG), which along with sister channels like Short Circuit and Techquickie, release up to 25 videos a week.

However, some of the information and test results presented in the various videos on the channels have recently been exposed to inaccuracies, which is a topic Recently posted video From Gamers Nexus. In a 44-minute investigative walkthrough, frontman Steve Burke describes how the high throughput of the various LMG channels appears to leave minimal time for proper analysis of the collected test data, allowing for completely incorrect results to emerge in crisply posted videos.

Among the examples highlighted was Linus Tech Tip’s review of Nvidia’s Geforce RTX 4090 graphics card, where, according to benchmarks, the model performed almost 300 percent better than the Geforce RTX 3090 Ti in Cyberpunk 2077 – a completely unbelievable performance delta that should have been Caught in editing according to Burke. The video was corrected several days later with the correct data, but before that it had already exceeded 1 million views on Youtube.

Gamers Nexus points out that incorrect test results and information can of course be published, but in the case of the Linus Tech Tip this happens a lot, whereas patches for these usually take time and are swept under the rug. Among other things, LTT’s generous use of minor textual corrections in the videos is to mitigate factual errors that the presenter says are detractors – something that viewers watching or listening to the content miss in many cases.

Another controversial video came to light when Linus Tech Tips tested a waterblock prototype from smaller manufacturer Billet Labs – a block that was intended for a Geforce RTX 3090 Ti but was instead channel-mounted on a Geforce RTX 4090, with lower temperatures. very much as a result. When an employee at LMG wanted to retest the block on the correct graphics card, it was turned down by Linus Sebastian, who claimed it wasn’t worth the time and money.

Since the Gamers Nexus video was posted, founder Linus Sebastian has written in response to LTT discussion forum, where he was disappointed by Steve Burke’s lack of journalism in not contacting anyone at LMG to comment on the inaccuracies. Furthermore, Sebastian writes that, overall, he is very satisfied with the most recent content they have posted, but continues to work on improving processes to avoid errors in the future.