Nvidia gave us their internal tools… What could go wrong?

Nvidia gave Linus Tech Tips a look at two of their internal measurement tools, LDAT and PCAT, and the team breaks down what these devices are designed to do. The LDAT is presented as a latency and display analysis tool that uses a hardware mouse input and a light sensor to measure end-to-end latency from mouse click to photon display, offering a high-precision, automated data collection workflow. The hosts examine how the tool captures thousands of data points quickly, how it can be configured to auto fire, and how raw sensor data helps identify the optimal sensor placement on a screen. They explain the importance of separating total delay into components such as USB polling, OS processing, game engine latency, and display pixel response, and they demonstrate live use with a G203 Prodigy mouse and a small 3D printed housing. The PCAT tool, focused on power consumption, is introduced as a rigorous way to measure real world power draw flowing through PCIe power connectors and motherboard rails, with a removable OLED display and an onboard measurement board that Nvidia claims to be within a small margin of oscilloscope accuracy. The discussion shifts toward trust and accountability, noting that these tools are designed for reviewers and enthusiasts and could be sold to consumers if there is demand, while also addressing concerns about data integrity and the potential advantage conferred by having such measurement capabilities publicly available. Finally, the hosts explore how these tools integrate with existing software like Frame View and FurMark to render real-time graphs of latency and power, and they tease the potential impact on the industry if Nvidia and others provide open access to high-quality measurement hardware, promising a future where product performance can be reproducibly benchmarked across multiple variables at a granular level.

Topics · technology · hardware · benchmarking · power · testing · graphics