HUGE Upset Victory - $1500 PC Secret Shopper 3 - Part 4
0 up · 0 down · 0 ratings
Description
Thanks to UGREEN for sponsoring this series!
Check out the Ugreen Nexode Pro Series, with up to 15% off until December 31st, at the links below: Ugreen Nexode Pro 100W: bit.ly Ugreen Nexode Pro 160W : bit.ly Ugreen Nexode Pro Series: bit.ly Ugren Nexode Pro Chargers（CA）: bit.ly Ugreen official Store: bit.ly It's finally here, Secret Shopper Part 4! Where we tested all of our $1500 prebuilts and crown the winner. Who could the most winning-est system integrator be? Discuss on the forum: linustechtips.com
Promos
Check out where we shopped! Dell: lmg.gg CyberPowerPC: lmg.gg HP: lmg.gg iBUYPOWER: lmg.gg MAINGEAR: lmg.gg NZXT: lmg.gg OriginPC: lmg.gg Starforge Systems: lmg.gg Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group. ► GET MERCH: lttstore.com ► GET EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ON FLOATPLANE: lmg.gg ► SPONSORS, AFFILIATES, AND PARTNERS: lmg.gg ► EQUIPMENT WE USE TO FILM LTT: lmg.gg ► OUR WAN PODCAST GEAR: lmg.gg FOLLOW US --------------------------------------------------- Twitter: twitter.com Facebook: @LinusTech Instagram: @linustech TikTok: @linustech Twitch: twitch.tv MUSIC CREDIT --------------------------------------------------- Intro: Laszlo - Supernova Video Link: youtube.com iTunes Download Link: itunes.apple.com Artist Link: soundcloud.com Outro: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High Video Link: youtube.com Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi Artist Link: youtube.com Intro animation by MBarek Abdelwassaa @mbarek_abdel Monitor And Keyboard by vadimmihalkevich / CC BY 4.0 geni.us Mechanical RGB Keyboard by BigBrotherECE / CC BY 4.0 geni.us Mouse Gamer free Model By Oscar Creativo / CC BY 4.0 geni.us CHAPTERS --------------------------------------------------- 0:00 Intro 0:51 DELL 3:25 CYBERPOWER 5:46 HP 8:05 IBUYPOWER 12:29 MAINGEAR 14:52 NZXT 17:26 STARFORGE 19:55 Gaming Benchmarks 22:49 And the winner is... 23:38 Outro
Secret Shopper Part 4 continues Linus Tech Tips' annual showdown of $1500 prebuilts from major brands, this time dragging seven contenders through a rigorous evaluation in hopes of crown-worthy performance. The episode opens by framing the testing plan around value, bloatware, BIOS configurations, cooling, and raw gaming horsepower, setting the stage for a multi-brand face-off. The Dell XPS 8950 and its warranty and stock-software decisions come under scrutiny, highlighting warranty creep and old driver stock, while the team notes the impact of outdated BIOS and chipset drivers on system performance. As the video progresses, we dive into detailed hardware introspection for each build: CyberPower, HP, iBUYPOWER, Maingear, NZXT, Starforge, and the final examination of Starforge’s Ryzen/RX combo. The narrative weaves together drive speeds, memory configurations, cooling design, and power supply quality, tying these tangible specifications to real-world gaming and productivity results. Throughout, the presenters emphasize the importance of enabling features like XMP and Rebar, and they consistently compare upgradeability and future-proofing across builds. The segment culminates with gaming benchmarks across 1080p and 1440p, where GPU choice remains the dominant determinant of performance while CPU bottlenecks surface in certain workloads, leading to a clear winner amid notable caveats for each machine.
Topics · gaming · pc-hardware · prebuilt-pcs · tech-reviews · benchmarking · cooling-and-audio
Questions answered
- What factors most influenced the final ranking of the prebuilts in Part 4?
- The final rankings were driven by a combination of gaming performance across various resolutions, CPU bottlenecks, memory configurations, cooling effectiveness, power supply quality, upgradeability, and how well each system shipped with modern software and drivers ready for use.
- Which system emerged as the winner and why?
- HP emerged as the winner due to a balanced combination of solid packaging, a strong CPU-GPU pairing, good cooling, reliable performance across the tested workloads, robust customer service, and overall reliability in the evaluation.
- What were the main issues highlighted for CyberPower and Dell?
- CyberPower had concerns about single-channel memory limiting performance and a less effective case airflow, while Dell faced outdated stock and drivers, a weaker power supply option, and a cooler that hindered upgrade potential, all contributing to suboptimal performance relative to other builds.