I've been watching GPU comparison videos from a hardware testing channel, but a few results seem suspicious. In one test, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX appears to run at clocks that don't match what I expected. In another Forza Horizon comparison, the RTX 3090 Ti performs about the same as the RTX 3080 in some scenes while reportedly using only around 250 watts. Could these results be caused by testing issues, CPU limitations, or incorrect settings? Is there any reliable way to tell whether the creator actually tested the GPUs shown?
3 Answers
The 7900 XTX clock speeds may be normal. Its listed game clock is around 2365 MHz and its boost clock is around 2498 MHz, and different GPU models are not expected to run at the same frequency. Check the exact model and whether the video is showing game clocks, boost clocks, or an observed real-time clock before assuming something is wrong.
The Forza result may not necessarily indicate anything fake. At 1080p, the game can become CPU-limited, so faster GPUs may end up producing nearly identical frame rates. Differences in drivers, settings, background processes, and test scenes can also create strange-looking results. Some smaller channels may have questionable testing practices, but one unusual result alone isn’t enough to prove that the hardware wasn’t present.
For unusual or niche benchmarks, it’s best not to rely on a single channel. Compare several independent test videos and look for consistent results across the same game, resolution, graphics settings, drivers, and power limits. That should give you a more dependable overall picture than any one result.
Averaged results from established benchmark databases and tools such as 3DMark can also be useful, but they still shouldn’t replace checking real gaming benchmarks.