The Verge's Gaming PC Build Video

Overview

The Verge's Gaming PC Build Video refers to an instructional video demonstrating how to assemble a gaming desktop computer released by the tech news site The Verge in September 2018. The video was widely criticized online for containing multiple errors and poor building practices.

Background

On September 13th, 2018, The Verge^[2] released a video hosted by tech journalist Stefan Etienne titled "How we built a $2000 Gaming PC." While the original video has since been removed, mirrors of the video have be reuploaded by various accounts (shown below).

Developments

Online Reaction

In the coming days, many criticized the video for containing factual errors and promoting poor building practices, specifically claims about the power supply short-circuiting and the liberal use of thermal paste on the CPU. On September 14th, 2018, YouTuber Science Studio uploaded a video titled "The Verge: How NOT to Build a Computer," which criticized various parts of The Verge video (shown below, left). The following day, YouTuber Bitwit uploaded a video reacting to the Verge's build video (shown below, right).

Meanwhile, YouTuber Jerry Neutron posted another reaction video mocking The Verge's video (shown below, left). On September 17th, YouTuber ReviewTechUSA uploaded a video about the controversy titled "Criticism Is Not Harassment" (shown below, right).

The Verge's Response

On September 17th, 2018, The Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel tweeted^[3] a statement about the video, announcing that the video was pulled because it contained "some minor factual errors" that did not meet the company's "editorial standards" (shown below). Additionally, Patel stressed that "The Verge has zero tolerance for internet harassment campaigns" and claimed there were "hundreds of racist attacks on the host" (shown below).

Stefan Etienne's Response

Initial

On September 14th, Etienne posted a tweet^[4] about the reaction to his use of thermal paste, musing that the efforts would be better suited toward dealing with "toxic gaming communities" (shown below).

On September 17th, Twitch user SocialGamer clipped a portion of Etienne's Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 stream in which he discusses the controversy, in which he dismisses his critics as "angry nerds" (shown below).

Appearance on Linus Tech Tips

On September 7, 2021, three years after the build video was uploaded, Linus Tech Tips published a video featuring Stefan Etienne where he and Linus builds an identical PC using correct building practices. Stefan says that the original video's mistakes was due to him being inexperienced, unsupervised, stressed and nervous, and how he couldn't communicate the editors before the video went live. He also says that the initial lack of admittance to wrongdoing was due to "contract stuff" and pressure from his co-workers.

Various Examples

The controversy spawned the creation of numerous photoshops and image macros, many of which circulated within the /r/pcmasterrace^[1] subreddit.

Search Interest

External References