NZXT responds to damning Gamers Nexus video accusing it of running a “predatory, evil” rental scam

A hot potato: NZXT has responded to a damning video from YouTube channel Gamers Nexus that accuses the PC hardware giant of running a “predatory, evil rental computer scam.” The program in question is its Flex subscription-based service for desktop PCs, which GN says uses “bait and switch” tactics. There are other accusations, too, including faked benchmarks and aggressive terms.

NZXT’s Flex program essentially lets people rent a gaming PC, meaning they don’t pay the one-off high price associated with these machines. However, as we mentioned at the time, the often three-figure monthly rental costs add up very quickly, exceeding the amount you would pay to purchase a new PC outright in just a few months.

Gamers Nexus found that NZXT regularly changes not only the prices but also the specs of some of its models, sometimes on a daily basis.

One particularly underhand scheme was to offer PCs with the same name for both purchase and rental. But the subscription-based PCs swap out some of the hardware for less powerful/older/cheaper parts without making this clear.

One example was the Player: Three PC which comes with a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super graphics card and an Intel Core i7-13700KF if you buy it, while subscribing swaps the GPU for a 4070 Ti non-Super model. What’s even worse is that the FPS gaming benchmarks for both PCs are unchanged, which as our review shows, isn’t accurate.

NZXT’s pricing is also criticized. Gamers Nexus shows that in the case of the Player: Two PC, it would take just seven months of rental payments to afford the parts to build an equivalent machine. A more expensive pre-build could be bought with nine months worth of rental payments. Even using a payment plan (loan, credit card) would take just a year to fully pay off the PC and own it outright.

GN found that five years of payment on NZXT’s subscription came to $15,540. That’s the equivalent to an illegal, 103% interest loan – you’d also own several PCs at the end of it.

There are plenty of other areas of NZXT Flex that the hour-long video examines, including privacy concerns, influencers pushing the Flex program, aggressive terms and conditions, and no guarantee that the specs listed are the ones you’ll get in the PC.

NZXT has responded to the Gamers Nexus video with a post on social medial.

“To the NZXT community. We’ve heard your concerns. We are aware of the recent claims made against us and are actively reviewing the situation. Rest assured, we are committed to addressing this thoroughly and will share an official statement soon,” it reads

As a result of the investigation, Gamers Nexus has terminated a $23,000 deal NZXT had to advertise on the popular YouTube channel.

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