What is Damage Labs?
Damage Labs is an independent publication about computer performance, graphics, artificial intelligence, and the technologies reshaping personal computing.
I’m Scott Wasson. I helped found Ars Technica and later founded The Tech Report, where I spent many years reviewing processors, graphics cards, and PC hardware. I’m perhaps best known for introducing frame-time-based graphics benchmarking as a better way to understand animation smoothness than average frame rates alone. I’ve also worked at the industry in the GPU teams at AMD and Intel. Most recently, I worked in product management for the MLPerf AI benchmarks.
Today, new trends in AI and elsewhere are reshaping the PC landscape in fundamental ways. It’s both frustrating at times—memory and GPU prices are nuts right now—and exciting. Damage Labs where I’ll be offering my thoughts and analysis on what’s happening.
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Consulting & analyst services
Damage Labs also offers independent consulting, technical analysis, and research services focused on PC performance, client AI, semiconductors, and benchmarking.
I work with technology companies, investors, analysts, and other organizations that need rigorous, technically grounded answers about how modern computing platforms actually perform—and why.
PC performance and benchmarking
Good benchmarking requires more than running a collection of tests. I can help develop methodologies that answer the underlying product or market questions, including:
CPU and GPU performance analysis
Local AI inference performance
Gaming performance and frame-time analysis
Power and energy efficiency measurement
Workstation and creator workloads
Benchmark selection and methodology
Performance-versus-quality analysis
Data visualization
I can also review existing benchmarking methodologies and identify weaknesses, confounding variables, or opportunities to improve the quality of the results.
Semiconductor and platform analysis
I provide technical analysis of processors, GPUs, SoCs, AI accelerators, memory systems, and computing platforms.
Typical projects might include:
Competitive product analysis
Architecture and platform comparisons
Performance positioning
Market and technology landscape research
Technical due diligence
Product strategy support
Independent analysis for investors or industry research firms
Research and custom projects
Some questions don’t fit neatly into a predefined category.
If you need an independent technical investigation into a PC, AI, graphics, semiconductor, or performance-related subject, I can design and execute a research project around the question you need answered.
Deliverables can include written reports, datasets, spreadsheets, charts, benchmark results, presentations, methodology documentation, and executive briefings.
Engagements
Projects can range from a few hours of advisory work to multi-week research and benchmarking engagements.
I am also available for:
Analyst briefings
Technical advisory calls
Product and architecture reviews
Research projects
Benchmark development
Speaking and podcast appearances
Longer-term consulting relationships
Independence and disclosure
Damage Labs is an independent publication. Consulting relationships do not determine editorial conclusions.
When a consulting relationship creates a material potential conflict with something I write about publicly, I will disclose that relationship where appropriate.
Get in touch
If you have a project in mind, send me a note with a short description of the problem you’re trying to solve, the type of work you need, and your expected timeline.
I can then suggest an appropriate scope and engagement structure.
