
Jacob Ridley
Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog, before graduating to breaking things professionally at PCGamesN, where he was one half of a popular weekly YouTube show. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, Jacob is now managing editor of the hardware team, and you'll usually find him testing the latest components or building a gaming PC. He says he's determined to build a fort as big as a house out of case boxes. Jacob enjoys heading out of the office to report from floors, benches, and, if he's lucky, plush press rooms at the biggest tech shows, such as Computex and CES.
When he's not writing about components, you'll find Jacob trying to get away from the modern world as fast as possible by bike and pitching up camp in murky woods.
Latest articles by Jacob Ridley

Best gaming desk in 2025: my top picks for standing, sitting and everything in between
By Dave James last updated
Top Desks We've chosen the best gaming desks based on hours of playing on both sitting and standing desks, just to see which is worth your money.

Havn BF 360 PC case review
By Jacob Ridley published
Score: 90% Excellent airflow and stunning good looks.

Worried about melty graphics cards? This seriously capable gizmo keeps power in check for more peace of mind
By Jacob Ridley published
News Ideally you wouldn't need to worry at all, but this Ampinel option looks like the next best thing.

Time is nearly up for Windows 10—but is your Windows 10 PC screwed?
By Jacob Ridley published
Win-goes Nah, you've still got time. Treasure it. Hold your PC close.

A bunch of Steam players just made the switch to Windows 11 as Windows 10's death date is now less than two weeks away
By Jacob Ridley published
News Welcome to Windows 11, gamers. It's, uh, fine?

Best gaming mouse in 2025: I've tested the very best mice and these are my top picks
By Dave James last updated
Pinpoint The best gaming mouse for every game, budget, grip, and size.

Best wireless gaming mouse in 2025: These are the rodents I love getting my mitts on
By Dave James last updated
Unbound Let go of the tethers and embrace the freedom of living life cable-free.

SteelSeries unveils new high-end wireless gaming headset with a price tag that might be too dear for even my audiophile ears
By Jacob Ridley published
News Is $600 a new record for gaming headsets? It's gotta be up there.

$6.7 billion in bitcoin scored in 'single largest cryptocurrency seizure in the world'
By Jacob Ridley published
News A measly 61,000 bitcoins.

'Much of the value creation in the semiconductor industry is occurring outside the EU' says EU member states, and they want a fresh plan to claw some chips back
By Jacob Ridley published
News It'll take some serious cash or pressure to bring semiconductor production back to Europe, as the US is currently finding out.

Hyte X50 PC case review
By Jacob Ridley published
It's pink Pretty in pink (and assorted colours).

Steam now lets you check if you have Secure Boot enabled: the security feature we're all going to have to get to grips with for Battlefield, Call of Duty and more
By Jacob Ridley published
News Here's how to do it.

Corsair Frame 4500X review
By Jacob Ridley published
Score: 80% A fishtank PC case that can be quite affordable.

Best 4K gaming monitors in 2025: the ultra hi-res panels I highly recommend
By Dave James last updated
4K Vision The best 4K gaming monitor has all the bells and whistles an enthusiast could ever want or need.

Nvidia and Intel joining forces could be seen as anti-AMD, but it just serves to highlight AMD's advantage with Ryzen and Radeon under one roof
By Jacob Ridley published
APU A big benefit when it comes to AI.

Best CPU for gaming in 2025: These are the chips I recommend for gaming, productivity, and peace of mind
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Happy Cores Fire up your rig with the best CPU for gaming. More cores, more clocks, more of everything that matters.

Someone ran Doom to see how long it takes to crash out. It took 2 and a half years—roughly the same timeframe required to break many a retro game
By Jacob Ridley published
News They don't make them like they used to.

Best wireless gaming keyboard in 2025: my top picks for cable-free typing delights
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Freedom Cut the cord with the best wireless gaming keyboards.

This tiny version of Windows 11 fits into just 2.29 GB and is 'extremely aggressive' in removing bloat such as Xbox, Solitaire and Defender
By Jacob Ridley published
News The debloating wizard is back at it again.

Moody and wooden, this PC and I have a lot in common: Asus ProArt Case PA401, Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RX 9070 XT build
By Jacob Ridley published
Build it Who says you need rainbow RGBs for a good time?

'Ya jackass!' Europe's Pro golfers are wearing VR headsets that shout insults at them as they prepare for the American Ryder Cup crowd
By Jacob Ridley published
News I do the same thing to prepare for work in the morning.

Satellite snaps Starlink passing underneath while taking candid shots of Chinese airbase: 'a very rare instance, but not impossible!'
By Jacob Ridley published
News Even with more stuff in orbit, the chances of this happening are extremely low.

AI, take the wheel: Gigabyte's latest motherboards will 'intelligently dynamically' improve performance of Ryzen chips by up to 25% in games through a built-in AI model
By Jacob Ridley published
News Bot boosted.
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