Jacob Ridley

Jacob Ridley

Managing Editor, Hardware

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

A Secretlab Titan Evo and ThunderX3 Solo 360 gaming chair on a green background with a PC Gamer Recommended label on top.
Best gaming chair in 2026: I've tested loads of gaming chairs and these are my top picks

By Jacob Ridley Last updated

Take a seat These gaming chairs have earned our recommendation over hundreds of hours of testing.

Take a seat
Undersecretary of State Jacob Helberg Convenes The Pax Silica Summit in Washington, DC on the left and Chinese Foreign Minster Wang Yi, leads other signatories to sign the Agreement on the Establishment of The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization on the right.
The memory crisis led me down a rabbit hole into nations forming rival factions to secure the flow of computer chips and AI, with names that wouldn't sound out of place in a Command & Conquer reboot

By Jacob Ridley Published

Et tu, Claude? Will you do your part for the Pax Silica or swear allegiance to WAICO?

Et tu, Claude?
An MSI RTX 5060 Ti on top of a PC case and with the rear backplate removed.
The RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB currently costs more than the RTX 5070 and RX 9070 XT, and I know which one I'd pick

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Graphics card prices are surging, but GeForce cards have been hit hardest.

News
Two of the best liquid coolers on a red background with the PC Gamer recommended logo in the top right.
Best liquid cooler for CPUs in 2026: I test all the latest AIO coolers and these are my recommendations

By Jacob Ridley Last updated

Wetware The best CPU coolers to suit any budgets, form factor, or processor.

Wetware
Two of the best air coolers on a green background with the PC Gamer Recommends badge in the top right.
Best air cooler for CPUs in 2026: I've tested loads of coolers and these are my top picks

By Jacob Ridley Last updated

Air dried I've spent years testing air coolers and these are my current recommendations.

Air dried
MSI MPG 321URX OLED monitor
OLED monitors more popular than ever says analyst firm, which makes sense as one of the few good deals left in PC gaming

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Shipments are up nearly 100% since last year.

News
Xbox Elite Series 2 controller
Redditor buys what looks to be a prototype Xbox Elite Series 3 controller, posts about it on Reddit, then the thread goes dark

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Looks suspiciously similar to controller leaked back in May.

7 Comments
News
The Wooting 80HE and Gamakay NS68 on a grey background with the PC Gamer logo in the top right.
Best gaming keyboards in 2026: we've tested the latest Hall effect, mechanical, TKL, 60% and more

By Jacob Ridley Last updated

Keyed in The best gaming keyboards, according to our testers.

Keyed in
A Noctua NL-LC1 liquid cooler being installed on a test bench for testing.
Noctua NL-LC1 liquid cooler review

By Jacob Ridley Published

Score: 91% The king of quiet.

Score: 91%
ASRock's new RX 9050 on a gradient background with the box.
AMD launches the RX 9050, and it's even more entry-level than expected - update: it's $279 and limited to certain regions

By Jacob Ridley Last updated

News Oh, and the 4 GB version is OEM-only.

News
The Cooler Master V8 Ace 3DHP installed on a test bench and on its box.
Cooler Master V8 Ace 3DHP review

By Jacob Ridley Published

Score: 85% Proving air coolers are still cool in 2026.

Score: 85%
A 300 millimetre silicon wafer in the clean rooms at the Globalfoundries fabrication (fab) plant in Dresden, Germany, on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021.
Chinese company reportedly building its own DUV chipmaking machines, and that's a really big deal

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Meanwhile, the US still hopes to block ASML from selling and servicing similar machines in China.

News
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan and an Intel chip with a white diagonal line dividing the two
Is Intel back? Company's latest earnings report remarkably different in tone to 12 months ago

By Jacob Ridley Published

News "I'm confident that Intel is well positioned to help define the next era of computing," says CEO Tan.

News
An Arctic Freezer 36-S on a desk and installed in a gaming PC, with the Freezer 36 nearby.
Arctic Freezer 36-S review

By Jacob Ridley Published

Score: 84% Surprisingly effective for the money.

Score: 84%
Two of the best PC fans on a blue background with the PC Gamer Recommended badge in the background.
Best PC fans in 2026: I've put these case fans through their paces to find the coolest and quietest

By Jacob Ridley Last updated

Fan-tastic Here are our recommendations from our tests.

Fan-tastic
A Secretlab Atlas gaming chair in a home office during set-up and after it's completed.
Secretlab Atlas review

By Jacob Ridley Last updated

Score: 78% Comfy, smart, and just a lil' too close to the champ.

Score: 78%
The PC Gamer buying guide to the best racing wheels
Best PC racing wheels in 2026: my favorite direct drive and budget steering wheels for sim racing

By Jacob Ridley Last updated

Driven Speed away with the best PC racing wheel for gaming.

Driven
Be Quiet's latest air coolers on a box with black fans.
Be Quiet Dark Rock 6 and Dark Rock Pro 6 review

By Jacob Ridley Published

Score: 65% Better, but at what cost?

Score: 65%
The Steam Machine on a white stand with a blue background and various ports on display.
Steam Machine is here, starts at $1,049

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Valve admits its higher than hoped: "Our original goal for the price… is no longer viable."

26 Comments
News
The Steam Machine on a white stand with a blue background and various ports on display.
Sign up for a Steam Machine before June 25: Valve running one-time randomized queue due to limited availability and to 'limit resellers'

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Sign up before then for a chance to buy a Steam Machine sometime this year.

News
A group of gaming laptops on a blue background.
Five things I want you to think about before you buy your first gaming laptop

By Jacob Ridley Last updated

Laptop livin' Gaming laptops can be excellent, but you need to shop wisely to avoid making a mistake. Here's my advice.

Laptop livin'
The Havn HS 360 at Computex 2026.
Havn is making a smaller, lighter version of the excellent HS 420, with a few convenient upgrades too

By Jacob Ridley Published

News The HS 360 is smaller and a little more convenient compared to the HS 420.

News
UGreen NASync DXP4800 Pro on a desk with multiple HDDs installed.
If I had known how incredibly useful a NAS would be, I would've set one up a lot sooner

By Jacob Ridley Published

NAS Queen I'm running a NAS and loving it.

11 Comments
NAS Queen
A tour around Secretlab's office in Singapore ahead of the launch of the Secretlab Atlas, the company's brand new task chair.
Secretlab's new Atlas chair is cheaper, slimmer than the Titan Evo and I've been sitting comfortably in it for the past couple days

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Starts at $499.

News
A tour around Secretlab's office in Singapore ahead of the launch of the Secretlab Atlas, the company's brand new task chair.
Secretlab's CEO is getting tough on copycat chairs and doesn't feel pressure to adopt AI: 'If we were owned by outside investors, you can bet that AI will be somehow jammed down our throats'

By Jacob Ridley Published

Talking chairs I speak with Ian Ang about building a gaming chair company at the company's Singapore office.

Talking chairs
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