Jacob Ridley
Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog. From there, he graduated to professionally breaking things as hardware writer at PCGamesN, where he was one half of a popular weekly YouTube show. He would go on to run the team as hardware editor before joining PC Gamer's world-class staff as senior hardware editor. Today, he's managing editor of the hardware team, and you'll find him spending his days reporting on the latest developments in the technology and gaming industries. He's found reporting from floors, benches, and, if he's lucky, plush press rooms at the biggest tech shows, such as Computex and CES. But more often than not he's hunched over the office test bench evaluating the newest PC components.
When he's not writing about GPUs and CPUs, you'll find Jacob trying to get as far away from the modern world as possible by wild camping.
Latest articles by Jacob Ridley

There's one reason I come back to this one rapid trigger gaming keyboard over the rest, and that's great software
By Jacob Ridley published
Soft power Software is make or break for competitive gaming keyboards.

Best gaming PC builds: budget, mid-range and high-end recommendations
By Jacob Ridley last updated
DIY From an $800 penny-saving PC to a $4,000 monster.

AMD confirms more affordable RX 9060 graphics cards will arrive in 'the second quarter of this year'
By Jacob Ridley published
News AMD does have eyes for the entry-level market after all.

A match made in heaven: Buy a 1600 W MSI power supply and get Monster Hunter Wilds for free
By Jacob Ridley published
News These guys get it.

Best PC fans in 2025: I've put these case fans through their paces to find the coolest and quietest
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Hot Tip The best PC fans will keep your gaming PC cool and quiet.

Razer has seen sense and slightly lowered the Razer Tax with its latest Blade 16 gaming laptops
By Jacob Ridley published
News These are still hella expensive gaming laptops but priced a little more competitively.

Latest Nvidia Game Ready drivers fix various black screen issues that left gamers staring at their sad reflections
By Jacob Ridley published
News Get yourself down to the driver store and pick up version 572.60 for a fix.

iFixit has pulled apart Framework's mini PC and it looks to be the AMD Strix Halo-powered desktop device I've been wanting for at least a week and more
By Jacob Ridley published
News The modular laptop maker has seemingly thought of everything.

The moon is getting 4G before parts of my town
By Jacob Ridley published
News Nokia is bringing 4K to the moon, which will help rovers explore its craters, map the rocky world, and watch fun videos of cats on TikTok.

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.

A rocket was just fired into space containing the first data center to land on the moon, which is both incredible and incredibly corporate in equal measure
By Jacob Ridley published
News For when your data is too valuable to be stored on Earth… I've gotta get my Deviant Art sketches on the next shuttle.

It only took Razer some 15 years to finally do the right thing and make a gloriously ugly Minecraft creeper keyboard
By Jacob Ridley published
News Hate to say I love it?

Best M.2 SSDs for gaming in 2025: my top picks for blazing fast storage
By Jeremy Laird last updated
High speed Our choices for the best NVMe M.2 SSDs give you blisteringly fast load times.

We've tested the battery life of over 30 gaming laptops and here's how they stack up
By Jacob Ridley published
Battery tested Are you looking for your next gaming laptop? We've collected battery life data while gaming for most popular models, which you can see right here.

Best SSD for gaming in 2025: the speediest SSDs I personally recommend
By Jeremy Laird last updated
Speedy storage Give your gaming PC a serious speed boost with the best SSD for gaming.

Best liquid cooler for CPUs in 2025: I've tried all the best AIO coolers and these are my top picks
By Nick Evanson last updated
Wetware These are the best liquid chip chillers to suit all budgets, form factors, and processors.

The best PC cases in 2025: These are the chassis I'd use for my next gaming build
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Best Case You'll want the best PC case if you're building your perfect gaming PC.

Best mouse pads for gaming in 2025: the fabric and hard-top mats I prefer to game on
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Slick The best mouse pads offer slick mouse movement and awesome aesthetics, no matter what surface you prefer.

Asus ROG Flow Z13 (2025) review
By Jacob Ridley published
ROG-pad I try to wrangle some sense out of AMD's beefy Strix Halo experiment stuffed inside a gaming tablet.

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 RTX 5070 Ti launch day live: All the retail links to RTX 5070 Ti graphics cards, including MSRP and absolutely nowhere near MSRP models
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Live I'm updating this page with the latest listings and prices across major US and UK retailers.

Best PC racing wheels in 2025: 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.

Best ultrawide monitor for gaming in 2025: the immersive panels I recommend for PC gamers
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Expansive It's time to go wide... ultrawide: these gaming monitors are wider, brighter, and faster than ever.
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