
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

Where does your PC live? There is obviously one correct answer, can you pick it out?
By Dave James published
Poll Don't hide your gaming light under a bushel. Or a desk.

LTT Ratcheting Screwdriver and Precision Pro Multi-Bit Screwdriver review
By Jacob Ridley published
Score: 88% Serious tools.

Here's a keycap that's also a watch, for the discerning gamer
By Jacob Ridley published
News Two of my favourite things in one adorable unit.

Apple turns 50 today: here's what it does better than PC (no foolin')
By Jacob Ridley published
Happy birthday The Mac vs PC debate is as old as the companies that make 'em. But even I can admit Apple silicon is a bit of a beast.

LocalSend is the most useful app I've come across in a very long time, letting me share files across devices with a couple clicks
By Jacob Ridley published
News Open source and free.

Thermaltake View 380 WS ARGB review
By Jacob Ridley published
Score: 83% Affordable and flashy.

Sony hikes the PS5 price by $100, PS5 Pro by $150: 'this was a necessary step'
By Jacob Ridley published
News Ouch, and for a generation that's over five years old.

This simple gaming chair bracket could have saved me years of sim racing with two wooden blocks holding my pedals in place
By Jacob Ridley published
News Seems like a smart fix for a very annoying issue.

Tossing servers for sport: IT experts are once again seeing how far they can fling a server rack
By Jacob Ridley published
News Rage against the machine.

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.

Best CPU for gaming in 2026: 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.

Big update to SteamOS improves support for non-Valve handhelds, newer platforms, discrete GPUs, and Steam Machine
By Jacob Ridley published
News Wayland has also arrived.

Corsair 3200D review
By Jacob Ridley published
Score: 86% The price is a pleasant surprise.

Intel must also hate waiting for shaders to compile as it begins rollout of pre-compiled code from the cloud for faster load times
By Jacob Ridley last updated
News A handful of games supported at launch, including COD: Black Ops 7 and Cyberpunk 2077.

You know it's bad when RAM manufacturers launch dummy kits to make it look as though you have dual-channel memory when you actually don't
By Jacob Ridley published
News Hey, dummy.

Best gaming chair in 2026: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Take a seat Treat your body to one of the best gaming chairs and sit like a royal on your new throne.

Antec Flux Pro Noctua Edition case review
By Jacob Ridley published
Score: 88% The only excuse you need for a Noctua build.

Split spacebars are surely the next big gaming keyboard trend
By Jacob Ridley published
Amicable split Watch this space.

PNY GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB OC review
By Jacob Ridley published
Score: 80% A solid pick.

Thermaltake Minecube 360 Ultra ARGB Sync review
By Jacob Ridley published
Score: 70% Four screens, good performance, high price.

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.

This upcoming gaming mouse weighs just over 28 grams without poking holes in it
By Jacob Ridley published
News That is actually very impressive.

Meta's new FrameSync feature aims to make VR a little less nauseating
By Jacob Ridley published
News As performance demands grow for Quest headsets, Meta's updating its frame timing technique.

Resistance to operating system age checks coming from *checks notes* open source calculator and an OS that may just exclude Californians altogether
By Jacob Ridley published
News Open source operating systems are wrestling with how to comply with age-checking bills.

Scientists warn against crappy age verification: 'if implemented without careful consideration… the new regulation might cause more harm than good'
By Jacob Ridley published
News Scientists and researchers from respected institutions lay out the case against age verification as we're beginning to know it.
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