
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

The best gaming monitors in Australia for 2025
By Dave James last updated
Eye candy The best gaming monitors offer the perfect mix of resolution, refresh rate, and size to immerse you in your favorite gaming worlds.

Best mechanical keyboards in 2025: the clacky boards I'd buy in a heartbeat
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Click Clack Make the switch with our guide to the best mechanical gaming keyboards.

Best gaming keyboards in 2025: the fastest, smoothest and loveliest boards I've tested
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Keyed in The best gaming keyboards have it all: style, ergonomics, and of course, the most satisfying clickity clacks.

The best audiophile headphones for gaming in 2025: my top recommendations for the best cans money can buy
By Dave James last updated
Audiophile Immerse yourself in your games with the best audiophile headphones 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.

Best PC joysticks in 2025: these are my top picks for everything from flight sims to space shooters
By Dave James last updated
Locked On The best PC joysticks take you to new heights.

Sennheiser HD 550 review
By Jacob Ridley published
Audiophile A great reason to start taking your gaming audio seriously.

Best gaming PCs in 2025: these are the rigs and brands I recommend today
By Dave James last updated
Perfect PC Everything you need to know about buying the best prebuilt gaming PC.

Best VR headset in 2025: my top picks for stunning virtual reality experiences
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Jack In Immerse yourself in stunning game worlds with the best VR headset.

Corsair Frame 4000D review
By Jacob Ridley published
Frame it A compact case with a lot of hidden features and designed from the ground up for Corsair's own ecosystem.

MSI RTX 5060 Ti 16G Gaming Trio OC review
By Jacob Ridley published
Eep! The best of the lot but its price tag might be insurmountable.

The best gaming headsets in Australia for 2025
By Dave James last updated
Quality cans Treat your ears to some treacle with the best gaming headsets.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB review (Palit Infinity 3)
By Jacob Ridley published
It's a Ti A good upgrade for anyone on an older graphics card and with plenty of overclocking potential.

Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060 announced, starting from $299: 'We can work with our partners to get these out at reasonable prices, which we are doing'
By Jacob Ridley published
News Here's hoping Nvidia's new entry-level GPUs can stick to MSRP.

Best capture cards for PC gaming in 2025: whether it's streaming, recording, 1080p or the big 4K, these cards have you covered
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Broadcast Show off your greatest gaming moments with the best capture cards.

Semiconductors are exempt from Trump's massive 32% tariff on Taiwan though PC gamers will still feel the heat
By Jacob Ridley published
News President Trump says TSMC is "one of the great companies of the world" as he praises the chipmaker for investing in the US. But other companies are not so lucky.

This nearly budget gaming PC build made me realise availability is just as important as affordability when building a cheap machine
By Jacob Ridley published
Budget-ish A budget part is only as good as its price on the shelf.

Gigabyte RTX 5070 Ti Eagle OC Ice review
By Jacob Ridley published
Spenny With a huge price premium over MSRP models, I'm struggling to see why you'd spend so much on this RTX 5070 Ti Eagle OC Ice.

MSI GeForce RTX 5080 Ventus 3X OC White review
By Jacob Ridley published
Price problem Can you look past a price tag?

Sennheiser says it 'will not become a gaming brand' but its new HD 550 are a good excuse to use audiophile headphones for gaming
By Jacob Ridley published
News The only issue is the price… of the HD 650.

The Half-Life 2 RTX demo is out now and well worth a go… if your graphics card can take it
By Jacob Ridley published
News Two levels are available to play in Half-Life RTX right now: Ravenholm and Nova Prospekt.

Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro earbud review
By Jacob Ridley published
Budding Massively customisable, tiny earbuds.

I just played Half-Life 2 RTX, a fully ray-traced overhaul of the original, and its meaty headcrabs have me hankering for more
By Jacob Ridley published
Gordon's back It's time to dust off the ol' crowbar.
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