Dave James
Dave has been gaming since the days of Zaxxon and Lady Bug on the Colecovision, and code books for the Commodore Vic 20 (Death Race 2000!). He built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 16, and finally finished bug-fixing the Cyrix-based system around a year later. When he dropped it out of the window. He first started writing for Official PlayStation Magazine and Xbox World many decades ago, then moved onto PC Format full-time, then PC Gamer, TechRadar, and T3 among others. Now he's back, writing about the nightmarish graphics card market, CPUs with more cores than sense, gaming laptops hotter than the sun, and SSDs more capacious than a Cybertruck.
Latest articles by Dave James
Best gaming keyboards in 2025: the fastest, smoothest and loveliest keyboards 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.
Best gaming monitors in 2025: the pixel-perfect panels I'd buy myself
By Dave James last updated
Eye candy The best gaming monitors balance price with panel quality, resolution and refresh rate.
Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've had my pick of portable powerhouses and these are the best
By Dave James last updated
Portable powerhouses Don't compromise on power or portability with the best gaming laptops.
Best gaming chair in 2025: the seats I'd suggest for any gamer
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Take a seat Treat your posterior to one of the best gaming chairs.
PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024: The winners in every category of PC gaming greatness from the past 12 months of tech
By Dave James published
The winners We've had our hands on all the best PC gaming hardware of 2024 and these are our absolute, solid gold favourites.
I've tested the best graphics cards and CPUs of the year, and yet it's this affordable, unassuming little gaming laptop that captured my heart in 2024
By Dave James published
Gear of the year The Asus TUF A14 is a surprising, delightful little laptop I did not expect to love so much.
I'm here digging out the best post-Christmas, post-turkey PC gaming deals using my decades of experience and lack of social norms
By Dave James last updated
Deals I really ought to be building Lego with my kids...
PC Gamer Hardware Awards: The best gaming handheld of 2024
By Dave James published
Gear of the year The handheld market is way more than just the Steam Deck, with stunning little PC consoles from all over delighting both our hands and eyeballs.
OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld PC review
By Dave James published
Flying The first Strix Point handheld becomes the most powerful and maybe most desirable, too.
Best mechanical keyboards: 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 graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I'd want in my next gaming laptop
By Dave James last updated
Go mobile Helping you pick the right graphics silicon for your next laptop purchase.
Best CPU for gaming: 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.
The best wireless gaming earbuds: These are the buds I'd allow to whisper sweet nothings into my ears
By Dave James last updated
Budding gamers So you finally managed to bag a Steam Deck or ROG Ally, now what are the best gaming earbuds to go with it?
The best left-handed mouse for gaming
By Dave James last updated
Lefties Shopping for the best left-handed mouse for gaming doesn't have to mean wading through right-handed options that might just work.
Intel Arc B580 graphics card review
By Dave James published
Up 'n' down Hope is a dangerous thing to base a graphics card purchase on.
Best gaming motherboards: these are the mobos I'd build a system around today
By Dave James last updated
Best Mobo The best gaming motherboards from the top Intel and AMD chipsets.
Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I've held in these hands
By Dave James last updated
Smol The 14-inch form factor is the perfect nexus point between performance and portability.
The best Mini-ITX PC case: the top tiny cases I've tested to date
By Dave James last updated
Mini but Mighty Go compact and cute with the best mini-ITX PC cases.
Best handheld gaming PC: my recommendations for the best portable powerhouses
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Portable PC PC gaming has officially gone portable, and these handheld gaming PCs are mighty quick.
Best Cyber Monday PC gaming deals 2024: the savings continue from now through *checks notes* 'Cyber Week'?
By Dave James last updated
We're curating the best deals on gaming PCs, laptops, graphics cards, chairs, and peripherals for you.
Cyber Monday gaming PC deals 2024: discounts across RTX 40-series and Radeon rigs
By Dave James last updated
Cyber Monday and the week of deals that follows is here, and we're tracking down the best prebuilt gaming PC deals.
Cyber Monday gaming keyboard and mouse deals 2024: majestic mechanicals and righteous rodents
By Dave James last updated
The best Cyber Monday deals on gaming mice and gaming keyboards from Razer, Corsair, Logitech, Drop and the rest.
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