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

Jacob Ridley, Managing Editor for Hardware at PC Gamer, wearing the Steam Frame on his head.
Steam Frame review

By Jacob Ridley Published

Score: 80% The king of convenience.

60 Comments
Score: 80%
The Steam Frame on the Steam Frame box.
Steam Frame starts at $1,059 and you'll want to enter the stock lottery before September 17 for a higher chance of getting one this year

By Jacob Ridley Published

News What do you make of these prices?

10 Comments
News
The Pimax Dream Air in white on a stack of PC Gamer magazine.
Pimax Dream Air VR headset review

By Jacob Ridley Published

Score: 75% Unbeatable visuals, excellent comfort, and mediocre tracking.

Score: 75%
GTA 6
After seeing what GTA 6 does to a PS5 we're even more desperate to see what the PC version has for us

By Dave James Published

Looking at the PlayStation 5 capture, we're noodling on just what extra shinies Rockstar might add to the best gaming platform's version.

20 Comments
Hardware
An ASRock Phantom Gaming monitor on a red background with the word deals to the right and the PC Gamer logo.
This $299 gaming monitor has the lot: QD-OLED, 1440p, 240 Hz, FreeSync Premium, and a 0.03 ms response time

By Jacob Ridley Published

Deal It's the cheapest QD-OLED I've ever seen.

Deal
A gaming PC with RGB lighting enabled on a desk.
Windows update that breaks some multiplayer games linked to our desire for gaming PCs that light up all the colors of the rainbow

By Jacob Ridley Published

News I knew all this showboating would bite us in the butt one day.

7 Comments
News
Two handheld gaming PCs on a yellow background with the PC Gamer Recommended badge in the top right
Best handheld gaming PC in 2026: my recommendations for the best portable powerhouses

By Jacob Ridley Last updated

Portable PC PC gaming is officially portable now, and these handheld gaming PCs are the best around.

Portable PC
A GameSir Nova Lite and Gamesir G7 Pro pair of controllers against a coloured background with a PC Gamer recommended logo
Best PC controllers in 2026: I've tested lots of gamepads and these get my recommendation

By Dave James Last updated

Total control Grab one of the best PC controllers for when your keyboard and mouse simply won't do.

Total control
The PowerA LucidSound LS500 and Razer BlackShark V3 wireless gaming headsets float in a red gradient void. The PC Gamer recommended badge sits in the top righ corner.
Best gaming headsets in 2026: I'd bet my ears on these headphones

By Dave James Last updated

Quality cans Treat your ears to some audio treacle with the best gaming headsets.

Quality cans
An iBuyPower and ABS gaming PC on a custom PC Gamer Recommended background.
Best gaming PCs in 2026: We've tested the best current-gen gaming PCs and these are our picks

By Dave James, Jacob Fox Last updated

Perfect PC Everything you need to know about buying the best prebuilt gaming PC.

Perfect PC
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
Crucial SSD on a red background with the word deals and the PC Gamer logo on the right hand side.
You can get a PCIe 5.0 SSD for a PCIe 4.0 price with this SSD deal, but you have to take a gamble on delivery from Germany

By Jacob Ridley Published

Deal In this messed up market, $174 is tough to beat.

Deal
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
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