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

Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang on stage at GTC in Taiwan with the new RTX Spark.
Nvidia sets out roadmap for RTX Spark, its new PC platform, which also gives us a better idea of when to expect next-gen RTX GPUs

By Jacob Ridley Published

Computex 2026 Rubin in 2028, Feynman in 2030.

Computex 2026
Two of the best wireless gaming headsets with a PC Gamer recommends badge in the top right.
Best wireless gaming headsets in 2026: the top cans I'd buy myself

By Dave James Last updated

Untethered The best wireless gaming headsets allow you to enjoy your games and music tangle-free.

Untethered
Fractal Terra and Corsair Air 5400 PC cases
The best PC cases in 2026: 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 case
A Logitech G502 X and Razer Viper V4 Pro gaming mouse on a yellow background with a PC Gamer Recommended logo in the top-right.
Best gaming mouse in 2026: We've tested the very best mice and these are the top picks

By Dave James Last updated

Pinpoint The best gaming mouse for every game, budget, grip, and size.

Pinpoint
The Steam Controller on a desk in front of a Steam Deck.
Hear the Steam Controller sing whole songs with haptics, including the Wii Store soundtrack, Still Alive, and even attempt a Rick Roll

By Jacob Ridley Published

News This was a triumph. I'm making a note here, 'huge success'.

News
The SteelSeries QcK Performance mouse pad and the Razer Firefly V2 Pro on a silver/white background with the PC Gamer recommended badge in the top right
Best mouse pads for gaming in 2026: 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.

Slick
AMD's Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card
AMD bringing FSR 4.1 ML-powered upscaling to RX 7000 series in July, RX 6000 series in 2027

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Modders and Sony proved it possible. Now AMD is making good with official support.

News
Intel's logo on the side of the McLaren F1 car.
Intel is back in F1 as it officially partners with last year's winners McLaren to provide the team with heaps of chips

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Gotta go fast.

News
The CoolerMaster MasterFrame 360 Panoramic PC case with various components installed on a desk.
Cooler Master MasterFrame 360 Panorama review

By Jacob Ridley Published

Score: 80% A great way to show off your Hatsune Miku statue.

Score: 80%
Framework 13 laptop on a dark grey background
Framework says DDR5 memory costs 'remain fairly stable' but 'on SSDs, the pricing story is unfortunately not as positive' as it raises prices again

By Jacob Ridley Published

News One step forward, two steps back.

News
The Steam Controller on a desk during a teardown, with various parts removed.
Valve forming an orderly queue for the Steam Controller makes it clear we need the same for the Steam Machine, Frame, and perhaps a lot more in-demand tech too

By Jacob Ridley Published

Grab a ticket We need a better system.

Grab a ticket
A picture of Nintendo Switch 2 dock with the console inside, and the Switch 2 box behind it
Nintendo is raising the price of the Switch 2 later this year

By Jacob Ridley Published

News A $50 increase in the US. Further increases rolling out in Japan, Europe, and Canada.

News
Ubuntu's software updater on an orange background.
Ubuntu servers restored after DDoS attack sends services down for days

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Who has a gripe with Ubuntu?

News
The Steam Controller on a desk during a teardown, with various parts removed.
Valve says Steam Controller sold out 'faster than we anticipated' but previously told us it has knobs it can turn to get more

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Pray tell of thy knobs, Valve.

13 Comments
News
The Wooting 60HE v2 at various stages of being built.
Sit down, relax, and see how a magnetic keyboard switch is made with Wooting's CEO

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Now that's my kinda doc.

News
An image of the Asus ROG Equalizer 12V-2x6 power cable, against a gradient green background
First test of new ROG Equalizer cable intended to be overkill for your GPU isn't as clear cut as one might expect

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Der8auer has put this cable to the test.

News
The Steam Controller on a desk during a teardown, with various parts removed.
Steam Controller teardown: simple to open, easy to fix

By Jacob Ridley Published

DIY The Steam Controller is straightforward to repair or mod at home.

DIY
The Steam Controller on a desk during a teardown, with various parts removed.
Steam Controller (2026) review

By Jacob Ridley Published

Score: 83% Second time's the charm.

46 Comments
Score: 83%
A Meta Quest 3S, alongside a Quest 3 and Quest 2, on a stack of PC Gamer magazine.
Meta is raising the price of the Quest 3 and Quest 3S due to memory price rises made worse by Meta

By Jacob Ridley Published

News "We’re making this change because the cost of building high-performance VR hardware has risen significantly."

News
Jensen Huang holding aloft a Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 graphics card alongside a similarly powered MSI laptop at Nvidia's Computex 2025 keynote.
Nvidia denies report that it is in talks to acquire a major PC company but Dell, HP, Lenovo and Asus share prices jumped at the thought

By Jacob Ridley Published

News Nvidia has its eyes on closer integration with PC partners.

News
An Mchose G3 V2 Pro and Razer Viper V4 Pro gaming mouse on a green background with a PC Gamer Recommended label on the top right.
Best wireless gaming mouse in 2026: These are the cordless rodents we love getting our mitts on

By Dave James Last updated

Unbound Let go of the tethers and embrace the freedom of living life cable-free.

Unbound
Crimson Desert's main character, Kliff, with a visual glitch on his face.
Crimson Desert is now somewhat playable on Intel Arc graphics cards, though Kliff's face didn't make it

By Jacob Ridley Published

News We managed to get the game to boot with the latest Intel drivers, but I'd hold off for now.

News
Dave's gaming PC on his desk
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.

Poll
Two screwdrivers on a desk with orange highlights, sold by the YouTube channel Linus Tech Tips, or LTT for short.
LTT Ratcheting Screwdriver and Precision Pro Multi-Bit Screwdriver review

By Jacob Ridley Published

Score: 88% Serious tools.

18 Comments
Score: 88%
A Miyo keycap that includes a tiny watch face.
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.

News
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