
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

Best air cooler for CPUs in 2025: keep your processor chilled with one of these budget-friendly and capable coolers
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Air dried Quiet, reliable and affordable—why not consider a CPU air cooler in 2025?

The most convenient handheld gaming PC I've ever used is getting upgraded with an OLED screen, Ryzen HX 370, and a repositioned mouse nub (that's the best bit)
By Jacob Ridley published
News Seriously, check out this nub.

Introducing ‘The Rig’: everything under the hood of the PC Gaming Show’s top of the line PC build
By Jacob Ridley published
THE RIG Marvel at The Rig's high-end specs in full here

Xbox is no longer a console, it's a platform, and it's already entered a battle for control over your handheld gaming PC
By Jacob Ridley published
Xbox everywhere Xbox is becoming more like PC and Windows is becoming more like Xbox... is Microsoft looking to muscle SteamOS out of the way?

Xbox is headed to handhelds but its gaming-first UI will also land on existing ROG Ally and ROG Ally X and 'other Windows handhelds starting next year'
By Jacob Ridley published
News You won't need to buy an Xbox-branded handheld to benefit from the new UI on Windows devices.

'This is an Xbox' says Microsoft of its new handheld but, let's be honest, it's a PC
By Jacob Ridley published
News Microsoft and Asus team up to put Windows on an AMD-powered handheld, and apparently that makes it an Xbox.

Corsair Nautilus 360 RS review
By Jacob Ridley published
Stealthy Great for a stealth build.

Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360 Core II review
By Jacob Ridley published
Keepin' cool Proof that you needn't spend a lot for a cool-running processor.

Corsair iCUE Link Titan 360 RX LCD review
By Jacob Ridley published
Flashy Good for iCUE systems, not so much anything else.

Best PC racing wheels in 2025: 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.

Best mouse pads for gaming in 2025: 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.

Best Steam Deck accessories in 2025: These are the add-ons that I'd let keep my handheld company on its travels
By Katie Wickens last updated
Decked out These are the best Steam Deck accessories to pair with your handheld gaming PC—peripherals, power, and protection.

Phanteks Eclipse G400A review
By Jacob Ridley published
Score: 84% Everything you need and more for a first gaming PC build.

Computex 2025 showed that innovation in PC hardware often involves sticking a screen on something but don't let that distract you from the genuine improvements underneath
By Jacob Ridley published
Computex Look past the frivolous screens on the showfloor and you'll find some genuine upgrades headed our way.

Pump noise, what pump noise? Asetek's new liquid cooler pump is so quiet 'it's on a level where you can't hear it'
By Jacob Ridley published
Computex And it's still good for CPUs up to 400 W, apparently.

A fabric-covered PC case was not on my Computex 2025 bingo card but I'm surprisingly into it
By Jacob Ridley published
Computex Tryx is pushing the boat out with its new products this year.

I've seen every PC case that Computex has to offer and this new Havn chassis is my top pick thanks to its abnormally large fans, front grille and airflow optimisation
By Jacob Ridley published
Computex I've seen heaps of new cases at Computex this past week but one PC case left a strong impression: Havn's BF 360.

Cherry proclaims a 'new era' for keyboard switches: induction is 'half the cost of a regular mechanical switch', more reliable, and less power hungry than analog alternatives
By Jacob Ridley published
Computex Though whether it gets used for analog gaming keyboards is up to keyboard makers—Cherry says it is aiming at the mass market.

Wooting is adding knobs to its gaming keyboards and the good news is existing Wooting owners can knob themselves too
By Jacob Ridley published
Computex 2025 These new knobs actually replace a switch (or four) on existing Wooting keyboards.

AMD unleashes up to 96 cores of Zen 5 with its new Threadripper 9000 Series chips
By Jacob Ridley published
Computex Coming June 2025.

Hyte's ludicrous liquid cooler will soon be able to show entire system monitoring charts on its screen
By Jacob Ridley published
Computex This speaks to my nerdiest desires.

Hyte's latest case is a bold and colorful break from today's obsession with angular and understated
By Jacob Ridley published
Computex Computex is chocked full of colourful cases.

Corsair made a see-through PSU because everything looks better when you can see its innards... welp, that came out weird
By Jacob Ridley published
Computex I just mean translucent tech is cool, leave me alone.
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