
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

I'm digging out the best Black Friday gaming laptop deals using my many years of experience and an NFT of a shovel
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Live The NFT was a lie but the deals are real.

Black Friday SSD deals 2024
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Black Friday is over for another year but if you're looking for the ultimate storage upgrade, then here are all the best SSD deals still live.

Black Friday gaming chair deals 2024
By Jacob Ridley last updated
The Black Friday chair deals are continuing right through the weekend, so stay on the edge of your seat.

Black Friday graphics card deals 2024
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Deals Black Friday is over but the deals are still flowing, so if you're looking for a new GPU upgrade, here are all the best graphics card deals right now.

I'm searching for Black Friday handheld gaming PC deals as the resident 'guy who just won't shut up about handheld gaming PCs'
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Live The best deals I find on the ROG Ally, MSI Claw, Steam Deck, Legion Go and more are all right here.

I find two key lights are much better than one for evenly lighting a stream or shoot, and here's a set from Neewer that's nearly buy one, get one free for Black Friday
By Jacob Ridley published
Deal The set also includes stands and a carry case.

This Alienware gaming laptop sits smack-bang in my PC gaming sweet spot with $600 off and an RTX 4070 under the hood
By Jacob Ridley published
Deal That's with a 2560 x 1600 screen and Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, no less.

Don't try and squeeze too many ideas inside one PC build: For this white gaming PC with an RTX 4080 Super, I very nearly did
By Jacob Ridley published
The Build Follow along as I build a white gaming PC.

Five things I want you to think about before you buy your first gaming laptop
By Jacob Ridley published
Laptop livin' Gaming laptops can be excellent, but you need to shop wisely to avoid making a mistake. Here's my advice.

It's not quite the end-of-generation sale price I've been holding out for but an RTX 4070 for a penny under $500 isn't too bad
By Jacob Ridley published
Deal The $500 mark or under is when I start to get interested.

Meta Quest 3S review
By Jacob Ridley published
Budget VR A Quest 2, but better. Or a Quest 3, but worse. Either way, this is the best VR headset on a budget.

This Half-Life 2 themed RTX 4080 Super almost makes up for the fact we're about to hit the game's 20th anniversary and there's still no Half-Life 3 in sight
By Jacob Ridley published
News Almost...

iBuyPower RDY Y40 Valorant VCTA R003 review
By Jacob Ridley published
Shipshape A ready-made machine with a lot to offer.

Havn HS 420 VGPU PC case review
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Havn it large One of the best ways to show off your build.

Five things I always tell people before they buy their first gaming chair
By Jacob Ridley published
Saddle up I've been testing gaming chairs for seven years, and here's what I always tell people looking to buy one.

As if I wasn't already struggling with Arrow Lake's price, AMD is having a big sale on its most recent 9000-series CPUs
By Jacob Ridley published
Deal From $584 16-core monsters to $233 six-core savers.

AMD's top Ryzen AI mobile chip featuring Zen 5 and a juiced GPU is headed to a handheld gaming PC next month
By Jacob Ridley published
News The handheld I've been dreaming of since my hands-on with the HX 370.

What the heck, my BIOS screen is 1080p now
By Jacob Ridley published
News Asus has upgraded its BIOS screens to 1080p, starting with X870/E motherboards.

Mouse, keyboard or headset? Try to guess the Logitech product from the model name alone in our silly little quiz
By Jacob Ridley published
News Difficulty: hard (unless you work at Logitech).

This streamer's Twitch chat can actively ruin his game by activating a modded headset that temporarily blinds him or setting off an IRL jumpscare
By Jacob Ridley published
News Let him cook, chat.

This new keyboard built with switches also used in ATMs across Japan has led me down a rabbit hole of typing championships where contestants compete for a golden keyboard
By Jacob Ridley published
News Ever heard of Topre keys? They're the king.

Ayaneo Flip DS review
By Jacob Ridley published
Clever clamshell A compact clamshell containing everything you need for gaming on the go.

This computer built inside Minecraft has 1,107,419 blocks, over 15 million views on TikTok, and all started 'for the fun of it'
By Jacob Ridley published
Bits 'n' blocks "How do I surpass building a massive calculator? My answer to that question was to build a 32-bit computer," says creator Ryan Boulds.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.