Last year, I got my hands on the "Classic" MG-1 pre-built gaming PC from New Jersey-based Maingear. I was immediately wowed by the build quality, cable management, and flexible buying options. However, it wasn't quite perfect.

In my Maingear MG-1 review, I called out blind spots like non-captive panel screws, AiO cooler positioning, and the use of zip ties for cable management. Regardless, the MG-1's pros certainly outweighed the cons, and I handed it 4.5 stars and a Windows Central Best award.

For 2026, Maingear decided to address those pain points directly with the MG-1 MK.II, announced April 22. Maingear sent me a temporary review unit to try out, and it's now been in use for a couple of weeks. Here's why I'm so impressed with the second generation, and why I think it's among the very best pre-built gaming PCs you can buy today.

Maingear sent Windows Central a review unit on loan for testing. It had no input, nor saw the contents of this review, prior to publication.

How much does the Maingear MG-1 MK.II cost?

The new Maingear MG-1 MK.II starts at $2,249 for a pre-configured model with Intel Core Ultra 5 225F CPU, NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti GPU (8GB), 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD.

There are 10 different pre-configs available at the time of writing, pushing all the way up to $7,199 for a model with AMD Ryzen 9 950X3D2 Dual Edition CPU, NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU, 64GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 4TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD.

Of course, a significant chunk of that cost goes into RAM. If you'd like to save $300 compared to the cheapest 2x16GB kit Maingear offers, you can send in your own memory. Maingear will install it, test it, and ship your PC back to you all ready to go.

A deep configurator tool allows you to build an MG-1 MK.II from the ground up, with customization for everything from performance hardware to cable colors and accessories.

You can also find a number of MG-1 Mk. II PCs available at Best Buy, with prices starting at $2,389.

How the Maingear MG-1 MK.II improves on the "Classic" MG-1

A big reason why Maingear didn't name its 2026 version of the MG-1 something like "MG-2" is that it's more of a tweak than a complete overhaul.

One thing I noticed immediately is that the side panels now have captive screws, something I called out last time around. That's a must on a PC this expensive.

The case is slightly bigger this time around, and it's more rigid thanks to some additional internal supports. It's a full-size PC, no doubt about it.

This resize contributes to better overall airflow; I get into more granular details below. Here, though, let me explain the new layout.

Superior AiO positioning and more intake fans

Whereas the "Classic" MG-1 had the CPU's AiO liquid cooler mounted onto the front of the case, it's now been moved to the top to sit horizontally in the MG-1 MK.II. This is optimal positioning for an AiO, generally netting a degree or two lower temperature compared to if the AiO is installed vertically.

This also frees up the front panel to have its own distinct trio of 140mm fans pulling in cool air. One of my complaints about the MG-1 was a lack of dust screen on the front of the PC, and that's been remedied here.

A magnetic dust cover also covers the top panel of the PC where the AiO is mounted, and there's a pull-out screen on the bottom of case to cover the PSU's air intake.

The MG-1 MK.II's new front panel is part form, part function

Speaking of the front panel, it's also been redesigned for two main purposes. First, it's wider to better fit custom artwork, a service Maingear has been providing for a while.

Second, it's not quite as tall, leaving ample space below for air intake. The contoured cutout is more noticeable now with textured dots covering it. This texture becomes more noticeable with the panel's backlighting enabled.

The magnets on the front panel are much larger, and there's absolutely no way it's going to fall off even if it's in transit. It's secure enough that I thought I'd missed some tape from the shipping process. No, just sturdy magneticism.

Surrounding the entire inside of the front panel is an RGB strip, and it's joined by another RGB strip along the inside of the side of the case (right where the glass side panel bumps up). Because all the lighting in the PC is diffused, it's way easier to get that pro glow without any exposed LEDs.

Exploring the MG-1 MK.II's MG-RC reverse connections

Perhaps the biggest difference between the "Classic" MG-1 and the MG-1 MK.II is the use of MG-RC reverse connection motherboards. It's actually Maingear that patented this approach years ago, and it's great to see it come into effect in its flagship desktop PCs.

Each MG-1 MK.II uses a motherboard with all of its cable connections on the back, leading to an almost impossibly clean look. All that's visible from the "front" side of the build is the CPU cooling header's narrow power cable, GPU power cable, and AiO pump hoses.

Yes, this makes the PC super attractive, but in theory, it also lets air pass through the system with fewer impediments.

One other quick mention: the GPU has a firm mount screwed into place, removing the need for any internal packing foam during shipping. The PC arrived wrapped in a soft cover with some foam on the edges; that's it.

The MG-1 MK.II's cable management is impeccable ... except for one little bit

You might assume that having all cables behind the motherboard leads to a mess only visible when you remove the rear panel. That might happen on some builds, but not here.

Cable management is as meticulous as ever, making it easy to upgrade or repair the PC yourself in the future. The only qualm I have is that Maingear still uses zipties. A bit of Velcro for even just the main channels would go a long way towards ease of tinkering and overall premium feel.

Does Maingear's MG-1 MK.II keep cool with good airflow?

I didn't run any benchmarks on this PC in terms of gaming performance. Its Founders Edition RTX 5090 GPU and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D speak for themselves. Maingear isn't using proprietary or OEM performance hardware, so don't expect any surprises.

However, I did test cooling and airflow. Internal temperatures at the motherboard sensor when the system is idle sit at about 34 degrees C. That's nearly five degrees cooler than the Classic MG-1 I tested last year.

With the system under a full stress test (CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD, etc.), internal case temps only went up to 40 degrees C. With the CPU's heat now being pumped out the top of the case and the GPU's heat being pushed out the back by the three large front fans, it's easy to see how the MG-1 MK.II remains so cool.

👉 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 review: A higher price matches the extra performance in this gorgeous GPU redesign

There are a lot of fans in here, but the noise isn't bad. Maingear did a great job on the stock fan curve. When idling, the system hits about 40 decibels. Under full load, it climbed to 55 decibels. That's slightly quieter than the Classic MG-1.

My only complaints about the Maingear MG-1 MK.II

I already mentioned zipties used in cable management, but there are a couple of other small bits I want to mention.

The case's front/top port selection isn't exactly generous, with just USB-A, USB-C, and 3.5mm audio. I hope this gets expanded in the next generation.

The only other thing I want to mention is that one of the RGB headers was loose when the PC arrived. It was just a matter of applying pressure to pop it back into place.

I imagine some buyers might not have the know-how when it comes to troubleshooting those sorts of things, but Maingear's customer support is all handled in-house and is quite helpful (speaking from a bit of secret shopper experience).

Should you buy the Maingear MG-1 MK.II?

You should buy this if ...

✅ You want a top-tier gaming desktop but don't want to build it yourself.

✅ You love the idea of custom artwork and plenty of RGB lighting.

You should not buy this if ...

❌ You're trying to save as much money as possible on your gaming PC

❌ You don't have a lot of space in your gaming area

Pre-built PCs almost always cost more than building your own system; assembly, warranty, support, and other factors contribute. But how much more is the MG-1 MK.II I tested compared to something I put together myself?

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D2, NVIDIA RTX 5090, 32GB of RAM, 2TB SSD, and motherboard alone tally up to roughly $6,050. Add a Windows 11 license, a case, more case fans, RGB lighting, and a PSU, and you're getting closer to the $6,816 that Maingear asks for this exact config.

Yeah, it's crazy expensive, but I don't place the blame on Maingear. It's still operating at roughly the same margins I saw with the Classic MG-1 despite rising hardware prices.

If you don't want to source your own parts and assemble them yourself, I stand by Maingear being one of the best places to buy a pre-built gaming PC. The Classic MG-1 was good, but the MG-1 MK.II is on a whole other level.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

The world of retro PC gaming has seen a massive rise in popularity of late, and for good reason. As PC hardware prices continue to balloon, it's getting ever harder to justify spending thousands on a modern system.

Many PC gamers who traditionally enjoy their favorite titles on more affordable builds have been priced out of the market, and never mind the bloated prices of high-end components.

It's no wonder that searches for "retro gaming PCs" have exploded in 2026, as gamers search out affordable alternatives.

In a separate article, I covered in a lot more depth exactly why the retro PC gaming world is taking off. It ultimately comes down to a mix of affordability, nostalgia, taste, and preservation.

👉 Retro gaming PCs are booming in 2026, and not just for nostalgia — Here's the story behind it and how to build your own on the cheap

Although you can run retro games on just about any PC with the help of emulators, not everyone has an extra system sitting around.

I've returned with a guide on how to build your own standalone retro gaming PC for less than $500 in 2026.

How to build a retro gaming PC for less than $500 in 2026

The retro gaming PC you build ultimately depends on what type of games you want to play.

If you're interested in 8-bit and 16-bit games from the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis era, you'll need about 2GB of RAM and a CPU that hits at least 2.0GHz.

These games can basically run on a potato, and you might want to check out a Raspberry Pi 4 for a quick, inexpensive start.

For emulating 32-bit games from the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation era, a dual-core CPU at 2.0GHz with 4GB of RAM should be enough.

Hardware recommendations get a bit stricter with the Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Dreamcast generations. At least an Intel Core i5 CPU is recommended, and you should have at least 8GB of RAM.

My retro gaming PC parts list costs less than $500

Although you certainly don't need a powerful PC to run retro games, I wanted to put together a system that can handle a wider range of generations.

Here's what my custom retro gaming PC build looks like:

Although these prices will undoubtedly fluctuate over time, you should still be looking at a retro gaming PC that costs around $500.

👉 "The CRT revival is real": I'm amazed by the community efforts to keep CRT gaming alive — and how OLED could be its renaissance for modern gamers

Why does this retro gaming PC lack a discrete GPU?

You've likely noticed that this build lacks a dedicated GPU. That shouldn't be a problem for the vast majority of retro games, but if you do get into the more demanding emulators, you can always pick up a discrete card.

For everything else, the powerful integrated Radeon graphics in the Ryzen 5 5600GT will do just fine.

What operating system should I use in my retro gaming PC?

You've probably also noticed that my retro gaming PC build lacks an operating system. That's for good reason.

Although you can certainly install Windows on it for a broad emulation approach (and for dual-use as a standard PC), there are plenty of free alternatives.

Something like RetroPie, designed as an emulation platform on Raspberry Pi, can also be installed on regular PCs running Linux.

RetroPie is a great way to package a bunch of different emulators like RetroArch and EmulationStation, and it comes with a ton of settings you can play around with.

Another option is Lakka, which is a Linux distro built specifically for retro gaming. It's free and open-source, with a vibrant community behind it providing support.

Where do I get retro console games (ROMs)?

Whereas emulators — the software that emulates console hardware — are legal, the games you run on them exist in a grey area.

ROMs, as these games are known, are digital copies of games that otherwise live on cartridges, arcade boards, and CDs. If you own a physical copy of a game, creating a ROM is not technically illegal and does not infringe on copyrights.

Even if you own the game in question, it is illegal to download or distribute a ROM on the internet.

I'm not recommending you do anything illegal, but it has traditionally been rare for individuals downloading ROMs for personal use to see any legal trouble.

Can I play old PC games on a retro gaming PC?

While the retro PC build I put together above is great at running console emulators (and lighter modern PC games), you're probably wondering how you can enjoy retro PC games from the '80s, '90s, and '00s on modern hardware.

This is actually a lot easier than many suspect. Something like DOSBox Pure Unleashed can be installed on a modern PC running Windows and used to emulate DOS games. It's free and open-source.

It goes beyond just DOS games with its ability to install old operating systems, including Windows 95, Windows 97, and Windows XP.

You can also set up DOSBox Pure to run on RetroArch for older PC games support.

Take the easy route with retro games available on GOG.com

If you'd rather not mess around on your own with extra software, old PC games are readily available on GOG.com.

GOG makes it super easy to run old titles on modern PCs by packing the games with emulators like DOSBox. You can just download the game of your choice and start playing it on modern Windows without all of the legwork.

Games from GOG don't come with any DRM software, and they're all tested to ensure that they work on modern hardware. The games aren't free, but they're certainly quite affordable.

Are you interested in retro PC gaming?

This sub-$500 PC build I put together here is but one of the many avenues to take if you want to get into retro PC gaming. Be sure to let me know if you see any areas where it could be improved without adding cost.

Do you enjoy retro games? Which ones are your favorite, and on what sort of hardware do you run them? Be sure to let me know in the comments section below!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

The last time I got my hands on a Maingear PC was to test out a 2025 version of the MG-1, the company's flagship gaming desktop.

Today, Maingear has announced a follow-up, refreshed version of the PC, known as the MG-1 Mk. II.

It's available to buy now directly from Maingear's website; prices start at $1,999, and there are custom or pre-configured models available.

It can be customized with up to an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 or Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU, 128GB of DDR5-6000 RAM, six M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs, and an NVIDIA RTX 5090 or AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT.

Maingear's BYO RAM program is still going strong. You can send in your own memory and have it installed and tested by pros at Maingear before the PC is shipped out.

Why didn't Maingear call its new PC the "MG-2"?

As Maingear explains, this is a refinement of the original that doesn't change fundamental ideas that were already good. It was instead "built to raise the ceiling" on a PC that many, including me, consider to be among the best on the market.

The MG-1 Mk. II has had its case enlarged and its internals rearranged to provide significantly better thermal performance than its predecessor.

Behind the front panel, redesigned to allow more air past, is now a trio of 140mm intake fans. This setup replaces the CPU's AiO cooler, which is now mounted at the top of the case.

The MG-1 Mk. II is now using Maingear's patented MG-RC reverse connector system, which moves motherboard cables to the back of the board. Not only does this make for a cleaner look, but it also improves airflow through the case.

On the aesthetic front, the MG-1 Mk. II's RGB lighting has been redesigned to be completely diffused; no diodes are visible anywhere.

Lights are brighter and more plentiful, and they're all controlled directly via motherboard software rather than through any third-party app or hardware.

Because of the front panel's redesign to let in more air, it provides a wider canvas for custom artwork, which you can configure when you check out or later on. The panel's magnets are also stronger for a firmer fit.

Windows Central's take

When I reviewed the original Maingear MG-1, I was impressed enough to give it 4.5 stars and a Windows Central Best Award.

I had a few small nitpicks with the build, some of which — like the AiO placement — have evidently been remedied with the MG-1 Mk. II.

It all looks great on paper, and I'm hoping to soon get my hands on one of the refreshed Mk. II units for testing and review.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Nestled in the shadow of stunning AAA graphics, custom PC builds that cost as much as a used car, and throbbing RGB lighting is a growing collective of retro PC gaming enthusiasts who want nothing more than to keep the world of 8-bit, 16-bit, and early 3D games not just alive, but thriving.

While the retro gaming scene has been quietly growing for years, it certainly seems like 2026 has been a tipping point, especially with how expensive PC components have become.

Online communities like r/RetroGaming and r/CRTGaming are busy centers. Retro arcades are packed on weekends. And searches for "retro PC gaming builds" have skyrocketed in recent months. People are digging out old hardware, firing up emulators, and building dedicated retro rigs for some good ol' couch co-op in the living room.

So what's driving this resurgence? And how do you actually get started? Here's what you need to know.

Why are so many PC gamers interested in retro games?

The answer to why so many gamers are interested in older titles from bygone eras is multi-layered.

One of the biggest drivers, at least for my own retro gaming ambition, is nostalgia. The games I grew up on helped form the preferences I still carry today, and there's nothing quite like going back to a game I used to love, even if it's not perfect.

There are plenty of games being developed today that resemble older titles, using pixel art and time-tested mechanics. Although older more experienced gamers can often point out a newer game's influential origins, younger gamers are increasingly searching out original games to see why their influence remains so strong today.

The nostalgia factor goes hand-in-hand with game preservation. Without the support of enthusiasts, many games would be forgotten, unable to be played because their associated hardware is no longer produced or maintained, and their software lost to time.

This is well encapsulated by the r/CRTGaming Reddit community I covered in a separate piece. The community's passions are focused on the preservation of CRT displays, but the games played on those screens are almost always of the retro variety.

Newer isn't always better

For the younger readers, games used to launch in a working state. What was put onto a cartridge or disc and shipped was the final version of the game; no patches, no updates, and no second chances.

The best retro games still hold up today, with crisp mechanics, clear goals, and no scope creep after launch. You can sit down today or thirty years from now and know exactly what you're getting.

Compare that to today's modern mainstream gaming landscape. Early access titles that may or may not ever complete development. Billion-dollar AAA studios that pump out absolute crap year after year. Paid battle passes that get you cringy AI-generated cosmetics. Always-online multiplayer that doesn't work. Unfinished launches and ineffective patches. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the point.

With the cost of PC gaming hardware always on the rise, I don't doubt that a lot of retro gamers also arrived at their destination thanks to a much lower cost of entry.

Buying and restoring your own retro consoles is one route, although prices can add up quickly for collector items. Relatively affordable handheld devices like the Anbernic RG351V are another option; I use it to recapture early Game Boy magic first experienced in the '90s.

This being Windows Central, I'm focusing more on the PC and retro gaming mashup that's probably the easiest way to enjoy your favorite titles from generations gone by.

You don't need a powerful GPU. You don't even need a powerful CPU. High-resolution display with fast refresh rate? Forget about it. All you need to get started is a potato PC with some emulator software and ROMs.

How do I get into retro gaming in 2026?

Let me preface this by stating that I'm not suggesting you break any laws. Emulators, aka the software that emulates a specific console's hardware, are usually legal, or at minimum exist in a grey area.

ROMs, aka the software that holds a specific game, are a different story. If you own a physical copy of the game, a ROM technically isn't illegal. If you don't own the game, downloading it is illegal. Do with that information what you will.

Hardware requirements for retro game emulation

The best resource I've yet to discover for help with building your own retro gaming setup is RetroTechLab.com. Among the countless guides and reviews, there's an entire section on how to set up practically any old PC as a retro gaming centerpiece.

For 8-bit and 16-bit games from the NES, SNES, and Genesis generations, you'll want at least an Intel Pentium 4 chip running at 2.0GHz and 2GB of RAM. Considering this chip is now 25 years old, that shouldn't be a problem.

If you're going for 32-bit games from PlayStation and Nintendo 64 generations, something like a dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.0GHz should do the trick, as long as it has at least 4GB of RAM. The same goes for handhelds like Game Boy and PSP.

Once you get into the PS2, GameCube, and Dreamcast eras with 128-bit graphics, emulation demands rise considerably. A more modern Intel Core i3 chip at 3.0GHz and 8GB of RAM are recommended, although a Core i5 is better.

As for a GPU, something discrete is always better, especially if you're dealing with more demanding features like shaders and filters. However, most emulators offer software rendering that makes them work quite well on integrated graphics.

What are the best retro game emulators to run on PC?

RetroArch is one of the most popular emulators because it supports a wide variety of console generations. It has a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, you probably won't want to try anything else.

For older arcade titles, MAME is the go-to program for many golden age classics.

If you're more interested in GameCube and Wii emulation, Dolphin is a solid choice. Many gamers have success emulating OG Xbox titles with Xemu, and for PlayStation, I recommend DuckStation.

Using more than one emulator is common practice, and something like EmulationStation is designed to pull everything together into one manageable package. It's what I use on my Steam Deck, but it'll also work on Windows.

How do I build my own retro gaming PC?

I mostly use my Steam Deck as a platform for retro game emulation, but I've been toying with the idea of building a cheap little PC to keep connected to my living room PC. Once again, RetroTechLab comes in clutch.

One of the most practical routes is with a single-board PC. A Raspberry Pi 4 Model B with 4GB of RAM is available for about $110 at Amazon, and it can run the specialized RetroPie OS made for emulation right out of the box. Add a controller and an HDMI cable, and you're ready to go.

If you're targeting some of the more demanding emulators, a new or used mini PC with more powerful hardware is a stellar option. Or, as I outlined above, try your hand at repurposing an old laptop or PC that's otherwise collecting dust in a closet.

Over to you

I'm really only scratching the surface of retro gaming here; it's a deep subject that resonates with a lot of people, and the resulting projects often reveal the ingenuity and engineering prowess of enthusiastic gamers.

Have you built a retro gaming PC solely for running emulators? Have you repurposed an old laptop for the task? Do you run emulators on your gaming handheld?

I'm certain that more than a few of our readers here at Windows Central have something interesting to share on the subject of retro gaming, and I urge you to let us know in the comments section below!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

I've built more than a few custom gaming PCs in my lifetime, and though I've always been happy with how they turned out, they have nothing on some of the enthusiast builds found online.

The latest custom gaming PC that dropped my jaw comes from Reddit user OkDebate6649. Earlier this week, they shared a gallery of images of what appeared to be an '80s-era Macintosh, complete with a CRT-esque monitor enclosure and attached keyboard.

It's a good thing the builder clued us in by titling the entry as a LEGO PC build; it certainly doesn't look like it until you get up close.

The builder states that they've "never really played games on a PC before, so I'm really excited to try some modern games." Is there a better introduction to PC gaming than with your own custom LEGO build?

What's inside of the LEGO PC build?

The main focus here is, of course, the actual PC. As OkDebate6649 notes, it was designed in a modular fashion, which allows it to be used with monitors they've built out of LEGO in the past.

Not only is the exterior retro-styled case made of LEGO, but so are the internals. Inside the rectangular LEGO PC is an AMD BC250 board that's akin to a PS5's APU. It has six Zen 2 cores, 24 RDNA 2 Compute Units (CUs), and 16GB of memory.

It's able to deliver performance similar to a GTX 1660 Ti, and it's most often associated with DIY builds like this for 1080p PC gaming.

AS OkDebate6649 points out, the BC250 board is notably a hot ticket, so some extra cooling effort was required. They used Phase Change Material (PTM) on the board's APU, with dual fans covering the board's heatsink.

On the case, two fans push air in, and another two push air out. It's revealed that the PC "runs stably at around 75°C with the APU overclocked and running "some Steam game demos." While idling, temperatures fall to about 45°C. Not bad at all.

Wiring channels and harnesses all appear to be LEGO-related, and the front panel, made to look like a retro Macintosh, has a fake floppy drive, Apple logo, and actual working ports.

Around the back are more ports, a power toggle, and PSU access. Getting inside the PC appears to be quite easy, as custom LEGO panels are simply pulled up and away to reveal the internals.

Windows Central's take

LEGO PC build with BC250 from r/pcmasterrace

Countless custom PC builds get shared online every day, but it takes something truly special to stand out. Earlier this year, I covered an RTX 5080 PC built entirely into a Victorian-era radiator.

Although this new LEGO build likely didn't take as many power tools to complete as the radiator build, the levels of craftsmanship and engineering are undoubtedly impressive and show off some true technical skill.

LEGO was never meant to line up with PC hardware dimensions, and the fact that this custom build is so clean is really what pushes it over the edge.

Considering you can often buy an AMD BC250 board for less than $150, what's stopping you from doing something similar?

Have you built something this unconventional? How did you do it? Please share your unique mods and builds in the comments section below!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Alienware's QD-OLED monitors are sought after by many PC gamers for their exceptional color and contrast, not to mention their premium performance. However, they don't usually come cheap, leaving a large tranche of PC gamers looking for more affordable options.

Dell recognized this market gap and has decided to fill it with the new Alienware AW2726DM. It's a 27-inch QD-OLED gaming monitor with a 2560x1440 (QHD) resolution, 240Hz refresh rate, 0.03ms response time, and FreeSync Premium support.

Those are some tasty specs for any monitor, but the key here is that it arrives with a $349.99 price tag. You can pick it up now directly from Dell.com or from BestBuy.com. Is this the new best way to land QD-OLED on a budget?

How does Alienware's new QD-OLED gaming monitor compare to other budget gaming options?

Alienware's new AW2726DM is easily the most affordable QD-OLED gaming monitor currently available. The next most affordable option is the Alienware AW2725D at $549.99, notably pushing the max refresh rate up to 280Hz with a few other differences.

Here's how the monitor specs compare.

Alienware cuts costs by about $200 by removing official G-Sync Compatibility certification, dropping panel brightness and refresh rate just a bit, and removing some of the ports.

👉 IPS LCD vs OLED vs NEO LED vs tandem OLED vs QD-OLED vs QLED vs AMOLED vs Mini LED: Which is the best display?

Regardless, the 240Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time, paired with a QHD resolution at 27 inches, should be a huge hit for PC gamers who want to take the QD-OLED plunge for incredible color and contrast.

Elsewhere, AOC's Q27GAZD is a 27-inch QD-OLED gaming monitor with QHD resolution, 240Hz refresh rate, 0.03ms response time, G-Sync compatibility, and a $379.99 price tag at Amazon.

Windows Central's take on Alienware's new budget QD-OLED gaming display

QD-OLED display tech is a superior version of OLED that leans into quantum dots (microscoping molecules that produce color when hit with light) to improve brightness levels without harming the exceptional color and contrast associated with OLED.

Having more monitors take advantage of this tech is always a good thing, but they've traditionally been priced too high for the average PC gamer to take advantage.

That's been slowly changing over time, and the fact that a big name like Alienware — which offers a three-year warranty with burn-in protection — is introducing a more affordable option shows how OLED is slowly becoming the new norm across the PC gaming industry.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

About a month ago, PC gaming enthusiast and YouTuber Major Hardware revealed a CPU cooling experiment involving 15 mini fans installed in a custom frame.

What some called "The Fanhattan Project" was indeed reminiscent of some sort of nuclear test, yet it proved to be a capable gadget that could keep Major Hardware's CPU just a bit cooler than a standard 120mm Noctua A12x25 fan.

The result wasn't as surprising, considering each custom mini fan (measuring about 30mm) was a scaled version of Noctua's superb design, yet it proved it could be done.

Now, Major Hardware has returned with what he's calling "The Superdome." It's essentially the same idea at heart, scaled all the way up to 15 full-size 120mm fans tucked into a custom side panel for a desktop gaming PC.

Major Hardware explains that the project was born after receiving audience feedback asking for a larger scaling of the original project. The sticking point, of course, was that each Noctua A12x25 fan costs about $35. Thankfully, Noctua agreed to send the fans free of charge, officially kicking off the project.

How the craziest gaming PC air cooler I've ever seen was built by one person

Major Hardware explains that he went back to the original fan frame used in the previous project and blew it up to an enormous size. Confident that the 15 full-size Noctua fans would fit into the frame, he sent the design to his 3D printer and watched it take shape.

Each 120mm fan was then carefully installed in the frame and wired up. The first plug-in was successful, with just a bit of a rubbing noise from one of the fans that was quickly solved.

Has there ever been better airflow in a gaming PC?

Major Hardware propped up the giant fan-infused side panel and sent smoke through it, revealing just how much air it can push. It was then installed on his gaming PC.

MH explains how the PC he uses for testing (and regular gaming) has radiators installed top and bottom, exhausting air. This setup usually causes the PC to get pretty hot when gaming, with temps often hitting about 86 degrees Celsius.

After installing the custom 15-fan side panel, temperatures dropped to 66.8 degrees Celsius, about 20 degrees cooler. As MH points out, the project started as a meme, but came out "pretty incredible."

The craziest part? There's not much noise. That's ultimately a testament to Noctua's design, which is often considered the peak of PC air cooling.

How can I make my own Noctua Superdome for my gaming PC?

Let's say you happen to have 15 120mm PC fans sitting around. What better way to use them than by creating your own Superdome?

Major Hardware was kind enough to provide the 3D printing files on his Thingiverse page, which means that you can also get started, assuming you have access to a 3D printer.

Is this a project you'd like to try out yourself? Have you done any custom modding similar to what I've highlighted here from Major Hardware? Let me know in the comments section below!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

A recent datamine of a Steam update surfaced references to SteamGPT, a name that suggests Valve, the parent company of PC gaming juggernaut Steam, is experimenting with an internal AI. The files point to two practical uses: speeding up Steam support workflows and assisting Trust/anti‑cheat systems in titles like Counter‑Strike 2. With Steam serving tens of millions of daily users, even modest automation changes could shift how quickly issues are resolved and how cheating is detected.

Valve has not confirmed details, but the datamine gives a concrete window into what the company may be testing behind the scenes.

X user and reliable Steam info source @gabefollower (a nod to Valve creator Gabe Newell) has shared findings from a datamining effort pulled from a recent Steam update.

Inside are references to something called SteamGPT, which seems to be related to Steam support and Counter-Strike 2's anti-cheat.

SteamGPT, of course, is reminiscent of ChatGPT, the AI LLM and Microsoft partner that kicked off the AI wave in which we're currently living. Assuming that SteamGPT does indeed have something to do with AI, it appears Valve may begin implementing it to help process support requests.

Steam has something like 69 million daily active users, so you can imagine how much of a help AI could theoretically be. That's assuming it's A) capable and B) not used in a public-facing manner.

One of the things I appreciate most about Steam is its support system. I've only had positive experiences in my 25+ years as an account holder, and I know that many PC gamers will say the same thing. The only real drawback is that it can sometimes take awhile for your issue to get looked at.

Injecting AI into the process would likely speed up some support aspects, but it could also go horribly wrong. There's plenty of evidence showing that letting AI handle customer service would likely be a nightmare.

Also found in the data mining effort are ties to Valve's Trust system. This could indicate that Valve is preparing AI to help deal with cheaters in popular esports titles like Counter-Strike 2.

How exactly this plays out remains to be seen, and there's certainly an argument to be made for AI assistance as cheats become increasingly complex and hard to detect. This is, of course, all hearsay until Valve clarifies exactly what SteamGPT actually refers to.

Leave it up to Valve to use AI the right way

I know that a lot of PC gamers are resistant to AI, so it's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out if indeed Valve is using a custom model to help with support and anti-cheat methods.

No, I don't think you're going to be gaming Valve's AI through support channels to refund money on old games. And I don't think you're going to be able to convince AI that you weren't actually cheating and to reverse a VAC ban.

In my books, Valve is one of the PC gaming companies that (mostly) gets things right, and if it can inject AI to help keep players supported and honest without interfering with the overall feel of Steam, I'm definitely willing to give it a chance.

Do you agree with my take? Is SteamGPT an early look at a custom LLM working behind the scenes at Valve? Do you think it will be a net positive for the company, or will it result in overwhelming backlash? Let me know in the comments section!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, due to the state of the PC gaming hardware market, Intel has clarified that it doesn't have plans to retire production of its 13th and 14th Gen Core processors.

In an interview with Club386, Intel VP and GM of Intel's Enthusiast Channel, Robert Hallock, revealed that the company's Raptor Lake chips are "not going away any time soon," and that the aging hardware remains "a big part of our strategy."

These remarks were made in response to a question about Intel's DDR4 strategy. Unless you've been completely ignoring the price of PC hardware, you'll know that RAM prices have skyrocketed of late due to AI firms buying up the world's supply years in advance.

Although DDR5 prices have seen the most sensational rise, DDR4 prices aren't that far behind. The key here is that PC gamers hoping to upgrade their current system often try to reuse as many parts as possible.

Were you to buy one of Intel's latest Arrow Lake-S Core Ultra 200 series processors, including the impressive new 200S Plus chips we reviewed, you'd have to make the jump to DDR5 RAM. With Intel's Raptor Lake chips, that's not necessary; the 13th Gen and 14th Gen processors support both DDR4 and DDR5.

Hallock confirms that "Raptor Lake is a big part of [Intel's] strategy," and that "it's not going anywhere," especially with continued support from hardware vendors. He notes that hybrid DDR4/DDR5 LGA1700 motherboards entering the market recently add to the company's confidence surrounding the older processors.

When pressed about whether or not that means Raptor Lake chips will see an increase in production, Hallock noted that he can't comment on the subject.

Should you buy a 13th or 14th Gen Intel Raptor Lake CPU in 2026?

It's crazy that we're discussing something like this, but with RAM prices not expected to drop back to normal in 2026 (and maybe not in 2027, either), having any sort of gaming PC is better than having no gaming PC.

The big question is whether or not Intel's Raptor Lake chips are worth buying in 2026.

Intel's Raptor Lake chips were hit by a serious controversy surrounding instability, resulting in irreversible damage in 2024. However, Intel was able to identify the cause, and by all means, the problem seems to have been solved in chips produced after the fiasco.

How are prices looking? Something like the Core i7-14700KF we reviewed favorably currently sits at about $346.99 at Amazon. More popular amongst gamers is the Core i5-14600KF, which you can usually pick up for about $239.99 at Newegg.

Those prices aren't too bad, especially if you're already bringing your own DDR4 RAM and have an LGA 1700 motherboard to go with it (say from a 12th Gen Intel build).

Considering Intel's gaming performance hasn't changed all that much in its newer Arrow Lake desktop chips (aside from the 200S Plus bump), Raptor Lake is probably going to land high on your list, especially if you're on a tight budget.

What are your thoughts on Intel's dedication to keep Raptor Lake alive?

Is Intel's advertising of 13th and 14th Gen chips a way to get rid of leftover stock? How long do you think production will continue on these aging processors? Are you interested in an upgrade involving Raptor Lake? Let me know in the comments section below!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Although we might be beginning to see a peak in RAM prices due to a combination of AI memory efficiency advancements and bogus AI memory deals, prices for DDR5 still haven't returned to where they used to be.

That makes this deal I spotted at Woot! so attractive. Until midnight tonight, you can grab a 2x16GB kit of Corsair's Vengeance DDR5-6000MT/s RAM for $269.99 rather than the usual listed price of $399.99. That's a 30% discount, and the purchase is fulfilled by Amazon; Prime members get full benefits.

Corsair's Vengeance DDR5 is what I have in my high-end gaming PC

It's been a rough year for PC gamers hoping to upgrade their systems, but we're now possibly starting to see a bit of light in the future.

Whereas it's been cheap RAM that I wouldn't normally recommend on sale in recent months, the fact that Corsair's high-end Vengeance RAM is now enjoying such a steep discount bodes well for the future. This is the same memory I'm using in my gaming PC, and it's been nothing but great.

This is 32GB of DDR5-6000MT/s RAM split between two 16GB sticks, with CL36 latency and performance profiles optimized for AMD EXPO used in AMD-based systems.

The RAM doesn't have any additional RGB lighting (which I prefer), and its low-profile design means there's less chance it will interfere with other hardware in a compact build.

Each module is nevertheless covered in an aluminum heatspreader to better keep the chips cool under load.

The deal is only available at Woot! and it's only available for a limited time. It looks like the discounted $269.99 price will return to its normal $399.99 tonight at midnight, or when stock sells out, so don't wait too long if you're in need of some quality PC memory.

Since Woot! is owned by Amazon, the RAM actually ships with all Prime benefits, including free standard shipping.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

PC gaming in 2026 is increasingly becoming a matter of AI upscaling and frame generation. Assuming you're comfortable with that, good on you. You're going to have a great time with smooth frames and higher framerates than ever before.

If you're not on board with the "fake frames" movement largely spearheaded by NVIDIA, I have some bad news. The use of AI by cutting-edge graphics cards from NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel isn't going anywhere any time soon.

This has never been more evident than in the past day or two. NVIDIA launched the first portion of its DLSS 4.5 update earlier this year at CES 2026. A second-gen Transformer Super Resolution model was immediately available for NVIDIA's RTX cards, promising superior image quality thanks to significantly improved compute power.

The other portion of DLSS 4.5's feature update, Dynamic Multi Frame Generation with up to 6X Multi Frame Generation (MFG), finally launched in beta on March 31.

👉 NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, Intel XeSS, and Microsoft DirectSR explained

NVIDIA's frame multiplier was capped at 4X in DLSS 4, meaning that for each frame created "naturally" by the GPU, there were three other frames being pumped out using AI generation.

With 6X MFG, RTX 50-series graphics cards can now create five AI-generated frames for each natural frame generated in the "old-fashioned" method. In order to better balance display refresh rates and GPU output, NVIDIA's new Dynamic MFG can step in to automatically change the frame generation multiplier.

NVIDIA likens this process to a car's automatic transmission, and it's surprisingly apt. If your GPU is having a hard time matching your display's refresh rate, it raises the multiplier. If your GPU isn't struggling to hit a target framerate, it lowers the multiplier.

Early impressions of NVIDIA's Dynamic MFG 6X are very positive

All of those fake frames being generated by NVIDIA's RTX 50-series GPUs should surely come with some drawbacks, right? As it turns out, everyone who's tested the new DLSS 4.5 features basically has the same positive outlook, with perks heavily outweighing downsides.

Perhaps the biggest news is that NVIDIA managed to push MFG from 4X to 6X without really affecting input latency (the delay between inputs from your mouse or keyboard and the actions showing up on screen) in any serious way.

Our friends at Tom's Hardware tested MFG 6X with Cyberpunk 2077. Input latency without any MFG was at 35ms. At 2X MFG, it climbed to 46.6ms. It only rose to 53.2ms at 4X MFG, and it actually fell to 52.6ms at 6X MFG.

Meanwhile, average framerates rose from 60 FPS all the way to 247.7 FPS using the exact same hardware and in-game settings. All that for just 17.6ms of extra input latency. It's a compromise that I know many PC gamers will gladly make.

Colleagues at PC Gamer discovered largely the same results in their initial testing of Dynamic MFG and MFG 6X, remarking:

This is but a small sample of hands-on reporting, but the response is basically the same everywhere you look. DLSS 4.5's Dynamic MFG and MFG 6X are worthy additions to NVIDIA's RTX toolbox.

That's not to say there aren't some caveats. You still need to have a decent baseline framerate to allow MFG to do its AI-assisted thing, and competitive gamers will still look the other way as they attempt to lower input latency as much as possible.

As PC Gamer points out after its testing, MFG 6X and Dynamic MFG are tools best viewed as capable of pushing good performance into great performance, rather than pushing bad performance into acceptable performance.

The future of PC gaming is all AI all the time, whether you like it or not

There are plenty of arguments to be made against the use of AI in PC gaming. One I hear most often is that developers should be optimizing their games to allow for reliable performance on raw hardware rather than relying on upscaling and frame generation.

I don't disagree, especially in the name of PC gamers who aren't blowing thousands on the latest hardware. Unfortunately, I don't think the industry is going to change any time soon. The AI path will almost certainly be the one we follow for years to come.

PC graphics keep improving as the engines that games are built on evolve, and even the most powerful consumer card, the NVIDIA RTX 5090, has trouble hitting high framerates without some form of AI assistance when path tracing and 4K resolutions are involved.

Whereas GPU hardware clearly has limitations on what it can achieve, software leveraging AI seems limitless in its abilities. Would you rather spend far more on GPU hardware or take advantage of "free" AI tools that boost performance well beyond what's otherwise expected?

I'll bet that in 10 years, the use of AI in PC gaming won't be controversial at all. It will be the accepted norm. Every modern mainstream GPU company is currently chasing some sort of AI upscaling and frame generation, and I don't see those efforts going away.

There are certainly going to be some speed bumps along the way, as is the case with any emerging technology that we're not quite ready to admit is the future.

For example, the outcry against NVIDIA's DLSS 5 reveal from a couple of weeks ago was practically unanimous, causing NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang to backpedal a bit as it became clear that gamers aren't comfortable with a complete AI-generated reskin of their favorite games.

I'm certainly not on board with changing the entire look of the games I enjoy, although I also wasn't on board with MFG's initial 4X cap until I tested it myself in DOOM: The Dark Ages. It will be interesting to see how DLSS 5 is shaped by the PC gaming community and its strong opinions.

What do you think about the future of AI and PC gaming?

It might sound like I'm shilling for NVIDIA here, but trust me; I'm not. It's just hard to imagine a future of PC gaming, if we follow the current trajectory, that doesn't involve heavy use of AI to improve performance.

Do you agree that AI upscaling will no longer be a controversial topic in the future? Or could there be enough backlash that the entire momentum of the PC gaming industry changes course?

Will it be a hardware innovation that lets us go back to "real" frames? Let me know in the comments section below!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

While I've been busy in recent months attempting to offer useful hardware buying advice as RAM, storage, and GPU prices surge, it seems that enthusiast PC gamers haven't bothered to rein in their spending.

In a recent report from Jon Peddie Research (JPR) focusing on the second half of 2025 (via PCGamer), it was revealed that spending on PC gaming hardware "continues to surge." The report includes not just pre-built, laptop, and DIY gaming PCs, but also upgrade components and accessories.

The PC gaming market, already in the tens of billions of dollars, is only expected to grow. In fact, JPR's analysis estimates a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.67% for PC gaming hardware spending between 2026 and 2028. JPR projects that the market will settle around $52 billion at that time.

Here's the catch. The high-end PC hardware market is the main driver keeping the industry afloat, as it's "well over twice the size of entry-level and midrange combined," according to JPR.

JPR bases its thesis on the assumption that "the vast majority of high-end systems are purchased specifically for gaming," and it makes its calculations "based on purchase intent" to better analyze how much money is spent versus how many units are sold.

I can see how this methodology might come under fire, but the news that the high-end PC market is eclipsing the mid- and low-tier sectors isn't the most interesting point of the report.

Are ARM-powered PCs the savior of the low-end gaming market?

According to JPR, "Arm-based notebooks and desktops within the entry-level gaming category have experienced explosive growth," with a projected 31% CAGR for notebooks and a 49% CAGR for desktops in the period between 2024 and 2028.

By 2028, it's projected that the ARM-based PC market will account for roughly $1.5 billion. As JPR President Jon Peddie remarks, "The unit counts are high, the gaming purchase intent modifier is low for now, but this could be a blue-sky segment and opportunity."

JPR admits that the majority of ARM-powered PCs are currently being gobbled up to handle basic computing tasks rather than gaming, but the fact that they are being purchased so readily bodes well for a future where ARM is capable of delivering a proper gaming experience.

As it stands now, ARM-powered PCs using Qualcomm chips are, at most, suitable for a light gaming experience or for streaming with a cloud service. But that is most likely to change whenever NVIDIA gets around to officially unveiling its N1X System-on-Chip (SoC), which has been rumored since at least 2023 and could deliver performance approaching an RTX 5070.

👉 Lenovo just leaked NVIDIA’s mystery “N1X” chip — and it lines up with the rumored 20‑core Arm + RTX GPU monster

On Microsoft's side, it rolled out an update to its Xbox PC app in January, giving it support on Windows on ARM, at the same time stating that some 85% of Game Pass titles are supported via the Prism emulation layer.

What are your thoughts on the prospects of Windows on ARM saving the budget gaming market?

Are ARM-powered PCs the answer to lagging entry-level PC gaming sales? Will it be NVIDIA or Qualcomm that has the most to gain from this hypothetical scenario? Are you already using your Windows on ARM PC to game? Let me know in the comments section below!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

AMD has officially revealed its new Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition desktop processor, and you'll be able to get your hands on it on April 22.

This is AMD's (and indeed the world's) first desktop processor where both chiplets are equipped with the proprietary 3D V-Cache technology that is so coveted by PC gamers. With 104MB of cache underlying each chiplet, it offers a whopping 208MB total on-chip cache.

What does that mean for you? Well, with more cache, the CPU has more space to store the data it needs to perform as efficiently as possible. As AMD's Senior VP and GM of Computing and Graphics, Jack Huynh, explains in the announcement video, "208MB of cache means more game data, more assets, and more working data sitting right next to the CPU cores."

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition remains a 16-core processor based on the Zen 5 architecture and using the AM5 socket, just like its Ryzen 9 9950X3D sibling that we reviewed favorably here at Windows Central. However, it has jumped up to a 200W TDP compared to the 170W TDP of its sibling.

I don't doubt that this CPU is going to be a monster chip for PC gaming, but AMD isn't hiding the fact that it's also exceptional for demanding workloads that require speedy data access.

AMD claims that compared to the 9950X3D, the 9950X3D2 Dual Edition can deliver between 5% and 10% better performance in creative workloads like DaVinci Resolve, Blender, Unreal Engine, and Chromium.

While the original Ryzen 9 9950X3D was undoubtedly a capable CPU for gaming and for creative workloads, AMD is positioning the 9950X3D2 Dual Edition as the new ultimate choice.

There's not yet any word on the new Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition's pricing, but the standard Ryzen 9 9950X3D currently sits at around $675.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Razer's Blade 16 is a gaming laptop often considered to sit at the pinnacle of premium features and design, and it's just been refreshed for 2026.

The big news? Razer has made the change from AMD Ryzen AI HX to Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors, bringing super-fast RAM, superior connectivity, and a brighter OLED display in tow. Razer also says the new Blade 16 is significantly more efficient when not gaming compared to the previous generation, with up to 13 hours of battery life for productivity.

The CPU used in all Blade 16 (2026) models is now the Intel Core Ultra 9 386H with 16 cores and a 4.9GHz boost clock speed, which is four more cores than the Ryzen chip used in 2025's model. That boost should show up in both gaming and heavy workloads, plus it has an NPU with 50 TOPS of power for Copilot+ AI tools in Windows 11.

The use of Intel's latest "Panther Lake" chips unlocks faster LPDDR5x-9600MT/s RAM (compared to 8000MT/s RAM in the 2025 model), of which you can configure up to 64GB.

NVIDIA's RTX 50-series mobile GPUs are still the big attraction here for gamers, and Razer lists the RTX 5070 Ti as a starting point with options for the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090.

If you're eager to get your hands on the new gaming laptop, I have some good news. The Blade 16 (2026) is available to buy now directly from Razer.com starting at $3,499.99.

The Blade 16's OLED display gets brighter, connectivity levels up

The switch back to Team Blue processors in the Blade 16 after the previous model's use of an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is a testament to the efficiency and performance improvements Intel achieved with its Panther Lake generation.

This change has also unlocked Thunderbolt connectivity. The Blade 16 sports one Thunderbolt 5 and one Thunderbolt 4 port for the best connectivity possible, especially if you're a fan of the best docking stations.

👉 I tested Razer's new Thunderbolt 5 Dock Chroma — I can no longer live without this extremely convenient feature

The Blade 16 (2026) otherwise offers HDMI 2.1, three USB-A 3.2 (Gen 2), a UHS-II SD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio combo jack for your headset. It's a solid mix of ports that I'm sure will appeal to gamers and creators alike. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 are also as cutting-edge as can be for wireless connectivity.

One last change worth mentioning is a boost to the 16-inch OLED display's brightness. It now hits 1,100 nits in HDR mode, enough to land VESA DisplayHDR TrueBlack 1000 certification. It still has a 2560x1600 (QHD+) resolution with a 240Hz refresh rate and 0.2ms response time, as well as NVIDIA G-Sync and perfect P3 color reproduction.

The Blade 16 for 2026 is still one of the thinnest gaming laptops the company has ever produced at just 14.9mm (0.59 inches) thin, a feat that's achieved by using a CNC-milled aluminum body.

This redesign is one we first saw when we reviewed the 2025 Razer Blade 16, when we called it "a fantastic redesign, once again establishing the Blade 16 as the ultimate luxury gaming laptop."

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

The PC hardware you and I use today for work and for gaming had to start somewhere, and that somewhere often involves a concept or pioneering device that changed our expectations (and the overall market) for the better.

Lenovo's Legion Go Fold, unveiled earlier this week at MWC 2026, is one of the company's most ambitious concept devices. That's saying a lot for Lenovo, which historically hasn't been afraid to take chances and has produced some truly remarkable PC hardware.

It got me thinking: how many separate, older devices actually went into the Legion Go Fold's engineering choices? From the folding display to the removable gamepads to the detachable keyboard and stand, I went down a rabbit hole of PC and PC gaming concepts and found some remarkable products from days gone by.

1. Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Fold introduces folding screens to laptops

Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Fold was first introduced commercially in 2020, but it went through several iterations behind the scenes before it hit the market. The X1 Fold is the first device I thought of when I saw the new Legion Go Fold.

No, the 2020 and 2022 Gen 2 models are not technically concepts in the sense that they were never launched commercially (they were), but they certainly showed other brands that a folding screen was possible.

HP's Spectre Foldable 17 followed the X1 Fold with a 2023 launch, adding a larger OLED screen and a more stylized, premium design synonymous with the (now retired) Spectre brand.

Going back a lot further in time, I came across devices like the Polymer Vision Readius, which featured a 5-inch rollable e-ink display. It was introduced at MWC 2008.

Also in 2008 came the Nokia Morph, a concept "phone" with a soft display that allowed the device to change into a tablet and a bracelet. It's butt-ugly and never made it into production.

Samsung is the company that really began pushing the idea of foldable OLED displays in 2013, which of course has now evolved into the handful of folding phones on the market today.

2. Razer's Project Fiona lays the groundwork for modern PC gaming handhelds

Gaming handhelds have a long history, running all the way back to the '70s with countless devices throughout the years. But PC gaming handhelds have a more recent origin story.

Sure, devices like the OQO Model 01 from 2004, the Sony Vaio UX from 2006, and Microsoft's Project Origami from the same year were some of the original handhelds that shipped with Windows, but they weren't cut out for gaming.

The Linux-powered Pandora was fairly popular amongst mobile gamers for a few years after it launched in 2010, but it was Razer's Project Fiona concept that really showed us the future of PC gaming handhelds with controllers flanking a large screen.

It launched in 2013 under the "Razer Edge" name, not to be confused with the more modern resurrection. Featuring up to an Intel Core i7 CPU, NVIDIA GT640M LE GPU, 8GB of DD3 RAM, and running Windows 8, it made its debut at $999.

The 2016 GPD Win made a splash with its Nintendo 3DS folding design. Speaking of Nintendo, we got the original Switch in 2017, which added removable wireless controllers, something Lenovo later used in its Legion Go and now the Legion Go Fold.

Alienware's Concept UFO, unveiled at CES 2020, never became anything official despite it being the first look at what I'd consider modern PC gaming handheld design. It was Valve with its SteamOS-powered Steam Deck in 2022 that created a wave of PC handheld gamers unlike anything seen before.

3. Microsoft's Surface lineup shapes the 2-in-1 PC landscape

Lenovo's Legion Go Fold can also be used as a 2-in-1 laptop with a detachable keyboard and folding stand, just like the Surface Pro. For our regular readers here at Windows Central, I'm sure Surface needs no introduction.

For everyone else, Microsoft debuted the Surface RT in 2012 and followed it up with the first Surface Pro in 2013. The latter device proved to be a lot more popular, and it spawned generations of Surface Pro all the way up to the latest Surface Pro 11.

The vast majority of competing 2-in-1 PCs all use the Surface Pro design that Microsoft perfected.

Going back a whole lot further in time, I'm fairly certain that the Compaq Concerto was technically the first detachable laptop with a screen that supported a rudimentary form of inking. It launched in 1993 and shipped with MS-DOS 6.2.

The Concerto was notably included as a prop in the 1995 movie Die Hard: With a Vengeance; it was used by the protagonist, Simon Gruber, to build a bomb.

How many PC concept devices did I miss? I want to hear from you!

My deep dive into PC concepts and pioneering devices that contributed to the 2026 Legion Go Fold is no doubt missing some hardware, and I'd love for you to help me fill in the gaps.

What is your favorite concept device of all time? How long ago did you first get your hands on one? What was it? Let me know in the comments section!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft and NVIDIA have together turned me into someone I no longer recognize. Months of chaotic Windows 11 patches and NVIDIA GPU driver issues have resulted in me disabling automatic updates and ignoring new patches on my gaming PC.

I know, I know; it's not exactly a controversial take. Despite some security concerns, many PC users do the same, and have done so for a very long time. Why fix something that isn't broken?

What's really getting under my skin lately is the fact that the companies that are supposed to be improving the products they sold me are consistently introducing problems that get in the way of a smooth experience.

I'm talking about two of the most valuable companies in the world: Microsoft and NVIDIA. I should be able to leave automatic updates enabled and not worry about what they're going to do to my PC.

Why has the quality of Windows and NVIDIA updates declined so rapidly?

Is the decline in update quality due to AI taking over coding duties? No idea, but Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has boasted that up to 30% of Microsoft code is written by AI. Is it because NVIDIA's RTX drivers have become way more complicated with all of the new features? I honestly can't say.

What I do know is that trust in these companies to deliver a stable update is eroding quickly. In the past year or so, Windows 11 has received several broken updates that required an emergency patch.

Most recently on the Windows frontier, there was Windows 11's KB5077181 February update that caused installation failures and several other issues, including those related to NVIDIA GPUs. In January, Windows 11 update KB5078127 was introduced in an emergency out-of-band capacity to address issues with cloud services. I could go on.

On NVIDIA's side, GeForce driver 595.71, released just a couple of days ago, introduced GPU overclocking issues. Right before that, GeForce driver 595.59 broke hardware monitoring, which resulted in GPU fans not spinning properly. Again, I could go on.

How am I handling Windows and NVIDIA updates on my gaming PC?

In my case, NVIDIA driver updates were the first to be disabled on my gaming PC. Sure, I might miss out on some launch drivers for specific games, but I can handle those on a per-game basis. I don't play that many games right when they launch, anyway.

For Windows 11, I've kept updates enabled, but they're on a two-week delay so that I can ensure there's not going to be any unforeseen problems right after they go out.

Until Microsoft and NVIDIA can once again prove that the updates they're pushing out can be trusted, I'll be keeping new versions at arm's length from my gaming PC.

How are you handling updates on your gaming PC?

I know my move to stop allowing automatic updates on my gaming PC isn't exactly controversial. I know a lot of gamers do the same already; please speak up if that's you.

Are you also frustrated that it's basically the only option now that upgrade quality has declined so much? Do you disagree with my take? Please let me know in the comments section!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Old tech has a way of sending me back to a nostalgic past, and that's exactly what happened this week when I came across what some are calling "The Master Laptop" that's straight out of 2006.

I was first (re)introduced to this gargantuan "mobile" gaming PC in a stylized video posted on the PCMasterRace subreddit by X user @PcPhilanthropy, which shoots a closeup of the laptop as it spins on a platter. Revealed is a monstrously thick 17-inch frame that is a great reminder of how far gaming laptops have come in recent years.

A collection of ancient ports on the back end, including VGA, DVI Video, Parallel, and PS/2, gives way to a USB-A bank, a couple of Firewire ports, a row of 3.5mm audio connections, S-Video, and several readers for removable storage and PCMCIA.

It's all quite functional, and the laptop really starts to display its finesse when we get to the front edge. There we see some oversized grilles that cover four user-facing speakers, divided by a glossy panel with four dedicated media control buttons and a digital display panel. From the front, it reminds me of some fancier modern Bluetooth speakers.

Turning to the right side of the laptop, this is where things really start to get good. Remember disc drives? Yeah, me too. This thing has two of them, one stacked above the other. If I had this laptop, you know I'd be popping in my Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds discs.

Is "The Master Laptop" a real PC?

The stylized presentation of the video had me thinking it was AI-generated for a few moments, but this is indeed a real PC in a real shoot.

It seems that it's a Clevo 900T, a model that was popular in the early '00s. Founded in 1983, Clevo remains today a huge supplier of reference designs to laptop brands, which buy the chassis and put their own spin on it.

Alienware is one notable brand that took Clevo's design and jazzed it up with its own logos and stylings. IGN has a 20-year-old Alienware M7700 review still available to read if you'd like more info.

Several other companies, including Sager, made use of Clevo's 17-inch design to produce gaming laptops that sound more like a jet engine taking off than a few small fans. Sager's website includes a user's manual with a deep dive on how it works.

I spent some time digging around for more info about the PC, and I came across this video from the YouTube channel "J-Tech Workshop" that provides a full teardown. It's well worth a watch if you're interested in this sort of thing.

What sort of performance hardware comes in this massive gaming laptop?

It's always amusing to see how older PC gamers like me react to huge laptops jammed full of ports and hardware. One user in the PCMasterRace subreddit posted a picture of their D900K, an AMD-powered version of the D900T.

Inside, it's explained, is an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ CPU, two sticks of 1GB DDR-400 RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX GPU with 512MB VRAM. That's some righteous mobile hardware for 2006.

Comment from r/pcmasterrace

Should we go back to gaming laptops like this?

Are you old wise enough to remember when powerful gaming laptops looked like this blast from the past? Do you yearn for dual disc drives and more ports than you could ever use at once? Please let me know in the comments section!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

The PCBuild subreddit has long been a place where particularly capable hobbyists are happy to show off their skills, and one of the latest additions to the community is getting a ton of attention.

I don't know how common cast-iron radiators are in the rest of the world, but in Canada, they're still found in plenty of old homes, dutifully heating rooms in the cold months. They're designed to expel heat in the most efficient manner possible using an array of fins, similar to how many PC cooling components operate.

Well, what happens if you not only use a Victorian-era cast-iron radiator to cool your PC, but instead build the entire PC right into the radiator? That's exactly what YouTuber and Reddit user Billet_Labs has accomplished here with an incredible custom gaming PC that looks like it's straight out of an alternate steampunk reality.

The user says the cast-iron build includes an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, an NVIDIA RTX 5080 graphics card, and 32GB of RAM. It quickly becomes clear after getting a look at the bottom of the PC that the entire thing is custom. Custom motherboard, custom brass and copper water pipes, a custom pump for the cooling loop, custom gauges, and more. You get the idea.

On the side, the I/O is clearly visible, with the GPU's ports on the left side, the main motherboard ports in the middle, and a power plug on the end.

Cast-iron radiator water-cooled gaming PC build 9800X3D/5080/32GB - 99kg from r/PcBuild

I don't care if you're not big into PC building; this thing is an absolute work of art. Billet_Labs began by 3D printing a chassis to attach to the bottom of the radiator, which allowed them to install three fans, a motherboard, a PSU, and a GPU in the tiny space.

It was then time to build a custom cooling loop, which seems to have taken the most time. I can't imagine the work that went into this one step. Altogether, Billet Labs says this PC build took three months to complete, "mostly full time," with filming involved. I urge you to check out the hour-long video on the Billet Labs YouTube channel.

So, the PC looks great, but how does it perform? Billet Labs provides a chart with thermal information, and it appears to do a stellar job of keeping the components cool under load.

I'm certainly not the only one impressed with this custom PC build. Reddit comments are overwhelmingly positive, with most users expressing their appreciation of the build's complexity. It's the same story over on the Billet Labs YouTube channel, where the video has already picked up nearly 100,000 views in just a couple of days.

🗨️ How much do you love this custom PC?

What do you think about this custom cast-iron PC? Have you ever built a gaming PC into something completely irrational? Was it a success? Let me know in the comments section!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

As I've made it known many times in the past, a big part of the reason why I've stuck with Windows for decades is due to its flexibility. It's the OS that can do practically anything you ask it, for better or worse. You can be a computing genius or a computing bozo and still get something meaningful out of the platform.

Windows was created all those years ago with workflows in mind, but a gargantuan gaming ecosystem has grown up around it over time. That wasn't because Windows was designed for gaming; Windows was simply the platform versatile enough to do so.

Microsoft, for all its faults, understands that Windows needs to evolve to keep up with the modern gaming landscape. And while the company has lately made some big advances centered around gaming, including handheld support, Windows on Arm compatibility improvements, DirectX enhancements, and unification efforts across PC and Xbox, there's still a lot of work to do.

If Microsoft truly wants to retain its dominance in the PC gaming world as competition like SteamOS heats up, I don't think it's a reach to imagine a version of Windows that is a bona fide gaming platform. Here's what I think that future might look like.

The current state of Windows and its gaming foundation

To say Windows doesn't already have a stable stack of gaming foundation would be disingenuous. Features like DirectX, Auto HDR, DirectStorage (although not as widespread as I'd like it to be), and Game Mode are all features that we as PC gamers kind of take for granted, but they're improving all the time.

Take DirectX 12, Microsoft's suite of APIs that translate communication between games and the hardware they run on, as an example. Microsoft unveiled a new tool called Advanced Shader Delivery in 2025, which speeds up load times and solves stuttering when a game first launches.

Elsewhere, Microsoft began paying closer attention to the gaming experience with Windows on ARM in 2025, expanding its Prism emulation layer to support more games that don't run natively on ARM hardware. In the same vein, work is being done to support anti-cheat measures used by some of the most popular competitive games.

👉 I made 21 tweaks in Windows 11 to increase gaming performance — and they worked

Building on its strong foundation, Microsoft launched the Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE) in 2025, with a redesigned UX focused on gaming. And though it originally launched for handhelds, it's now available to test out on a full PC.

Like it or not, I can't leave out AI integration with the OS. Based on what I've personally experienced with NVIDIA's DLSS 4.5 and tools like multi frame generation (MFG), AI will play a major role in the future of PC gaming. Windows already has an Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR) feature available in Copilot+ PCs, and it's the only system-level technique on the market.

What a gaming-focused Windows might look like in 2031

It's impossible to know exactly what Windows will look like in five years, but based on current trends — like Microsoft's plans to make its next Xbox a true gaming PC — I can make some predictions.

I'm imagining two possible outcomes. The first, which is less likely, is that Microsoft creates a separate Windows version designed primarily for gaming. No enterprise or legacy services, way less telemetry running in the background, and no unnecessary software.

It's not hard to imagine the Xbox FSE being the first thing you see when you boot up, with a reliance on controller-first input, seamless integrations for platforms like Steam and Xbox, game saves and game states that sync across your devices, and universal anti-cheat tools that are built into the core of the OS rather than relying on third-party tools.

This sort of "Windows Gaming Edition" would benefit PCs, gaming handhelds, and whatever the next Xbox turns out to be. It would make Game Pass more enticing (subscriptions are only becoming more common), it would directly compete with SteamOS in the handheld and living room markets, and it could also make it easier to develop games.

The second, more likely, future is one where Microsoft continues to evolve Windows into a hybrid OS. This becomes even more likely when I'm reminded that Microsoft is still rumored to be working on its CorePC initiative, designed to completely overhaul the Windows architecture to make it a lot more modular.

This future would see a full Gaming Mode within the standard Windows, giving users the ability to switch over to a runtime made specifically for gaming. Much like the current Game Mode does now, it would suspend unnecessary background services, set up CPU and GPU scheduling to prioritize games, cut out input latency, and use AI to manage power and integration with third-party GPU tools.

Xbox's FSE also plays a major role in this hybrid future. After all, what better way to introduce a gaming mode than a shell with a slick UX that cuts out all of the non-gaming-related stuff in Windows? AI will undoubtedly play a big role here, too, tying everything together based on exactly how you like to game.

As my colleague Jez Corden points out, one of the biggest concerns surrounding the next Xbox running full Windows is what impact botched updates will have on the experience. The latest Windows updates have been anything but stellar, and creating separate codebases would likely complicate things further. In this regard, a hybrid approach makes more sense.

Windows will have to try hard to fail at being the best place for PC gaming

Microsoft's momentum is carrying it toward a future where Windows isn't just the platform that's best for gaming, but rather the platform that's made for gaming.

It has a sturdy foundation, and as long as it doesn't completely lose the plot, I don't see a landscape where Windows isn't still, by far, the most commonly used OS among gamers.

It's always fun to try and predict the future, and I want to know what you think a gaming-focused Windows might look like in five years time. Let me know in the comments section!

Sleeper builds are PCs hidden inside unassuming or unexpected chassis. We have seen computers built into desks, microwaves, and even other appliances.

Now, one madman, or rather genius, @PhasedTech on YouTube, has built an entire gaming PC with a working disc drive inside an Xbox One S.

And surprisingly, it is a fairly capable machine.

The build keeps the original console aesthetic intact while packing in proper desktop components, which is what makes it so impressive. It is not just a novelty shell swap; it is a fully functioning Windows gaming PC inside a console-sized footprint.

Seeing projects like this inevitably raises a bigger question. If an individual creator can cram this much hardware into an Xbox One S, imagine what Xbox itself could do with a next-generation Xbox Windows PC, or whatever it ultimately ends up being called.

Inside the Xbox One S turned gaming PC

It is genuinely a feat I never expected to see. Fitting an RTX 3050, a 250W PSU, a disc drive, 16GB of RAM, and a Ryzen 5 3600 inside the shell of an Xbox One S is no small task.

On paper, that setup should deliver roughly three to four times the graphical performance of the original Xbox One S hardware.

It is well worth watching the full video and subscribing to @PhasedTech, who has only been creating content for a short time, but has already tackled similarly ambitious small form factor builds.

For this project, he fully kitted out the Xbox One S by shaving down parts of the internal shell and 3D printing custom brackets. All of it was done while keeping the original eject and power buttons fully functional, which makes the end result feel very authentic.

According to PhasedTech, games like Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant can reach around 200 FPS at 1080p using medium settings, making it pretty much as powerful as my measly GTX 1080, in a build far more discreet.

Temperatures can climb as high as 80°C under load, which is reasonable given the tight internal space.

He also suggests the system could work well as a Steam Deck-style living room PC, or even double up as a fully functional DVD player, thanks to the working optical drive.

Would you use an Xbox One S like this as your living room gaming PC, or do you prefer a traditional console setup? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and make sure to take part in our poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

It's a bad time to be a PC hobbyist. Hardware prices, especially memory and storage, have spiked in recent months due to AI demand, and the fallout is extending to a lot of other PC components. This is forcing hobbyists to get extra crafty when it comes to sourcing new hardware.

I don't think I've ever visited an e-waste recycling center and NOT come away shocked at what's being tossed out, and despite the current squeeze on hardware, I don't suspect it's getting much better. Such is the case for one Reddit user who came away with a "major score at the dump" this past weekend.

On their regular trip to the town's landfill to check for older components, they stumbled on a goldmine. Not only did they save a five-bay Drobo NAS, a Samsung monitor, a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU with cooler, an ASUS motherboard, and "a few other odds and ends" from annihilation, but they also scored two 32GB DDR4 RAM modules.

Who is throwing out 64GB of Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 RAM in this economy?! A quick check of Newegg this morning shows a used 2x32GB kit of the same Corsair DDR4 RAM retailing for $500. The Reddit user shared an image showing the RAM lit up and (assumedly) running fine in a test PC.

Major score at the dump today!!! from r/pcmasterrace

For some additional background info, the Reddit user says they live in a town of about 8,000 people. The local landfill includes an e-waste recycling container, and the components they salvaged were just sitting out in the open.

Most recycling depots in larger urban regions won't allow similar scavenging, for better or for worse. It's a shame considering how much perfectly usable hardware is thrown away on a daily basis, but then again, landfills and recycling depots don't need a horde of PC enthusiasts descending on their operations in the hopes of scoring some cheap free parts.

It's estimated by some experts that less than a quarter of all e-waste is properly recycled (as of 2022), which leaves billions of dollars of hardware and precious minerals just sitting around. At the world's current pace, e-waste is growing by about 2.6 million tons per year, and is expected to hit 82 million tons by 2030.

Whether or not the ongoing "RAMageddon" and its fallout significantly influence these stats remains to be seen, but I can certainly see a future where a lot of old hardware that would normally be destined for a landfill gets upcycled into new PCs and projects. At least, one can hope.

What's the best score you've ever found at a recycling center or landfill? Let me know in the comments section!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

If you were a part of the '90s PC gamer craze, whether as an adult or as a kid (like me), there's a very good chance you'll recognize this new custom PC throwback from Maingear.

The Maingear Retro98 is a limited-edition offering that takes me way back to wooden desks with rolltop covers, CRT monitors, mechanical keyboards, and loud 56K modems. It makes me think of Age of Empires, StarCraft, and Diablo. As Maingear explains, it's a PC "inspired by the rigs that sparked our obsession with gaming." Spot on.

The new Retro98 is built into a case made to look almost exactly like the legendary SilverStone FLP02 — you know, the beige tower with stacked 5.25" floppy bays, red power switch, dedicated turbo button, green digital display, and a key lock for old-school power and reset security. Who didn't know someone with this exact PC in the '90s?

The Retro98, of course, isn't packing a 3DFX accelerator. Starting at $2,499 on the Maingear website, you can get your hands on an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K CPU, NVIDIA RTX 5070 GPU, 32GB of Kingston FURY Beast DDR5-6000 RAM, and a 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. You can configure up to an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU with an NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU if you have the need and the funds.

Across the "standard" Retro98 models, the CPU is cooled by Maingear's EPIC 360mm AiO, and it's powered by an MSI G — up to 1250W — PSU. But there's also an "Alpha" overkill model with a Ryzen 9 9950X3D, RTX 5090, and custom Alphacool open GPU/CPU loop with dual radiators. It costs a whopping $9,799, reserving it for '90s nerds who made a lot more money than me.

Inside, you'll find ample space for airflow and expansions (the floppy drive stack is just for show), with the Alpha version sporting ketchup-and-mustard colored cabling and anti-kink coils on the tubing. It's all put together by hand, and I don't expect its build quality to be any different than the Maingear PCs I've personally tested and reviewed.

As with Maingear's previous throwback release, the Retro95, the Retro 98 is available only in a very limited release. The company is only making 32 of the standard units and 5 of the Alpha model, and it doesn't plan to do any reruns.

Whether you want to buy one of the limited PCs or just want to drool over some powerful nostalgia, you can check it out now at Maingear's website.

Does Maingear's Retro98 look familiar? What were your first experiences with PC gaming? Let me know in the comments section!

The main reason why I won't ever give up Windows 11 is its ability to do it all. Sure, there are some limits, but 99% of the time, whether I'm working, creating, handling life, or gaming, it performs what I ask it to do without hesitation.

This jack-of-all-trades approach built on decades of development does have its downsides. Such is the case for PC gaming, which is becoming ever more apparent as the Linux-based SteamOS and its straightforward approach gain traction.

SteamOS, which originally made its debut in 2013 alongside the original (and ill-fated) Steam Machine, was thrust back into the spotlight when Valve announced the Steam Deck in 2021. Fast forward a few years, and we're now on the cusp of the console-adjacent Steam Machine's launch in early 2026. It, too, will run SteamOS.

Let me be clear: SteamOS has no chance of dethroning Windows 11 as the most popular OS around. However, SteamOS is picking up a considerable amount of momentum as users discover its smooth operation and console-like UI.

Steam users running Linux climbed to 3.58% in December 2025, a rise of 0.38% compared to the previous month. In that same time frame, Windows users dropped by 0.56% to fall to 94.23% overall.

I don't see SteamOS adoption hitting a plateau anytime soon, and, if anything, I expect to see it continue to eat into the Windows 11 userbase. Here are four reasons why.

1) OEMs are showing interest in SteamOS

It's important to note that SteamOS doesn't account for the entire Linux userbase on Steam. Linux is a fragmented ecosystem, with plenty of distros making up the total. Even so, SteamOS could be headed towards a future where it's the standard for gamers, especially if its upcoming Steam Machine proves to be a success.

Apart from Valve's own hardware being a success, the best thing for SteamOS is adoption outside of Valve's ecosystem. Indeed, we've now arrived at that point. Lenovo already has a Legion Go S handheld with SteamOS, and it announced a variant of its Legion Go 2 gaming handheld with SteamOS expected to launch in June 2026.

OEMs jumping on board with SteamOS will only help the platform grow while also reducing the number of potential Windows users.

2) Performance and efficiency are superior on SteamOS

It's no secret that Windows is bloated, and that's the antithesis of what you want to hear about a gaming system when performance is crucial. Whether it's background processes, bundled services, telemetry, or ads, chances are good that frames are being left behind when gaming on Windows 11.

Making the switch to SteamOS on identical hardware, it quickly becomes clear that having way less system overhead running in the background does equate to superior battery life and performance, not to mention reliable suspend and resume functions.

Anti-cheat compatibility and full AAA adoption are two of the final barriers stopping a lot of gamers from making the switch from Windows to SteamOS, but I can't see them remaining unresolved forever. That's more bad news for Windows.

3) People are simply fed up with Windows and want something new

Whether you agree that community sentiment matches the actual state of Windows is another argument entirely, but we can agree that the vibes around Microsoft and Windows 11 are way off.

Windows Central Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino suggests that the current Microsoft sentiment revolves around a lack of trust, but you can also point to plenty of other issues — like forced AI integrations or botched updates — as causes.

To put it bluntly, a lot of PC gamers are looking for an alternative, and SteamOS is shaping up to be a prime candidate. Once it launches an official desktop version, it will shine even brighter.

Microsoft isn't blind to the fact that it needs to improve the gaming experience on Windows 11. In late 2025, it posted a lengthy update to its Windows Experience blog detailing all of the gaming improvements it had recently shipped, as well as a look at what's coming in 2026.

It's an impressive list, and it goes to show that there's a lot of good stuff — including the Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE) — going on behind the scenes despite recent negative Windows news.

4) Steam is a juggernaut in the PC gaming world

I've been a Steam user for more than 20 years, and it feels weird to say that I've never had a major issue with the platform. It makes it easy to buy games, it makes it easy to find content for said games, and it makes it easy to play with friends.

It's one of the most recognizable names in gaming, and it has built a strong reputation and a ton of goodwill with a lot of people. With around 35 to 40 million users online at any given time, Steam has an incredible opportunity to spread the word of SteamOS and drive further adoption.

Don't worry. Windows isn't going anywhere.

Windows 11 isn't at risk of being dethroned anytime soon, even in gaming markets. SteamOS is outstanding software, but it's designed for one primary purpose: gaming.

Beyond that, you're back to using a desktop environment based on Arch Linux, which has its own share of drawbacks. Windows remains the most popular OS because it can do 99.9% of tasks without much fuss.

If anything, I see the threat of SteamOS forcing Microsoft to pay more attention to gaming, which already seems to be happening. That's a net win for all of us.

Do you agree with my thoughts on why Linux and SteamOS continue to eat into the Windows 11 userbase? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments section!

As part of AMD's CES 2026 presentation, a new Ryzen 7 9850X3D processor was revealed. Just a couple of weeks after its initial unveiling, AMD has shared pricing and launch date info.

The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is officially expected to launch at $499, and you'll be able to buy it starting on January 29. It's well worth noting that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is still widely available at $469 and is extremely popular.

I'm expecting there to be quite a bit of noise surrounding the new chip's launch, and not just because 42% of polled Windows Central readers said — at the time of the initial CES unveiling, when pricing wasn't yet known — they're interested enough in the new chip to buy it instead of the 9800X3D.

The 9850X3D looks a lot like the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. The new CPU is thus being likened by some to a "binned" 9800X3D, which essentially means that it's the older chip with slightly superior tuning.

It's hard to argue with that sentiment when the specs are so similar. Like the 9800X3D, the 9850X3D has eight Zen 5 cores, 16 threads, a 104MB cache, and a 120W TDP. The only major difference is a buff to the chip's boost clock from 5.2GHz to 5.6GHz, which allows AMD to call it the new fastest gaming CPU on the market.

According to AMD's own performance charts, the 9850X3D will push average performance to 27% above the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K when playing at 1080p. The older 9800X3D in the same scenario hits a 24% average, a difference of only 3%. It will be very interesting to see how actual performance differs once reviewers get their hands on the product.

The new 9850X3D arrives using the same AM5 socket as the 9800X3D, making it easy to upgrade. However, the mild performance increase suggests AMD isn't targeting users who already have a 9800X3D.

Regardless, I'm curious to see how the 9850X3D affects the 9800X3D's future. A price difference of $31 isn't a lot, especially if the real-world performance gap proves to be wider than expected.

AMD extends an olive branch for those struggling to find affordable RAM

Part of the magic of AMD's second-gen 3D V-Cache setup — the engineering that delivers such a huge boost when gaming — is that it relies less on high-performance RAM to deliver high frame rates.

AMD reminds us in its press release that the performance difference between DDR5-4800 RAM and DDR5-6000 RAM is less than 1%, tested in more than 30 games. With high-end DDR5 RAM now costing more than most of us are willing to pay, it's just another reason why the 9850X3D (and its other modern X3D siblings) are generally so coveted by enthusiasts.

Assuming we can get our hands on the 9850X3D when it launches, we'll be sure to compare its direct gaming performance with the 9800X3D. I wouldn't mind poking around with the RAM speed claims, either.

Are you happy with the $499 price AMD has set for the Ryzen 7 9850X3D? Let us know in the comments below!

PC building has been all but ruined by sky-high memory and storage prices, but there are still some bundled gems to be had that won't break the bank.

The latest I've spotted includes an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, an ASUS TUF Gaming X870-Plus Wifi motherboard, and 32GB (2x16GB) of Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5-6000 RAM.

If you were to buy these parts separately, you'd realistically be looking at a total cost of $1,118.99, and that's with other ongoing discounts. Newegg puts the bundle's regular value at $1,208.98, but it has dropped the price to just $938.99. That's a total savings of about $270.

As an added bonus, Newegg is throwing in a free Corsair M75 wireless RGB gaming mouse, which regularly costs $129.99.

This is one great bundle for PC builders

The discounted bundle price effectively removes most of the bloated cost of the RAM. Corsair's Vengeance RGB kit is one of the best you can buy, especially if you're a fan of customizable lighting, so it's not like Newegg is just throwing in any memory it can find.

The ASUS TUF Gaming X870-Plus Wifi motherboard is no slouch, either. It's a great choice for high-performance builds thanks to a sturdy 16+2+1 power stage setup, easy overclocking tools, USB4 and Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, dual PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots, and much more.

The bundle also, of course, delivers to you what I (and many others) consider to be the absolute best CPU for PC gaming. AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D is what I have in my system, and I have absolutely no regrets. My colleague, Senior Editor Ben Wilson, sums it up quite well in his 9800X3D review:

"AMD continues the theme with its second generation of 3D V-Cache to deliver unparalleled gaming performance and middling productivity. Thankfully, most gamers do not care about the benchmark-breaking number crunching as long as they get their framerate boosts, and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D delivers that sweet extra FPS."

With RAM, motherboard, and CPU handled, all you really need to do is add a graphics card, some storage, a power supply, and a case to complete your build. Although SSD prices are also on the rise, it's not too late to find a decent deal, and I've put together a quick guide with recommended storage starting at $0.08/GB.

And if you'd rather splurge on a complete gaming system, Newegg is also currently home to some deep discounts on pre-built gaming PCs.

FAQ

Attempting to build your own PC in 2026 is an expensive endeavor. RAM prices have skyrocketed in recent months due to AI firms buying up global stock of DRAM in order to build datacenters, and storage — or more specifically, the NAND chips used to build storage — is next to see an aggressive price spike.

While there's really nothing any of us can do about memory and storage prices, you can still land yourself a powerful pre-built gaming PC at a reasonable price. That's because OEMs haven't yet cleared out stock assembled before the major component price hikes; once they do, well, your guess about pricing is as good as mine.

Newegg is currently hosting a 25th anniversary sale, and I'm seeing quite a few pre-built gaming PCs on sale for a significant discount. I've rounded up six of the best deals I could find right here, but you can always check out the full list of PC hardware on sale at Newegg.

RAM and SSD prices are out of control

As I mentioned, RAM and SSD prices are currently unaffordable for the vast majority of PC enthusiasts.

Just how bad, you ask? Let's use a 2x16GB kit of Corsair's Vengeance RGB DDR5-6000 RAM as an example. In October 2025, the kit was selling for about $150 at Newegg. The same kit today? It costs $440.

Team Group, which has traditionally offered some excellent, affordable RAM, was charging about $78 for a 2x8GB kit of T-Force Delta DDR5 RAM in September 2025. It now costs $250, although there is currently a $50 discount available as part of Newegg's 25th anniversary sale.

Storage prices haven't quite reached the same level of insanity, but they're well on the way. Luckily, it's not too late to invest in some bulk storage to help ride out the storm. I recently put together a list of SSDs available for as low as $0.08/GB to help you shop.

Unfortunately, graphics cards seem to be suffering the same fate. Their need for high-performance VRAM is causing stock to dry up, and prices are once again headed in the wrong direction.

With all that in mind, pre-built gaming PC prices don't look so bad, especially if you can save a considerable chunk of change at something like Newegg's 25th anniversary sale.

FAQ

The update from Hardware Unboxed:

"The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB have not been discontinued or designated as end-of-life (EOL). ASUS has no plans to stop selling these models.

"Current fluctuations in supply for both products are primarily due to memory supply constraints, which have temporarily affected production output and restocking cycles. As a result, availability may appear limited in certain markets, but this should not be interpreted as a production halt or product retirement."

This could be a case of damage control from ASUS PR, and as Hardware Unboxed points out, "the proof will be in the supply."

Original article:

As we're all coming to understand, AI takes precedence over human consumers. The latest casualty, caused by a focus on feeding AI datacenters with as much memory as the world's manufacturers can supply, is NVIDIA's RTX 5070 Ti graphics card.

Yes, the 16GB Blackwell GPU that was one of the more popular options from the new lineup — thanks mainly to its ample memory allocation and its stellar performance — is seemingly on its last legs as NVIDIA's AIB partners (aka the companies that build GPUs around NVIDIA's chips) struggle to receive a supply of the GPU.

The report comes from Hardware Unboxed, which spoke with "several AIBs and retailers" post-CES 2026 in order to get a clearer view of the current GPU predicament.

Hardware Unboxed notes that retailers have not been explicitly warned that the 5070 Ti has hit end-of-life status. However, speaking with those same retailers, it's clear that there is no stock from AIB partners to buy and sell.

This news aligns with December rumors I covered, suggesting that NVIDIA would cut RTX 50-series production in 2026 to cope with memory shortages. At the time, it looked like production might shrink by 30-40%, but it could be a lot worse.

New, more recent rumors stemming from Board Channels and picked up by Videocardz seemed to indicate that NVIDIA had adjusted its supply chain to focus on 8GB versions of its RTX 50-series GPUs, including the RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti. In an update, it appears that this rumor is only partly true.

According to HKEPC, a Hong Kong-based outlet, NVIDIA is now prioritizing its GPU production based on memory allocations. For example, out of the 8GB cards, NVIDIA will focus on the RTX 5060 Ti. For 16GB cards, it will focus on the RTX 5080. There's no information yet about the 12GB RTX 5070, but the RTX 5090 will continue production.

This new prioritization effectively leaves the 16GB RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5070 Ti behind. If you currently have one of these GPUs in your PC, I probably don't need to tell you to protect it at all costs. There's a lot of discussion about VRAM and how much you need to game effectively in 2026, but it essentially boils down to "more is better."

The RTX 5070 Ti, which launched with a $749 MSRP, is indeed seeing price spikes at retailers. Some versions are still available at Newegg for as low as $829.99, but the majority of options have climbed to $1,250 and well beyond.

The 16GB RTX 5060 Ti, which launched at a $429 MSRP, is facing a similar predicament. Some models are still available for as low as $489.99 at Newegg, but the majority have hit or surpassed $530.

NVIDIA's Blackwell SUPER cards have been postponed indefinitely

Traditionally, SUPER variants of NVIDIA's cards are released about a year after the initial cards' launch. Rumors began in November 2025 of memory shortages killing the RTX 50 SUPER cards, and Hardware Unboxed has now confirmed that the SUPER cards have been postponed indefinitely.

Should memory prices calm down later this year, which isn't likely, NVIDIA could revisit its next-gen products that were supposed to debut at CES 2026.

It's worth pointing out that NVIDIA's laptop GPUs have seemingly not yet suffered the same prioritization fate, but I expect that 2026 will see a lot of low- and high-end models rather than a mid-range spread.

NVIDIA focusing on the costly RTX 5080 as its only 16GB GPU is surely going to leave a lot of PC gamers in the lurch. Are you ready to make the jump to AMD or Intel? Let me know in the comments section below!

It's a new year, and that means that top tech analysts are poring over data from 2025 in an attempt to make sense of the next 12 months.

Earlier this week, I covered a report from tech research and advisory group Omdia, suggesting that 2026 will see a laptop supply that fails to meet demand, driving up prices for consumers.

That same sentiment is being shared by the International Data Corporation (IDC) in an independent report that looks eerily similar to the one from Omdia.

According to IDC's research VP, Jean Phillipe Bouchard, "the PC market will be far different in 12 months, given how quickly the memory situation is evolving."

Bouchard is, of course, referring to the ongoing DRAM shortage caused by AI firms buying up production for the months and years ahead. AI datacenters require an unfathomable amount of memory to operate, and unfortunately, the core tech is the same that goes into the consumer RAM found in our personal PCs.

Given the choice of selling to consumers or to AI firms, memory manufacturers are following the big money that seems to swirl endlessly around the latter.

On one hand, the big laptop manufacturers like Lenovo, HP, Dell, and ASUS — which had stellar sales in 2025 — are likely better positioned to weather the storm thanks to their "scale and memory allocations." On the other hand, IDC warns that "smaller brands may not survive, and consumers, particularly DIY enthusiasts, may delay purchases or shift their spending to other devices or experiences."

Laptop makers had a great 2025, and Lenovo continues to lead the way

IDC points out that 2025's holiday season saw strong laptop sales, which isn't out of the ordinary. However, news of the impending laptop price spike likely amplified sales as consumers and the big brands attempted to get ahead of the newfound costs.

Add to that the lingering uncertainty of Windows 10's end-of-life and the push for Windows 11 PCs, and you can certainly see why PC sales were so strong. Lenovo alone shipped 19.3 million PCs globally in Q4 2025, according to IDC.

Just like Omdia's results, IDC shows Lenovo at the top of the PC sales charts with around 71 million (70.8 is the exact number IDC shares) shipments throughout all of 2025. HP comes in second place with 57.5 million shipments, Dell in third with 41.1 million, Apple in fourth with 25.6 million, and ASUS in fifth with 20.5 million.

My recommendation for those who need a new PC? Buy now and get it over with before the big price hikes hit. There are plenty of laptops from 2025 available, many of them at a discount as retailers attempt to clear out inventory for new 2026 models. I just put together a roundup of 13 top laptops on sale at Best Buy's Winter Sale if you need a bit of inspiration.

Do you agree with analysts who suggest that PC sales will decline in 2026? Do you see any way around the factors driving those price hikes? Let us know in the comments section below!

AMD launched its FSR "Redstone" update in December 2025 as part of the AMD Adrenalin 25.12.1 driver package, bringing to a close months of speculation after the upgraded upscaling tech was first revealed at Computex 2025.

As expected, AMD's ML-powered FSR Redstone update launched with availability only for its latest Radeon RX 9000 graphics cards using the RDNA 4 architecture. PC gamers using AMD's older RDNA 3 GPUs were largely left out in the cold, watching as adopters of the newer hardware got to test out new FSR Upscaling, Frame Generation, Ray Regeneration, and Radiance Caching techniques.

Why didn't AMD launch Redstone on its older hardware? It all comes down to performance. The new ML-powered techniques are designed specifically for RDNA 4's newfound AI performance, just like NVIDIA's latest AI-powered DLSS 4.5 improvements are largely reserved for its latest RTX 5000 Blackwell GPUs.

In a recent interview at CES 2026 with PC World, AMD's Senior VP of GPU Technologies and Engineering, Andrej Zdravkovic, reiterated that the full set of Redstone features will remain closely linked to RDNA 4.

Zdravkovic explains that the latest Redstone features simply don't perform as they should on older AMD GPUs. Subext? It's not a case of barring older hardware to drive sales of the latest Radeon RX 9000 cards.

Zdravkovic adds that while some of the Redstone features are useful and can actually be performed on some of AMD's older cards, internal testing reveals that "the net result is not going to improve the experience."

When pressed about PC enthusiasts forcing the latest FSR updates onto unsupported GPUs, Zdravkovic has a very reasonable response.

Zdravkovic is then asked about AMD releasing a Redstone "Beta" that works on older AMD RDNA 3 GPUs, which would give gamers more control over their system. He responds, "That's currently not in the plan, but thanks for the hint. We may want to think about something like that, provide that to people who want to play with that."

That doesn't sound much like a door slamming shut, does it?

(via Tom's Hardware)

Do you think AMD will ever release an official FSR Redstone update for RDNA 3 GPUs? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments section below!

Laptop and desktop PC manufacturers had a healthy year in 2025. Global PC shipments climbed by 10.1% to 75 million PCs in Q4 and, for the entire year, by 9.2% to 279.5 million PCs.

The data, presented by tech research and advisory group Omdia, shows that laptops and mobile workstations were the biggest sellers, hitting 58.6 million units shipped in Q4 and 220.4 million units shipped throughout the full year. That's a significant 8% jump year over year compared to 2024.

The bigger jump, percentage-wise, landed in the desktop PC sector. Desktop and workstation shipments hit 16.2 million units in Q4 2025, raising the total number of units shipped last year to 59 million. That's a 14.4% increase compared to 2024.

Lenovo, the PC manufacturer that I saw focus more on AI than ever at CES 2026 despite having a ton of new hardware to show off, sold the most PCs in 2025 with 71 million units. It grew 14.4% in Q4 2025 and, for the year, 14.6%.

HP arrived in second place with its suite of rebranded Omni PCs that shipped 15.4 million units in Q4 alone. That performance contributed to about 57 million sales throughout the year.

Dell landed in third place with about 42 million PCs sold throughout 2025, which is about 7% better than its sales in 2024. Remember, Dell is the only PC maker that has openly admitted that consumers are not buying PCs just because they have AI, which stands in stark contrast to Lenovo, which is focusing more than ever on AI PCs.

Looking back at 2025, these strong PC sales numbers are not exactly surprising. Microsoft killed Windows 10 on October 14, which undoubtedly forced (and is still forcing) a ton of Windows users to upgrade to something new running Windows 11.

Tariffs on PCs and the parts that go into them seemed to be a constant threat, which surely drove some to buy a new PC sooner than they wanted. And to wrap up 2025, we were treated to a new crisis: memory and storage shortages driven largely by AI's insatiable demand for massive datacenters.

The PC market isn't expected to have such a great 2026

According to Omdia's Principal Analyst, Ben Yeh, 2026 isn't projected to be as kind to the world's PC manufacturers:

Indeed, this shouldn't exactly come as a surprise to anyone who's been following PC markets for the past few months. Yeh adds that "supply-side pressures will be more pronounced and supply will not fully meet demand," while also stating that PC sales will largely "hinge on vendors' memory and storage procurement and negotiating leverage."

Are you expecting to see a decline in PC sales in 2026 due to ongoing market conditions (tariffs, shortages, etc.)? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments section below!

I hope you managed to find the right GPU at the right price in 2025, because a new report suggests that NVIDIA plans to significantly cut production of its RTX 50-series graphics cards in 2026.

The cause? You guessed it — AI and its unending thirst for memory and storage, which is causing a global shortage.

This news began on China's tech forum Bobantang and was picked up by Benchlife and eventually OC3D. The report alleges that NVIDIA plans to "adjust GPU production capacity of GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards in 2026 to cope with memory shortages." Just how much of a reduction? Compared to the first half of 2025, supply could be reduced by anywhere from 30-40%.

That's not an insignificant reduction, and I can't see how the ramifications won't be felt throughout the tech industry.

It's not just GDDR7 memory — the stuff that goes into RTX 5000 cards — causing issues, either. The report suggests that all memory types are being squeezed enough to cause a shift in production.

According to Benchlife, "a number of AIC partners and component suppliers have also mentioned" that the RTX 5070 Ti and the RTX 5060 Ti, each with 16GB of GDDR7 VRAM, will be the first to see a cut to production.

If true, that's some terrible news for PC gamers. GPUs with 8GB of VRAM are on the edge of being "not enough" to play demanding modern titles, and the 16GB GPU options drying up will make it more difficult to get the performance you desire without spending huge money on an RTX 5080 or RTX 5090.

Notably, the report makes no mention of NVIDIA's RTX PRO GPUs. These specialized cards are coveted by data scientists, creators, engineers, developers, AI professionals, and more. They come at a much higher price compared to the consumer RTX 50-series GPUs, and I wouldn't be surprised to see NVIDIA continue to feed GDDR7 into the production lines to maximize profits.

The memory crisis is only getting started

This NVIDIA news comes on the heels of several high-profile stories focusing on the RAM shortage.

At the end of November 2025, Micron announced that it was discontinuing its consumer lineup of Crucial memory and storage to focus on producing the hardware for AI companies. Samsung, one of the other leading memory suppliers, is expected to hike RAM prices as well.

Dell just announced that it plans to hike its commercial PC prices by up to 30% on December 17, echoing the moves by other major PC manufacturers. Elsewhere, Valve's upcoming Steam Machine could be in trouble if it can't debut at a reasonable price due to RAM costs.

As for NVIDIA's RTX 50-series SUPER cards — the "upgrade" versions that generally debut about a year after the standard cards hit markets — there have been rumors floating around for a couple of months regarding NVIDIA killing the entire product line due to the memory shortage.

RAM prices have completely exited the realm of reality, and trying to piece together a PC build at the end of 2025 is a lot more difficult than normal.

The ongoing RAM crisis — RAMageddon, as I've seen some call it — is not only making PC building and laptop upgrades difficult, but it's also threatening to drive up the prices of practically all tech that uses DRAM (and that's a lot of tech). I recently wrote a more in-depth look at what is causing RAM prices to spike, but the short story is that AI firms are buying all the DRAM they can for use in AI datacenters.

The shortage is driving up prices to unprecedented extremes, forcing many PC builders and gamers out of their favorite hobby. I'm here to offer some workarounds that won't have you spending obscene amounts of money on a DDR5 RAM kit, just in time for Christmas.

Update December 18, 2025: With how quickly the RAM market is changing, I jumped in to give updates in a few key areas. I added a few RAM bundle deals, as well as some new pre-builts that haven't yet been hit by the price spike. — Cale Hunt

Watch out for bundled RAM at a low price

During Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year (as well as the weeks after), some desktop RAM was selling for a very reasonable price. The catch? It was bundled with a motherboard.

Whether you need the motherboard or not, finding a bundled RAM deal is a great way to not overpay. You can always sell or give away the motherboard to a friend.

Unfortunately, these bundles have mostly disappeared, but that doesn't mean there won't be more that pop up in the near future. Your best bet is to keep an eye on Newegg, as it was the retailer offering the cheapest deals.

Update December 18: I found this MSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi motherboard bundled with 32GB of DDR5-6400 Corsair Vengeance RGB RAM and a Cooler Master 240 Elite Liquid AiO cooler for $650.98 at Newegg. Considering the board alone costs $500, and the AiO cooler costs $90, you can look at this like you're only paying about $60 for 32GB of DDR5 RAM.

A more affordable bundle includes a similar Corsair Vengeance RGB 32GB DDR5-6000 kit and an ASUS ROG Strix X870-A Gaming WiFi motherboard for $459.99 at Newegg.

Make peace with slower, plainer RAM kits

Now is not the time to get fancy with your DDR5 RAM choice. When buying memory for a desktop PC, you generally have a lot of choices. Some RAM kits have RGB lighting and stylized heat spreaders, while others are basically just a PCB with some modules attached. Then there are also timings and speeds to consider, especially in a high-end build.

Although this shouldn't be treated as a rule, I am generally seeing lower prices for those less flashy RAM kits that don't have as high a frequency. Makes sense.

For example, Team Group's Vulcan DDR5-5200 32GB RAM kit without RGB currently costs about $269.99 at Newegg. Corsair's Vengeance 16GB DDR5-5200 kit with RGB lighting drops down to about $219.99, but that's for half as much memory.

Normally, I'd recommend buying faster RAM with tighter timings. But in this current market, I recommend focusing more on capacity than speed.

Find a great deal on a pre-built or laptop

Gaming laptops and pre-built gaming PCs could be the answer to high RAM prices, but only for a limited time. I urge you to check out our picks for best gaming laptops and best pre-built gaming PCs in 2025 to get an idea of what's hot right now.

Once the systems that were put together before the current RAM price spike sell out, prices will almost certainly rise — Lenovo, Dell, and HP have signaled that they will raise PC prices in the near future, as have CyberPowerPC and Maingear — but you might still be able to snag one at a great price.

This option doesn't do much for those who only need some new memory for their PC, but those hoping to put together an entire system could have good luck.

If you're interested in an AMD system, iBuyPower's Slate Mesh pre-built that I reviewed is discounted at Best Buy. It has a Ryzen 7 8700F CPU, RTX 5070 GPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD, all for just $1,499.99.

Want to spend less? iBuyPower's Slate Mesh with an Intel Core i7-14700F CPU, NVIDIA RTX 5060 GPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD is down to $979.99 at Best Buy for a very limited time (deal ends December 18).

Plan a build using DDR4 RAM instead of DDR5

The current memory squeeze is mainly affecting DDR5 RAM prices; it's the stuff (alongside HBM) that is most coveted for use in AI datacenters.

That leaves older DDR4 RAM prices (for now) at a much more reasonable level. That could change as PC builders gobble it up and cause another new squeeze, but for now, you can reliably get a pretty nice kit of 2x8GB DDR4 RAM for around $100.

Of course, you'll have to ensure that the PC the RAM is going into is compatible with DDR4, and you'll also want to ensure that the PC's owner is comfortable taking a slight performance hit.

DDR5 RAM is indeed an upgrade over DDR4, but at the current DDR5 prices, it should be a lot easier to reconcile with the older standard.

Wait for prices to return to normal

If all else fails, there's really nothing to do but wait for DDR5 RAM prices to return to normal. How long that takes is anyone's guess. The theorized AI bubble could pop, sending RAM prices crashing back down to earth, but then again, it might only ramp up its demands for DRAM.

The three major RAM makers in the world — Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron — could also ramp up DRAM production faster than expected, loosening the squeeze, but that will take years to realize due to the time it takes to get a fabrication plant up and running.

Worsening the situation is the fact that Micron recently announced it's exiting the consumer RAM business with its Crucial products.

True to its word, AMD has deployed its FSR "Redstone" update to the public in the second half of 2025, with just a couple of weeks left in the year. It arrives as part of the AMD Adrenalin 25.12.1 driver package, and it's also available for developers in a new Redstone SDK.

AMD first mentioned "Redstone" as an upgrade to FSR 4 at Computex 2025, promising major machine learning upgrades to Super Resolution and Frame Generation.

Now that it's here, I must admit that it's a tad confusing. Along with the major Redstone updates (which only work on certain AMD GPUs), AMD has also rebranded some of its technologies. Here's what you need to know.

What is AMD FSR Redstone?

FSR is essentially AMD's answer to NVIDIA DLSS. They're both upscaling technologies that rely on AI to make your games run smoother, look better, and hit higher frame rates. Whereas NVIDIA has stuck with DLSS over the years, AMD is still organizing its naming conventions.

With this update, Redstone has become the umbrella term for all of AMD's ML-powered upscaling techniques. That means FSR 4 has been renamed as "FSR Upscaling," falling under the Redstone name as just another technique.

AMD has also cut the official "FidelityFX Super Resolution" moniker down to simply "FSR," bringing it in line with what we've all been calling it all along anyway.

With the Redstone launch, AMD says that more than 200 games now support "one or more" Redstone features. These include FSR Upscaling, FSR Frame Generation, FSR Ray Regeneration, or FSR Radiance Caching. Beyond that, there are 32 games — including Arc Raiders, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and Cyberpunk 2077 — confirmed to support FSR Frame Generation.

What about FSR Ray Regeneration? As far as I can tell, only Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 supports the feature. AMD's FSR Radiance Caching is still in its infancy, with AMD noting that it will come to developers sometime in 2026.

Unfortunately, this update is only available for owners of AMD's latest Radeon RX 9000 graphics cards that use the RDNA 4 architecture. There are some inferior FSR 3.1 fallbacks for Upscaling and Frame Generation on older hardware, but Ray Regeneration and Radiance Caching are strictly reserved for the latest AMD GPUs.

How does AMD FSR Redstone perform?

Our friends at PC Gamer were quick to test out AMD's Redstone update first-hand on a Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU.

The TL;DR? AMD's new Frame Generation is a big upgrade, pushing it up to compete with NVIDIA's DLSS. It still lacks 3x and 4x generation ala DLSS, but it's certainly better than it used to be. And although Ray Regeneration is only available in one game, it also seems to be a win.

AMD still has a long way to go if it wants to surpass NVIDIA's DLSS tech, but this seems like a solid step in the right direction for Radeon. I just wish it were all available on older AMD GPUs.

If you haven't been following tech news lately, I'm here to introduce you to the latest crisis that's threatening to drive up the prices of consumer tech products everywhere.

Yes, I'm talking about DRAM, which is currently in short supply and being sold at extortionate prices. The cause? AI and the countless billions of dollars going towards the buildout of datacenters that support it.

So far, it's mostly consumer RAM that's so harshly spiked in price, but that's expected to change in 2026 as the squeeze is felt by more than just average consumers like you and me. Here's what you need to know to make sense of the ongoing RAM supply crisis.

How did RAM prices get so high?

To fully understand how RAM prices have climbed so high, let me back up a bit and give you some quick background details regarding the overall market.

The RAM market is largely controlled by three major players: SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron. These three companies produce the bulk of the DRAM chips that the world uses, and it's been that way for as long as I can recall.

For years, the RAM market remained relatively stable. Production was ample, there were plenty of eager buyers, and the three big manufacturers were able to keep prices within reason.

Manufacturers of other devices, like laptops, phones, TVs, and tablets, that use DRAM could buy in bulk on the cheap, and regular PC builders weren't being gouged at checkout.

Then came the AI boom. Firms with seemingly endless amounts of money were suddenly throwing it towards the major DRAM manufacturers, hoping to secure allotments used in AI datacenters. The three main DRAM manufacturers were happy to oblige, moving production towards specialized cases and causing a shortage practically everywhere else.

See, the big AI companies all need an unfathomable amount of high-speed memory to support their AI models. Although AI datacenters rely heavily on High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), it's just another version of DRAM — the same stuff that goes into the consumer RAM you put in your PC.

The shortage has now reached epic proportions. Because DRAM manufacturers are happy to chase the biggest pile of money, AI firms continue to place first on the priority list. This leaves what are essentially scraps for everyday consumers.

Consumer DDR5 RAM that used to cost a couple of hundred dollars is now, in many cases, approaching four digits, making memory a bigger buying decision than even a GPU.

This realization is causing panic buying and stock shortages, further worsening the situation. And speaking of making things worse, Micron — one of the world's three major DRAM manufacturers — recently decided to completely pull out of the consumer market.

Micron exits the consumer RAM market

If you thought the DRAM shortage was bad before, Micron's announcement that it's ending production of its consumer-focused Crucial memory and storage pushed it to a new, terrible level.

Micron states in its official press release that it plans to discontinue shipments of Crucial consumer products after February 2026, effectively leaving Samsung and SK hynix as the only two big companies supplying consumer DRAM.

Micron's press release has some nice sentiments thanking all the regular consumers who bought Crucial products over the years, but the subtext reads: "We're going where the money is, and you can't do anything about it."

So, are Samsung and SK hynix destined for the same future? Samsung, at least, has recently acknowledged that it plans to shift DRAM production from HBM towards DDR5 in order to maximize profits (via DigiTimes).

I can't pretend that this move doesn't make sense — consumer DDR5 RAM is a luxury right now, and prices change so quickly that you can spec out a PC build one day, only to see it go way up in price by the next. Not trying to capitalize would be a mistake, at least from the viewpoint of shareholders.

On the SK hynix side, it has also said that it plans to significantly ramp up DRAM production in 2026 (via Wccftech). However, this news shouldn't really excite you unless you're running an AI firm. Most of the product will continue to go towards the AI buildout.

Will all tech be impacted by the DRAM shortage?

I've mainly focused on the PC building aspect of the DRAM shortage so far, as it's the one that has seen the largest price increase. PC builders Maingear and CyberPowerPC have both publicly stated that prices are on the rise due to DRAM demand, warning customers that pre-built systems are about to get pricier.

However, it's not the only market that's being (or will soon be) impacted.

Your laptop, phone, tablet, TV, handheld, console, car, camera, watch (and on and on) use DRAM, and the makers of those products are also now beginning to feel the squeeze.

According to TrendForce, Dell is planning to raise prices of PCs by at least 15-20% as early as mid-December 2025, while Lenovo has warned customers that its current sales quotes and pricing guidelines will be obsolete come January 1, 2026. On HP's side, CEO Enrique Lores has said that the second half of 2026 could see PC prices go up if the DRAM situation doesn't improve.

Further aggravating the situation is another impending shortage. NAND flash chips, which are used in modern SSDs, are also being squeezed out of production.

TrendForce reports that contract demand for NAND Flash wafers spiked by up to 60% in November 2025, "fueled by AI applications and solid enterprise SSD orders." With such a focus on supplying enterprise and AI, it's leaving less space to produce chips for other consumers.

When will the RAM crisis end?

I'll preface this by saying that I have no idea when exactly the RAM (and impending SSD) crisis will end. According to some experts, it's only now just getting started.

Team Group's GM, Gerry Chen, has stated (via TechPowerUp) that December contract prices for DRAM increased by 80% to 100%, and that this substantial price hike is only the start of a "multiyear memory upcycle." Chen believes the situation will worsen in early 2026 once the current stock purchased at a reasonable price is sold off.

Assuming the AI bubble and its unprecedented demand for high-performance DRAM and NAND chips don't pop at some point in the near future, new fabrications will need to be created. The problem? These plants cost billions of dollars and take years to get up and running.

As far as I know, Micron — the company that recently exited the consumer business — is the only big supplier to state its intentions of opening a new DRAM fabrication in the near-ish future (via PCGamer). It has invested $10 billion in the project that will see the fab built in Japan, but it's not expected to begin actually creating any chips until the second half of 2028.

The other resolution to the problem involves the AI bubble popping (or at least deflating a bit). Should that happen, the AI datacenter buildout will likely come to an abrupt halt, leaving an oversupply of DRAM and NAND to contend with.

The AI bubble's deflation would, of course, have massive ramifications on global markets, but at least we'd be able to once again buy DDR5 memory at a reasonable price.

RAM crisis: FAQ

AMD's specialized Ryzen processors (CPU) with a unique 3D V-Cache design are considered the pinnacle of hardware for PC gamers. The latest flagship Zen 5 chip, known as the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, is considered the top option right now, having succeeded the previous top option, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D.

Although AMD offers more powerful variants — including the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and 9950X3D — the combination of stellar performance and a very competitive price pushes the 9800X3D to the forefront for most gamers.

Now, it seems like AMD plans to usurp its most popular gaming chip with a new version that's clocked slightly higher than its sibling. AMD actually leaked this revelation itself when it posted a Ryzen 7 9850X3D listing on its official driver website, which was spotted by X user Olrak29_ on November 29, 2025.

Although the AMD site listing has been taken down — the URL now simply shows a 404 error — some info was gleaned with the help of another leaker on X, g01d3nm4ng0.

It appears that the 9850X3D chip will have the same 8 cores and 16 threads as the 9800X3D, but it will push its boost clock up to 5.6GHz (compared to 5.2GHz in the 9800X3D). It's alleged that it will run at a similar 120W TDP.

Of course, the second leak also mentions a Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 chip, something that's been rumored for a few months without official confirmation from AMD. The "X3D2" portion of the name suggests that it could have dual X3D tiles, expanding the chip's V-Cache — the part that makes such a huge difference in PC gaming performance — to proportions yet unseen.

Turning back to the chip that was accidentally mentioned on AMD's website, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D curiously seems to only represent a slightly higher boost clock without other improvements.

It's unclear for exactly who this chip is intended, especially when there's already the Ryzen 9 9900X3D available for those who need more cores and a higher boost clock.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D currently retails for about $479 (less if you can find it on sale), while the 9900X3D usually sits at about $599 before discounts. There's definitely room to squeeze in another chip between the two, but with the 9800X3D so readily available at an (assumedly) lower price, AMD will have to work some magic positioning its "upgrade" as a meaningful improvement over the flagship chip.

It could also instead completely replace the 9800X3D over time; I'm hoping to hear more details from AMD at CES 2026.

(via Videocardz, PC Gamer)

It's no secret that China's GPU manufacturers are doing everything possible to catch up to the heavy global names, NVIDIA and AMD, in both the AI and consumer markets.

On the side of consumer gaming hardware, it appears that a new discrete GPU from the Chinese card maker Lisuan is the first to offer compatibility with Windows on ARM.

That's an exciting revelation for PC gamers. Up until now, Windows on ARM hasn't had an avenue for pairing an ARM64 chip with a discrete AMD or NVIDIA GPU. Even Intel and its stellar Arc GPUs are out of the question. Why? The big GPU manufacturers simply haven't bothered creating proper drivers for the ARM-based Windows package.

This incompatibility essentially means that when you buy a Windows PC running Windows on ARM — a market currently completely dominated by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chips — you're stuck with integrated graphics. Lisuan Technology, a company founded in 2021 and headquartered in Shanghai, evidently wants to change that.

Lisuan debuted its 7G106 card in July 2025 as China's first 6nm GPU designed for gaming. Featuring 12GB of GDDR6 VRAM, DirectX 12 support, and a slick blower design, it made some waves in the PC gaming world before the company seemingly put its head down to work on its product.

We now have an update in the form of a 26-second video posted on the Chinese platform bilibili. The video shows the Lisuan 7G106 GPU running on a system with an ARM-based CPU (a Chinese 12-core CP8180 v9 ARM chip from 2024), being benchmarked using 3DMark's Steel Nomad test in Windows on ARM.

During the demonstration, a DirectX 12 window is shown in the OS, and we can clearly see in the Windows Task Manager that the hardware all checks out. If Lisuan indeed has created an ARM64 driver compatible with its GPU, this could be a major step forward for gaming on ARM-based systems, at least within the Chinese GPU ecosystem.

In the meantime, Qualcomm has been anything but idle. The company announced a chip refresh in the form of Snapdragon X2 in September 2025, promising a significant leap forward for overall performance in ARM-based Windows 11 PCs.

Beyond performance improvements and better game compatibility, Qualcomm promises new optimizations available through the Snapdragon Control Panel and new kernel-level anti-cheat compatibility for competitive titles. And yet, there's still no word of compatibility with NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel discrete GPUs.

(via Videocardz, ITHome)

NVIDIA's RTX 50-series graphics cards got off to a slow start when they launched in 2025, experiencing supply shortages, spiking prices, and general disbelief in the massive advancements afforded by DLSS 4 and the Multi Frame Generation feature exclusive to the new Blackwell architecture.

While a lot of PC gamers have now been able to get their hands on one of NVIDIA's latest consumer GPUs — prices have been dropping consistently over time to the point where you can sometimes find them for less than MSRP — others have been waiting for a mid-generation RTX 50-series refresh to spend their money.

I'm talking about the SUPER lineup, an upgrade that NVIDIA usually releases about a year after the standard cards are released.

Although NVIDIA hasn't ever officially mentioned a SUPER refresh for its Blackwell GPUs, many have been holding onto their money in the hopes that the new cards will be announced soon.

Those plans might have just been dashed, although this rumor has a good chance of turning out to be false.

According to a post from the UNIKO's Hardware X account (via Videocardz), the SUPER refresh is cancelled "due to the crazy shortage" of 3GB GDDR7 memory modules.

There is indeed a severe shortage of both NAND and DRAM due to the global AI demand. All of those specialized AI GPUs and their data center support system require the same stuff that goes into our beloved consumer GPUs, creating a bottleneck in the supply chain.

Whether or not that bottleneck is serious enough to halt an entire mid-generation refresh from the foremost GPU supplier in the world remains to be seen. It's a rumor at best, but it's still causing some panic.

One of the big reasons that many people have been waiting on NVIDIA's RTX 50 SUPER lineup has to do with VRAM, or a lack thereof in the non-SUPER cards.

Because NVIDIA chose to use 2GB GDDR7 modules in the RTX 50-series (except for the desktop RTX 5050 that uses GDDR6), VRAM amounts are considered underwhelming by many.

The RTX 5060, for example, has just 8GB of VRAM, which simply isn't enough in 2025 to handle the massive demands from many modern titles. A move to 3GB GDDR7 modules would, of course, allow NVIDIA to pack more VRAM into its SUPER GPUs.

UNIKO surmises that the DRAM stock is "probably reserved" for both RTX 5090 Laptop and RTX Pro 6000 cards, which make a lot more money than the mid-range GPU lineup. The Pro 6000, for example, is currently discounted by $650 at Newegg, bringing the total down to ... $8,345.99.

Are GPU prices about to spike again?

Tacked onto the UNIKO's Hardware post is a warning that current models are also about to get a lot more expensive due to rising costs of 2GB GDDR7 modules.

The global AI buildout really can't get enough memory, and because the business is so much more lucrative than the consumer GPU market, it's not a far stretch to think that NVIDIA would rather put any memory it can get its hands on into AI infrastructure.

Although I can't say for sure whether or not the memory shortage will get bad enough to drive up prices on current NVIDIA GPUs, it's currently not the worst time to consider investing in new hardware.

I purchased the RTX 5070 Ti above MSRP earlier this year, and I haven't regretted my decision. All it took was some testing of Multi Frame Generation in DOOM: The Dark Ages to convince me that the card is the real deal.

Now that many models have returned to MSRP, and with Black Friday/Cyber Monday headed our way in a few short weeks, this might be one of the last chances to get a Blackwell card at a reasonable price.

FAQ

It's no secret that mini PCs have exploded in popularity in recent years. They can be used for a wide range of purposes, they take up hardly any space on a desk, and they're generally priced competitively, allowing you to get your hands on powerful computing for less.

At least, that's the idea with most mini PCs. ZOTAC's new MAGNUS EN275060TC doesn't yet have a set price, but it will almost certainly cost more than many of what we consider to be the best mini PCs on the market today.

That's all because of its desktop-class RTX 5060 Ti graphics card. It isn't the first mini PC to feature a discrete GPU, but it is one of the few options that offer the full desktop version.

That might not be a notable achievement on its own; it's the new mini PC's size that really drew my attention. The case measures just 8.27 x 7.99 x 2.45 inches with an overall 2.65-liter capacity, with all components stuffed inside.

Considering ZOTAC's Twin Edge RTX 5060 Ti standalone desktop GPU measures 8.7 x 4.7 x 1.6 inches, the company evidently took the NVIDIA GB206 processor and designed a completely new cooling system to fit inside the cramped internals.

NVIDIA's RTX 5060 Ti is one of the company's latest graphics cards, which means it comes with all of the latest Blackwell improvements to ray tracing, AI workloads, and upscaling.

DLSS 4 and its Multi Frame Generation tech — exclusive to RTX 5000 GPUs — won me over earlier this year after I tested it extensively on an RTX 5070 Ti. The way it can boost framerates without loss of fidelity is just short of magic.

What other hardware comes in the ZOTAC MAGNUS EN275060TC?

ZOTAC's MAGNUS EN275060TC has a desktop-class GPU, but the rest of the hardware is much more tuned toward a mobile package.

It's centered around an Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX laptop processor with 20 total cores (split between 8 Performance and 12 Efficient), a Turbo frequency up to 5.2GHz, and a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) capable of 13 TOPS.

ZOTAC offers up to 96GB of DDR5-6400 SODIMM RAM, the same used in gaming laptops. It's replaceable after purchase, as are the dual M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs.

Port selection looks to be quite generous, with three DisplayPort outputs, one HDMI, dual Thunderbolt 4, five USB-A 3.2 (Gen 2), a UHS-II SD card reader, and dual 2.5GbE connections for wired internet.

Wireless internet is also at the cutting edge thanks to Wi-Fi 7 support, which comes bundled with modern Bluetooth 5.4. In typical mini PC fashion, the new MAGNUS has pre-drilled holes ready for mounting.

Why is a desktop GPU better than a laptop GPU?

Why is having a desktop-class GPU important? It's a common misconception that laptop and desktop graphics cards are the same thing. They do, after all, share the same name. Or at least, that's what it looks like at first glance.

NVIDIA doesn't offer a laptop version of the RTX 5060 Ti, so I can't draw a direct comparison. But I can show how the desktop and mobile versions of NVIDIA's GPUs differ using the RTX 5060.

The desktop version uses a GB206 processor, and it has 3,840 CUDA cores, 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM, a 128-bit memory bus, and a Total Graphics Power (TGP) rating of 150W.

The laptop version of the RTX 5060 uses the same GB206 processor (not always the case, especially with NVIDIA's more powerful laptop cards), but it drops the CUDA core count to 3,328 and the TGP to somewhere between 45W and 100W, depending on the laptop.

Clock speeds are also wildly different. The desktop version hits somewhere around a 2,500MHz boost clock, whereas the laptop version tops out at about 1,000MHz less.

Altogether, you can expect somewhere around 15-20% better performance from the desktop-class card, which is no small amount.

ZOTAC's new mini PC is "coming soon"

While ZOTAC has yet to attach a firm release date and price to its new MAGNUS mini PC for US buyers, I spotted it at LASystems.be with a listing price of €1,704.09. Translated directly to USD, that's about $1,978.

Considering that the price is for a barebones kit, lacking RAM and storage, ZOTAC might have a hard time reaching mass appeal when so many great gaming laptops and great gaming handhelds can offer a stellar gaming experience at a cheaper price.

(via Videocardz)

FAQ

AMD has cornered the PC gaming market with its Ryzen X3D processors (CPU), and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D remains one of the most popular chips around thanks to awesome performance and a modest price.

Performance hasn't changed (that's a good thing), but the price has come down significantly at Amazon. With a massive 29% discount and a $319.99 price that's as low as it's been since May 2024, it's a perfect time to give your PC the gaming CPU it craves.

AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a good buy at full price, never mind at 29% off

Whenever I see the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU on sale, I get a warm feeling inside knowing that more gamers are going to experience the magic of 3D V-Cache.

3D V-Cache is a proprietary AMD technology that changes the design of the CPU's L3 cache, stacking it vertically rather than horizontally. This allows the CPU to access data stored in the cache quickly and more efficiently.

And because there's so much extra L3 cache compared to normal — the 7800X3D has 96MB, whereas something like the Core Ultra 7 265K has just 30MB — the CPU doesn't have to lean on slow system memory nearly as much as usual.

These two benefits of AMD's 3D V-Cache directly boost PC gaming performance to the point that I've sworn off any other types of CPUs for personal use, barring a miraculous breakthrough elsewhere.

I use the newer Ryzen 7 9800X3D in my personal gaming PC to great effect, but at $120 more than the 7800X3D, AMD's slightly older chip is a way better deal that can land you average gaming performance within about 10% of the newer CPU.

For more information, including performance charts and further buying advice, I recommend checking out my AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs. 7800X3D comparison.

The 7800X3D that's so cheap right now is built on AMD's Zen 4 architecture, which offers modern DDR5 RAM and PCIe 5.0 support. Motherboards supporting the 7800X3D include A620, X670, B840, B850, B650, and X870, giving you plenty of options from which to choose.

The 7800X3D's 8 cores, 16 threads, and 5GHz boost clock aren't just for gaming, either. While you can certainly find a CPU that's better tuned for a life of productivity — something like the Ryzen 7 9700X we reviewed is a solid choice — the 7800X3D will certainly do a great job outside of gaming.

I'll wrap up this awesome deal highlight with a quote from our AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D review:

I have no idea how long the 7800X3D will remain at its $319 sale price, which is only the second time in its history that it's dropped so low at Amazon. If you're looking to upgrade your PC with a powerful CPU, I wouldn't wait too much longer, as pricing history suggests the chip doesn't usually remain this affordable for long.

Microsoft is always looking for ways to improve Windows 11 for gamers, especially now that Windows 10 support has reached End-of-Life. While Windows 11 largely delivers the same level of gaming performance compared to Windows 10, many gamers remain reticent to upgrade.

One of the company's more recent gamer-focused additions — launched for all Windows 11 users in January 2025 — is Microsoft Edge Game Assist, a tool designed to remove the ol' Alt-Tab trick when looking up guides, navigating Discord or Spotify, or watching videos while you game.

Edge Game Assist has received regular updates since it was first introduced to Insiders in November 2024, and October 2025 is no different.

The latest update adds a long list of new titles to the Enhanced Game Assist package, it adds an option to close Game Assist through the Windows 11 Settings menu, and it squashes some bugs, namely one that allowed Game Assist to be installed multiple times on the same PC with multiple user accounts.

The new Edge Game Assist update is going out to Edge Insiders on the Canary and Dev channels, and Microsoft says they will "eventually" arrive in Beta and Stable channels.

• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed Origins
• Assassin's Creed Unity
• Assassin's Creed Valhalla
• Battlefield 6
• BioShock Infinite
• Borderlands 4
• Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)
• Call of Duty: Warzone
• Dead Rising 4
• Deep Rock Galactic
• Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition
• Dying Light: The Beast
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Little Nightmares III
• Nier Automata
• Remnant II
• The Outlast Trials
• theHunter: Call of the Wild
• World of Warcraft Mists of Pandaria Classic

How does Edge Game Assist work, and is it worth trying out?

Edge Game Assist is essentially a miniature version of Windows 11's web browser that's built into the Xbox Game Bar, accessible via the Win+G keyboard shortcut. It's designed to act as an overlay while you game, removing the need to constantly Alt+Tab to other windows.

It was added to Windows 11 in response to Microsoft's findings that roughly 88% of PC gamers look up guides, track game progress, listen to music, and chat with friends while gaming.

The Game Bar widget can automatically detect which game you're playing in order to offer specialized tips and guides, but because it's a mini version of Edge, it can also be used as a standard browser to look up guides and videos without losing focus on your current game.

👉 Related: How to set up Microsoft Edge Game Assist on Windows 11

Perhaps the best part is that Edge Game Assist is conveniently compatible with other PC gamer standby websites, including Discord, Spotify, and Twitch.

I've yet to give Edge Game Assist a shot personally — I've been too busy forcing Gaming Copilot and NVIDIA Project G-Assist to fight for AI gaming supremacy — but my colleague Sean Endicott praised its abilities even when it was still a very new feature without as many tools as it does now.

Considering Edge Game Assist is a free addition to Windows 11, there's really nothing to lose by giving it a shot. Of course, a second monitor can largely achieve the same basic idea of having guides visible while you game, but the additional tips and tricks for games on the Enhanced list might just be handier than you were expecting.

Don't forget about ad blockers in your Edge Game Assist overlay

One of the first issues with Edge Game Assist was the ads that constantly interfered with game guides overlaid on your screen. Microsoft quickly updated Game Assist in March 2025 with browser extension support, allowing for ad blockers to be installed.

It's not just ad blockers, either. Game Assist supports quite a few browser extensions, and they can be managed via the standard desktop version of the Edge app.

If you'd like to give Edge Game Assist a shot, you might find that it's already installed on your system. If it's not, the widget can be added to the Xbox Game Bar via the Edge settings menu.

It's a great time to be a PC gamer who needs a new graphics card in their system. Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days, Best Buy's Techtober, and Newegg's FantasTech II sales events have triple-digit discounts on many NVIDIA and AMD GPUs, helping you buy at MSRP or at least very close.

I scoured the internet for the biggest price drops on GeForce RTX 5000 and Radeon RX 9000 cards, but I've also included older generations that are also enjoying huge discounts.

Best GPU deals: Quick Links

• See all GPU deals at Amazon Prime Big Deal Days — Up to 21% off RTX 50-series
• See all GPU deals at Best Buy Techtober — Up to $251 off RTX 50-series
• See all GPU deals at Newegg FantasTech II — Up to 25% off AMD Radeon and NVIDIA RTX

Best NVIDIA GPU deals I found so far

Best AMD GPU deals I found so far

FAQ

Newegg has kicked in October's door with a host of new PC-related deals as part of its Gametober sales event.

Looking through the deals, I'm seeing major discounts on everything from PC components to PC peripherals, including CPUs, GPUs, SSDs, monitors, motherboards, and more.

There are a lot of deals available at Newegg's site, but I combed through the full list to pull out these 11 top discounts.

Some won't last long — several wrap up at the end of the day — so be sure to check out if you see something you need.

Newegg Gametober PC deals: Quick links

• See the full list of Newegg's Gametober deals on CPUs, GPUs, SSDs, and more
• Best GPU deals at Newegg's Gametober event — Up to $200 off AMD and NVIDIA
• Best CPU deals at Newegg's Gametober event — Up to $100 off AMD and Intel
• Best SSD deals at Newegg's Gametober event — Up to 27% off Samsung and SK hynix

Best GPU deals at Newegg's Gametober event

Best CPU deals at Newegg's Gametober event

Best SSD deals at Newegg's Gametober event

NVIDIA's RTX 5000 GPUs based on the Blackwell architecture began launching in January 2025, but they arrived with severe stock shortages and rampant scalping.

It has taken nearly a full year for the GPU market to calm down, but I'm happy to report that you can now find a range of RTX cards at or below NVIDIA's MSRP.

The recent price drops are mainly thanks to Walmart's GeForce Week sales event, which sees gaming laptops, desktops, monitors, accessories, and components significantly discounted.

For example, the PNY RTX 5060 Ti with 16GB of VRAM is now down to $379, which is $50 below MSRP. PNY's RTX 5080 is also enjoying a massive discount, coming in at $929 or $70 below MSRP.

There are more options to check out, and I've also added an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D deal for those going for a CPU and GPU upgrade at the same time.

Best NVIDIA GPU deals: Quick links

• Up to $1,500 off gaming hardware at Walmart's GeForce Week
• PNY GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Epic-X: Was $598.50 Now $379 at Walmart
• PNY GeForce RTX 5070 OC: Was $549 Now $499.99 at Walmart
• MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ventus 2X OC: Was $599.99 Now $529 at Walmart
• MSI Shadow RTX 5070 3X OC: Was $639 Now $549.99 at Walmart
• PNY GeForce RTX 5080 OC: Was $1,099 Now $929 at Walmart
• PNY GeForce RTX 5090 OC: Was $2,799.99 Now $1,999 at Walmart

Best NVIDIA GPU deals at or below MSRP

Bonus CPU deal: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the best gaming CPU you can buy right now, and it's currently 10% off at Walmart and Amazon.

While it might be a tad overkill for the lower-end NVIDIA RTX GPUs, it'll make a perfect pairing for the RTX 5070 (or Ti), RTX 5080, or RTX 5090.

The combination of an AMD processor and an NVIDIA graphics card is currently the best option for PC gamers, and Best Buy is making it easy to shop for new hardware without paying full price.

There's a wide range of AMD-powered laptops and desktop PCs currently on sale, and while there's one model that stands out — the Gigabyte AERO X16 on sale for $1,349 — I highly recommend having a look at my alternative options, especially if you're shopping for a pre-built desktop.

My favorite AMD gaming laptop deal

This AERO X16 model that I'm highlighting is not only great for gaming. The powerful AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 CPU and the NVIDIA RTX 5070 Laptop GPU will do a bang-up job of editing, designing, and any other creative tasks, and with 32GB of upgradeable RAM, you shouldn't run into any memory problems.

Yes, RAM is accessible (an increasingly rare feature in laptops), and so is the 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. The laptop actually has two M.2 slots for storage, so you can immediately pop in a second drive for bulk storage of your games and files.

The Ryzen CPU has a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) capable of up to 50 TOPS of local AI power. That makes this a Copilot+ PC with full access to all of the AI tools now built into Windows 11.

Turning back to gaming, the laptop's RTX 5070 Laptop GPU will handle even the most demanding titles thanks to DLSS 4 and its Multi Frame Generation magic. You might not be able to max out some in-game settings, but you'll still get a very enjoyable experience.

The PC comes with the right ports to connect to an external display, but the built-in 16-inch QHD+ screen with a 165Hz refresh rate will deliver a great picture on the go.

Although I haven't personally tested Gigabyte's AERO X16, Best Buy's 55 customer reviews have it sitting at a 4.7-star rating. That's not bad at all, and the $300 discount makes it look even better.

If you'd like to spend less, Gigabyte's AERO X16 with similar specs, save for a bump down to an RTX 5060 Laptop GPU, is also $300 off. That drops the price to $1,199 for a limited time.

More great AMD gaming deals live now at Best Buy

If Gigabyte's AERO X16 isn't quite what you're looking for, I've rounded up a couple of additional AMD gaming laptops as well as two AMD-powered gaming desktops that are on sale at Best Buy.

Why shop at Best Buy?

Best Buy is one of the largest electronics retailers around, and like its competitors, it too has a membership program that grants subscribers some nice perks.

While the gaming PCs I've rounded up above do not require any sort of extra membership to receive the discount, signing up for a free My Best Buy plan can get you free standard shipping where it would otherwise not be available.

The My Best Buy Plus plan costs $49.99 per year, but it adds free two-day shipping, exclusive member pricing on select items, exclusive access to certain deals and promos, and an extended 60-day return window.

If you're a real fan of Best Buy, there's also a Total membership that costs $179.99 per year. The Total membership gets you everything from the Plus tier, and it adds additional protection plans, 24/7 tech support, VIP member support, and discounted tech repair prices.

The T500 is a gaming PC unlike any I've ever tested. While it comes with a desktop-class graphics card — in the case of my review unit, an NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti — it relies on a mobile processor and RAM installed on a specialized laptop motherboard.

ASUS designed it as a way to offer "lower power consumption than a typical desktop machine" while avoiding some of the performance drawbacks due to the constraints of laptop hardware design.

It's certainly an interesting idea, although one of my biggest complaints with many prebuilt gaming PCs has always been a lack of upgradeability; the T500 solves none of those issues and, if anything, causes more problems than it solves.

ASUS TUF Gaming T500 Review

Design & build quality ⭐⭐⭐½

I'm no stranger to ASUS TUF Gaming products, and the T500 follows the usual industrial-esque aesthetic that suggests additional durability. Love it or hate it, it certainly makes a bold impression.

Indeed, ASUS says it meets MIL-STD-810H certifications for things like drops, extreme temperatures, and vibrations.

The case is custom-made to fit tightly around the internal hardware. The front panel, with its stylized plastic covering and built-in lighting, has limited air intake vents on either side. There are dual USB-A 3.2 (Gen 1) ports at 5Gbps, one USB-C 3.2 (Gen 1) port also at 5Gbps, and a 3.5mm audio combo jack.

It's nice to have USB-C on the front of the PC, but Gen 1 at 5Gbps seems rather outdated at this point.

The side panel has a raised tempered glass pane that's slightly tinted, surrounded by more of the TUF Gaming branding. Below the pane, there are some cutouts for extra airflow.

Aside from a bit of venting on the bottom of the case for the PSU, there's no other venting for air intake on the PC. It sort of makes sense when you consider the CPU is designed for a thin laptop, but there's still a chunky GPU in there that needs to keep cool.

Unfortunately, the tinted glass panel is the only one that's easily removable with thumb screws. The side panel covering the back of the motherboard is riveted into place.

The back of the PC has four expansion slots, with two used for the RTX 5060 Ti. The custom motherboard features DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 1.4, RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 channel audio, and four USB-A 2.0 ports.

The PC seems like it's built well, with what I'd consider average cable management. The non-modular PSU certainly adds a lot of unnecessary cabling, but it's mostly hidden away below the GPU.

Upgradeability ⭐⭐½

ASUS uses a custom motherboard that accepts a mobile CPU and RAM. While you can easily access the SODIMM RAM — there are two slots available, but ASUS only fills one on the 16GB configs — the CPU is permanent. You'd have to replace the entire motherboard, if that's even possible, should the chip fail.

What would most likely happen if the CPU failed out of warranty is a complete trashing of the PC, aside from the GPU and storage.

Even the CPU's cooler is a custom piece that uses heat pipes to direct CPU heat to an air-cooled block mounted on the back of the PC. Good luck replacing it should it fail.

The 500W 80+ Platinum PSU from LiteOn is classic OEM fare, with a rectangular shape that won't be easily replaced, either.

Basically, you can upgrade or replace the GPU, the SSD (there's a second free M.2 slot on the board), the RAM, and the M.2 Wi-Fi card. I'd consider everything else off the table unless you're an experienced PC builder, and in that case, you already know that this isn't the PC for you.

Performance & cooling ⭐⭐⭐

The compact case and lack of system fans had me worried about the T500's cooling potential. The CPU has a dedicated cooler that exhausts out the back of the PC, but the heat created by the GPU is mostly free to fill the chamber.

I ran a 10-minute system stress test to check heat and power. Unfortunately, the CPU throttled up to 18% while in Turbo mode, dropping to 0-2% throttling after that. So, no matter what, the chip is going to throttle.

The maximum operating temperature for the Core i7-13620H is 100 degrees Celsius — the chip topped out at 96 degrees Celsius but leveled off at about 88 degrees Celsius in my stress test.

I next ran some benchmarks to check performance and system noise. Running DOOM: The Dark Ages resulted in the most noise, at about 55.4dB. That's about the same volume as a quiet office. Testing Black Myth: Wukong, system noise hit 55.3dB. It seems that ASUS has put a cap on fan speeds to keep the PC under a certain level of noise.

However, there's an awful rattle that starts up when the fans reach a certain speed. The ticking is enough to make me want to unplug the PC, and I can't figure out exactly which piece inside is making the noise. Not good.

Here's a look at the results from my benchmark testing. Note that I tested at a 3440x1440 resolution with relatively high in-game settings. There's plenty of room to crank things down to achieve higher frame rates, especially if you're at a more reasonable 1080p resolution.

I also ran Cinebench 2024 to test the CPU's productivity abilities. In multi-core, it hit a score of 858, putting it roughly on par with a Ryzen 7 5800X. In single-core, it hit a score of 107, which again is quite close to the Ryzen CPU.

Elsewhere, Wi-Fi 6 is fast and reliable, and I had no problems connecting accessories with Bluetooth.

Value ⭐⭐⭐

The ASUS TUF Gaming T500 model I tested runs for $1,299.99 at Best Buy. As usual, I put together a similar build on PCPartPicker to see what sort of price I'd pay if I built a system myself.

With an Intel Core i5-13600KF CPU, an MSI B760 Gaming Plus motherboard, 32GB of G.Skill Flare X5 DDR5 RAM, a Crucial P3 Plus 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, and the same ASUS Dual RTX 5060 Ti (16GB) GPU, you're looking at spending about $1,150. Add a case of your choice, and you're close to hitting the same price that ASUS asks.

Of course, the PC you assembled yourself would be upgradeable in the future, and it also wouldn't suffer from the same thermal throttling as the mobile Core i7-13620H.

ASUS also sells a more affordable version of the T500. For $959.99 (at the time of writing, discounted to $899.99), you can get an Intel Core i5-13320H CPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, an NVIDIA RTX 5060 GPU, and 1TB SSD.

Value isn't terrible, but it's not great, either. It's about what I'd expect from a prebuilt system.

ASUS TUF Gaming T500 review: My final thoughts

✅You should buy this if ...

• It's available at a steep discount.

You should not buy this if ...

• You're expecting a PC that's easily upgradeable.
• You want a CPU that doesn't throttle.
• You have some experience with PC building.

ASUS says it designed the T500 for gamers who want lower power consumption than a desktop but better performance than a laptop.

However, with a mobile CPU that throttles, a desktop GPU sucking up just as much power, and a severe lack of upgradeability, the T500 doesn't really offer any benefits over alternatives.

Unless the T500 is seriously discounted, I recommend instead opting for the mobility of a gaming laptop or the true power of a real desktop gaming PC. This sort of hybrid setup is a neat idea, but it's not something I'd ever tell a friend to buy.

HP has been steadily growing and improving its OMEN line of gaming hardware in the last few years, and the brand has become a consistently good option for consumers.

Now, the OMEN family is quite a bit larger, with HP announcing a handful of hardware refreshes — and an entirely new product to sit at the very top of the lineup.

2025 is giving us a new HP OMEN 35L desktop (including a very interesting new edition), a refreshed HP OMEN 16 laptop, and the absolutely ridiculous HP OMEN MAX 45L desktop.

There's some interesting stuff going on here, so let's dive in.

First, we have the all-new HP OMEN MAX 45L. Similar to the HP OMEN MAX 16 (2025) I reviewed, this tower is meant to be the best HP can offer to those who demand the greatest performance.

Equipped with up to an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (16 cores, 32 threads), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 (32GB VRAM), 128GB of DDR5 RAM, and 2TB of PCIe Gen5 SSD storage, the OMEN MAX 45L is a monster for gaming, creation, and artificial intelligence workflows.

What makes this desktop "flagship" level, though, is more than just the components inside. Toolless entry into the roomy chassis allows for easy upgrades of the standard parts, you get a high-powered motherboard that enables in-depth CPU, GPU, and RAM overclocking, HP improved its "CRYO CHAMBER" cooling technology (which includes 360mm liquid CPU cooling), and the 1,200W PSU is now fully modular and even includes unique features like automatic fan cleaning.

This tower is massive and it's bound to be expensive, but it should offer some of the best and most consistent performance you can expect out of a modern gaming PC, and compete with PCs like the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i (Gen 10) I just reviewed. I do wish the OMEN MAX 45L got the same "pair up to three wireless HyperX accessories without a USB dongle" feature as the MAX 16 laptop, though.

Before I jump into the new OMEN 35L desktop, a brief mention of the third OMEN product HP announced today.

The HP OMEN 16 gaming laptop has also been refreshed, but it's a simple spec bump to the latest internals, including up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti.

I reviewed the HP OMEN 35L (2024), and I honestly loved that desktop. It wasn't perfect (mostly on the software/firmware front), but its compact chassis was gorgeous. HP hasn't messed with that design for 2025, but the OMEN 35L is getting treated to many of the same on-paper components as the OMEN MAX 45L.

Performance won't be as good thanks to less space for airflow to keep everything running cool, but a lot of people will be more than happy to accept that compromise. The most exciting part about this year's OMEN 35L, though, is the new Stealth Edition.

Designed for esports but aimed at anyone who wants a more understated design, the OMEN 35L Stealth Edition boasts all the same specs as the standard version, but does away with the glass-clad, RGB-lit chassis in favor of a blockier, all matte-black design.

It's a gaming PC that doesn't look like a gaming PC, and I personally think it's awesome. It's an even better version of the reasons I loved the Dell XPS Desktop (8960) we reviewed. I'm willing to be a lot of people will be drawn to the Stealth Edition.

In other news, HP also announced some new HyperX gaming accessories, so be sure to check those out, too. Stay tuned, because as you're reading this I'm in Los Angeles with HP, going hands-on with these new products. My initial impressions will be appearing on Windows Central soon.

Battlefield 6 launch day has finally arrived, and many PC gamers will soon find out that Secure Boot must be enabled in Windows 10 or Windows 11 before playing.

Secure Boot is designed to keep your PC clear of malware that gets hold of your system before Windows can load, but it's also a requirement for several anti-cheat measures, including EA's Javelin system.

Here's a quick and painless guide on how to check for and enable Secure Boot in Windows 10 and Windows 11 so that you can play Battlefield 6 on day one.

How to verify if Secure Boot is enabled in Windows 10 and Windows 11

Secure Boot is a requirement for installing or upgrading to Windows 11, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's currently enabled on your PC. For Windows 10, it's not a requirement. Either way, this is a crucial part of Battlefield 6.

Here's how to verify if Secure Boot is enabled on your Windows PC.

1. Type msinfo into your Windows search bar and hit Enter. No search bar visible? Right-click the Start button and click Search before typing.
2. Verify in the System Summary section that Secure Boot State reads On.
3. Verify in the same System Summary section that BIOS Mode reads UEFI.

If your system has Secure Boot State set to On and the BIOS Mode set to UEFI, you shouldn't need to do much else to enjoy Battlefield 6 with its Javelin anti-cheat.

If the Secure Boot State reads Off and your BIOS Mode reads Legacy, please skip to the section on how to change your BIOS Mode to UEFI.

If your system has Secure Boot State set to Off and the BIOS Mode set to UEFI, please skip to the section on how to enable Secure Boot in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

If your system's Secure Boot State reads Unsupported, you'll need to check with your individual motherboard manufacturer to see if there are any workarounds or BIOS updates available.

How to change your BIOS Mode to UEFI

There are a few hoops to jump through before you can swap your BIOS Mode from Legacy to UEFI, but nothing that will take too long.

First, you must ensure that TPM 2.0 is enabled on your system. Here's how to do it.

1. Tap the Windows key + R shortcut to show the Run window.
2. Type tpm.msc and hit Enter.
3. Verify that the Status section in the middle window pane reads The TPM is ready for use.

If your TPM is not ready for use, you'll have to check with your motherboard vendor on how to enable it before continuing. TPM 2.0 is required to run Windows 11, so this is going to be a potential problem for those still running Windows 10.

Let's assume that your TPM 2.0 chip is ready to go. You now must verify whether your Windows boot drive is MBR or GPT. Here's how to do it.

1. Right-click the Start button and click Disk Management.
2. Right-click the drive that includes the Windows (C:) partition in the bottom section of the Disk Management window. In my case, this reads Disk 0.
3. Click Properties.
4. Click the Volumes tab in the window that appears.
5. Verify that the Partition style reads GPT.

If your drive's Partition style reads GPT, you don't have to do anything more to your drive, and you should be ready to enable Secure Boot.

If your drive's Partition style reads MBR, there are a few more steps to tackle. Only follow these next steps if your drive is using the MBR partition style.

1. Tap the Windows key + R shortcut, type cmd, and hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter to launch the Command Prompt in admin mode.
2. Type mbr2gpt /validate /disk:0 /allowFullOS. Note that your PC might have a different disk:0 value — this is seen in the Disk Management section I laid out above. Use whatever number is assigned to your Windows boot drive.
3. Hit Enter to complete the command.

The command prompt should now validate your drive to ensure it can be converted from MBR to GPT safely. This is a great time to remind you that you should have a backup of your drive already sorted, as this next move has a bit of risk involved.

Once you're ready to convert, follow these steps using the same command prompt window.

1. Type mbr2gpt /convert /disk:0 /allowfullOS. Again, use whatever disk number your PC lists in Disk Management.
2. Hit Enter to run the command.

Your drive should now be converted to GPT. A successful conversion will read something like "Completed successfully."

👉 Related: How to enter UEFI (BIOS) on Windows 10 PCs

If instead it says the conversion failed, you'll likely see a few lines regarding the steps required to complete the conversion. If it mentions that you need to switch to UEFI mode before the conversion can be completed, follow these steps.

1. Restart your PC and enter the BIOS by hitting the appropriate key on your keyboard (usually F11, F12, or Delete).
2. Navigate to the Advanced mode in your motherboard's BIOS.
3. Navigate to the Boot menu in the BIOS.
4. Find the Compatibility Support Module (CSM) section in the BIOS and disable it.

Your motherboard's BIOS might not have quite the same steps as I've laid out above, but at least you know what to look for while you're digging around. Feel like you made some unnecessary changes? Just exit the BIOS, choose not to save anything, and restart your PC to enter the BIOS fresh.

Disabling CSM will kick your PC into UEFI mode. You should now be ready to complete the final step to enable Secure Boot on Windows.

How to enable Secure Boot in Windows 10 and Windows 11

Now that your PC has its UEFI requirements sorted out, you should be ready to enable Secure Boot in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Here's how to do it.

1. Restart your PC and enter the BIOS by hitting the appropriate key on your keyboard (usually F11, F12, or Delete).
2. Navigate to the Advanced mode in your motherboard's BIOS.
3. Navigate to the Boot or Secure Boot menu in the BIOS.
4. Ensure that the Secure Boot state is set to enabled. The status might also simply read Windows UEFI mode rather than mentioning anything about enabled or disabled.
5. Save your BIOS changes and restart your PC.

Secure Boot is also a requirement for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and 7

The Call of Duty team announced that it was adding new hardware-level cheat detection to its RICOCHET anti-cheat, which coincided with the launch of Black Ops 6 Season 5 on August 7.

We also know that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is arriving on November 14, 2025, with the same Secure Boot requirements. I've put together a separate guide to getting Secure Boot enabled for Black Ops 7, but it's ultimately the same process.

RICOCHET has the same TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot requirements as Javelin anti-cheat in Battlefield 6. If you can play Battlefield 6, you should also have no issues with Black Ops 7.

It's worth noting that following the Black Ops 7 beta, the RICOCHET anti-cheat team posted on X that by Day 5 of the play test, 98.8% of matches were free of cheaters. I personally hate to give kernel-level access to anti-cheat methods, but if it works, it works.

NVIDIA's latest GeForce Game Ready Driver update notes come with some sad news. After more than a decade of loyal service, NVIDIA's Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta graphics cards will no longer receive the same supporting updates as newer cards.

NVIDIA plans to release one more major driver update for these architectures in October 2025, and after that, they will drop down to quarterly security updates. This scheduling lines up with Windows 10's own end-of-life date, which falls on October 14, 2025.

The quarterly security updates for these GPU architectures will continue for a full three years through October 2028, says NVIDIA, but the usual "Game Ready" updates containing new features and optimizations will no longer apply.

Here's the quote from the NVIDIA blog:

NVIDIA's GPUs using the Maxwell architecture were first introduced in 2014, more than 11 years ago. They kicked off with GTX 700-series models and concluded with the GTX 900-series hardware, including my beloved GTX 980 Ti Founders Edition unit that I hope is still in use somewhere.

NVIDIA switched to the Pascal architecture in 2016 with the launch of the GTX 10-series cards, and this architecture only stuck around for one glorious generation.

The Turing architecture, the first with ray tracing acceleration, was introduced alongside NVIDIA's RTX 20-series GPUs, which have evolved through 30- and 40-series hardware into the RTX 50-series Blackwell cards released in 2025.

As for the Volta architecture, it arrived in 2017 and was confined to Titan, Quadro, and Tesla workstation GPUs.

While the Maxwell cards have pretty much aged out at this point, NVIDIA's Pascal hardware is still in use by plenty of gamers. That's not great. A look at Steam's hardware survey has the GTX 1060 at number 12 on the overall list, powering 2.15% of PCs in June 2025.

To put that into perspective, the most popular GPU — NVIDIA's RTX 4060 Laptop card — has a 4.99% usage rate in the last poll.

There are undoubtedly thousands of gamers still working with a Pascal card, but keep in mind that a lack of feature updates isn't going to brick your card. They might not be as stable as before, but you should be able to continue gaming without much hassle.

NVIDIA plans to offer Windows 10 driver updates for an extra year

It was also announced in the same breath that NVIDIA plans to extend Windows 10 Game Ready driver support for its newer RTX GPUs until October 2026, a full year after Windows 10's end-of-life date.

That's good news for those who refuse to (or cannot) switch over to Windows 11. With only about a month and a half left of full Windows 10 support remaining, many users are scrambling for an exit strategy.

👉 Related: Windows 10 is dead: Here's why it makes sense to buy a Snapdragon X PC for an upgrade to Windows 11

Those who decide to hold on — I haven't yet switched over my main gaming PC from Windows 10 to Windows 11 — can at least have a nice little grace period to figure out a plan forward.

NVIDIA is being rather generous with its updates. No hardware can remain supported forever, and the fact that Maxwell cards have continued to receive regular updates for 11 years is applauded.

Earlier this year at CES 2025, Dell announced that it was reviving the Area-51 desktop gaming PC. The legendary PC, which debuted more than 25 years ago, went on a brief hiatus but returned with an overhauled design.

Part of that new design was a promise from Dell that the Area-51 was coming back with the potential for easier DIY upgrades, options for cutting-edge performance hardware, and a new cooling method.

Now, thanks to Adam Savage's "Tested" YouTube series, we have an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at how the Area-51 keeps its cool using a positive pressure design.

Dell's Area-51 cooling and noise claims, as tested, aren't far off

Savage, who many of you probably know as the co-host of the legendary Discovery Channel show "Mythbusters," has been publishing videos on the Tested YouTube channel since about 2010. Topics are all over the place, ranging from medieval suits of armor to PC tech.

Published July 23 is a deep dive into Alienware's method behind cooling in the Area-51 desktop PC. It's no secret that the video is sponsored by Intel and Alienware, but there's so much information and solid proof here that it's far from a fluff piece.

To give you a primer for the video, it's worth mentioning that Alienware designed its new Area-51 PC with a positive pressure design (which has fans push air into the system) rather than a negative pressure design (which has fans pull hot air out of the system), as is far more common in custom PCs.

This leads to a lack of rear exhaust fan — I remarked on this when covering Dell's initial Area-51 announcement, noting that Dell made claims about 25% more airflow with 45% less fan noise.

As it turns out, those claims aren't far off, if at all. Windows Central Editor Rebecca Spear recently reviewed Alienware's Area-51 after spending months with the PC, and in the review, she noted:

"Best of all, the desktop stays quiet even when running graphically intensive games. My decibel meter only ever measured a peak of 38.4 dB, which is comparable to light rain. That's basically just a step above a light whisper."

Despite the quiet cooling, the PC came nowhere close to overheating, and that was with an NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU inside.

A behind-the-scenes look at Dell's gaming PC testing process

Thanks to Savage's latest Tested video, we now have a much better understanding of how Dell arrived at this design.

Travis North, Dell's Senior Distinguished Thermal Engineering Technologist, might have the coolest job I've ever seen. Savage spends a lot of time with North in the video, going over how Dell tests airflow in its PCs.

In the case of the Area-51, which has two 120mm fans on top, two 180mm fans on the front, and two more on the bottom, over top of the PSU, it all comes down to airflow and pressure. As North states:

"This approach, from the math, the physics, basically minimizes any of the losses, and it gives us the capability to push all the air flow down the channel and actually pre-charge the GPU fan with pressure."

It's revealed that Dell uses the same sensors as the airline industry uses to measure airspeed, but here they're used to test static pressure rather than airflow. As is pointed out in the video, high positive pressure inside a PC case doesn't necessarily mean the PC is being cooled properly.

It's air flow that actually cools a PC, but by measuring pressure inside the case, Dell's technicians can analyze whether or not air is flowing through the right areas.

Savage notes that the back panel of the PC has room for more cutouts than there are in the final product. As North explains, the rear panel sort of acts like a valve; more holes would cause recirculation of hot air.

A lack of cutouts towards the bottom of the rear panel also benefits the GPU's cooling, which is the main focus in the Area-51 — the CPU cooling is already handled with a water-cooled AiO radiator.

When pressed about the overall process to optimize cooling, North remarks, "Three months, 30 simulations, and I can tell you, a ton of work." That is, of course, after the engineers have already come to what seems like a final solution on paper.

Things get more technical thereafter, with North demonstrating how velocity, area, and cubic feet per minute (CFM) pressure are measured using a flow bench.

With the Area-51 connected to one end of the flow bench, where it creates its own pressure using system fans, another fan on the other end of the flow bench is enabled to pull air.

Somewhere in the middle is where pressure is measured using "inches of water." One inch of water is equal to 1 PSI (yes, I had to look that up). With an array of digital and analog sensors along the line, it's revealed that the Area-51 is capable of 172 CFM of airflow pressure.

As Savage puts it, "That's huge!" North responds, "The 172 CFM is probably a little bit overkill in this particular case, but it's about longevity. What can we do to ensure that parts are going to live for a long time?"

North explains that it's all about flexibility and longevity. Dell's aim to make the Area-51 more upgradeable than ever has to account for future hardware that may require more cooling.

And because the system can run cooler than it needs to, every little component inside — capacitors, VRMs, etc. — should reasonably have a longer life.

👉 Related: Top 5 desktop PC case features that I can’t live without — and neither should you

These points are reiterated in the second part of the video, in which Savage speaks with a couple of Dell's lead engineers. Tim Graham, Lead Alienware Architect, posits:

"This system is designed for stuff that doesn't even exist yet. For much higher wattage cards. When we first started this one, the 450W card didn't even exist. And we were designing for a 900W [card] and above."

After many years, Dell is finally close to offering a user-friendly pre-built PC

As a longtime custom PC builder, I've traditionally been hard on Dell's previous Alienware desktop designs. From proprietary parts to wacky case designs that seriously get in the way of any tinkering, I wasn't shy about calling out the issues.

👉 Related: Best pre-built gaming PC in 2025

The new Area-51 isn't perfect, but it's a lot closer than ever. Gone are the proprietary motherboard designs — although you'll still need to buy a separate "motherboard adapter bracket" if you want to drop in a non-Alienware board — and form-over-function cases.

The biggest issue now, in my opinion, is pricing. A quick look at Dell's official site shows models starting at $3,049.99. It doesn't take long to throw together a similar build on PCPartPicker, with Core Ultra 7 265 CPU, RTX 5070 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD, that costs about half that much.

Samsung's 2025 OLED TV lineup will support NVIDIA G-SYNC, starting with the flagship S95F. The Samsung S90F and S85F will also feature the technology.

Samsung has a limited-time sale on OLED TVs right now, some of which will support NVIDIA G-SYNC. I'd recommend browsing the deals right now to see if you can save big on an older model (if NVIDIA G-SYNC is not a priority) or save a bit on 2025 OLED TVs from Samsung.

NVIDIA G-SYNC compatibility joins a long list of gaming features seen in the 2025 OLED models from Samsung. Those devices support HDMI 2.1, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, and the aforementioned NVIDIA G-SYNC.

There used to be a significant gap between TVs and the best gaming monitors in terms of features and specs, but that gap has narrowed dramatically. While you should still choose a gaming monitor for certain refresh rates or if you game at a desk, a gaming TV can provide an excellent experience in 2025.

The new Samsung OLED TVs also have Samsung Gaming Hub, which makes it possible to stream games through services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce Now without requiring an external device.

Samsung is not the first TV manufacturer to support NVIDIA G-SYNC, the well-reviewed LG C4 has had the feature for a while, but the feature is a welcome addition to Samsung's OLED lineup. NVIDIA G-SYNC, which matches a TV's refresh rate to a GPU's frame rate, is a critical feature for ensuring smooth gameplay when PC gaming.

The 2025 OLED TVs from Samsung also use AI Auto Game Mode to analyze the genre of game you're playing and optimize settings accordingly.

“With the addition of NVIDIA G-SYNC compatibility and our most advanced gaming features yet, Samsung’s 2025 OLED TVs deliver elite-level performance for even the most competitive players,” said Samsung's Kevin Lee.

“By building on our leadership in display innovation and integrating real-time AI enhancements, we’re redefining what gamers can expect from a TV—on and off the battlefield.”

Samsung's 2025 OLED TVs have specs that compete with the best gaming TVs, but they're for more than gaming. Samsung makes some of the best TVs in general.

The 2025 OLED TVs from Samsung feature 4K AI upscaling and screens designed to reduce glare.

The Samsung OLED S95F is the company's brightest OLED TV. That screen has a 4K resolution and up to a 165Hz refresh rate. It also supports HDR 10+, which means you'll see high contrast on a bright display.