Jacob Ridley
Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog. From there, he graduated to professionally breaking things as hardware writer at PCGamesN, where he was one half of a popular weekly YouTube show. He would go on to run the team as hardware editor before joining PC Gamer's world-class staff as senior hardware editor. Today, he's managing editor of the hardware team, and you'll find him spending his days reporting on the latest developments in the technology and gaming industries. He's found reporting from floors, benches, and, if he's lucky, plush press rooms at the biggest tech shows, such as Computex and CES. But more often than not he's hunched over the office test bench evaluating the newest PC components.
When he's not writing about GPUs and CPUs, you'll find Jacob trying to get as far away from the modern world as possible by wild camping.
Latest articles by Jacob Ridley
What are XMP and EXPO profiles and how do I use them?
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Ask PC Gamer XMP and EXPO profiles automatically set your system RAM to higher frequencies. Here's how to do it.
Asus ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD review
By Jacob Ridley published
Ultra OLED The ultimate OLED gaming screen? Probably, but the panel technology still has drawbacks.
Nvidia's new desktop app doesn't require you to login: 'your identity isn't essential to this experience'
By Jacob Ridley published
News You can access pretty much all of the features included in the Nvidia App without making an Nvidia account.
Nvidia's game filter for RTX GPUs lets you enable HDR in games that never supported it
By Jacob Ridley published
News Works with any RTX 20-series or newer graphics card and on games running DirectX 9–12 or Vulkan.
Shadowplay can now capture games at 120 fps and gets a new look in the Nvidia App
By Jacob Ridley published
News Do most need to capture at 120 fps? Probably not, but it's nice to have the option.
The new Nvidia App killing GeForce Experience: new overlay, system monitoring, 120fps capture, and lets you add HDR to any game
By Jacob Ridley published
News The Nvidia App is currently in beta but will also replace the Nvidia Control Panel eventually.
I'm calling time on stick drift and getting Hall effect in every one of my controllers in 2024
By Jacob Ridley published
Drifting away I never want to experience stick drift again in my life, and Hall effect is an easy answer.
This real-world Angel Lamp from Alan Wake 2 actually works to make you feel like you're stuck in a horror novel of your own creation
By Jacob Ridley published
News If only Wake had an Alexa compatible lamp in the Dark Place.
AceZone A-Spire review
By Jacob Ridley published
Stay focused Competitive gamers, look no further. And if you're prone to gaming in loud spots, this is the noise-cancelling headset you need.
Intel Core i9 14900KS surfaces ahead of release with claims to a 6.2GHz Turbo and peak wattage to make your graphics card jealous
By Jacob Ridley published
News It's likely that Intel is gearing up the so-far-unannounced processor for release in the next few months.
I created a highly personalised large language model with Nvidia's entertaining Chat with RTX app but at 60GB+ I'm now beginning to wonder if it's worth keeping around
By Jacob Ridley published
News Chat with RTX is available to download and works with most RTX 40/30-series GPUs.
Machine learning means we can read a 2,000-year-old carbonized scroll buried by Mount Vesuvius and turns out it's all about the pleasures of stuffing your face
By Jacob Ridley published
News You'd think this task nearly impossible by looking at the state of these scrolls.
Mod to add HDR to non-HDR games on RTX GPUs is built out of hidden settings in Nvidia's latest drivers
By Jacob Ridley published
News Users are reporting the mod is actually better than Microsoft's AutoHDR option.
Viral clip of Tesla driver wearing Apple Vision Pro leads US gov to remind everyone 'self-driving' cars don't mean you can take your eyes off the road
By Jacob Ridley published
News Try this at home, not the highway.
AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT review
By Jacob Ridley published
Better options More memory is nice, but not worth the price AMD's asking.
Ray tracing made possible on 42-year-old ZX Spectrum: 'reasonably fast, if you consider 17 hours per frame to be reasonably fast'
By Jacob Ridley published
Trace back The 1980s computer produces surprisingly gorgeous ray-traced results, but be prepared to measure performance by hour rather than second.
Drop + Xduoo TA-84 OTL Tube Amp/DAC review
By Jacob Ridley published
Listen up Tubes never go out of fashion.
The plucky Raspberry Pi 5 gets the full liquid treatment with this slightly absurd water cooling kit
By Jacob Ridley published
News You need to have a pretty good reason to want to liquid cool a Raspberry Pi.
Elon Musk's Neuralink has stuck a device in someone's brain and he's already talking up its theoretical uses: 'Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist'
By Jacob Ridley published
News Transhumanism can wait. For now, Neuralink's first human patient is "recovering well".
MSI's new Claw handheld goes head to head with Lenovo and Asus at $700
By Jacob Ridley published
News Though you only get the pared back Intel Meteor Lake chip for that money.
Best power supply for PC gaming in 2024
By Aristeidis Bitziopoulos last updated
Power play Watt's the best power supply unit for PC gaming? Best PSU puns, FTW!
The PC's greatest nemesis was born 40 years ago today
By Jacob Ridley published
News The Apple Macintosh was unveiled on this day 40 years ago, but ignoring the PC/Mac feud it's an awesome piece of tech worth celebrating.
'The key thing is that the good guys have better AIs than the bad guys' says Microsoft founder Bill Gates on the threat from artificial intelligence
By Jacob Ridley published
News 'If the good guys' cyber defence AI is as good or better than the bad guys' cyber attack AI, then that's a good situation.'
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