PC Hardware News, Reviews & Buying Guides — Page 4 of 61
Daily news digests, benchmark roundups, and long-form buying guides on GPUs, CPUs, home AI workstations, local LLM runtimes, retro PC builds, and the tools real builders use in 2026.
Showing articles 151–200 of 3046.
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- RTX 3060 Drop-In vs AM4 Rebuild for an i7-9700K in 2026 — At 1440p the GPU sets your frame rate, so a 12GB RTX 3060 drop-in usually beats a full AM4 rebuild on an i7-9700K rig — and here is… Mike Perry · 2026-08-30 · 12 min read
- Genesis Mini and SNES Classic on a 4K Gaming Monitor: What Actually Happens to 720p — 720p into 4K is an exact 3x scale, so why do mini consoles look soft? The scaler, not the ratio — plus three 27-inch 4K panels compared… Mike Perry · 2026-08-30 · 18 min read
- Best Gaming Gifts Under $60 in 2026 — Five gaming gifts under $60 that suit any setup: a Hall-effect controller, an analog headset, LED strips, a full-desk mouse mat and a… Mike Perry · 2026-08-30 · 15 min read
- Raspberry Pi 4 as an SMB1 File Server for Windows 98 Retro Rigs — Two smb.conf keys let a Windows 98 PC mount a Raspberry Pi 4 Samba share. Full config, parts list, throughput math and fixes for the usual… Mike Perry · 2026-08-30 · 16 min read
- Best Esports Club Practice Room Gear in 2026 — What a school or club esports practice room really costs per seat in 2026: dual-mode panels, wired headsets, cloned game drives, and the… Mike Perry · 2026-08-29 · 17 min read
- Headset Mic vs USB Mic for Discord and Twitch: Recon 50 vs Blue Yeti — Do you need a USB mic if you already own a gaming headset? The answer splits cleanly between live Discord voice chat and anything you… Mike Perry · 2026-08-29 · 14 min read
- Noctua NH-U12S vs NZXT Kraken M22 in a Mini-ITX Ryzen 7 5800X Build — The NH-U12S stands 158 mm tall; the Kraken M22 needs a 120 mm mount. On a 105 W Ryzen 7 5800X they cool within a few degrees, so fit and… Mike Perry · 2026-08-29 · 17 min read
- Do Wireless Keyboards Work in BIOS? Building a Homelab Crash Cart in 2026 — A 2.4 GHz USB-receiver keyboard works in BIOS because the receiver speaks HID boot protocol. Bluetooth cannot. Here's the crash cart to… Mike Perry · 2026-08-29 · 12 min read
- Best Filming Kit for a PC Hardware YouTube Channel in 2026 — A fixed webcam, a big diffused ring light, a USB mic and a scratch SSD. The four-part kit for filming PC builds, and why lighting outranks… Mike Perry · 2026-08-29 · 14 min read
- Ryzen 7 5800X vs Core i7-9700K for a 24/7 Game Server: Which Hosts More Players? — The Ryzen 7 5800X hosts more players on multithreaded servers; the i7-9700K still wins single-threaded Minecraft tick budgets. Here's the… Mike Perry · 2026-08-29 · 14 min read
- Best PC Upgrades to Buy Before the 2026 Memory Price Spike — NAND repricing reaches shelves with a lag. Here are the five upgrades worth buying inside that window, the one you can safely defer, and… Mike Perry · 2026-08-29 · 14 min read
- Second Streaming PC vs NVENC: What an Old i7-9700K Is Still Good For — A dedicated encoder PC was the 2019 answer. Here is what an old i7-9700K can still sustain, what the two-PC path really costs, and when… Mike Perry · 2026-08-29 · 14 min read
- Best Quiet PC Upgrades for Apartment Gaming in 2026 — Five upgrades that make a gaming PC apartment-quiet in 2026: a silent air cooler, SSD storage, two AIO options and the cheapest fix of… Mike Perry · 2026-08-28 · 15 min read
- Best Storage Kit for Archiving a Physical Game Collection in 2026 — How to size and buy storage for archiving a physical PC and console game collection in 2026 — capacity math, dumping hardware, and the… Mike Perry · 2026-08-28 · 12 min read
- Local Whisper for Stream VODs: What Mic and GPU You Actually Need — What it takes to transcribe stream VODs locally in 2026: VRAM per Whisper model size, realtime factors on a 12 GB RTX 3060, and why the… Mike Perry · 2026-08-28 · 15 min read
- Can You Game While Ollama Runs? RTX 3060 12GB VRAM Contention — A 7-8B model at Q4_K_M parks 5-6GB of an RTX 3060's 12GB before the game loads. VRAM budgets, quant tables and the keep_alive lever that… Mike Perry · 2026-08-28 · 18 min read
- Ultrawide vs 27-Inch 4K for Sim Racing on a G29 and RTX 3060 — 3440x1440 asks 40% fewer pixels than 27-inch 4K and buys horizontal field of view instead. Why that trade fits a G29 and an RTX 3060 — and… Mike Perry · 2026-08-28 · 16 min read
- Best Nintendo Switch Accessories for Handheld and Docked Play in 2026 — Five Switch accessories worth buying in 2026 — a full-size handheld grip, wired and wireless audio, a USB-C dock and cartridge storage… Mike Perry · 2026-08-28 · 17 min read
- Best Gaming Setup for Kids and Teens in 2026: 5 Picks — Five picks for a kid's first gaming setup in 2026, ranked on durability and fit rather than peak specs, plus what to buy at each age and… Mike Perry · 2026-08-28 · 16 min read
- Raspberry Pi 4 as a SimHub Dash for a Logitech G29 Rig — A Raspberry Pi 4 makes a solid SimHub dash for a G29 rig: the PC computes telemetry, the Pi displays it. Parts list, latency, mounting and… Mike Perry · 2026-08-28 · 13 min read
- RTX 3060 12GB at 3440x1440: Is It Enough for a 34-Inch Ultrawide? — An RTX 3060 12GB holds 60 fps at 3440x1440 with quality upscaling and high settings. The pixel math, the VRAM headroom, and when to… Mike Perry · 2026-08-28 · 15 min read
- Best Wheel and Controller for Truck and Farm Sims in 2026 — American Truck Simulator wants 900 degrees of rotation and 35 bindings. Farming Simulator 25 wants a wired gamepad. Here is how that split… Mike Perry · 2026-08-27 · 15 min read
- 34-Inch Ultrawide vs 27-Inch 4K for Coding and Gaming (2026) — Ultrawide gives you 3440 pixels at 100% scaling; a 27-inch 4K gives 2560 after scaling. The code-column, GPU-load and… Mike Perry · 2026-08-27 · 14 min read
- Best Flight Sim Gear for Beginners in 2026 — A twist-rudder stick, a 1TB scenery drive and a boom mic get you flying on PC for roughly $135. Here is what to buy first, and what to… Mike Perry · 2026-08-27 · 17 min read
- RTX 3060 12GB for Local LLMs: The Complete 2026 Guide — Median tok/s by model size from 49 published RTX 3060 12GB runs, the point where 12 GB stops being enough, and the full cluster index. Mike Perry · 2026-08-27 · 9 min read
- Best 4K Monitor for Reviewing AI-Generated Images on an RTX 3060 — Which 27-inch 4K panel to pair with an RTX 3060 12GB for culling Stable Diffusion output, and what a 4K desktop really costs you in VRAM… Mike Perry · 2026-08-27 · 15 min read
- Best Work-From-Home Kit for Gamers in 2026 — The five-piece desk kit that covers 9-to-5 video calls and evening game streams: webcam, ring light, USB mic, wireless combo and earbuds… Mike Perry · 2026-08-27 · 15 min read
- i7-9700K vs Ryzen 7 5800X as a CPU-Offload Host for a 12GB GPU — Eight threads versus sixteen when a 27-32B model spills off a 12GB card: why prefill scales with core count but generation hits the DDR4… Mike Perry · 2026-08-27 · 17 min read
- 360mm vs 240mm AIO: Is the Bigger Radiator Worth It in 2026? — A 360mm AIO beats a 240mm by single digits on temperature — the real win is holding that temperature at a far lower fan curve. Here is the… Mike Perry · 2026-08-27 · 17 min read
- Best PC Gaming Upgrades Under $30 in 2026 — The five PC gaming upgrades worth buying under $30 in 2026 — storage, surface, audio, input and lighting — ranked by measurable benefit… Mike Perry · 2026-08-27 · 17 min read
- Govee vs DAYBETTER vs KSIPZE: Best LED Strip for Desk and Monitor Bias Lighting — Govee, DAYBETTER and KSIPZE compared for desk and monitor bias lighting — LED density, voltage drop, camera-safe white and true cost per… Mike Perry · 2026-08-27 · 15 min read
- Best Dorm Room Gaming Setup in 2026: 5 Picks That Fit One Desk — A 27-inch dual-mode display, a wired headset, wireless earbuds, a Hall-effect controller and a quiet combo — gear that fits one shallow… Mike Perry · 2026-08-26 · 15 min read
- NEEWER 18" vs UBeesize 22" Ring Light for Webcam Streaming (2026) — An 18-inch ring fits the desk; a 22-inch ring fits beside it. Clearance, colour temperature and eyeline decide this, not the 5W wattage gap. Mike Perry · 2026-08-26 · 16 min read
- Ryzen 5 2600 vs Core i7-9700K for a First 1080p Gaming Build (2026) — Ryzen 5 2600 or Core i7-9700K for a first 1080p build? The Intel chip wins more benchmarks; the AMD socket still takes a faster CPU in two… Mike Perry · 2026-08-26 · 16 min read
- Best Steam Deck Dock and 4K Monitor Setup for TV-Mode Gaming in 2026 — A $36 HDMI 2.1 dock plus a dual-mode 27-inch 4K panel is the docked-handheld sweet spot. Here is why the display, not the dock, is your… Mike Perry · 2026-08-26 · 13 min read
- Thrustmaster TH8A vs the G29's Stock Shifter: Is a Standalone H-Pattern Worth It? — The G29 ships no shifter, so the real choice is $59 for Logitech's add-on or $199 for the TH8A. The cars you actually race decide which… Mike Perry · 2026-08-26 · 12 min read
- Best Steam Deck Docked Setup for a 4K Desk in 2026: Dock, Monitor, Storage — The Steam Deck outputs 4K but renders 1080p. Dock, monitor, storage and controller picks matched to the real render budget, with August… Mike Perry · 2026-08-26 · 17 min read
- Wired vs Bluetooth Headsets for Competitive FPS in 2026: The Latency Math — Bluetooth adds 308-369 ms end to end plus up to 45 ms of jitter. A $28 wired headset removes both. The full latency math, and when… Mike Perry · 2026-08-26 · 18 min read
- Best Steam Deck Accessories in 2026: Docks, Audio, Controllers, and Storage — Docks, audio, controllers and storage for the Steam Deck in 2026, ranked by what actually changes the device — from a $26 budget pick to a… Mike Perry · 2026-08-26 · 16 min read
- Genesis Mini vs SNES Classic vs Raspberry Pi 4: Which Retro Setup Wins in 2026? — Genesis Mini and SNES Classic now trade near $220 while a full Raspberry Pi 4 build lands lower. Setup time, emulation accuracy and cost… Mike Perry · 2026-08-26 · 16 min read
- Wired Headset vs Bluetooth Earbuds for Competitive FPS: The Latency Math — How much latency Bluetooth earbuds really add for competitive FPS, where the delay comes from, and why positional cues cost you more than… Mike Perry · 2026-08-26 · 15 min read
- Best Gaming Room Lighting in 2026: LED Strips and Ring Lights — Bias lighting and an on-camera key light are two different jobs. Five picks from $21 to $113, plus the voltage-drop math that decides how… Mike Perry · 2026-08-26 · 18 min read
- Best CPU Coolers for High-TDP Gaming Builds in 2026 — The best CPU coolers for high-TDP 2026 gaming builds: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.Black wins overall, with 240mm, 360mm, SFF and budget picks… Mike Perry · 2026-08-25 · 11 min read
- Logitech Extreme 3D Pro vs DualSense for Flight and Space Sims in 2026 — The DualSense wins on axes-per-dollar and cross-library use; the Extreme 3D Pro wins on rudder feel. Count your sim's analog axes before… Mike Perry · 2026-08-24 · 15 min read
- Best CPU Cooler for the Core i7-9700K in 2026 — The Core i7-9700K ships without a cooler and LGA1151 brackets are getting scarce. Four picks, a mounting checklist, and the step buyers… Mike Perry · 2026-08-24 · 17 min read
- Best Racing Wheels and Controllers for Sim Racing in 2026 — Five sim-racing picks from a $45 Hall-effect pad to a 900-degree force-feedback wheel, plus the mounting mistake that ruins most entry… Mike Perry · 2026-08-24 · 16 min read
- Logitech G29 vs HORI Racing Wheel Overdrive: Which Entry Sim Wheel Wins? — The G29 is PlayStation and PC; the HORI Overdrive is Xbox. Force feedback, pedal count and rotation angle decide the rest of this entry… Mike Perry · 2026-08-22 · 15 min read
- Best Budget PC Upgrades for 1440p Gaming in 2026 — GPU first, then storage, then CPU, then cooling. Five budget 1440p picks for 2026, each tied to a bottleneck you can measure before you… Mike Perry · 2026-08-22 · 17 min read
- Best Streaming Starter Kit for New Twitch Streamers in 2026 — Everything a new Twitch streamer actually needs in 2026, in the order you should buy it: mic, light, then camera. Five picks and a $369… Mike Perry · 2026-08-22 · 19 min read
- KOORUI 27" 4K vs Samsung Odyssey 4K: Best 27-Inch Panel for PC and Console — KOORUI 27-inch 4K at $349.99 vs Samsung Odyssey 4K at $489.99. Dual-mode 160Hz, HDMI 2.1 and what an RTX 3060 12GB can actually drive at 4K. Mike Perry · 2026-08-22 · 17 min read