Hardware articles

PlayStation 5 first impressions

I had reason to reward myself last week, and having been hovering in indecision for some time, I decided it was finally time to pull the trigger and buy a PlayStation 5. After a short time with the console, here are my thoughts on Sony’s next-gen offering and how it...

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition review

I’ve been watching the price of Nvidia 30 series graphics cards for years with a view to upgrading from my modest but reliable Asus GeForce Dual GTX 1060 O6G. With cryptocurrency prices crashing and hardware finally coming back into stock at reasonable(ish) prices, I finally pulled the trigger and made...

Easy retro gaming with Retropie

Anyone who reads this blog will know that I like to play some emulated games from time to time - normally revisiting PlayStation 2 classics like PES 5 and Gran Turismo 3. But retro gaming on a PC has its downsides. You need to install an emulator for each console,...

PC Building Simulator review

This week I decided it was time to start tackling my backlog - all those games sitting on the virtual shelf waiting to be enjoyed. One of the most recent additions to the pile was PC Building Simulator, a 2018 release from The Irregular Corporation that promises edutainment as you...

Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition keyboard review

It’s been a few months since I delved into the world of mechanical keyboards for the first time with the Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition - a little black number with a hugely customisable LED setup and super-responsive keys. Having used it extensively for everything from gaming, to work, to writing...

Asus GeForce Dual GTX 1060 O6G review and PC build project update

For this month’s off-topic post I thought I’d give an update on my PC project and a review of my new graphics card – the Asus GeForce Dual GTX 1060 O6G – which I’ve now been using for about a month after splashing out last payday to complete my build…...

How to design and build your own PC – and why you should

A few weeks on from building my first PC from scratch, I thought I’d offer some thoughts and tips to help other first-time system builders go from big ideas to the big switch-on. The evening of June 15th was a tense one. I came home from work, ripped open the...