Ben Hardwidge

Managing editor of Club386, he started his long journey with PC hardware back in 1989, when his Dad brought home a Sinclair PC200 with an 8MHz AMD 8086 CPU and woeful CGA graphics. With over 25 years of experience in PC hardware journalism, he’s benchmarked everything from the Voodoo3 to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090. When he’s not fiddling with PCs, you can find him playing his guitars, painting Warhammer figures, and walking his dog on the South Downs.
linkedin

Noctua even has a camera in its roster now, and it’s designed to prove your photos aren’t AI slop

A 40mm Noctua fan sits in front of the CAIM1's sensor heatsink to keep it cool, while the camera cryptographically stamps your work to prove its origin.
Ben Hardwidge -

Mini-LED gaming monitor bargain – this 240Hz AOC screen just dropped to a record low price

At just $249.99 for an AOC Q27G4ZMN, this is a fantastic gaming monitor deal, bringing you a Mini-LED backlight and 240Hz refresh rate.
Ben Hardwidge -

Windows XP’s famous ‘FCKGW’ pirate key story revealed, as former Microsoft programmer spills the beans

Microsoft's former Windows Product Activation author says the famous pirate key may have been leaked by someone at Dell or Intel.
Ben Hardwidge -

Intel Z990 Nova Lake motherboards are shipping, revealing ASRock model names

ASRock Z990 Challenger, Steel Legend, Taichi, and Pro models all appear in shipping records, suggesting the Intel Nova Lake launch isn't far off now.
Ben Hardwidge -

Nvidia GeForce RTX 60 series won’t be out until 2028, and AMD only has one RDNA 5 GPU for 2027, says leaker

Nvidia is unlikely to release any GeForce GPUs in 2027, including RTX 50 Super variants, while a single AMD AT2 chip may be out by the end of the year, according to recent rumours.
Ben Hardwidge -

Intel is reportedly replacing the Core i5-14600K with a CPU sporting eight P-Cores and DDR4 RAM support

This rumoured 16-core Raptor Lake Refresh chip would be better at gaming and multi-threading than the 14600K, and it would work with your old RAM.
Ben Hardwidge -

Steam Deck 2 plans still on track, despite RAM price chaos, says Valve

Valve says the company is still looking at a future Steam Deck "in the same way" as before, while keeping an eye on current conditions.
Ben Hardwidge -

This is Intel’s best-selling desktop CPU right now, and it’s probably not the one you think

AMD might be largely making a mockery of Intel in the latest sales charts, but there's one chip from the latter that strikes just the right balance.
Ben Hardwidge -

I tried Alienware’s new 1080p QD-OLED gaming monitor, and it has some outlandish esports features

Designed in collaboration with Team Liquid, the Alienware AW2527HX has loads of quirky features for competitive gamers, including a TN emulation mode.
Ben Hardwidge -
123...23Page 1 of 23