Tom's Hardware: For The Hardcore PC Enthusiast

AI companies are now racing to the bottom — crashing token prices and competitive models push companies to cut costs

By Jon Martindale Published 3 August 26

Premium For the rest of us, there's now significant AI intelligence to be found in more affordable models.

Lumentum CEO warns of impending bottleneck on critical material used for silicon photonics

By Luke James Published 31 July 26

Premium Lumentum CEO Michael Hurlston told an audience at the RAISE Summit that indium phosphide is heading into a squeeze worse than the one in memory.

Premium

Shanghai Aishengna named as the maker of China's first domestic immersion DUV chipmaking tools

By Luke James Published 30 July 26

Premium Aishengna has been named by a single source who declined to be named, and its shareholders, SMEE, and Yuliangsheng didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Premium

Alphabet goes cash flow negative for the first time, as AI capex surges to a staggering $44.9 billion in a single quarter

By Luke James Published 28 July 26

Premium On the same day, CFO Anat Ashkenazi raised full-year capex guidance to between $195 billion and $205 billion.

Premium

AMD splits Zen 7 into three EPYC families for 2028 and starts selling server CPUs by the agent

By Luke James Published 27 July 26

Premium The company named Florence, Ferrara, and Fidenza in its launch release, extended its annual CPU, GPU, networking, and rack cadence out to 2030.

Premium

OpenAI's HuggingFace breach heralds an unprecedented age of AI cyber warfare

By Bruno Ferreira Published 24 July 26

Premium Contemporary AI bots are far too competent at cybersecurity, and humanity may have reached a tipping point where it's hard to keep up.

Premium

Quick Takes

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Reviews

MSI Cubi NUC AI+ 3MG review: Panther Lake in an understated mini PC

By Mark Tyson Published 29 July 26

Can this tiny panther roar?

Mini PCs

Acer ProDesigner PE320QXT professional monitor review: Touchscreen functionality with a 6K resolution

By Christian Eberle Published 28 July 26

Acer takes a unique approach to professional displays with its ProDesigner PE320QXT.

Gaming Monitors

Framework Laptop 13 Pro review: It cleans up nice

By Andrew E. Freedman Published 27 July 26

The Framework Laptop 13 Pro is its most solidly built laptop ever, with a bright display and long battery life sweetening the deal — if you can afford it.

Laptops

HP OmniBook X Flip 14 Review: Premium design, middling performance

By Charles Jefferies Published 26 July 26

Though HP’s OmniBook X Flip 14 offers premium quality and features, rivals offer better display value or stronger performance for the money.

Laptops

AOC U32G4 32-inch 4K Dual-Refresh gaming monitor review: Solid performance and value

By Christian Eberle Published 25 July 26

AOC redefines the budget 4K gaming monitor with its U32G4. This 32-inch IPS panel sports 160 Hz, 320 Hz in FHD resolution, Adaptive-Sync, HDR400 and wide gamut color for around $320.

Gaming Monitors

Best Picks

Best PC builds for gaming 2026: From $800 budget rigs to $4,000+ dream machines

By Joe Shields Last updated 3 August 26

We’ve picked out the perfect parts for your next PC build, whether you’re spending $800 or $4,000 on components. We have recommendations for budget, midrange, high-end, and extreme systems.

PC Building

Best Gaming Monitors 2026: Budget, Curved, G-Sync and More

By Christian Eberle, Brandon Hill Last updated 3 August 26

Here are the best gaming monitors for PC available in 2026, from budget displays to 144Hz, 4K and curved.

Gaming Monitors

Best OLED Gaming Monitors 2026

By Brandon Hill Last updated 3 August 26

OLEDs are the new hot thing in gaming monitors, and prices are starting to cool off enough to make them attractive options for enthusiasts.

Gaming Monitors

CPUs

AMD's Zen 6 CPUs could fix microstutters and improve 1% lows in games via per-core optimizations

By Hassam Nasir Published 2 August 26

A new report suggests AMD is cooking up a range of per-core optimizations for Zen 6 that might not seem huge on their own, but they could add up to make a world of difference in gaming performance.

CPUs

The Best CPU for Gaming in 2026

By Jake Roach Last updated 31 July 26

Here is the best CPU for gaming.

CPUs

30 years of CPUs at Tom’s Hardware — looking back on three decades of processors, from the Pentium II to Ryzen 9 9950X3D2

By Jake Roach Published 31 July 26

We’ve been covering CPUs for a long time. It’s time to zoom out for some perspective.

CPUs

Graphics Cards

In a troubling sign, Nvidia RTX 50 series prices jump up to 30% in South Korea

By Kunal Khullar Published 3 August 26

The latest round of price increases affects the entire RTX 50 lineup, with premium models bearing the brunt of rising production costs.

GPUs

GPU prices for current-gen Nvidia and AMD

GPU prices keep surging in 2026 — Lack of sale discounts and rising VRAM costs keep current-gen prices sky-high

By Stewart Bendle Published 3 August 26

AI, tariffs, and greed have put pressure on PC builders wanting a new GPU. Can you still get a cheap GPU?

GPUs

Ten years later, the iconic GTX 1080 Ti still holds up in 1080p gaming but shows its age in new testing

By Hassam Nasir Published 3 August 26

A card worthy of the GOAT status.

GPUs

Meet The Team

Jake Roach

Senior Analyst, CPUs

Running on coffee filters and isopropyl alcohol

Jeffrey Kampman

Senior Analyst, Graphics

A machine that converts espresso into game benchmarks.

Anj Bryant

Managing Editor

3D printing aficionado, content juggler, all-around TH MVP.

Stephen Warwick

News Editor

Drink energy drink, find news, repeat.

Paul Alcorn

Editor-in-Chief

Has more chips than a bag of Doritos.

Matt Safford

Managing Editor

18 years covering CPUs, GPUs, motherboards, and storage. 14 trips to Scotland.

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal

Senior Editor: Peripherals

Needs bigger desk for all these monitors.

Andrew E. Freedman

Senior Editor: Laptops and Desktops

Needs the right screwdriver bit for this upgrade.

Brandon Hill

Senior Editor - Monitors and Networking

Has anyone seen my patch cables or DisplayPort cord?

Stewart Bendle

Deals Writer

Potion seller, Azeroth adventurer, sales soothsayer.

Sayem Ahmed

Subscription Editor

Commands throughput, conjures reports — THP's pact-bound silicon warlock.

Joe Shields

Staff Writer, Components

Mage of motherboards, keeper of copper paths, warden of wires

Ben Stockton

Deals Writer

Laptops

PSA: Your watch band may be messing with your laptop – magnetic clasps can cause lid sensors to lock your PC

By Matt Safford Published 30 July 26

Got a new laptop (or a new watch band) and getting kicked to the lock screen as you try to type?

Laptops

Grab a great-value gaming laptop with a generous amount of memory for only $1,199

By Stewart Bendle Published 30 July 26

Save $100 on a Gigabyte Aero 16X gaming laptop with a Ryzen AI 7 350 CPU, 32GB of RAM, and an RTX 5060 GPU in today's limited-time sale

Gaming Laptops

Features

Inside optical and the battle for scale

By Chris Stokel-Walker Published 23 July 26

Premium With copper running out of road, photonic interconnects are becoming the new innovative solution for data centers.

Premium

The future of USB connectivity (2026) —bringing copper to its physical limits

By Luke James Published 22 July 26

Premium The USB ecosystem is entering another transition that will affect how laptops, desktops, storage devices, displays, and peripherals connect in the second half of the decade.

Premium

Neural atom quantum computing roadmap — how laser-cooled trapped atoms could pave the path beyond physical qubit counts

By Francisco Pires Published 16 July 26

Premium A look at the players and roadmaps around neutral atom quantum computing

Premium

PC Components

New Micron lawsuit reignites fight over New York fab — complaint alleges 'forever chemicals' will flow into Oneida River

By Jake Roach Published 3 August 26

Micron's New York manufacturing facility is back in the crosshairs of another environmental lawsuit, claiming its wastewater and air permits should be nullified.

DRAM

Lexar lists 32GB DDR5 memory with homegrown Chinese chips

By Kunal Khullar Published 3 August 26

Lexar's latest Thor RGB kit likely uses CXMT-made DRAM, but its pricing remains comparable to premium DDR5 memory from established brands.

DDR5

First open-source firmware for AM5 officially launches

By Aaron Klotz Published 2 August 26

3mdeb has introduced a new open-source firmware for the MSI B850-P WiFi, marking the first time open-source firmware has been introduced to the AM5 platform.

Motherboards

Desktops and PC Building

Best PC builds for gaming 2026: From $800 budget rigs to $4,000+ dream machines

By Joe Shields Last updated 3 August 26

We’ve picked out the perfect parts for your next PC build, whether you’re spending $800 or $4,000 on components. We have recommendations for budget, midrange, high-end, and extreme systems.

PC Building

Newegg 9950X3D and 32GB Corsair DDR5 RAM bundle deal

Grab 32GB of Corsair DDR5 for an effective $230 right now in this 9950X3D combo deal

By Ben Stockton Published 3 August 26

Deals This Newegg RAM bundles ships with the 16-core AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D, an MSI MPG X870E keyboard, and 32GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR5 RAM for $1,308.99, making the effective RAM cost just $230.

Deals

A Mac Mini server is running headless in my closet

By Andrew E. Freedman Published 30 July 26

When I wanted to get more serious about backing up my family's data, I bought a refurbished Mac Mini and set it running headless in my closet. It's right for me.

Mini PCs

Deals

Grab 32GB of Corsair DDR5 for an effective $230 right now in this 9950X3D combo deal

By Ben Stockton Published 3 August 26

Deals This Newegg RAM bundles ships with the 16-core AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D, an MSI MPG X870E keyboard, and 32GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR5 RAM for $1,308.99, making the effective RAM cost just $230.

Deals

Grab this 240 Hz QD-OLED gaming monitor at just $300

By Kunal Khullar Published 2 August 26

Deals Gigabyte's GO27Q24A delivers a 240Hz QD-OLED panel, HDMI 2.1, and esports-focused features for just $299.99

Deals

Newegg combo bundle on sale featuring Ryzen 5 5500, Gigabyte B550M Gaming X Wi-Fi, and 32GB (8x2) TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB

Score the ultimate AMD AM4 starter pack with a six-core CPU and 16GB RAM for only $280

By Hassam Nasir Published 1 August 26

Deals If you've been hesitating to upgrade to a modern platform because of the state of the PC hardware industry, this combo deal might be the one for you.

Deals

Coupons

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Dell coupon codes in Aug 2026 |

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UGREEN coupons for August 2026

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SPONSORED Find the latest UGREEN coupons which can help you save on the brand's electronics, including power banks, hubs & docks, networking gear & more.

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SanDisk promo codes for August 2026 |

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SPONSORED Add one of these SanDisk promo codes to your next order to save on the brand's storage hardware, including SSDs, USB drives and more.

Newegg Promo Codes in August 2026 |

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