Whether you’ve been playing PC games for years or you’re building your first gaming PC, picking the right graphics card is probably one of the most consequential choices. It doesn’t help that now there’s three companies making graphics cards, which means there are more options out there than ever before.

But there are a lot of reasons to pick an Nvidia graphics card over one made by AMD or Intel. For one, whether you love it or hate it, Nvidia has plenty of software and features that are exclusive to its graphics cards, whereas things like FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) from AMD will work no matter what GPU is in your system. Features like DLSS, or Deep Learning Super Sampling, make an Nvidia graphics card an attractive choice.

Nvidia also has the most powerful graphics cards on the market right now, especially at the high-end. There simply is not another graphics card that can match the RTX 5090 in pure performance. But even when it comes to more affordable graphics cards like the RTX 4060 Ti, the AI upscaling offered by DLSS can really help stretch the performance, and can even push into higher resolutions than you would otherwise be able to.

It's still important to figure out what resolution you want to play games at, because that’s going to change what type of graphics card you want to go for. If you want to play all the newest PC games at 4K with all the settings maxed, you’re going to need a much more powerful card than someone that just wants to play World of Warcraft at 1080p.

TL;DR: These Are Best GPUs

Graphics Cards Basics

While graphics cards are extremely complicated devices, shopping for one doesn’t need to be that much of a hassle. As long as you keep an eye out for some simple specs, you should have a pretty good idea of what you’re getting into.

The most obvious thing to look for is whether or not your graphics card is actually part of the current generation. You don’t want to miss out on performance or features, especially if you’re spending hundreds of dollars on just one part of your computer. With Nvidia graphics cards, this is actually extremely easy, just look at the two numbers following the ‘RTX’ or ‘GTX’ in the graphics card’s name. Nvidia just launched its newest generation of graphics cards, which are labeled with '50.' If it’s ‘40,’ that’s the previous generation from 2022; ‘30’ and ‘20’ are the two generations before that.

Don’t get me wrong, getting a 30-series or 20-series card will still provide an excellent gaming experience, with the RTX 3080 still able to power most games at 4K without breaking a sweat.

But what about the second two numbers? Well, take a look at the RTX 5090, the top-end graphics card on the market. Then, take a look at the RTX 4050, which is only a laptop GPU, but is way weaker. The scale typically goes from 50-90, with the higher number meaning a more powerful graphics card. Nvidia does sometimes add extra letters or words at the end of its graphics cards, with ‘Ti’ and ‘Super’ being common variants. This typically means a slightly more powerful card. For instance, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is going to be slightly more powerful than the RTX 5070. The basic rule of thumb is that, after the number, any extra letters or words typically indicate a faster graphics card.

When it comes to specs, graphics cards have a lot of numbers and lingo to swallow, which can definitely be overwhelming. But if you just want to slot a GPU in your rig and forget about it, you don’t need to pay attention to every little detail.

The amount of VRAM you need is going to largely depend on what resolution you want to play your games at. If you want to play games at 4K, you’re going to want as much video memory as you can afford. There are games that will eat up upwards of 20GB of VRAM at that resolution if you let them, so the sky really is the limit. For lower resolutions like 1080p, however, you can get by with 8GB of RAM, though I would recommend going with a 12GB or 16GB card if it’s in your budget. An 8GB card will get you through most games, but there is a growing number of AAA PC games that need more memory.

There are some other specs you can look at if you really want to, like clock speed, CUDA core count and Streaming Multiprocessors – what Nvidia calls its compute units – but those largely just get better as you get a more high-end graphics card either way. Compute Units are essentially the same as CPU cores on a processor, and each one contains 128 CUDA cores. So, the RTX 5080 with its 84 Compute Units, contains a total of 10,752 CUDA cores. Just keep in mind that directly comparing two graphics cards of different generations by the core counts alone won’t tell you how much of a performance jump it’ll be.

Once you’ve picked the graphics card you want, you need to make sure you have a power supply that can handle it. You can usually check the box your graphics card comes in to get an idea of how much power the card requires, and if not, Nvidia has it listed out on its website. My advice would be to check the required power for your graphics cards and then get a power supply that can provide just a bit more wattage. For instance, if your graphics card recommends a 450W power supply, I’d get a 550 or a 650W unit just to be on the safe side.

1. If You Just Want the Best: RTX 5090

2. Best for 4K (for Most People): RTX 5080

3. Best for 1440p: RTX 4070 Super

4. Best for 1080p: RTX 4060 Ti

5. Best on a Budget: GeForce GTX 1660 Super

Upcoming Nvidia Graphics Cards

The first wave of Nvidia Blackwell graphics cards are all here, and it seems like that's all we're going to get for now. Usually, Team Green would follow up its first wave of graphics cards with refreshed "Super" variants. However, nothing in the world of PC gaming hardware is normal right now, and it looks like the Super lineup has been canceled in the face of high RAM prices and AI datacenter demand. Right now, it looks like we'll be waiting for the RTX 6090 whenever that comes out – likely sometime in the second half of 2027.

What Is DLSS?

Deep Learning Super Sampling, or DLSS is an AI upscaling method that uses Nvidia’s Tensor Cores to improve image quality. The Tensor Core will take visual data from the frame being rendered, along with motion vector data, in order to accurately upscale the image to a higher resolution. This process results in an image that looks pretty close to the native resolution, but with a much higher frame rate.

In its early days, DLSS needed to train the AI model on each game it would support, with developers needing to upload data to Nvidia. However, DLSS has gone through several iterations, and now it does not need to be trained on individual games. Instead, if a developer wants to include DLSS in their game, they can just inject Nvidia’s API into the game. This means more games can support the technology, without having to wait for Nvidia’s training on each game.

With DLSS 3.0, Nvidia added Frame Generation to the equation. This technology takes the visual data from two frames, along with motion vector data from the game engine and motion information from its own hardware, and creates an entirely new frame that’s sandwiched between the two original frames. This would introduce a lot of latency, but Nvidia requires its Reflex technology to be enabled before Frame Generation can happen. Reflex essentially syncs the graphics card and the processor, eliminating the need for the CPU to queue up frames for the GPU to render later.

Nvidia updated to DLSS 4.0, then later 4.5, which introduced multi-frame generation and a new upscaling model. The new frame generation lets RTX 5000 graphics cards use AI to generate up to three frames per rendered frame, greatly improving framerates. The new DLSS also moves the upscaling algorithm to a transformer model, which allows for much better image quality, though with a slight hit to performance. But, hey – that's what frame generation is for, I guess.

Together, Frame Generation and Reflex greatly improve your frame rate, but there’s a catch. Because so much of it relies on motion data, you already need to have a decent frame rate for Frame Generation to work smoothly. So, this technology is best used for folks that can already get 60fps or more and just want to push to a higher frame rate.

What Is Ray Tracing?

Ray tracing is just a way to render light realistically. It does this by taking a light source, then simulating each ray of light as it bounces around the scene. It’s a simple concept to be sure, but it ends up requiring a ton of compute power to pull off. Any light being cast potentially has thousands of rays of light, each of which will bounce around hundreds of times, multiply that by needing a new frame 60 times a second, and you can imagine how much power you need to pull it off.

That’s why ray tracing in video games needs specialized hardware to pull this lighting method off without grinding your framerate to a standstill. Luckily, Nvidia has been working this hardware into its graphics cards since the RTX 2080 in 2018.

Fast forward to today, and even with that dedicated ray tracing hardware being built into every mainstream graphics card – not just from Nvidia – we still need to limit ray tracing in order to maximize performance. There are only a few games that support full ray tracing, or ‘path tracing,’ with most other games limiting the ray tracing elements to a certain part of the scene, like shadows or reflections, and also limiting the amount of bounces calculated for each ray of light.

It’s an expensive way to generate lighting, but it looks incredible, especially in games that rely on lighting for atmosphere. In Metro Exodus, for instance, the accurate lighting often leads to darker environments, amplifying the intense atmosphere the game already has.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

The Nintendo Switch 2 has been out for almost a year now, while Nintendo seems a little disappointed with its sales, it was still the best-selling console of the year. If you're one of the many people who has grabbed a Switch 2 in the last year you've probably noticed that it doesn't quite have enough storage, with only 256GB of space to fit all your games. Luckily that storage is expandable, but you will need a special MicroSD Express card to do it. And, well, they're more expensive than regular SD cards.

The Best MicroSD Express Cards for Switch 2 Right Now

MicroSD Express cards have been around for a while, but there are only a few on the market as creative professionals haven’t really found much of a use for them. However, with the Switch 2 launch, there's been a deluge of Express cards to fill that gap.

My colleagues and I are in the process of testing these cards – including that super cheap Walmart-brand one, which is fine – but if we were to recommend any based on experience, these are the MicroSD Express cards (an essential Switch 2 accessory!) we'd say to buy right now. These come from reputable manufacturers that have a track record of making excellent storage expansion cards. We'll be updating this as we play around with the Switch 2 and SD cards.

Why MicroSD Express?

Unlike many devices, the Nintendo Switch 2 is mandating a MicroSD Express card for storage expansion. Nintendo hasn’t really explained its reasoning behind the decision, but it’s not hard to see why it might want to require faster storage.

For one, the flash storage built into the system is the same kind of UFS flash that powers most smartphones. This storage is much faster than the eMMC drive in the original Switch, and it’s likely Nintendo wanted its developers to be able to count on that kind of storage speed, no matter if the game is being stored internally or on an expansion card.

The only thing you can use a regular old MicroSD card for is loading screenshots and videos you took on your first-gen Switch. That means unlike something like the PS5, which allows you to store last-generation games on slower external drives, Nintendo isn’t allowing for any wiggle room here. If you want to expand the Nintendo Switch 2 storage, you’re going to need a MicroSD Express card.

1. Lexar Play Pro

The Best MicroSD Express Card

2. Samsung P9 MicroSD Express

Best Budget MicroSD Express Card

3. SanDisk MicroSD Express

Best 256GB MicroSD Express Card

4. Samsung MicroSD Express for Switch 2

The Best (and Only) Official MicroSD Express Card

5. Onn MicroSD Express Card

Best Cheap MicroSD Express Card

Nvidia Blackwell graphics cards launched more than a year ago, starting with the RTX 5090. And while this generation had a controversial launch, the RTX 5080 Super could have redeemed the generation. But that's probably not going to happen.

Thanks to its immense success with AI hardware, it seems like Nvidia has both scaled back production of existing 50-series cards and cancelled its mid-generation refresh of Blackwell, according to a report from The Information (via Insider Gaming). At the same time, known hardware leaker @kopite7kimi suggests that the next generation of GPUs, likely led by the RTX 6090, won't be out until the second half of 2027.

Just like with the RAM shortage that's affecting all kinds of gaming hardware right now, this is thanks to the AI industry's demand for computer hardware. Nvidia has reported huge growth, thanks to the AI boom, leading to the company being the most valuable in the world, at $4.24 trillion. It wouldn't be surprising, then, if Team Green wanted to focus on the enterprise market.

Nvidia issued IGN the following comment: "Demand for GeForce RTX GPUs is strong, and memory supply is constrained. We continue to ship all GeForce SKUs and are working closely with our suppliers to maximize memory availability." That doesn't sound like a denial, so we'll just have to wait and see how the year plays out.

The State of PC Gaming

Nvidia isn't the only company that has been mysteriously silent on mid-generation releases. AMD also hasn't released a new consumer graphics card since the Radeon RX 9060 in August 2025. And it's likely for the exact same reason that Nvidia isn't releasing its super cards: the AI demand is just too high right now.

AMD just had its earnings call as well, and while CEO Lisa Su used it as a chance to reassure gamers that the Steam Machine is still coming soon – which was followed by a delay from Valve – the company also reported $16.6 billion in revenue from its datacenter business last year. Team Red's gaming business, on the other hand, brought in $3.9 billion, and that seems like it was largely driven by the custom chips in devices like the Xbox Ally X and the Steam Machine.

Instead, both Nvidia and AMD have been focused on improving the software that runs on their graphics cards. AMD launched FSR Redstone in December 2025, which improves frame generation and ray tracing, while Nvidia launched DLSS 4.5, which gives a noticeable boost to image quality – though with a performance cost.

If both companies are indeed skipping their mid-generation GPU launches, we'll probably have to make do with these software improvements. And while I would prefer to have an RTX 5080 Super that actually performs better than the RTX 4090, I can make do with better upscaling.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

Dell wants the Alienware Aurora 16X to be your star mid-range gaming laptop, and it mostly succeeds in that role with its strong RTX 5070 performance and gorgeous 16-inch, 2K display. But after spending enough time with it, its keyboard gets too tiresome to game with, and I clung to my gaming headset even when playing alone. Already, those flaws mixed with a high price tag are tough to swallow. However, the Aurora 16X still gets the job done (and in style), so it might still be worth taking a look.

Design and Features

Just because it’s smaller than the Area-51 doesn't make the Aurora 16X sleek — it’s still a chunky beast, but I’m not mad about it. The indigo colorway spreads like a silk sheet over the Aurora’s anodized aluminum lid. I love this color way more than what the Area-51 is wearing (teal), which is ironic because that’s the more expensive one.

The curved edges around the lid, hinge, and sides give a soft approach, which is a refreshing break from the usual edgy gamer look. With little-to-no flex over its iridescent Alienware logo, this gaming laptop is hella sturdy. It stacks up to 14.05 x 10.45 x 0.76~0.92 inches and 5.7 pounds.

Popping open the hood revealed more of the same sleek colorway, this time on a magnesium alloy frame with a nice satin finish. There’s a curved palm rest for comfort and ease of lifting the lid. Meanwhile, the keyboard is neatly packed in the center, but supports only one-zone RGB lighting, which looks cheap. The touchpad sits just underneath, somewhat smaller than I expected, and the bezels on the display look a bit thick due to the angled lip.

A neat feature about the underside is there’s a thick slab that props the laptop up, with vents all around it to ensure good airflow. More laptops need better cooling designs like this — there’s nothing more annoying than an underside that gets scorching hot because you positioned it on the wrong surface.

Configurations

The Alienware Aurora 16X is a classic mid-range gaming laptop, but it comes in pricey compared with other rigs in its category. But that’s what you get when you’re looking to buy from a premium brand like Alienware. Here’s what’s packed in the unit Dell sent me for review:

This review unit costs $1,999 (seen for $1,649), which is up there for an RTX 5070 gaming laptop. It also comes in an RTX 5060 version for $1,549. But if you’re looking for something cheaper than that, you need to lose the “X” in the Aurora 16X (yes, really).

The Aurora 16 comes in two GPU variants, including the RTX 5060 and RTX 5050, and both opting for an Intel Core 7-240H processor. They cost around or under $1,000. But wait, what does the “X” really lose you? Well, you drop to a 120Hz display with lower brightness, a 720p webcam, and you lose the Thunderbolt 4 port. The latter two are pretty insignificant, but losing the display is tough.

Display

While I will continue to rant about Alienware needing to offer OLED or Mini-LED options for their gaming laptops, the Aurora 16X’s IPS display is quite stunning.

This display is plenty bright, rated at 500 nits, and offers a crisp 2560 x 1600 resolution, so I could admire the sharp strands of hair on Naoe Fujibayashi’s head in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Making my way through Hijacked in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, the brown wood planks contrasted well against the milky white ship, which was dreamy enough to get me killed by some jabroni running out of the cabin.

With Nvidia G-Sync to reduce screen tearing and the 240Hz refresh rate, getting in car chases across Night City in Cyberpunk 2077 felt satisfyingly smooth as I drifted back onto the highway. However, keep in mind that if you want to use the full breadth of the 240Hz refresh rate, you’ll need to turn down the graphics quite a bit. An RTX 5070 can’t get you quite that far on the highest settings – especially at 1600p.

Everything In-Between

There’s a decent number of ports to get your essential peripherals all connected to the Alienware Aurora 16X, even if you don’t have Bluetooth accessories. There’s a Thunderbolt 4 slot for fast connectivity (great for external storage) as well as an additional USB Type-C port. You also get two USB Type-A ports and a headphone jack to connect legacy devices. Then there’s an HDMI 2.1 slot to connect to an external display, and an Ethernet port to speed up your internet speed. But with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, you shouldn’t have to worry much about connectivity.

The keyboard is comfortable thanks to the cushy palm rests, but the key travel is a bit short. It’s okay to type on, but it’s not satisfying to use when gaming. I wish the keyboard was a bit higher on the deck. The angled palm rest makes it feel like my hand is sliding off when in the WASD position. And the touchpad is in a similar boat where it’s unpleasant to use – it’s too resistant, stiff, and small.

Laptop webcams are almost never good, and the Alienware Aurora 16X’s 1080p shooter is no exception. It’ll get you through video chatting with friends, but between the grain imposed over the image and the washed out colors, I wouldn’t try to stream with this thing.

Dolby Atmos isn’t enough to elevate the speakers beyond middling. The dialogue in Cyberpunk 2077 sounded crisp, but combined with the gunfire and techno music, it felt more like a muddled mess. It gave me a headache listening to it for a short while. I highly recommend gaming with headphones.

Performance

The Alienware Aurora 16X delivers all the performance you expect from an RTX 5070, hitting solid numbers even in the highest settings on intensive AAA games. However, you may struggle in certain areas, especially if you’re averse to supersampling technology.

Before I got to the crunchy numbers, the Alienware Aurora 16X suffered from some serious stuttering while gaming. I updated my graphics drivers and Windows 11, and yes, turned it off and on again. I took a peak at the Alienware Command Center (Settings > Performance) and saw that Hybrid Graphics was enabled, which allows the laptop to switch between integrated and discrete graphics to save on battery life. I disabled that with the MUX Switch and games ran fine after that.

I reached out to Dell for some insight, and a representative tried to replicate the issue on a different machine, but didn’t see the stuttering. I have experienced issues with hybrid graphics on other gaming laptops, so it might not be a problem on Aurora 16X, but if you run into it, you now know what to do.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 ran smooth as I started rinsing fools through a Japanese feudal castle and a war-torn Alaskan town. The benchmarks reflected that great performance, too, proving that the Alienware Aurora 16X can handle competitive games at the highest settings. However, as I mentioned earlier, the Aurora isn’t taking full advantage of its 240Hz screen. If you want higher frames, you need to turn the graphics down.

On a more intensive test, the Alienware Aurora 16X cleared 30 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at its native resolution set to Ray Tracing Ultra. However, Ray Tracing Overdrive proved to be too much for it, and that tracks with most mid-range gaming laptops. But if you run it at 1200p, you’ll get playable frames at the highest settings.

With no upscaling technology, the Aurora 16X’s RTX 5070 did decently well on the Metro Exodus benchmark, scoring close to 60 fps at 1200p on the highest settings. But it failed to get past the 30 fps threshold at its native resolution.

In games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you can see the benefit of frame generation technology. At Ultra High settings on its native resolution, the Alienware Aurora 16X jumped from unplayable to an average of over 50 fps.

Battery Life

Gaming laptops typically don’t last very long in the battery life department, although they’ve improved over the years, with laptops like the Razer Blade 14 hitting over 7 hours. But the Alienware Aurora 16X isn’t a 14-inch gaming laptop with reduced power output. Its chunky 16 inches lasted only 3 hours and 20 minutes on Procyon's Office Productivity Battery Life Test. (This is with hybrid graphics enabled.)

The Alienware Aurora 16X isn’t going to get you very far when gaming on battery alone, not to mention the fact that the performance will tank as well. I highly recommend keeping the Aurora 16X plugged in at all times.

When the Steam Machine was first announced back in November 2025, Valve told me that the console-like PC would be launching in the first quarter of 2026. But things might be more complicated now.

Valve just released a blog post, where it says "we planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now." However, the AI shortages that are causing PC hardware to spike in price has caused the company to take a bit more time to nail down the price and release date for the Steam Machine and Steam Frame.

Valve does still claim that it intends to launch the Steam Machine in the first half of the year, which follows an AMD earnings call that also suggests an early 2026 launch date. No matter how you slice it, though, it looks like the Steam Machine will be coming a bit later than we initially expected it to.

When is the Steam Machine Coming Out?

Shortly after the Steam Machine was announced, I tried to predict when Valve was going to launch its mini gaming PC – but that was before the RAM crisis really kicked off in earnest. Back in November, I guessed that Valve would have announced a release date and price for the Steam Machine by the end of January 2026 – but obviously, that didn't happen.

Instead, it looks like the Steam Machine has been delayed, if only by a few months, until Valve can find concrete pricing. But with how volatile the RAM market is right now, Valve is probably holding off until pricing stabilizes a little bit. Either way, this probably means the Steam Machine will also be more expensive.

From the beginning, Valve has been adamant that it would price the upcoming mini PC according to a PC with comparable hardware. A few months ago, I figured that this would put the Steam Machine at around $800. But with the way PC pricing has been for the last few months, I could easily see the upcoming console hit $1,000 or more.

This is all just speculation, and we won't know the actual Steam Machine launch date or price until Valve announces something. But if you were looking forward to the Steam Machine, you might want to brace yourself for a longer wait and a higher price tag.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

No matter how much you may prefer a mouse and keyboard for PC gaming, some games and genres are just built with gamepads in mind – and play much better with one as a result. That's why I've tested dozens of controllers during my PC-centric career, and why I feel confident in recommending the nine picks below. Whether you're looking for something simple and inexpensive for occasional use, or something more advanced for competitive or accessible play, you should find at least one great option here.

TL;DR – These Are the Best PC Controllers:

1. Xbox Core Controller

Best PC Controller

2. PowerA Advantage Wired Controller

Best Budget PC Controller

3. Hyperkin Competitor

Best Wired PC Controller

4. Sony DualSense Controller

Best PC Controller for PlayStation Games

5. Xbox Elite Series 2 Controller

Best High-End PC Controller

6. Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra

Best Customizable PC Controller

7. Razer Kitsune

Best PC Fight Stick

8. Logitech G Pro Wheel and Pedals

Best PC Racing Wheel

9. Xbox Adaptive Controller

Best Accessible PC Controller

How to Choose the Best PC Controller

Choosing the best PC controller for gaming can seem daunting, especially given the excess of options available. However, it’s easier to nail down the right choice by assessing what kind of gamer you are, what types of games you play, and whether you want to use your controller across other devices.

Sticks and triggers

While almost all classic controllers use potentiometers to sense when a thumbstick has been moved or a trigger has been depressed, many modern options now use more advanced HE (Hall Effect) or TMR (Tunneling Magnetoresistance) magnetic sensors instead. These tend to be more expensive than potentiometers to include in a controller, but they allow for more precision, in the form of smaller deadzones. These technologies also tend to offer better long-term durability, with fewer physically interacting parts, helping prevent stick drift. HE sensors typically require more power than potentiometers, potentially reducing battery life in wireless controllers, while TMR sensors are more power-efficient than either option. However, implementation by manufacturers also matters, so while TMR and HE sticks and triggers are worth looking for, they're not a guarantee of a good-quality experience.

Ergonomics

One of the biggest factors to consider is the ergonomics and comfort of the controller. Since you'll likely be using it for extended gaming sessions, it's crucial to pick a controller that feels comfortable. Look for controllers with well-placed buttons, responsive triggers, and a shape that fits naturally in your hands. Beyond that, grips can be important in games that require extra control.

Controller type

Think about the types of games you'll be playing. Different genres may benefit from specific controller designs. For instance, if you're into racing or flying simulators, a controller with analog sticks and precise triggers might be ideal. On the other hand, if you're primarily playing fighting or platformer games, a controller with a good D-pad and responsive face buttons could be more suitable. Playing a lot of FPS games: a gamepad with adjustable triggers and a tighter stick will make for quicker reactions and better control. Of course, if you’ve got the budget, you can also grab specified controllers for certain games, like racing wheels, PC joysticks, and fightsticks.

Compatibility

While the majority of controllers are designed to work seamlessly with Windows PCs, it's always a good idea to double-check compatibility with your specific gaming setup. If a controller offers a wired connection via USB, using it with a PC should be relatively simple. Oftentimes, there will also be software that allows for button remapping and other customizations.

Wireless controllers may be trickier. Most come with Bluetooth support, which makes them great phone controllers. However, a good deal of latency is often introduced. Sometimes wireless controllers offer a 2.4Ghz USB dongle to plug into PCs for a faster and more stable connection; if you're a competitive gamer, this is the way to go. Luckily, most wireless offerings come with the option for a wired connection.

Features and customizations

Don't forget to consider additional features and extras. Many controllers come with programmable buttons, vibration feedback, or even customizable lighting effects. Adaptive triggers are a boon in FPS or sensory-focused games. Some higher-end controllers even come with swappable controls and a degree of modularity to adjust the feel for certain games. While these features may not be essential, they can enhance your gaming experience and provide added value for your money.

Cost

Perhaps the biggest factor in choosing a PC controller is cost. If your controller will only be used occasionally, since you’re more of a mouse and keyboard hero, a budget controller is perfectly suitable. Expect to find some great options in the $30 to $60 range. Upping the budget slightly to somewhere between $60 and $100 will bring a great balance of features, comfort, and quality. Stick to this price if you're more of a casual player. Anything above $100 should bring awesome customizability and durability; competitive players should expect to shell out a bit more for a high-end, reliable controller.

What's next in the world of PC controllers?

We recently went hands-on with the upcoming Steam Controller, which is slated to launch alongside the Steam Machine sometime in the next few months. Alongside a suite of modern controller features, such as TMR sticks, programmable back buttons, and HD haptics, the Steam Controller carries a number of rare or unique features, namely gyroscopic motion controls and a pair of capacitive touchpads that make it easier to control mouse inputs on PC. These features set the Steam Controller up as uniquely qualified among controllers for PC, and we're looking forward to testing it out when it launches later this year. In the meantime, check out our interview with Valve about it and the Steam Machine.

PC Controller FAQ

Is PC gaming better with a controller?

Compared to a keyboard and mouse, some gamers opt to use a controller. However, it comes down to your personal preferences, as each of these input devices has its own advantages and disadvantages.

A keyboard and mouse combo will be much larger and more spread out than a controller, which means you’ll need a great gaming desk or reliable lap desk to use them successfully. But thanks to a larger size, there is a wealth of inputs that a typical controller just can’t offer. Many of the keys and buttons are customizable with secondary functions. When gaming, keyboards and mice usually pull ahead in precision, accuracy, and responsiveness, which is especially beneficial to competitive players.

Now, don’t get me wrong, controllers are equally great. They are much smaller and more ergonomic than a mouse and keyboard, making all the inputs easy to reach. Great controllers will also have customizable or remappable buttons and triggers. The analog sticks bring smoother control over certain movements, and with some controllers offering a dose of haptic feedback, gaming can be more immersive.

Ultimately, it tends to depend on the game. Many titles are designed with one input method or the other in mind, so having the flexibility of a good controller to hand is frequently useful.

Do all controllers work with PCs?

While not every controller is guaranteed to work with PC, almost all current controllers are supported in some way. Xbox controllers are your best bet for native compatibility. Whether it's connected via wired USB, Bluetooth, or Xbox Wireless (with adapter), the devices should be instantly detected by either Windows or Steam. With the Xbox Accessories app, remapping, vibrations, and more should be supported. Be sure to check out our guide on how to pair an Xbox controller to PC for even more info.

The latest PlayStation 5 controllers are another safe bet when it comes to compatibility with PC, especially when you connect using a wired USB or Bluetooth. You can always grab a great Bluetooth adapter for your PC if your PC doesn’t support it. Steam and the majority of modern games recognize PlayStation gamepads, allowing for button remapping and other customizations. However, adaptive triggers and haptics will only work with certain games. Still, for the most part, a PS5 controller pairs seemlessly with PC.

Third-party controller brands, like Turtle Beach, Razer, and PowerA, should also be completely compatible with PC and recognized by Steam if not Windows. These devices connect either using a wired USB connection or wirelessly via Bluetooth or a 2.4Ghz USB dongle. Now, not all the controllers' features may necessarily work with PCs, but you should have no problem with basic controls.

Of course, it’s always good to check that a controller supports PC and what limitations it may have when used with PC before purchasing. All the ones I’ve selected for this guide will make a great addition to your PC battlestation.

Can you play any PC game with a controller?

Not all PC games are designed to work well with a controller. If you’re playing games on Steam, you can visit the store page to see if the game is compatible with a controller before buying the game. However, other platforms, such as Epic Games, do not list if the game is compatible with a controller, but you can often find out which games support a controller with a quick Google search. The PCGamingWiki is another great resource for checking what input methods PC games support, including fan-made fixes where relevant.

Will is deputy tech editor for IGN, specialising in PC hardware, sim racing and display tech. He has been publishing about games and technology since 2001 (age 12). Will was formerly Deputy Editor at Digital Foundry. He is currently playing Battlefield 6.

Additional contributions by Danielle Abraham, a tech freelance writer based in Los Angeles who spends her free time creating videos and geeking out over music history.

The QN90F Neo QLED is Samsung’s highest‑end LCD TV for 2025… at least below the stratospherically priced 8K models. I've got the 65" version in for testing, currently selling for $1599, which carries over the same quantum dot technology and much of the design and performance of last year's QN90D, but there have been a few notable changes: a small bump in max refresh rate to 165 Hz (up from 144 Hz), and last year's glossy screen has been replaced with the matte anti-glare coating directly from the S95F OLED. Whether the latter is an improvement is up for debate. Fullscreen and HDR brightness also gets a small but welcome boost from last year's model – I measured more than 2300 nits on a test slide and real-world HDR highlights can easily hit 1100. Samsung also touts its NQ4 AI Gen3 processor, but I don't usually comment on these because Samsung (and other manufacturers, to be fair) rarely, if ever, provide performance metrics for its chips, and besides, the specific processing chip inside these TVs seems to have a nebulous, at best, connection to how they perform in our own, real-world testing.

And our testing reveals that, much like last year's QN90D, the QN90F really struggles with blooming. A combination of Samsung's local dimming algorithm and the physical construction of the backlight produces blocky, grid-like zones that are ruinous to dark scenes. This shouldn't happen. At this price level, or even cheaper, Hisense and TCL offer more and better controlled backlight zones, and Samsung's own QD-OLED models, like the S90F, offer substantially better all-around performance at a like-for-like price. Yes, the QN90F is colorful and bright, but there's much more to a top-of-the-line TV for gaming, and Samsung's LCD offering is falling too far behind to recommend.

Setup, Design, and First Impressions

Unpacking, maneuvering, and assembling the stand for the 65” QN90F was relatively straightforward. Four screws hold the stand on the base plate and another four screws attach it to the TV. The stand itself is a hefty chunk of metal, satisfying to hold and reassuringly sturdy, and it does a good job of minimizing wobble.

It’s hard for manufacturers to differentiate their TVs via their physical design, especially from the front – they’re all big gray rectangles – but I love the look, feel, and weight of the QN90F. It’s sleek and thin without being OLED-dangerously-thin. The first thing that caught my eye (and not my fingerprints), though, was the matte screen coating, unusual for a TV, which I’ll touch on later in the review.

The power cable is closer to the center of the TV, which is a great change from every other TV having power and IO on completely different sides of the display. I still think the power cable is a bit too short, especially once it's routed through the clever channels built into the back of the display. The rear of the TV is plastic, but it doesn't feel cheap.

IO is excellent, as it should be at this price point. Samsung includes 4 full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, all supporting 165 Hz at 4K. Great news if you’re hooking up multiple consoles. Additionally, there’s an optical audio out, Ethernet, and an RF connection for broadcast. No headphone jack, sadly, which is an omission becoming more and more common.

Samsung is using a common remote across multiple SKUs; this is the same remote (with a neat little solar cell on the rear) that shipped with the S90F. Annoyingly, like LG’s remote, an input selection button is nowhere to be found. Switching inputs means going back to the Home/Start screen, moving left and then down to “Connected Devices,” and waiting for Tizen to catch up to you. Speaking of Tizen…

Tizen: “Preparing. Please Try Again Later.”

"Preparing. Please Try Again Later." This is an actual error message that Tizen displayed when I tried to use the quick settings menu to adjust the QN90F's brightness. I thought I'd experienced it all – the slow navigation, laggy menus, loading throbbers (!) – (read my S90F review for more), but Samsung keeps finding new ways to annoy me. Whether using the Home screen to load a streaming app, switching inputs, or diving into the settings menu, Tizen continues to feel like a low-end mobile phone or some off-brand tablet given away free as part of a promotion.

I may be old school, but I think all the fundamental, device control touch-points of a TV's menu should be as close to the metal as possible, and they should be fast. Backlight brightness, color temperature, local dimming, sound volume, the current input... these are things that shouldn't be knotted up and entangled with the same code that opens and closes your Samsung Motorized Smart Blinds. Yet, with Tizen, every should-be-easy adjustment brings up a loading throbber:

It’s unbelievably frustrating. Samsung needs to take a good look at the Google TV interface from something like the Hisense U8QG. Navigation there is fast and easy. Even Amazon’s FireTV on a lower end model like the U65QF is a joy to use compared to Tizen.

Setting all that aside, once the menu is actually loaded, Tizen behaves like you’d expect for a modern TV smart OS. The Home screen can be cleaned up and calmed down a bit after diving into the Advanced Features menu (turning off auto-playing video is a must!), but Samsung devotes a bit too much screen space to its TV “recommendations,” leaving the app list, which is what you’re likely looking for, as a small, horizontally scrolling band of icons. As a contrast, Google TV surfaces apps in a large format grid, which is much faster to navigate.

Sound

Sound quality on the QN90F is surprisingly good… for TV speakers. Of all the displays I’ve tested so far, I’ve been the most impressed with Samsung’s engineering effort here. Bass extends deep enough to be satisfying for movies and games without booming, mechanical noises, or distortion, and, importantly, speech intelligibility is good. A-OK for general use.

But for the best, engrossing audio experience, we still recommend a surround sound setup or soundbar. Our top pick happens to be Samsung’s own HW-Q990F, which includes a subwoofer for a good reason: TVs simply don’t have the form factor – no front facing drivers for stereo imaging – or enough chassis volume for deep bass.

Reflection Handling and Viewing Angles

Samsung takes the unusual path, certainly for a TV, of shipping the QN90F with a matte AR coating. For those that find the mirror-like reflections from glossy screens annoying, this is definitely a plus, but manufacturers have made great progress on their high-end models, especially in the last few years, at delivering really excellent glossy coatings.

The comparison image above shows the reflection of a compact fluorescent bulb in all of the screens I’ve tested so far, shot with the same exposure, and ranked generally in the order of quality. Samsung’s QD-OLED S90F (currently at the same price as the QN90F) takes the top spot with a truly incredible AR coating, followed closely by Hisense’s U8QG. For those that find the mirror-like reflections from glossy screens annoying, I think the QN90F offers a decent alternative to something like LG’s C5, which is a bit too reflective and a bit too purple.

The macro image above shows how the matte coating diffuses the light from the subpixels behind. This is a fairly coarse and aggressive coating, not my favorite, but the slight reduction in clarity is only visible very near the screen. At typical TV distances, it’s not an issue.

Also worth noting while looking at the macro is that the QN90F uses a BGR subpixel layout, rather than a traditional RGB stripe. If you’re using the Samsung as a PC display, you’ll want to adjust your ClearType settings to reduce color fringing on text. And like many VA panels, the pixels are dimmed in a one third on, two thirds off manner between rows, so the picture is susceptible to a “scanlines” effect.

Viewing angle performance is typical of most VA panels: loss of color and contrast off angle, and dark scenes are especially susceptible to a gamma shift on the periphery of the screen. This is one of the largest drawbacks of VA panels compared to the OLED competition, and Samsung’s own S90F is much better here.

This purple-blue shot, inspired by a fullscreen ad for Amazon Luna during the TV’s setup, shows the color shift off axis, although the photo doesn’t fully capture how it looks in person. I also noticed that the QN90F has a patchy appearance, but only when displaying blue. Otherwise, the matte coating does a good job handling the reflection of the flash.

Color, Calibration, and SDR

For every display I test, my calibration process begins by measuring the backlight spectrum for each of the individual RGB primaries along with a white spectrum. This allows for subsequent performance metrics to be accurately measured with my colorimeter. The color slide above shows three important aspects of the QN90F’s color performance:

1. White spectrum against a mercury reference
2. Individual, normalized RGB response
3. Subsequent chromaticity coordinates compared to the DCI-P3 reference

The peak wavelengths of the primaries, their shape, and their separation (or purity) define the corner coordinates of the gamut triangle. Samsung’s quantum dot backlight does an excellent job of covering (and over-covering) DCI-P3: the three primaries are smooth, separated, and distinct, giving the QN90F rich, vivid color.

In the Expert Settings menu, the default Color setting of 30 gives the best compromise of coverage and accuracy without clipping. Green is spot on, but red and blue do extend a bit past reference. While not perfectly accurate, I’m a sucker for colorful images, so I welcome a bit of over-coverage.

Before I get into the calibration, I need to mention that Samsung doesn’t allow local dimming to be turned off on the QN90F. This is a problem for me, as a reviewer, because I can’t fully disentangle the performance of the LCD panel itself from the behavior of the backlight, making my job quite a bit more difficult (or impossible in the case of lag measurements).

But it’s also a problem for you. Yes, local dimming is one of the reasons you’d buy a TV like the QN90F in the first place, but Samsung ships the TV with a 165 Hz mode, presumably for PC use. Not being able to disable local dimming when in Windows is a bit nuts, and I can’t think of a good reason why Samsung would omit the option altogether. I’ve done my best to mitigate the issue for all subsequent measurements, but I wanted to mention that up front.

Because I’m primarily looking at the TV as a gaming display, I test calibration in the display’s Game mode, making sure that the TV can deliver the same accuracy and performance as in its Film modes but without the processing that can cause input lag.

Out of the box, Samsung has tuned the QN90F extraordinarily well for SDR content. Grayscale tracking is excellent, hitting 6500K in the default Standard WB mode with low Delta E’s across the board. Great job here. BT 1886 gamma is the default, but setting gamma to 2.2 is the right move to better match most sRGB content. Once done, gamma nicely follows the 2.2 target throughout.

Brightness is one of the QN90F’s major strengths. With a 10% window on a black background, local dimming set to high, it’ll do an eye-searing 2370 nits. That’s extraordinarily bright, but still not quite as good as the U8QG, which’ll hit 4000. You’ll likely never see this in real content, though; a white test patch is really the best-case scenario for manufacturers to show off how hard they’re willing to drive (and cool) their backlight LEDs. With a more reasonable 5% gray background, the QN90F tops out around 1400 nits, tapering off to around 760 nits fullscreen. This is a great result, and very good for daytime viewing. 760 nits is roughly 3x what an OLED can deliver, so FALD LCDs are still superior for bright room viewing.

Samsung also does a very good job of keeping the gray background with the 5% slides roughly the same luminance. Other panels really struggle to maintain that 5% level, prioritizing the white patch and letting the background go dim.

HDR, Contrast, and Local Dimming

HDR on the QN90F varies depending on what you’re looking at. Bright content is very, very good: colorful, bright; but dark content is seriously let down by weak, splotchy local dimming performance.

My first impressions of the TV’s local dimming performance were watching Severance and The Gorge on Apple TV, where I saw egregious blooming on dark scenes. It was so bad, I had to double check to make sure the QN90F was actually a VA LCD rather than an IPS. The image above shows the ridiculously distracting, grid-like blooming around Miles Teller’s silhouette.

Checking the native contrast of the panel is very difficult because Samsung doesn’t allow local dimming to be completely turned off. When the TV is first powered on, there is a brief window where LD is disabled, so I was able to get a shot of the panel’s true uniformity:

A little splotchy, but that doesn’t explain the LD performance in The Gorge. The panel’s native contrast ratio is probably around 4600:1, much better than the 1000:1 typical of IPS, but in dark scenes, the QN90F might as well be an IPS.

Samsung’s LD algorithm seems to push near max brightness instead of using a more open LCD position with less backlight output. Exacerbating this is the very grid-like appearance of the zones, which I counted. The 65” version I have in for review uses a 40x18 grid, or 720 zones. In the comparison shot above, check out how blocky and unnatural the backlight zones look for the warning text, compared to something much smoother like Hisense’s U8QG. The U8QG, and other competitors like TCL’s QM8K, at the same price or lower, are offering 2K+ zones, with a smoother, less boxy transition between the neighboring zones.

Unacceptable performance at this price point.

All that said, bright HDR content is pretty impressive. Day racing in The Crew: Motorfest is vivid, colorful, and very bright. The sun in the image above measured at 1008 nits, and the splotchy blooming isn’t visible at all.

EOTF tracking is only OK. With a black background, Samsung does a good job of tracking target luminance all the way up to a peak of around 2200 nits, but tracking (and brightness) gets worse with a 10-nit background, more typical of real content. I’ve noted the 10 nit background peaks on the slides above, and both max out a little north of 1100 nits.

Real content brightness is excellent, nearly topping the chart, but tracking is generally too dark, leading to a fairly high error rate.

Gaming on the QN90F

I’ve been a fan of The Crew series for years, and testing the QN90F gave me a nice opportunity to dive back into Motorfest, a game which usually sees me completely lose track of time. As I mentioned in the previous section, cruising around during the day is awesome: bright (real bright!), and colorful. Dark scenes are still colorful, but Samsung’s LD algorithm leads to too much blooming.

The QN90F supports VRR with FreeSync Premium Pro, and it worked especially well with Motorfest, which is limited to 60 fps. I was using PC mode at 165 Hz, and gameplay was smooth with no stuttering or tearing. One small niggle I found was that 60 fps content in VRR causes the panel to exhibit a faint vertical jailbar effect. As crazy as it is to use a 65” TV as a desktop monitor, it does allow me to catch a few pixel quirks that you might otherwise miss at couch distances.

Another issue is that 60 fps content – a new frame every 16.7 ms – can do a lot to hide the effect of slow response times, which can get lost in the general sample-and-hold blur. Higher refresh rates, like 165 Hz (with a smaller 6 ms window), demand much faster response times, and the QN90F really falters here: its VA panel is the slowest I’ve tested so far, with gamma-corrected response times averaging out to over 22 milliseconds.

That 22 millisecond average comes from a mix of some relatively fast and some very slow gray-to-gray transitions. The slide above highlights (really low-lights!) the rising and falling behavior from RGB 31 to RGB 191. Rising takes 36 ms and falling an even slower 42 ms.

If Samsung implemented some amount of overdrive, like it does on its LCD gaming monitors, many of these could be dramatically sped up, reducing the amount of blurring and trailing behind objects in motion.

The TestUFO pursuit shot of the QN90F at 165 Hz shows off the smearing and trailing behavior behind each UFO, but very dark scenes in games can often be worse, since VA panels tend to have trouble with dark transitions. For example, the 0 to 31 transition takes 46 ms.

Check out the pursuit shot on my S90F review to see the type of motion clarity that can be achieved on an OLED, even at a slightly lower 144 Hz. For gaming, especially high refresh rate gaming, nothing beats OLED. The QN90F is a bit frustrating in two aspects: 1) Samsung could have closed the gap slightly with some overdrive tuning, and 2) Samsung is selling the QN90F at the same price as the far-superior S90F. For almost any scenario where gaming performance is a priority, outside of perhaps the very brightest rooms where the QN90F’s impressive max luminance could come in handy, OLED is the better choice, especially at price parity.

The latency chart is just here for reference. Because Samsung doesn’t allow local dimming to be turned off, I can’t get accurate click to photon times. My testing relies on measuring how long it takes before a USB input/keypress causes the screen to change from black to white, but the backlight behavior is delayed by several frames, so it doesn’t represent real-world latency.

To be sure, though, I spent a lot of time in Game Mode using the QN90F as a PC monitor, and I didn’t notice any particularly bad input lag. I’d expect latency numbers comparable to the other LCDs on the chart.

The Competition

In the LCD realm, Hisense’s U8QG and TCL’s QM8K are simply better than the QN90F. Both are cheaper. The U8QG is brighter, has better HDR EOTF tracking, and Hisense offers way more dimming zones for better control of blooming. The TCL might not be as bright, but, of the three, its response times are much better tuned so high refresh rate gaming will be clearer.

If you’re already looking for a TV at or around the $1300 mark, my suggestion would be to bite the bullet and take the small price jump for an OLED. Samsung’s own S90F OLED is the same price and thoroughly better: similar real scene HDR brightness, lower EOTF error, excellent AR coating, amazing contrast from the perfect blacks and individually controlled pixels, and top-tier motion performance for gaming. LG’s WOLED C5 is another option that won’t disappoint, but at the same price, the S90F is better.

The Galleon 100 SD is the keyboard I’ve long wished Corsair would make: a full-fat gaming board crossed with a Stream Deck, the powerful macro box made by Corsair subsidiary Elgato. The result is a keyboard that takes up an inordinate amount of space – and costs as much as both products put together – but does exactly what it should.

You get all of the nice-to-haves you’d want from a great modern gaming keyboard, like 8000Hz polling, pre-lubricated mechanical switches and FPS-focused features like SOCD, plus that unparalleled control and customization that a Stream Deck provides, all in a chassis that is among the best Corsair’s ever built. Still, there’s also room to more fully realize the potential in a future design here, with magnetic switches being a curious omission and software improvements to be made.

Corsair Galleon 100 SD – Design and Features

The Galleon 100 SD continues the modern styling trend Corsair introduced with the Vanguard Pro 96, with textured knobs, thin fonts and a rounded black aluminium chassis. The MLX Pulse mechanical switches inside offer a smooth keypress, with moderate 45g actuation force and a linear action that is well-suited for gaming and pleasant enough for typing as well. The RGB-backlit PBT keycaps provide a bit of texture for the finger and a long lifetime versus ABS alternatives, while a gasket mount arrangement, the aluminium chassis, and layers of sound dampening provide a pleasantly deep sound signature. In short, the Galleon ticks all of the boxes I’d expect for a premium mechanical keyboard in 2026, without quite challenging more boutique typing-focused examples built for enthusiasts. Magnetic switches would unlock extra FPS-focused functionality, but it seems that Corsair is targeting a broader audience for this one.

The big change here is the addition of a 12-key Stream Deck into the right-hand side of the board, replacing the number pad from a full-size layout with a four-zone LCD display above and two chunky knobs at the top. The 5-inch 1280x720 display is vibrant and crisp, with text and icons that are readable (if not pin-sharp) from a normal viewing distance, and of course the keys are physically closer and more convenient to press than they would be on a separate Stream Deck unit.

Everything here is customisable in the Stream Deck software, which I’ll cover in detail later, but the default upper arrangement includes media information from Spotify, a weather forecast, volume levels and an app launcher. Holding down either knob will toggle between the two zones beneath it; with a regular press and rotation performing different functions depending on the widget selected. For example, the Spotify widget skips tracks and plays or pauses, while the weather widget lets you scroll through the weather of the day and see additional information for a certain time period.

The lower section is more standard Stream Deck fare, with each of the 12 keys displaying live information (like your CPU, RAM and GPU utilization) or serving as a static app shortcut. With folders, pages and profiles that can automatically activate in specific PC applications, there are few limits to the amount of control you can build out. As well as official integrations for Elgato products, games and so on, you can also find free and paid community-made options in an online marketplace or code your own.

If you don’t have the Stream Deck software running, you get a barebones arrangement that’s still fairly useful, packing in media controls, toggles for polling rates, profiles and game modes, and instructions for downloading the Stream Deck software.

The rest of the keyboard contains some good ideas, including an RGB-backlit strip along the top of the keyboard with a Corsair wordmark and tri-spoke elements; a similarly wordmarked palm rest made of a soft, squidgy material; flip-out legs to adjust the angle of the keyboard; and, somewhat unusually, two extra USB-C ports. You get two USB-C cables in the box, and the idea is that by running that extra cable and plugging it in the bottom of the keyboard, you can then plug in other USB-C accessories like mice or flash drives into a more easily accessible USB-C port behind the two knobs. Of course, you could just plug in whatever USB-C thing you wanted directly, without involving the keyboard, but the end result arguably looks cleaner by using the extra port.

I did worry that the Galleon would feel a bit cheap or flimsy with its Stream Deck addition, but Corsair’s designers have done well to integrate everything together into a robust and cohesive whole that feels as expensive as it actually is. If you’re a streamer or macro enthusiast, this is a very sleek way to keep the options you need within easy reach.

Corsair Galleon 100 SD – Software

As you might have guessed, the Galleon requires you to visit two places to control it: the Web Hub for changing the keyboard’s settings and Stream Deck for setting up that titular portion. Both are generally well-designed, though complex enough that finding your way around does take some time. I’d suggest starting with the Web Hub software first, updating your firmware if available, and then you can dig into the settings.

Here, you can set up the keyboard for gaming, including selecting polling rates up to 8000Hz (to fractionally reduce the delay between a key being pressed and registered) and enable SOCD, short for “Simultaneous Opposite Cardinal Direction” (letting a press of A override a press of D, for example, to aid counter-strafing in FPS titles). There are also more garden-variety controls for remapping keys, choosing lighting schemes and so on, though you won’t find features like adjustable actuation points, rapid trigger, or other common FPS-focused features due to the lack of magnetic switches. (The sockets here are hot-swappable, but only for other 3-pin or 5-pin mechanical switches, so you can’t change the core tech inside.)

The Stream Deck side of the equation is a bit more involved, with a live feed of what’s being shown on each dial area and button on the left and a menu of available widgets on the right. Adding or moving widgets is as simple as dragging and dropping, and all but the simplest widgets have further settings to customize their functionality and appearance. Icon packs make it easier to have a consistent appearance, but you’re free to go with custom icons, emojis, text and so on to suit your own preferences.

As mentioned earlier, the default set of widgets can be extended through the Elgato Marketplace, though relatively few third-party options are available for the new dial areas versus the original Stream Deck keys. Both of the third-party widgets I was hoping for did exist – YouTube Music and a calendar – but the latter was only available as a £5 or £10 purchase. I found that creating third-party widgets for the slim infobar on the Stream Deck Neo wasn’t even possible when I reviewed that device last year, so I hope that the dials here are easier to develop for.

In terms of what you can actually do with the Stream Deck, it’s a long list, including creating and playing macros, controlling music or audio devices, and supporting live streams. Controlling other parts of the Corsair ecosystem is especially well catered for, including adjusting Elgato lights, mics and cameras, Corsair peripherals, and now Fanatec sim racing gear.

Game integration feels like a bit of an afterthought, with no easy way to find what games on your system are supported by the keyboard – you have to search through all Galleon-compatible profiles or manually search by game title instead. Some third-party integrations are also expensive, with a Star Citizen profile pack costing £25 and Flight Simulator 2024 requiring an £18 investment. This feels like an area that could be improved substantially if Corsair intends to keep building out support for games, or incentivizing third-party developers to do so instead.

I did experience a few bugs in the Stream Deck software, most notably every installation of a new plugin requiring two attempts to successfully install – a pain when the default loadout for the Galleon requires eight or so plugins. Thankfully, the core functionality of assigning functions to each button and triggering them worked like a treat in the Stream Deck software, while the Web Hub provided all of the functionality I needed on the keyboard setup front.

Corsair Galleon 100 SD – Performance

The Galleon 100 SD is a strong option for gaming, with a particular alacrity for more complex simulation games where you benefit from having a large number of available keys. Throwing lesser-used (and easily forgotten) keys and key combos on the Stream Deck pad is handy, as is having an otherwise full layout to use as normal. The key action is well-tuned, with reasonable travel, good audible feedback, and a smooth action, so games like League of Legends or StarCraft 2 that can punish mispresses heavily are easier to play than they would be on a softer and shorter-travel keyboard.

I also found occasion to use the extra Stream Deck keys in FPS games like Counter-Strike 2 (for buying weapons), but I tend to prefer narrower keyboards without a number pad to ensure plenty of mousing space for the low-sensitivity gameplay that most players adopt. That led to a shade of frustration in Battlefield 6, as it wasn’t as comfortable to play with my arms spread wide across the desk. The inclusion of SOCD and a snappy 8000Hz polling rate was something of a salve, and I have no qualms about the keyboard’s overall performance for all but the most competitive FPS players. Still, I can’t help but dream about a Galleon 100 SD in a southpaw layout, with the macro pad on the left side of the keyboard.

What’s going on with Steam Machine? Valve has been relatively quiet on the upcoming hardware since announcing it last year, and it remains without a release date or a price. But AMD, which powers Steam Machine itself so you’d like to think it’s in the know, has said Valve is “on track” to begin shipping early this year.

That’s according to comments made by CEO Lisa Su in AMD's latest earnings call (the same one that mentioned the next-gen Xbox was set for launch in 2027). To be exact, here’s the quote:

In gaming, revenue increased 50% year-over-year to $843 million. Semi-custom sales increased year-over-year and declined sequentially as expected. For 2026, we expect semi-custom SoC annual revenue to decline by a significant double-digit percentage as we enter the seventh year of what has been a very strong console cycle. From a product standpoint, Valve is on track to begin shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year.

That sounds pretty clear cut (early this year suggests by the end of March, if we consider early to be the first quarter), but Valve has yet to rubber stamp the launch window, and has remained quiet on potential price points, likely due to the rising cost of PC components. So, what’s the latest?

The Steam Machine is a mid-level gaming-focused PC designed to be more accessible than a standard desktop PC, with a sleek, cube-like design and SteamOS on-board. We here at IGN have offered our thoughts on how much the Steam Machine will cost, suggesting it’ll probably be higher than people think. Chatter about pricing ramped up last year after Linus Sebastian of Linus Tech Tips suggested it wouldn’t follow a “console pricing model” of $500, after mentioning the figure in a meeting with Valve staff.

In an interview with Skill Up from last year, Valve's Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais discussed the price of Steam Machine without actually confirming what it would be. The conversation began with software engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais confirming that Steam Machine is more powerful than 70% of gaming PCs that Valve registers on its hardware survey, in terms of general GPU level, saying: “We have looked at that number as part of speccing the machine, so it’s possible it’s evolved a little bit over time, but I think ballpark, it’s about there.”

He then said that fans should expect the Steam Machine price to be around the same as if you were to build a PC from parts to get “basically the same level of performance.”

“I think that if you build a PC from parts and get to basically the same level of performance, that's the general price window that we aim to be at,” he said. “Ideally we'd be pretty competitive with that and have a pretty good deal, but we're working on refining that as we speak. Right now is just a hard time to have a really good idea of what the price is going to be because there's a lot of different things… a lot of external things.”

In that context, Valve’s Steam Machine will likely cost above $750. We’ve suggested Steam Machine will cost $700-$800. To put that into perspective, the base PS5 with a disc drive currently costs $549.99, while the PS5 Digital Edition costs $499.99. The PS5 Pro, meanwhile, costs $749.99.

Skill Up then asked Valve to rule out the Steam Machine being subsidized hardware, saying, “like Valve is not going into this thinking we're going to eat a big loss on this so that we can grow market share or category or anything like that, correct?"

Pierre-Loup Griffais’ answer here was unequivocal: “No. It's more in-line with what you might expect from the current PC market. Obviously, our goal is for it to be a good deal at that level of performance.”

He then went on to make the case for Steam Machine at that sort of price, pointing to the value you get from the various features it includes that simply wouldn’t be easy to replicate if you were to build your own PC from similar parts.

“And then you have features that are actually really hard to build if you're making your own gaming PC from parts, right?” he continued. “Like things like, obviously the small form factor and I think the noise level that we achieved — or lack thereof — is really impressive, and we're excited that the people are going to find out how quiet this thing is. But also some integration features like HDMI CEC, right? Like being able to turn on your TV, turn off your TV, control it with your TV remote, change the volume, all that kind of stuff.

“Like the Bluetooth and wireless work that we've done, the four antennas, the very deliberate design to make sure that you can have a great experience with four Bluetooth controllers from any manufacturer, plus our Steam Controller receiver integrated as well — that’s all hard to do. But more importantly, you can turn on the machine from your controller, which is not something that is actually straightforward depending on the type of PC you have or the main chipset and all that.

“So being able to sit down on your couch, press one button on your controller, and the whole thing lights up like you'd expect for a thing that's in your living room, I think that's really valuable. And there's not really a price point to that because it's not really something that exists in the PC market right now.

“There's people that are going to be perfectly happy building their PC at whatever level of spec, and that's going to be a great experience for them. We're building Steam OS so that if they want to use it for that they can and they can have essentially the same experience. And if they're happy with that, that's perfectly good with us. But we expect the machine is a nice baseline offering that lets you have some features that are really hard to get to otherwise.”

Valve designer Lawrence Yang then chimed in with his own thought: "for me one of the benefits of Steam Machine is, I'm someone who used to build my PC in college and I am too old and tired to do that now!”

Some have questioned Valve’s refusal to subsidize the Steam Machine and thus theoretically at least miss out on having a greater number of people buying games through Steam. Larian publishing director Michael Douse, who is in charge of business development regarding the likes of Steam megahit Baldur’s Gate 3, took to social media to suggest Valve will lose “far more” than the approx. $200 difference by not having more users on the Steam storefront, “which is essentially a money printing machine.”

“That said it isn't stupid to not sell things at a loss, just peculiar in this case,” Douse continued.

We’ve got plenty more on all Valve’s recent hardware announcements, and have a handy roundup. We went hands-on with Steam Machine and Steam Controller, and if you’re wondering about Steam Deck 2, we asked Valve about that as well.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

AMD CEO Lisa Su has referenced a potential 2027 launch for Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox console during a company earnings call today, reported via PC Mag.

“From a product standpoint, Valve is on-track to begin shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year, and development of Microsoft's next-gen Xbox featuring an AMD semi-custom SoC is progressing well to support a launch in 2027,” Su said.

A system-on-a-chip (or SoC) is an integrated circuit that essentially squeezes all (or most) of the components of a computer onto a single unit.

Su remarks came in the wake of news that AMD anticipates revenue related to semi-custom chip manufacturing – like those inside both the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 – will fall during 2026 by a “significant double-digit percentage.”

Microsoft confirmed its partnership with AMD on its next-generation Xbox project back in June, 2025.

“Announcing that we’re building the next-generation of Xbox first-party devices and cloud, including our future Xbox consoles, together with AMD,” Microsoft noted in a statement at the time, promising “next-level performance, cutting-edge graphics, breakthrough gameplay, and unmatched compatibility.”

There are few specifics available, but Microsoft has officially clarified that the next-generation Xbox would be “fully compatible” with users’ existing Xbox game library.

However, an unconfirmed report in October last year also alleged the next Xbox will arrive as a console/PC hybrid that can run Steam.

Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.

For years, I've been singing the praises of the original Audeze Maxwell across my headset coverage here at IGN. So, when I caught wind of an updated version on the way with the Audeze Maxwell 2, I was as excited as I was curious – curious as to how the company could improve on the already stellar sound quality, and also for how it might address its few shortcomings. After using it as my primary headset for about two weeks, I'm a little disappointed that it didn't make any drastic changes, but that means it's at least still a fantastic headset. This means it's more accurate to look at the Maxwell 2 as a simple refresh rather than a brand-new headset. If you're still going strong with the original Maxwell or an equivalent high-end gaming headset, it won't be a major jump, but anyone in the market for a new top-tier option in the range of $300 and up, this is your new king.

Audeze Maxwell 2 – Design and Comfort

Audeze did not stray far from the original design; the Maxwell 2 still rocks the heavy-set earcups that house its 90mm planar magnetic drivers, although they come with some minor changes. They no longer swivel inward the full 90 degrees to lay flat and instead stop at a 45-degree angle, and it’s good enough to rest the headset around your neck comfortably. The earcup covers can pop out if you twist them, which allows for custom designs. It also means both the mute toggle and power button are no longer on the outside of the earcups. Those are now along the border of the right earcup, but the mute toggle is just a tad harder to switch on and off since it's wedged into a dip. The left earcup has the usual suspects: volume dial, chat/game mix, 3.5mm jack, USB-C port, microphone jack, and Bluetooth button.

I'm a bit surprised that the Maxwell 2 largely reused the original headband design, where the leatherette strap hooks into notches built into the frame. It's still more difficult to adjust the fit than I'd like since the holes on the strap are very rigid – at least you know it'll lock into place. The noticeable change, however, is the width of the strap itself, which now covers more surface area atop your head. It helps alleviate pressure, and it's better for keeping the headset in place when you're moving your head. That's important for a headset as heavy as this (560g, up from the original's 490g).

The earpads have a slimmer profile which makes the space within for your ears noticeably larger, and can help them fit easier (and theoretically, help with a more spacious audio experience). However, you can feel a little more jostling of the headset when turning or walking around with these (compounded by the fact it's slightly heavier) – although I can say that the new strap design offsets this by making sure the headset doesn’t slide off so easily. Regardless, I wore the Maxwell 2 for sessions upwards of four hours at a time and didn't experience much discomfort, if at all. That's because the pads are still dense and plushy, and thanks to the lighter-than-usual clamp force, there wasn't much pressure around my ears. They also limited the sweatiness I tend to get from leatherette material. And since the earpads are magnetically attached, I anticipate being able to swap them out for aftermarket ones if you wish.

Audeze Maxwell 2 – Features and Software

While there is no active noise cancelation (ANC) on this model, there is an ANC version planned in the future. Given this is a closed-back headset, it has decent noise isolation already. However, like the original, the microphone has active noise isolation to pick up your voice more accurately. While it's not an improvement, per se, it's leagues above what other gaming headsets do with either a higher noise gate or other forms of AI noise isolation, mainly because I didn't experience much clipping or digitization in my voice.

The Maxwell 2 also has simultaneous Bluetooth connectivity – well, sort of. Pairing to Bluetooth devices is straightforward and swapping to the 2.4GHz USB-C dongle is as well, but you can’t have them active simultaneously, which is a nice-to-have on high-end headsets. However, you can get audio through a wired USB-C connection and Bluetooth at the same time. Of course, it’s not as convenient as true simultaneous audio, but it is a decent option.

What is a notable improvement is the software. One of the odd things about the Maxwell was its Windows XP-era looking software that felt very outdated. While there isn't a whole lot to customize with the Maxwell 2, the updated app is easier to navigate visually, whether you're changing and saving EQ profiles or tweaking your microphone settings. At a time when software suites are getting increasingly bloated, I can appreciate how Audeze focuses on the essentials.

One of the big features of the original Maxwell is its long battery life, and I'm happy to report the Maxwell 2 is no slouch. Rated to last upward of 90 hours from a full charge, I used it as my primary headset for two full weeks about 8 hours a day, and only hit below 20% (according to the app) toward the end of week two. With all that weight, I sure hope it'd have a hefty battery at least, and it certainly does.

Audeze Maxwell 2 – Sound Quality

It's no surprise that the Maxwell 2 sounds absolutely fantastic, producing a similar sound profile to the original with its 90mm planar magnetic drivers. These remain some of the most sophisticated audio drivers for gaming headsets and set the foundation for its audiophile-type quality. The Maxwell 2 is tuned slightly differently, which was difficult to notice until multiple side-by-side listening tests – while the low-end bass isn't quite as prominent as the original Maxwell with the default EQ, you can simply replicate the more booming bass by bumping up the lower frequencies. It does highlight the clarity of the mids and highs, though, and they come out just a tad cleaner at louder volumes.

Like the original version, the Audeze Maxwell 2 puts audio quality above everything else.

As per usual, I tested the Maxwell 2 in a suite of games I normally play; namely Counter-Strike 2 and Final Fantasy XIV. For the former, positional audio is of utmost importance and the headset performed admirably for identifying actions like footsteps, opponents reloading, gunfire in certain directions with great detail. And catching up on the latest raid series in FFXIV, the busy nature of eight players casting spells, boss attacks going off, and the awesome soundtrack blasting all at the same time wasn't grating at all. That's expected of a high-end gaming headset, but I'm still impressed with how the Maxwell 2 handles all of that wonderfully.

I also gave the headset a spin on PlayStation 5, which is recognized natively if you flip the dongle to PS5 mode. There aren't many console-unique features here, even with the Audeze brand being under Sony this time around, but Tempest 3D audio and easily tuning the headset on PS5 are good enough for me. Replaying through The Last of Us Part 2 really put the cinematic capabilities of the Maxwell 2 into perspective, with dialogue coming through sharply contrasted with the punch of gunfire – it's a theater-like experience strapped to your head, and it surpasses even the Sony InZone H9 II that I reviewed recently.

If you want a gaming PC that can follow wherever you may roam, a gaming laptop is likely your best bet. While desktop parts will usually still beat out a gaming laptop, the best of them offer excellent performance in the latest games. Best of all, some models are able to offer peak performance while still remaining thin and light, like the Razer Blade 16, which is my pick for the all-around best gaming laptop of 2026 so far. As of April 15, these are back in stock after Razer had briefly taken down the direct link to buy the Razer Blade 16 and other laptops, replaced with "Notify Me" buttons, ahead of when tariffs were supposed to kick in.

TL;DR – These Are the Best Gaming Laptops:

The first thing I always recommend to people hunting for a new gaming laptop is to consider is what PC games they actually hope to play. The second is what settings they hope to play them at. These two questions can guide your purchase to higher- or lower-end hardware and what trade-offs you're willing to make. Now more than ever, gaming laptops come in every shape and size, from thin and light devices like Asus' ROG Zephyrus G14 to moderately heavy powerhouses like the Gigabyte Aorus Master 16. Larger performance-driven laptops (like the ones that come with a 4K display) achieve their enhanced performance with more powerful, and power-hungry, components, which means sacrificing on portability, battery life, and fan noise.

There are countless to choose from a ton of different gaming laptop brands, and finding the best for you can be more than a little daunting. I've tested dozens over the years, and I have a deep understanding of what it takes for a laptop to ascend to greatness for different types of gamers and can confidently say: These are the best gaming laptops of 2026 so far.

1. Razer Blade 16 (2025)

Best Overall Gaming Laptop

Let's get this out of the way: The Razer Blade 16 isn't the most powerful RTX 50-series laptop. Instead, this notebook earns my top pick because of sum of its parts. The team at Razer understood that a huge cross section of laptop gamers carry their machines with them every day, and flat-out making it nicer to use while also being powerful can dramatically enhance the use experience. As an extra, if you're willing to invest in Razer's laptop cooling pad, you can unlock the full wattage for performance that goes toe-to-toe with other RTX 5090 laptops.

Make no mistake: The Razer Blade 16 is still a gaming beast. In my review, I threw everything and the kitchen sink at it and there was nothing it couldn't run well on its crisp 1600p OLED screen. While running those games and benchmarks, the system stayed surprisingly quiet. This is a gaming laptop you could use in a school library without attracting attention.

It's true that a high-powered RTX 5080 like the Gigabyte Aorus Master 16 also recommended in this guide will get you similar, if not better, performance. What most other laptops can't offer, though, is the Blade 16's level of portability and noise.

Measuring just 0.59 inches at its thinnest point, it's a marked improvement from its predecessor and, well, most gaming laptops with such powerful hardware. It also weighs only 4.7lbs; you won't forget it's there, but it won't leave your back and shoulders sore from lugging it around. That portabilty makes it more appealing as a daily carry, so I didn't second guess taking it with me every day even when I might not actually need it.

The Blade 16 does a great job of feeling like the premium product it is. The chassis is milled from a single block of aluminum and feels solid and robust. It also helps with heat dissipation, but solid engineering ensures that the keyboard never gets more than warm while gaming. Its screen is also excellent with impressive factory calibration and multiple professional color modes that allow it to be used for creative applications straight out of the box. It's per-key RGB keyboard is completely programmable, complete with SOCD (Snap Tap) and macro support to better emulate a dedicated gaming keyboard.

On top of that, it also offers great battery life while gaming. Thanks to the new advancements in how the RTX 50-series handles power management, you can play games for around two hours instead of one or less like last generation.

The Razer Blade 16 is an excellent laptop that, while pricey, is something special in this space. If you want a great gaming laptop that will impress you with its portability, look no further.

2. MSI Thin A15 AI

Best Budget Gaming Laptop

3. Gigabyte Aorus Master 16

Best High-End Gaming Laptop

4. Asus TUF Gaming A14

Best Gaming Laptop for Students

5. Razer Blade 18 (2025)

Best 4K Gaming Laptop

The Razer Blade 18 embodies decadence in the world of gaming laptops. This is a machine that pushes the envelope and offers a true desktop replacement experience. And that's fitting, because if you're after high-performance 4K gaming on a laptop, you're going to need a next-level rig. Just prepare your wallet, because this type of experience doesn't come cheap.

The Razer Blade 18 features a massive, 18-inch IPS display with a peak resolution of 3840x2400. That's actually higher than 4K but – hold onto your hats – it's able to push that resolution with a rapid 240Hz refresh rate that's perfect for ulta-smooth gameplay. It's not OLED or mini-LED, but this screen gets plenty bright and offers vibrant, well-calibrated SDR colors.

There's another reason to consider this laptop if you're into competitive esports: It's one of very few gaming laptops that comes with dual resolution modes. With Razer Synapse you can choose between the native resolution above or drop to 1920x1200 and boost the refresh rate all the way to 440Hz for the ultimate in responsiveness and motion clarity. While the picture isn't as crisp, at 18 inches, the impact of dropping to this resolution is much less impactful than on a full-size gaming monitor.

To power all of this, the system can be equipped with up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU, 64GB of DDR5 memory, and up to 4TB of storage to hold all of your games. It also comes outfitted with the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, which cinches the on great gaming performance. On top of all that, the system comes with Razer's thermal hood design for improved thermals and a great set of speakers with impressive volume.

Just don't plan on gaming for very long without its monster charging brick. But at 7.1lbs for just the laptop and another pound or two for its charger, it isn't likely that you'll be taking this on the go very often. Believe me – I tried, and you feel it right away. I reviewed the Blade 16 for IGN and our official Blade 18 review is upcoming, but I can say with confidence: If you want a 4K gaming laptop with the ability to replace a desktop and can be taken on the move, this is the one to choose.

6. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14

Best Lightweight Gaming Laptop

7. Alienware 16 Area 51 (2025)

Best Desktop Replacement

8. Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2024)

Best MacBook for Gaming

How to Pick the Best Gaming Laptop

Gaming laptops have come a long way in relatively little time. Power, portability, and price have all seen dramatic improvements in just the last five years, and somehow gaming laptops are getting thinner and adding even more features.

Portability and Form Factor

Where will you be taking this gaming laptop? If you'll be taking it out every day, you’ll want something portable, such as a 15-incher or even smaller. Users who just want a laptop to live at home as more of a desktop replacement should go for a 17-inch rig or bigger for the larger screen size and greater power.

Weight is another consideration if you'll be carrying the laptop around all day. Anything more than 5lbs is going to be very noticeable. This can be an issue because gaming laptops have a tendency to be a bit bigger than competing options that don't need larger and more advanced cooling solutions. It's not impossible to find thin and light gaming laptops with great performance, but you should definitely take the time to consider what you're comfortable with and if you're willing to trade performance for portability.

With integrated GPUs, with the integrated graphics on modern processors getting to be so good, it's also possible to find gaming laptops in form factors that just didn't work before. The ROG Flow Z13 is a prime example; it is essentially a 2-in-1 gaming laptop that can double as a tablet for artists and students, but offers impressive gaming performance thanks to its AMD Ryzen AI MAX processor.

The point is, you don't need to limit yourself to bulky clamshell designs in the same way you used to. Depending on your budget and performance needs, there are more options than ever out there.

Power

The newest gaming laptops come equipped with the latest Nvidia RTX or Radeon RX graphics chips. These mobile chips are nearly as capable as their desktop version, plus they support the latest ray tracing, DLSS, and frame generation technologies.

On that front, it can also be important to consider what games you plan on playing, their minimum and recommended specifications, and what advanced features they might support. If the game is equipped with the latest version of Nvidia's DLSS, for example, and supports frame generation, you can probably get away with a lower-powered, lower-cost graphics card since the tech will improve your frame rate even on a cheaper card. As you get into higher tiers of laptop GPUs, prices skyrocket quickly.

Choosing the latest processor isn't quite as necessary, but it's nice to have and can help ensure that it doesn't bottleneck the potential performance of your GPU. If you're looking at a laptop with an Intel processor, be sure that the processor isn't more than a couple generations behind. Both Intel and AMD offer gaming processors with built-in neural processing units for enhanced AI performance. For Intel, these are referred to as Core Ultra processors while AMD dubs its lines AI and AI MAX. Both can offer great gaming performance.

If you only plan to take part in light gaming, a recent Core Ultra or AI Max processor can also take the place of a dedicated graphics card and save you hundreds in the process. Both of these chips feature powerful integrated graphics, and so long as you're willing to adjust settings and resolutions, can deliver playable frame rates. They're also great if you plan on streaming your games through the cloud through services like Xbox Cloud Gaming or GeForce Now.

Price

If you're set on a gaming laptop and just need to decide which one to get under a certain price point, then your choices will be narrowed down based on your maximum budget. If that's you, you'll probably want to explore our full list of cheap gaming laptops we'd recommend instead.

Most gaming laptops are only as portable as the nearest electrical outlet. All that power comes at a price, though. The general rule of thumb about gaming laptops is that their battery life stinks. In general, you should plan on plugging in your laptop before loading a game. Playing on battery power typically lasts an hour or less and also delivers worse performance due to the power limits the laptop imposes on the graphics card and processor. It's just not ideal, but may still be better than lugging around a heavy power brick, depending on what you're playing.

One recent exception to this is Nvidia's RTX 50-series laptop GPUs. These new chips feature enhanced power management features, so you can count on closer to two hours instead of one.

Another consideration when choosing a gaming laptop versus a gaming desktop is its price. It costs quite a bit more to stuff all those components (i.e. the built-in trackpad, keyboard, speakers, and display) into an easy-to-carry shell.

Depending on how tech-savvy you are, You can save some money by choosing a laptop with less memory and storage at checkout and upgrading these components yourself. It's usually much cheaper to do so. However, you'll want to research carefully to ensure that both are upgradable at all and, if so, are easily accessible. Some laptops hide components inside, beneath others, making them especially difficult, if not impossible, for anyone other than an expert to access. Bear in mind, however, that a laptop in general is much less upgradable than a desktop gaming PC. Outside of memory and storage, changing out other components likely means buying a whole new PC.

Integrated Graphics – Finally Viable for Gaming?

Historically, the constant advice when shopping for a gaming laptop was to prioritize getting the best graphics card you could afford. But thanks to recent advancements in the graphics built into the latest CPUs, it's now possible to play many games without spending extra on a laptop with dedicated graphics. Both the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 and the AMD Ryzen AI Max and AI 400 processor lines are equipped with onboard graphics that can rival low-to-mid-tier GPUs (Intel denotes its graphics-capable chips with an “X” in the model name).

Not convinced? Jackie Thomas recently reviewed the Asus ZenBook Duo (2026), which is outfitted with the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and Intel Arc B390 graphics cores. She was able to reach 65fps in CyberPunk 2077 at high settings. I found similar results with the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 in my review of the Asus ROG Flow Z13. That chip utilizes AMD’s Radeon 8060S integrated graphics, which is built on the RDNA 3.5 architecture. That puts the gaming performance of these chips in the ballpark of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 and RTX 4060 laptop chips. Both chips also offer extended battery life (though the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 seems to best the AMD Ryzen AI Max+395 by a significant margin) and excellent single- and multi-core performance for productivity and creative work.

Of course, opting for a laptop with a dedicated graphics card at or above this level will certainly offer better performance. In many cases, calling laptops featuring these chips gaming systems also feels like a bit of a stretch. But if you don't mind sticking to around 1080p resolution, adjusting some settings, and leveraging technologies like upscaling and frame generation, these new processors offer an exceptionally well-rounded experience between productivity, gaming, portability, and battery life.

Gaming Laptop FAQ

Should you buy a gaming laptop or a gaming PC?

When considering a gaming laptop over a gaming desktop, ask yourself: Is the premium price worth it for the luxury of portability? In virtually every case, you'll pay more for a gaming laptop with similar on-paper specs to a well-matched gaming desktop. It doesn't stop with the cost: Just because two graphics cards have the same name doesn't mean that they're the same in all circumstances. Laptop versions of same-name GPUs usually offer reduced performance due to their thermal and power limitations. Gaming desktops provide more bang for your buck, are less expensive to upgrade and repair, and last longer before they go obsolete. See our guide to gaming PCs vs. gaming laptops for a deeper comparison.

Is the CPU or GPU more important in a gaming laptop?

Both are important, but you should consider the graphics card more than the processor. Even though a slow processor can throttle the graphics card and lower your fps, usually this is much less of a concern than simply having an underpowered GPU. Remember, it's the graphics card that renders your games and is the single most influential component to gaming performance.

Do I need a dedicated graphics card in my gaming laptop?

Not always. This depends on what you're hoping to achieve. If you're interested in running the latest games at high graphics settings and resolutions, you definitely need to invest in a laptop with a great graphics card. If you only plan to do light gaming, enjoy older games that aren't very demanding or stream your games from the cloud. A modern processor with integrated graphics can also be a good way to save some money. With that in mind, relying on an integrated graphics card hasn't always been as possible as it is today. As such, I would recommend this only for gaming laptops with AMD Ryzen 7000-series or Intel Core Ultra processors.

Do you need a laptop cooling pad?

Many modern gaming laptops come with ample cooling solutions baked into the chassis. But given their much smaller form factor than traditional desktop gaming PCs, thermal throttling can occasionally be an issue. If you are experiencing a downgrade in performance or your device seems a little too hot to the touch, a laptop cooling pad could be a simple, affordable solution. Laptop cooling pads often feature fans and ventilation slots or mesh for better airflow than when your laptop rests on a gaming desk or your lap, helping to ensure your device is working to its full potential and can even increase its longevity. If you're looking to keep your gaming laptop cool on the cheap, the Havit HV-2056 is an excellent option.

What are the best gaming laptop brands in 2026?

More brands than ever are selling laptops, but the biggest brands over the last five years remain the biggest today. Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte are all leading brands when it comes to gaming laptops, as is Lenovo, HP, Acer, and Dell/Alienware. There are also a number of boutique gaming laptop brands to be aware of, though these often cost significantly more due to their hand-tested, custom-crafted design. Origin, Falcon Northwest, and Xotic are all worth paying special attention to if you're looking for something a little more special than the "big brands" can usually provide.

Christopher Coke has been a contributor to IGN since 2019 and has been covering games and technology for more than a decade. He has covered tech ranging from gaming controllers to graphics cards, gaming chairs to gaming monitors, headphones, IEMs, and more for sites such as MMORPG.com, Tom’s Hardware, Popular Science, USA Today’s Reviewed, and Popular Mechanics. Find Chris on Twitter @gamebynight.

Image Credit: Annalee Tsujino is a multi disciplinary designer and illustrator. Check them out on Instagram @antsu_illustrations.

Netflix is being removed from the PlayStation 3 — yes, the PlayStation 3 — on March 2, 2026.

The streaming service first hit PS3 via Blu-ray disc in 2009, with a native app arriving the following year so users didn't have to insert an instant streaming disc into their console. All these years later, Netflix still works on Sony’s 19-year-old console, but the party ends next month, according to a message now displayed by the Netflix app on PS3.

just tried booting up netflix on my PS3 and yeah it does infact give that message </3 pic.twitter.com/VcfQkj6bJV

— stuff about CRTs (@CRTthoughts) February 3, 2026

Remarkably, some people were still using the Netflix app on PS3, including perhaps the appropriately named redditor ‘12_Ton_Brick_of_Weed,’ who said: “Welp, there goes the last way to watch Netflix natively in 4:3.”

“I imagine I'm one of like 10 people bummed by this haha,” they continued. “Netflix ps3 has been so convenient for watching old shows on a CRT in 4:3 without the black bars on the sides. Glad I got to use it while I still can and at least they gave a heads up haha.”

“TIL that Netflix was still on PS3,” someone replied. “I used it daily for my daughter. Definitely not the only one upset,” added another.

Perhaps with Netflix finally gone from the PS3, the streamer will find a place for it on the Nintendo Switch 2. Or perhaps not.

Photo by JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Welcome to the HP OmniBook X Flip 14 experience.

Your workday will start as it always does. Inbox. Calendar. Couple of documents. Too many tabs, but handled like a boss. A vid conference where you’re nodding like a bobblehead but yawning through your eyeballs. The HP OmniBook X Flip chews through this stuff without fuss.

The Intel Core Ultra 5 keeps everything feeling responsive, Copilot+ features handle the background admin like live captions and image tweaks, and the 5MP IR camera with Poly Camera Pro does a heroic job of making you look perky and present even when you’re spiritually down the street.

Then you get five minutes.

Five minutes is enough time to check on your Baldur’s Gate 3 save. Maybe respec a character. Maybe roll a newy, because that’s the kind of office-based number crunching that truly matters. On this beast, BG3 loads quick and looks a treat on the 14 inch 2K touchscreen. Turn based combat is perfect here. It waits. It understands your life is dungeons & dragons + deadlines.

Back to work. Creative time now. Premiere Pro open. Timeline scrubbing. Exports running. The HP OmniBook X Flip stays cool and cooperative, which is exactly what you want from a work machine. This is the part where you feel smug about the purchase. See? Work.

During a mid morning commute or coffee break, jack into Cyberpunk 2077. Experience preem Night City visuals, cybersexy escapism, and the quiet satisfaction of knowing the beast from your lappy bag can handle it without begging for a charger. Intel Arc graphics keep things smooth enough to stay immersed, and the battery holds on like it knows what’s coming later.

Another meeting. Notes this time. Flip the OmniBook X Flip into tablet mode. Touchscreen. Jot things down. Pretend you are sketching ideas, not thinking about optimising perks. The 2 in 1 design is genuinely useful here, which makes the inevitable pivot back to games feel earned rather than cheeky.

Lunch break. Controller out. One reality hop later and you’re in Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, another PS5 crown jewel ported up into PC Valhalla. Tent mode works beautifully, load times are short thanks to the SSD, and clueless meerkating co-workers ask you when Pixar started making interactive movies.

Afternoon slump. Your day slides into (hopefully paid) overtime as you indulge in a particular joy of irony. Using a laptop bristling with AI features to play Terminator 2D No Fate feels like tempting fate on purpose. Running a sprite heavy love letter to 90s action excess on a Copilot+ PC barely taxes this beast, obviously, but it scratches that old school itch.

The cleaners are vacuuming, but you’re headphoned up for a night of AAA delights. Grip a ripcord and zip into Battlefield 6 REDSEC, avoiding peak hour traffic with fully loaded graphics. Or sling into Marvel’s Spider Man 2 for spandex-tight combat as you Peter parkour like his rent’s due and you both should be doing real work instead.

Art imitating life.

The HP OmniBook X Flip does not force you to choose between work or play. It lets you oscillate between the two grinds that matter. Better yet, it looks sensible enough to justify itself in any room, and is capable enough to reward every stolen moment.

So yes, “I need it for work”…works. Spreadsheets. Creative projects. Vid calls. Whatever.

It just also happens to slay at play.

You can check out the HP OmniBook X Flip for yourself at your nearest JB Hi-IFiI (head to the link: https://w2buy.net/8i2d188u) or via the HP online store.

Samsung has added Nvidia G-Sync support to its 2026 OLED TVs and gaming monitors, the company announced over the weekend. In addition, a couple of TVs – the S95H and S90H – will also come with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro.

Both of these VRR technologies aim to smooth out your gaming experience by preventing things like one part of an image moving ahead of another part, aka screen-tearing. In the past, Samsung displays have instead relied on its own version variable refresh rate, or VRR.

Besides the high end S95H and S90H, Samsung says it'll make the midrange S85H G-Sync Compatible, too. Over in gaming monitor land, the company named the new 27-inch Odyssey G6 – its absurdly high-refresh-rate 1,040Hz model – and its 240Hz refresh 27-inch Odyssey G6 sibling. (We love confusing lineup naming, don't we? Those are the G60H and G61SH, respectively). Equipped with G-Sync Compatible screens, Samsung's gaming displays could fare a little better when compared to some of the best gaming displays; the company has struggled to outperform the likes of Dell or Asus, at least by our estimation. It has done better in the OLED arena, though – the Odyssey G9 is, after all, our favorite OLED widescreen gaming display.

Besides G-Sync and FreeSync, Samsung's OLEDs this year will also get support for HDR10+ Advanced, which the company previewed late last year. That's the fancy-pants HDR standard meant to fix the soap opera effect, or the unnaturally fluid movement you see on your parents' TV when you go home for the holidays every year (I know you've been surreptitiously turning that off every chance you get, you sneaky old so-and-so).

Wes is a freelance writer (Freelance Wes, they call him) who has covered technology, gaming, and entertainment steadily since 2020 at Gizmodo, Tom's Hardware, Hardcore Gamer, and most recently, The Verge. Inside of him there are two wolves: one that thinks it wouldn't be so bad to start collecting game consoles again, and the other who also thinks this, but more strongly.

You know that part of the year between Christmas and New Years when you have no idea what day it is, time loses all meaning, and guiltless gaming binge sessions run rampant? Well by now you’re probably frighteningly aware of what day it is and it’s probably a work day. Not to worry, I’m going to help you out.

I’m Jess McDonell and I’m a content creator and Twitch streamer, which is kind of like a real job. Here are three easy tips I’ve used to smooth out that rough back to work transition and get more productive in the new year. Brought to you by HP and the HP OmniBook X Flip.

Tip 1: Just Getting Started

First, commit to doing just five minutes of a task. Before you know it you’ll be stuck in, it’s just about starting. By just beginning a single task you’re getting the hardest part over and done with and even doing a little bit more than you originally set out to will get those reward chemicals firing in your brain so you can take on the next part of the task and the one after that.

Big jobs don’t seem so daunting when you break them down and finding a realistic but efficient division of tasks throughout your day can help you cross off even the most dread-inducing projects. For best results try interspersing your work stints with well-earned breaks and rewards of the self-care and self-indulgent variety. There’s nothing wrong with taking your lunch break with a little gaming or TV on the side. With the HP OmniBook X Flip’s all-day battery life and hardy Gorilla Glass 3 display you can even take yourself outside to work or play to your heart’s content without compromising on performance, or having to go back inside

It can be easy to get disheartened and overwhelmed by the mountain of work you still need to get done but it’s important to celebrate your victories and checked boxes, too. Whenever you cross off a task, even a small one, give yourself a pat on the back. Acknowledging your accomplishments will go a long way to keeping you motivated and ready to tuck back into the next part of your project.

Tip 2: Reply To The Most Important Email In Your Inbox

Starting any old part of any task is much better than not starting at all but getting on top of that email in your inbox that you’ve been putting off is a great way to settle you into a steady flow of productivity. And stamp out that nagging voice in the back of your head telling you you really need to have taken care of that one already.

So go ahead and find “That Email”. You know the one. Not the one from your Mum telling you your aunt will be staying in your house for the next three weeks, or the shipping update letting you know the Christmas present you needed two months ago has now arrived in a city you’ve never heard of.

Not those, the big one.

I can almost assure you that it feels like a far larger task in your head than it is in reality and once you’ve handled it you’ll find you’re all set to tackle another one with a renewed sense of freedom and accomplishment. Until, of course, they email back and you need to repeat this step.

In the meantime, you can go back to that crucial “treat yourself” part of the equation and exercise the HP OmniBook X Flip’s Intel Core Processor with a little gaming binge to celebrate that two productivity tips in (if you’re following this game-plan to the letter), you have begun one task and sent a single email. That’s a big day. You’ve earned it.

Tip 3: Use A Focus Timer

If you’re still struggling to focus between all of the breaks I keep recommending you take then consider using a focus timer to dedicate even twenty minutes to deep work. Once you’re done you can take a five minute break and then follow that up with another twenty minute stint of working.

In essence, this is the Pomodoro technique and has proven results in increasing productivity and the effectiveness of your ability to work and focus on your chosen tasks over time. This legitimacy paints it in stark contrast to my personalised tips which largely suggest you do a bit of work so you can feel better about using the HP OmniBook X Flip to play video games and watch Netflix.

Then again, you can totally do exactly that while following Pomodoro. So, in a way my deeply uneducated “new year, new you” productivity tips are identical to that of a legitimate expert in the field. I am going to consider that a personal accomplishment and treat myself to some video games. You’re welcome to join me on the HP OmniBook X Flip 14 - sure, I need it for work, but whether it’s for work or play, it’s unbeatable at both.

You can check out the HP OmniBook X Flip for yourself at your nearest JB Hi-Fi (head to the link: https://w2buy.net/8i2d188u) or via the HP online store.

Books are great, obviously. They're also bulky space eaters – just ask the piles of books sitting around my apartment that don't fit on my already overstuffed bookshelf. If you have space for a real home library, how lucky for you! If not, do yourself a favor and get a good reading tablet. You'll miss out on the tactile joy of reading, but they make building out a personal library so much more accessible – including books you can read for free without leaving home – and far less messy. We found a few of the best tablets to make reading anywhere a bit easier.

TL;DR - These Are the Best Tablets to Read on:

Reading tablets come with varying capabilities. E-readers, like our top pick, the Kindle Paperwhite, are geared towards book formats, often featuring screens that attempt to mimic pages. These devices are more limited in what they can do – don’t expect to be scrolling socials or streaming shows when taking a break from reading. On the other hand, your more typical tablets, like the iPad Mini, can do a lot more, but the displays may strain your eyes and batteries deplete quicker. Notetaking functionality, like the Kobo Libra Colour offers, is also handy for students or people who like to write freely in book margins. Deciding which is best for your needs is a personal preference.

1. Kindle Paperwhite

The Best Kindle and Best Reading Tablet

2. iPad Mini (7th Gen)

Best iPad for Reading

3. Apple iPad Pro (2024, M4)

Best Tablet for Reading Comics and Manga

4. OnePlus Pad 2

Best Android Tablet for Reading

5. Kobo Libra Colour

Best Reading and Writing Tablet

How to Choose the Best Reading Tablet

Choosing the best reading tablet requires careful consideration of several factors to ensure that the device meets your specific needs. Whether you're an avid reader of fiction, a student reviewing textbooks, or a professional keeping up with all the PDFs your boss keeps sending, selecting the right tablet can significantly impact your reading experience.

One of the main things you have to look into is the display's quality. The screen is where your eyes will spend most of their time, making display quality paramount. Eye comfort is also crucial, especially for extended reading sessions. Tablets with blue light reduction features or e-ink technology, which mimics the appearance of paper, can help reduce eye strain. E-Ink screens are easier on the eyes, but LCDs are more versatile if you want to use the same tablet for multiple purposes.

Long battery life is essential for uninterrupted reading, especially when on the move. Looking into tablets with a solid battery life will ensure that you can enjoy your books, magazines, or documents without constantly worrying about finding the next power outlet.

Lastly, size and weight affect how comfortably you can hold the tablet for long periods. While larger screens provide more immersive reading experiences, they should not compromise the device's portability. A lightweight, slim design makes it easier to carry your tablet in a bag or even hold it with one hand.

Best Tablets for Reading FAQ

What is the best tablet for reading according to Reddit?

If you're hoping to look to Reddit for advice on which tablet is best for reading, users on the r/androidtablets subreddit have point out a few clear winners. The top commenter points out that the Aldocube 50 Mini and Mini Pro are great options for reading due to being lightweight with good screens at a decent size for reading. Other commenters recommended Barnes & Noble's Nook because the e-paper technology offers more of a similar reading experience you'd get from an actual book.

Are tablets good for reading books?

Sure they are, but you’re going to find that regular LCD screens will tire your eyes much faster than an e-ink model. Battery life is also something you’ll want to keep in mind because most standard tablets don’t last as long as a Kindle, for instance, since their hardware is more demanding.

Do you need a Kindle subscription to read ona Kindle device?

You don't need a Kindle Unlimited subscription to read books on a Kindle. There are other ways to downlaod e-books on your Amazon device or you can simply purchase books directly from the Kindle storefront with no subscription required. The benefits of a subscription are more if you plan on reading a lot of books and don't want to purchase them all. This is especially true if you're a fan of LitRPG books, which tend to be included with a subscription.

What is the best tablet for reading outside?

If you're looking to read your tablet on the beach or sitting at the park, the Kindle Paperwhite is what you want. Unlike many tablets, this e-reader features an e-ink display, which acts and looks similar to printed paper. That means battling severe glare, brightness, eye strain, and battery life will be far less of an issue compared to LCD screens. The Kindle Paperwhite is also IPX8 water-resistant, unlike many tablets, so getting splashed poolside or caught in the rain won’t slow the device down.

Not every good gaming mouse costs more than $100. There are plenty of perfectly capable options that you can find for an absolute steal, like our favorite budget gaming mouse, the SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2, with its reliable performance and durable build for under $50. Here are five of the best budget gaming mice money can buy right now.

TL;DR – These Are the Best Budget Gaming Mice:

These mice all nail the basics, delivering accurate tracking, a comfortable grip, dependable controls, and a reliable connection. You may miss out on features like saving profiles, RGB lighting, or rechargeable batteries, but those are hardly a sacrifice considering the savings. Instead, you can put that extra dough toward other peripherals like a nice gaming keyboard or headset.

1. SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2

Best Budget Gaming Mouse

The wired version of the SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2 is our budget King: For less than $50 you get a fast, accurate mouse that stands up to more expensive devices in multiplayer matches. As we explain in our review, it's well-built, its clicks are bouncy, its tasteful RGB lighting is fully customizable, and while we wouldn't recommend it in palm grip it's comfortable for both claw and fingertip grippers. The Gen 2 is a step up on the original, adding slicker feet and a cord that's harder to tangle.

The wireless version performs just as well: its connection is stable in both Bluetooth and 2.4GHz modes and its sensor is slightly more powerful than the wired version, tracking your movements precisely. If you pop two AAA batteries in you can get a whopping 450 hours of battery life on Bluetooth, falling to a still-respectable 100 hours on 2.4G Ghz and a 1,000Hz polling rate. For casual single-player games, you can drop the polling rate to extend its life.

The big drawback of the wireless version is its weight: more than 100g with two AAA batteries, or around 95g with one. For those used to lighter mice, it might feel clunky. It's also more expensive and lacks RGB. For those reasons, the wired version is the one we'd recommend for most people.

2. Logitech G305 Lightspeed

Best Budget Wireless Gaming Mouse

3. Razer DeathAdder V3

Best Budget Ergonomic Gaming Mouse

4. Roccat Burst Pro

Best Ultra-Cheap Budget Mouse

5. Glorious Model O Eternal

Best Budget Ultra-Lightweight Gaming Mouse

6. Keychron M3 Mini

Best Small Budget Gaming Mouse

What to Look for in a Budget Gaming Mouse

When grabbing a budget gaming mouse, you’ll probably have to sacrifice a few features, whether that’s extra programmable buttons, a lower DPI sensitivity, or wireless functionality. One thing you should never settle for is subpar performance, and all of our picks are ready to game. But if you want to explore other options on your own, here's what to look for.

Comfort

To start, you want a comfortable mouse that feels great in hand. Some people grip with their fingertips, while others use a claw or palm grip, so the shape of the mouse is important. For left-handers, you’ll have a far more limited pool and often be stuck with ambidextrous options, but there are a good amount of ergonomic right-handed mice. Read both expert and user reviews (Reddit threads are excellent) to get a sense of how a mouse fits different people's hands, and measure your own hands so you know how it compares to the average.

Wired or wireless?

Next, you need to decide on wired versus wireless. These days, the performance differences between the two are negligible, though the price will increase to drop the wire. You’ll have to consider battery life and weight as well when going wireless.

Weight

Weight is a personal preference but as a general rule, a lighter mouse often feels quicker and more free, while a heavier option can add precision for some people.

DPI

The DPI of a mouse is important, and you want an option that lets you switch between sensitivities. If you want to cover your bases for all games, a setting between 400 to 3,600 should be good, and almost every gaming mouse – cheap or expensive – should cover that range.

Controls

Beyond that, you’ll want the typical basic controls such as side buttons and maybe a few more inputs that you can also assign macros to perform different functions. A dedicated DPI button comes in handy for those who want to switch from speedy movements to more precise ones, while those into MOBA and MMO games could use a few extra programmable buttons on the side of the mouse.

Other features like RGB lighting can be a cool addition but unnecessary when trying to save. Overall, you want a mouse that fits into your budget and works well with the games you play.

Best Budget Gaming Mouse FAQ

How to choose a budget gaming mouse

The first and most important thing about choosing the right mouse for you is its shape. Mice can be symmetrical or "ergonomic," where they curve to fit to the shape of your hand. Every mouse – including symmetrical ones – has a different profile, with curves and humps in different places, and different widths or lengths.

To that end, there are also three primary types of mouse grip: palm, fingertip, and claw. For the palm grip technique, where your whole palm is in contact with the base of the mouse, you'll want a mouse with a wider, taller base that can support your hand, as well as some level of pinky and ring finger support. Claw grippers and fingertip grippers, on the other hand, can look for a mouse that's relatively short and has a small footprint.

The best advice is to know your hand size and preferred grip style, and then read reviews of the mouse to get a sense of how it'll fit you. If you're unsure, pick a simpler shape rather than something with lots of curves and ridges.

Is it worth buying a cheap gaming mouse?

In this day and age, you really don't have to sacrifice a lot when you're trying to save a buck on a gaming mouse. Often what you get is a slightly worse sensor, slightly flimsier build quality, and a lower polling rate – although some mice on this list go up to 8,000Hz, and all of them are solidly built and perform well in-game. It all comes down to your budget.

How much should you spend on a budget gaming mouse?

Although some of the best gaming mice brands have a budget option these days that offer decent quality, that doesn't mean you should buy just any cheap option. Although there are sometimes discounts that drop the price of some good wired mice down near $20, you'll usually want to spend a little bit more to get something you won't be disappointed in. The best budget mice tend to cost anywhere between $30 and $60.

Should you buy a PC controller instead of a mouse?

Honestly, it's completely up to you and your preferences, but some games are more suited to controllers than mice (think platformers and third-person action games). For shooters and strategy games, you'll probably want a mouse.

Most PC games support the use of PC controllers, and it can be cheaper than buying both a mouse and keyboard. It's also worth noting that if you already have an Xbox or PS5 controller, you should be able to connect that to your PC via a Bluetooth adapter.

Additional contributions by Danielle Abraham, a tech freelance writer based in Los Angeles who spends her free time creating videos and geeking out over music history.

If it were up to me, I’d watch movies and play games exclusively on a projector. It not only turns any free wall into a cinema-grade screen, but also feels far more immersive than my 55-inch TV. But more often than not, and especially when playing videogames, I reach for the TV’s remote over the projector’s, as it just looks brighter and smoother, no matter the lighting. Xgimi’s new, flagship Horizon 20 Max projector changes that.

The Horizon 20 Max pushes the boundaries of how bright a projector of its size can get. Its triple-laser light engine can project an image as large as 300 inches at a 4K resolution and, more importantly, at an unprecedented 5700 ISO lumens of peak brightness. This means, even against direct lighting, its projection is bright and sharp, unlike other projectors that make you close the curtains in daytime to be at all visible. The rest of the Horizon Max’s hardware is maxed out, too: it’s calibrated for IMAX Enhanced, HDR10, and Dolby Vision, and lets you game at 1ms input lag and 240Hz motion.

How well do these specs translate in real-world conditions? Over the last few weeks, I binged countless movies and played some of the most demanding videogames to find out, and at $3000 , while the Horizon Max is far from affordable, it’s an easy choice for those who are looking for a no-compromise cinematic experience.

Xgimi Horizon 20 Max – Build and Design

The Horizon 20 Max may not look like it, but it’s a hefty projector. Weighing over 16 lbs, it’s a task to pull it out of the carrying case it ships in and set it up on a floor stand. That said, it’s on the lighter side of the spectrum in this category, and its dimensions, also, are fairly compact for its calibre. It features a relatively plain look, which may not seem high-end, but over time, I began to appreciate its refined and clean appearance that’s easy to blend into the rest of a living room’s decor. It’s only available in a single grey finish and comes encased in a leather-like exterior.

Many of its functional elements add further character to the look. The front, for example, is dominated by the Harman/Kardon-tuned stereo speaker grills, while the back features rubberized vents for the cooling fan. Its highlight, though, is that it all sits on an integrated, swiveling stand that makes repositioning the projection a breeze. I also appreciated that the stand has enough friction to remain sturdy at the angle you set and not feel stiff when you try to adjust it.

One glaring omission from the Horizon 20 Max is that there’s no lens cover. Many of Xgimi’s earlier high-end projectors came with a motorized one. Several times, therefore, I ended up cleaning the lens before powering it up.

Other than that, you’ll find a series of ports on the rear, including pairs of HDMI and USB-A slots, another for optical output, and an audio jack. I do wish, though, that Xgimi had included a USB-C and placed the row of ports at the rear bottom instead of the top for better cable management.

The included metallic remote, like previous Xgimi projectors, is a joy to hold and operate. It has all the buttons you’d need, including for launching a custom shortcut, auto-focus, and more. More importantly, the essential ones, like going home or back, are backlit, and thanks to a built-in light sensor, the remote automatically illuminates them in dark rooms. Also fun is the spring-loaded battery tray, which pops out when you press its switch on the back.

Xgimi Horizon 20 Max – Software and Performance

The Horizon 20 Max runs on Android TV 14 and, thanks to its MediaTek quad-core processor and ample 4GB of RAM, it’s one of the snappiest projectors I’ve used. It boots up instantly, and scrolling through the Google TV interface or executing voice commands is smooth, too. The Google TV home screen, where you’ll also find smart TV show and movie recommendations, is infamous for slowing down projectors, but the 20 Max had no trouble there, either.

Similarly, on most projectors I’ve tested, loading files and high-res videos from external storage is often a laggy experience. The 20 Max proved to be an exception here, handling large files without any stutters.

While the Google TV interface it ships with is largely clean and bloatware-free, Xgimi has added a few of its own handy tools. The eye protection mode, for example, automatically pauses the projection when someone passes through its field of view, as opposed to blinding them with lasers. You can also exclusively use this projector as a Bluetooth speaker or connect headphones, courtesy of the built-in Bluetooth 5.2.

In most day-to-day conditions, the Horizon 20 Max remains quiet and cool. However, at max brightness in modes like High Power, its fan does kick in, and you will especially hear its low-pitched thrum when whatever you’re watching isn’t loud enough itself. A couple of hours in this mode can also lead to the projector throwing an overheating warning, but it never shuts down or pauses the projection.

Xgimi Horizon 20 Max – Picture Quality and Speakers

The Horizon 20 Max is the first projector that has convinced me it can replace my TV, and all credit goes to its excellent picture quality. What stands out about the 20 Max is that its output remains consistent throughout conditions and doesn’t appear, for example, washed out in daytime. I don’t have to go through a multi-step process, whether that’s adjusting the image settings or my room’s curtains, to use it anytime other than at night.

The 20 Max’s triple-laser engine produces a bright and vibrant Ultra HD projection in most scenarios. It can push the brightness up to 5700 ISO Lumens, which means visuals look sharp even when played opposite a window. The projector’s software enhancements also actively tune the image’s contrast so that highlights and shadows stay balanced and vivid. Its high contrast ratio also made streaming darker content, like The Batman, appear punchy while retaining its original cinematic nuances.

While the Horizon 20 Max supports the usual picture standards, like HDR10+, it has a few premium, rare certifications, too. The IMAX Enhanced mode, in particular, stood out for me. It only activates automatically for selected, compatible media, and when it does, it can truly upgrade the home cinema experience. It digitally recreates the IMAX quality by further darkening the blacks and switching to a wider aspect ratio to fit more of the otherwise hidden scene in.

With the Horizon 20 Max, Xgimi has improved its suite of image calibration tools, too. In most scenarios, it takes the hassle out of adjusting the projection and intelligently figures out how to avoid obstacles and resize the image to fit a wall or a white screen.

When you do need to take control, there are plenty of options to help you precisely tune it. Two of those stand out: one that’s a first for Xgimi’s home projectors and allows you to shift its lens vertically and horizontally from the settings to reposition the image. Similarly, you can optically zoom in and out to resize it. This meant I didn’t have to physically move the projector to adjust its projection or resort to doing so digitally, which can lead to distortion and quality trade-offs.

In addition, the Horizon 20 Max’s 24W stereo speakers do a decent job of filling the room without making the sound feel concentrated in one corner. I was surprised to discover how clean and rich the audio stays, even at the highest levels, possibly thanks to the integrated deep bass extension. They get decently loud, and I rarely felt the absence of a dedicated home theatre unit.

Xgimi Horizon 20 Max – Gaming Experience

The Horizon 20 Max’s DLP display also makes it an ideal projector for gaming. It supports variable refresh rate (up to 240Hz) and can lower the latency down to 1ms at a 1080p resolution. At 4K, the latency comes up at a still-reasonable 3ms. In my experience, there was minimal screen tearing, and high-res visuals were fluid even after hours of gameplay.

Plus, Xgimi offers a bunch of gaming modes to further boost the projector’s performance, like FPS, RTS, and one called Assassin’s Creed Mode made in partnership with Ubisoft. I had a delightful time with the latter while playing the Ghost of Yōtei, as the projector tuned the picture to enhance the contrast for a more immersive stealth experience.

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D launched in November 2024 and has remained the best gaming processor ever since. So, when AMD quietly announced the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D, a slightly faster version of the 9800X3D at CES 2026, it seemed like a no-brainer. After all, this new chip takes the successful gaming chip and lifts the max turbo speed by 400MHz, what could go wrong?

Well, it turns out that it’s such a small overclock that it barely impacts performance, and even leads to slightly worse multi-core performance over the original 9800X3D. I’ve spent most of the week testing this processor asking myself why AMD felt the need to even release the Ryzen 7 9850X3D. The only answer I can think of is that it costs slightly more and people are going to buy it just to have a higher number in CPU-Z.

Specs and Features

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is practically the same processor as the 9800X3D, only with a slightly higher boost clock. You still get 8 Zen 5 cores, 16 threads and 96MB of L3 Cache, only now it boosts up to 5.6GHz instead of 5.2GHz. That’s a decent boost, but the real magic of the Ryzen 9850X3D is the same magic that makes the 9800X3D great – the 3D-stacked V-Cache.

Cache is essentially memory that’s built into your processor, and it’s a lot faster than system memory, or RAM. Essentially, the more of it is there, the more efficient your CPU is in workloads that demand rapid access to data – like gaming. What makes AMD’s X3D processors, like the 9850X3D, special is that instead of having it on the same physical layer of the chip as the CPU cores, it’s printed on its own layer.

Not only does this allow the Ryzen 7 9850X3D to have more cache than other processors, but it also cuts down on the latency. Because by having the cache located right above the CPU cores, the data simply has less physical distance to travel. This is why the 9850X3D is a great gaming processor, because it can load more game data at any given time, which leads to better performance, especially when paired with a powerful graphics card.

There’s only one problem, though. The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D already exists with the same exact cache configuration and core layout. So unless you’re playing a game that solely relies on single-core performance – which is becoming rare – you don’t really gain anything by shelling out an extra $30 for the Ryzen 7 9850X3D.

Of course, there is the higher boost clock, but it’s important to keep in mind that the processor will only ever hit those speeds in lightly threaded workloads. In anything that uses many cores at the same time, the clock speeds will even out to a much lower limit in order to control temperatures and power consumption.

Throughout my testing, I found that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D reaches the same peak power of 161W as the 9800X3D. That does mean that temperatures stay under control, only peaking at 85°C, but it does mean that when all the cores are being used, there isn’t much that the processor can do to get extra performance over the 9800X3D.

It is important to keep in mind, though, that because the 9850X3D comes out of the box with a higher clock speed, while keeping the same power consumption and temperatures as the original chip, it likely means it has more headroom for overclocking. That’s not something I test here at IGN, but if that’s something you’re into, this might be the chip to grab.

Performance

Because the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and 9800X3D are so similar, I was expecting the performance difference between the two chips to be small, but I was still surprised by how little that 400MHz boost clock increase matters. Throughout most of my test suite, the two processors were extremely close, trading blows depending on how heavily threaded the workload is.

The most disappointing bit, though, is that despite the higher asking price, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D turns out to be a little slower than the 9800X3D in multi-threaded workloads like Cinebench and Blender. It’s not a huge gap, to be sure, but it’s a gap that, if anything, should be the other way around.

Specifically, in the Cinebench R23 multi-core test, the 9850X3D gets 22,404 points, compared to 23,195 points from the Ryzen 9800X3D. That’s about a 3% lead for the slightly cheaper processor. This is flipped, however, in the single-core test, where the 9850X3D outperforms the 9800X3D with a score of 2208 to 2082. That’s where that single-core boost increase shows itself.

Likewise, in the 3DMark CPU Profile test, the 9850X3D gets a multi-core score of 10186, compared to 10274 from the 9800X3D. That’s another tiny gap in favor of the 9800X3D. But, again, just like Cinebench, the 9850X3D pulls ahead slightly in the single-core test, with 1265 points to the 9800X3D’s 1210.

Blender repeats the multi-core performance pattern. In the Monster workload, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is able to manage 153 samples per second, compared to 157 from the 9800X3D. That’s a difference so small that it’s within the margin of error, to be fair, but it still leans in the wrong direction for a CPU that AMD is charging more for.

In Adobe, the 9850X3D beats the 9800X3D in Premiere, getting 13773 points in the Puget benchmark, compared to 13025. However, that’s reversed in Photoshop, with the older 9800X3D getting 12929 points, compared to 12167 points from the 9850X3D.

When it comes to real-world gaming, the 9850X3D disappoints again. In Cyberpunk 2077, at 1080p, with the Ultra preset, with no ray tracing or upscaling, the 9850X3D gets 231 fps, compared to 231 from the 9800X3D.

Total War: Warhammer 3 is no different. In this CPU-heavy game, the 9850X3D squeezes 261 fps out of the RTX 4090, compared to 265 fps with the 9800X3D. Another win for the cheaper chip.

I’ve been racking my brain trying to make sense of this performance. I re-ran the tests across the 9800X3D and 9850X3D multiple times, and each time got the same results. There are likely games out there where the 9850X3D does pull ahead of the 9800X3D, particularly in older single-threaded games. But in the games I’ve tested here, the 9850X3D consistently fell short – however small that gap might be.

Even according to AMD’s claims, which you should take with a grain of salt, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is only expected to boost performance by as much as 6% in some esports games. And, then we’re probably talking about the difference between 300 fps and 318 fps in something like Counter-Strike 2. I don’t think that’s worth the extra $30.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra