Near-packaged optics (NPO) gains ground as the industry hedges against CPO's growing pains
Premium SemiAnalysis calls NPO the interim step between pluggable transceivers and true CPO.
The current state of PCIe 6.0 SSDs and controllers
Premium Micron and Samsung already have actual SSDs
How optical interconnects and silicon photonics emerged as AI's next hot commodity
Premium The U.S. wants Chinese optical transceivers out of future AI data centers, but China’s current dominance of the rapidly evolving photonics supply chain could make a ban complicated
Benchmarking AMD's BC-250, offering Steam Machine-like performance at half the price
Premium The repurposed APU for mining has come back home again.
Reviews
G.Skill Trident Z5 NeoX RGB DDR5-6000 C30 2x16GB Review — EXPO ULL memory kit to max out your Ryzen
G.Skill's Trident Z5 NeoX is the brand's latest series with the AMD EXPO ULL feature, but can the DDR5-6000 C30 prove to be the fastest memory kit for AMD?
Scythe Magoroku Review: excellent RAM thermals, but needs improvement elsewhere
Scythe is back with another dual-tower air cooler, the Magoroku. This cooler performs best with an Intel Arrow Lake system.
Samsung Odyssey G80HS 6K gaming monitor review: Upping the stakes in pixel density
The Samsung Odyssey G80HS delivers superb imagery, speedy game performance, flexibility, and solid build quality.
Best Picks
Best SSDs 2026: From blazing-fast M.2 NVMe down to budget SATA
We recommend the best SSDs for every need and budget based on our extensive lab tests.
CPUs
Older Raptor Lake CPUs are a ‘core part of the portfolio’ for years to come, says Intel
Intel has seen a “sudden inrush” of demand for Raptor Lake CPUs, and it says they’ll remain a part of the company’s lineup for desktop builders “for years to come.”
Graphics Cards
Nvidia reportedly testing lower memory configs of Rubin Ultra as memory shortage bites back
Nvidia is reportedly testing at least three Rubin Ultra configurations that pack as little as 192 GB of memory, as opposed to the 1 TB of HBM4E originally announced.
Features
Benchmarking AMD's BC-250, offering Steam Machine-like performance at half the price
Premium The repurposed APU for mining has come back home again.
Chinese chipmaking tool roadmaps examined — Beijing's nascent lithography tools target DUV production at five machines a year, and an EUV prototype with no chips
Premium Ultimately, three markers will indicate whether China’s domestic DUV program is a legitimate rival or yet more state-sanctioned hot air.
PC Components
Peer-reviewed study of 443,000 Backblaze hard drives ranks HGST most reliable and Toshiba the least
Backblaze's quarterly reports compare whichever drives are available at the time.
Desktops and PC Building
Grab this RTX 5070 gaming PC for just $1,499, saving $600 off list price
Deals The Acer Nitro 85 gaming desktop is currently on sale for $1,499, which is $600 off its regular price for a PC that would otherwise cost you $2,000 to spec out yourself.
Deals
Grab this RTX 5070 gaming PC for just $1,499, saving $600 off list price
Deals The Acer Nitro 85 gaming desktop is currently on sale for $1,499, which is $600 off its regular price for a PC that would otherwise cost you $2,000 to spec out yourself.
More from Tom's Hardware
Futuristic mosquito-zapping laser now available to buy, video shows device in action
Take my money!
Nvidia turns $5B Intel stock bet into $30B windfall
Nvidia quietly makes strategic and financial investments in clients, partners, and suppliers: CoreWeave, Coherent, Intel, Nokia, and SpaceX.
Devs blame Windows for VLC media player bug that causes 33-second delay when playing MP3 files
VLC developers say a Windows 11 issue involving Microsoft Defender can interfere with the media player's plugin cache and cause unusually long playback delays.
White House authorizes private companies to launch 'hack-back' cyberattacks that destroy data and systems, targeting foreign cybercrime organizations
President Trump signed a memorandum on August 12 establishing the first U.S. program that lets vetted private companies conduct offensive cyber operations.
US Navy 3D prints combat-ready drones and 1,000+ parts aboard aircraft carrier during exercise
During a two-week journey to Hawaii, a containerized factory aboard the USS Essex 3D-printed a dozen flight-ready drones, as well as over 1,000 parts including vital spares for Apache helicopters.
Anti-drone chain gun with 50mm precision-guided ammunition unveiled
Built to address the fast, maneuverable, and massed aerial targets that are being used in the mid-2020s.
