Aaron Klotz

Aaron Klotz

Contributing Writer

Aaron began building computers back when he was 8 years old in the mid-2000s, and it’s been a hobby of his ever since then. With a focus on computer hardware, he became an avid member of the Tom’s Hardware forums several years later, helping people solve issues with their PCs. He is now a freelance writer for Tom’s Hardware, writing about computer hardware news and more. When not busy playing or writing about computer hardware, he spends his free time playing video games like Star Citizen or Apex Legends.

Articles by: Aaron Klotz

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Pro aRGB Prime Day cover

Hyper 212 Pro CPU air cooler drops to an all-time low of $18 just before Prime Day — save big with a 49% discount

By Aaron Klotz published

Deals Cooler Master's Hyper 212 Pro aRGB air cooler is on sale for half off, just before Amazon's Prime Big Deals Day, making it one of the most affordable tower-style CPU coolers available right now.

AMD

AMD Fluid Motion Frames 3 spotted in the upcoming AMD Adrenalin driver branch — could lean on AI model used in FSR 4

By Aaron Klotz published

AFMF 3 is likely a component that will be part of FSR Redstone when it releases

Intel

Intel aims at AMD's Threadripper with its new Granite Rapids-WS CPU — chip armed with core count approaching the flagship AMD Threadripper 9995WX, boasts a 4.8GHz boost clock

By Aaron Klotz published

A new Granite Rapids-WS CPU has appeared on openbenchmark.org, sporting a 4.8GHz boost clock and a hefty core count.

MSI Raider A18 HX laptop

Bots targeting the r/GamingLaptop's subreddit with blatant MSI advertising in posts — mods allege marketing bots are flooding the forums with MSI-promoting posts

By Aaron Klotz published

The r/GamingLaptop subreddit is under attack from a coordinated strike involving spammers promoting MSI products exclusively to its members.

GPD Win 5

GPD Win 5 handheld soars with AMD's Strix Halo — gaming deck is almost twice as fast as Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 competitors at same power

By Aaron Klotz published

Strix Halo provides the Win 5 with unparalleled levels of handheld performance, especially beyond 30 watts.

Athlon 3000G

AMD relaunches $40 dual-core Athlon 3000G CPU with new packaging and cooler — Zen refuses to retire even in 2025

By Aaron Klotz published

AMD re-releases the Zen-based Athlon 3000G for the third time, this time overseas, with a price tag of around $40.

Asus Tuf Gaming Z790-BTF

Asus gives us the PCIe finger — teases new concept that boosts motherboard GPU slot power to 250W

By Aaron Klotz published

This could be a cheaper way for Asus to make cableless graphics cards in the future.

Aoostar EG01 eGPU Dock

This upcoming Thunderbolt 5 eGPU dock lets you mount an entire mini-PC on the side — also features aftermarket ATX and SFX power supply support

By Aaron Klotz published

Aoostar's latest eGPU dock allows you to upgrade the dock's power supply down the road for future GPU upgrades.

Ryzen 9000

AMD launches four new Ryzen CPUs, including cut-down Zen 4 and Zen 3 models — most only available in global markets

By Aaron Klotz published

AMD has quietly released four new CPUs on three different architectures featuring the Ryzen 7 9700F, Ryzen 5 9500F, Ryzen 5 7400, and Ryzen 5 5600F.

ASRock AI Quickset WSL

ASRock's revamped AI Quickset WSL virtualization tool makes it easy to run Linux AI apps on Windows

By Aaron Klotz published

ASRock has developed a new iteration of its AI Quickset tool that provides users with an automated method of deploying Linux-based AI models on Windows with the help of virtualization.

Campus laptop

Enthusiast didn't like the Framework 13's mushy keyboard, so he built a custom version with a full mechanical keyboard — also added mechanical dials to control volume, brightness, and backlighting

By Aaron Klotz published

A keyboard enthusiast has built his own laptop from scratch, using Framework 13 parts and featuring a mechanical keyboard.

Galax RTX 5090D HoF graphics card

Export restrictions force Galax to build cutdown RTX 5090D V2 HoF — gaming performance is, fortunately, nearly identical to original 5090D HoF

By Aaron Klotz published

Galax was forced to build another RTX 5090D series HoF graphics card model sporting Nvidia's latest RTX 5090D V2 GPU.

MSI Afterburner

MSI Afterburner developer adding 'triple channel voltage' support for future MSI RTX 50 graphics cards

By Aaron Klotz published

The updated software allows access to two new voltage parameters.

MSI MPG 321URX QD-OLED

At 4,500 hours, MSI's OLED MPG 321URX is showing noticeable visual artifacts — intentional burn-in test shows the limits of monitor tech after 18 months of non-top use

By Aaron Klotz published

Monitors Unboxed published a new burn-in update of its MSI MPG 321URX after over 4,000 hours of use. The monitor is finally developing visible burn-in that is subtly affecting day-to-day use.

Counter-Strike 2

Pro Counter-Strike 2 gamer says game runs like 'a**' on anything other than AMD's Ryzen 9800X3D — custom demo of the game runs at under 200 FPS even on on AMD's best gaming CPUs

By Aaron Klotz published

A renowned CS2 esports player claims the game only runs well on AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D.

Windows 11

Early Windows 11 25H2 benchmarks confirm the update provides no performance improvements over 24H2

By Aaron Klotz published

Phoronix tests Windows 11 25H2 against 24H2, Ubuntu 25.10, and Ubuntu 24.0.3 LTS. But testing shows that 25H2 has no additional optimizations under the hood, matching 24H2 in performance.

Intel Core CPU

Intel APO update boosts gaming performance by up to 14% in select titles — 15 new games added to the support list

By Aaron Klotz published

Intel has provided its first update for APO in 2025, featuring support for 15 new games and performance improvements of up to 14% recorded on its flagship Core Ultra 9 285K.

Windows Update

Windows 11 August 2025 security update is causing unintended UAC prompts to appear for non-admin users — some apps are crashing

By Aaron Klotz published

Microsoft's latest Windows update for Windows 11, Windows 10 is causing unintended UAC prompts to appear in certain cases for non-admin users.

Acer GN100 AI Mini Workstation

Acer unveils Project Digits supercomputer featuring Nvidia's GB10 superchip with 128GB of LPDDR5x

By Aaron Klotz published

Acer joins Asus, Lenovo, and Dell with its third-party Project Digits variation.

RTX GPU with DDR5 slot

Making a 3D-printed custom GPU fan shroud with a DDR5 slot doesn't let you add extra VRAM, but at least it looks cool

By Aaron Klotz published

Modder builds a completely custom 3D-printed shroud for their RTX GPU, sacrificing one cooling fan for the installation of a single DDR5 RAM slot.

MSI MAG401QR

Labor Day sale marks down the only mainstream 40 inch ultrawide gaming monitor on the market by $90

By Aaron Klotz published

Deals Save $90 on this 40 inch ultrawide gaming monitor for Labor Day

Core ultra 200S CPU

Core Ultra 3 205 flaunts 30% higher multi-core performance over Core i3-14100 in early benchmarks — extra E-cores seemingly contribute to uplift

By Aaron Klotz published

Intel's newest entry-level Arrow Lake-S chip is benefiting a lot from its four extra E-cores

AMD

You can upgrade FSR 3.1 games to FSR 4 with manual DLL swapping — GitHub community discovers FSR swapping works similar to DLSS upgrades

By Aaron Klotz published

GitHub user has discovered that DLL swapping works with FSR 4 in FSR 3.1 games. Allowing FSR 3.1 games to be upgraded to FSR 4 merely by replacing a few DLLs in the game's files.

gamer

Microsoft announces super wideband stereo mode for Bluetooth LE devices — audio no longer downgrades to mono when microphone is used

By Aaron Klotz published

You will need a Bluetooth LE audio headset to use this feature.

Framework Laptop 16

Framework Laptop 16 gets a 2025 upgrade — modular notebook gets RTX 5070 graphics, Zen 5 CPU options, and 240W Type-C charger

By Aaron Klotz published

Framework has updated its 16-inch laptop for 2025, featuring a new RTX 5070-powered graphics module, Zen 5 Ryzen AI HX CPU options, a G-Sync display, and a 240W Type-C charger.

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