Articles by Joe Shields, Staff Writer, Components

Joe's tech journey began in the early 1980s with a Radio Shack Tandy TRS-80. After college, he built a custom PC, diving into modding, overclocking, and eventually extreme overclocking competitions at Hwbot.org. Around 2010, he began writing news and reviews for Overclockers.com, covering graphics cards, motherboards, storage, and processors. He went pro in 2018 at AnandTech.com before joining Tom's Hardware as a Staff Writer, where he covers motherboards, cases, fans, chargers, deals, news, and more. When not benchmarking hardware or gathering data, Joe spends time with his wife, supports his two kids in high school athletics, loves to watch sports (Browns, Guardians, Cavaliers, and Buckeyes), or plays PUBG on PC after everyone else has gone to bed.

Articles by: Joe Shields

Are your motherboard's M.2 heatsinks making good contact with your SSD? We tested 20 modern Intel and AMD motherboards to verify

By Joe Shields Published 30 July 26

We tested 20 motherboards for proper M.2 contact and were surprised at the results – not all make good contact.

32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5 is $369 in this Woot sale — the lowest standalone RAM price right now, thanks to a $132 discount

By Joe Shields Published 30 July 26

Deals Get Corsair Vengeance DDR5 for just $369 at Woot.

Motherboard VRM thermal testing – budget vs. high-end boards, does it really matter?

By Joe Shields Published 28 July 26

Not all motherboard VRMs are created equal. We break down the differences between budget and premium designs, how they can affect CPU performance, and whether paying more is actually worth it.

Newegg motherboard-processor-memory bundle

Best RAM Bundle Deals 2026 – make PC builds and upgrades more affordable with the best memory combo deals available

By Joe Shields, Matt Safford Last updated 27 July 26

Find the best RAM bundle deals for your next PC build. We track top combos with motherboards, CPUs, coolers, and more — updated regularly as prices and stock change fast.

Best USB charger deals 2026 – from tiny single-port smartphone chargers to large multi-port laptop chargers, we've found the best deals

By Joe Shields Last updated 21 July 26

From small smart devices to laptop charging, we dug up some of the best deals on 30W single-port to 100W multi-port chargers on sale right now.

Get 16GB of DDR5 RAM for $12 in this Newegg AM5 combo — score AMD's new Ryzen 7700X3D, 16GB of RAM, and Asus B850 motherboard for only $491

By Joe Shields Published 21 July 26

Deals Build an AMD AM5 gaming PC for less with this Newegg combo deal. Snag a Ryzen 7700X3D, MSI B850 motherboard, and 16GB DDR5-6000 RAM while saving $194 versus buying separately

Best motherboard deals 2026 — big sales on Intel and AMD motherboards right now

By Joe Shields Last updated 20 July 26

Here are the best motherboard deals available right now. We're constantly updating this list with the best deals across all your favorite retailers.

MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk Wifi II motherboard review: Loses features from the original, but shaves a few dollars off the price

By Joe Shields Published 17 July 26

SI’s Z890 Tomahawk Wifi II trims a couple of connectivity features, but at its sub-$200 price, it’s still a reasonably equipped budget Z890 board.

Save $400 on a 27-inch LG Ultragear OLED Monitor — limited-time discount nets you an awesome OLED monitor with fast 240Hz refresh rate for your gaming PC

By Joe Shields Published 15 July 26

Deals Save $400 on LG’s 27-inch UltraGear 27GS93QE OLED gaming monitor, now $499.99 - with QHD 240 Hz OLED panel, true blacks, and FreeSync/G-Sync support, this deal is worth grabbing.

Cooler Master HAF II 500 Case Review: New HAF delivers on its name, with impressive airflow and a roomy chassis

By Joe Shields Published 13 July 26

The newest HAF case brings massive pre-installed fans and great noise-normalized performance, all for under $200.

Best CPU Cooler deals 2026 — find the best price on AIO and air coolers

By Joe Shields Last updated 13 July 26

Here are the best CPU cooler deals for 2026.

Best PC Case Deals 2026 — deals on Fractal, Lian Li, Corsair, and other cases

By Stewart Bendle Last updated 13 July 26

We've gathered the top PC case deals for housing your hardware. We're constantly updating this list with the best deals across all sales at all retailers.

Snag 32GB of DDR5 memory, Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and Gigabyte X870E motherboard for $233 off — deal includes 'free' AIO in a four-item combo from Newegg

By Joe Shields Published 7 July 26

Deals Save $233.99 (17%) and get a great start on a fast AM5 build with this Newegg deal

Hands-on with Corsair's 2800X RS-R ARGB Micro-ATX PC Case – smaller footprint, roomy internals, includes three fans

By Joe Shields Published 7 July 26

Show off your MicroATX style with Corsair’s budget-conscious 2800X RS-R PC Case

Asus B850-Creator Wifi Neo motherboard review: AM5 Creator mobo looks the part, but is missing useful features

By Joe Shields Published 2 July 26

Asus' B850-Creator Wifi Neo offers fast dual 5 GbE, 3x video outputs, and loads of EZ PC DIY/AI features, but lacks enough USB ports (no 40 Gbps at all) and is expensive for the B850 platform.

Get 16GB DDR5 for less than $260 in this B&H RAM bundle deal for an AMD AM5 build — save $119 on this PC parts kit that includes a Ryzen 5 CPU and an Asus B650E motherboard

By Joe Shields Published 1 July 26

Deals Save $119 and start your AM5 build off right with this 3-item deal on B&H

Save up to 45% on SteelSeries headsets, keyboards, and mice — Arctic Nova Pro headset, Apex Pro keyboards, Aerox 5 mouse, and more, are on deep discounts right now

By Joe Shields Published 25 June 26

Deals Take advantage of these Steelseries deals - up to 45% off includes Arctis gaming headsets and GameBuds to Apex Pro keyboards and Aerox mice, now is a great time to upgrade your gaming setup

A collection of eight recent motherboards, in their boxes, on a desk, showcasing the types of boards that typically land on our lest of best motherboards we have benchmarked.

Best Motherboards 2026 for Gaming, by Socket and Chipset

By Joe Shields Last updated 25 June 26

Here are the best motherboards we've tested for recent AMD and Intel platforms. Choose from our expert benchmarked picks of the best available motherboards based on our testing and reviews.

Logitech goes off the rails with Prime Day gaming mouse savings of up to 47% - Eight of its top-tier gaming mice with incredible discounts

By Joe Shields Published 24 June 26

Deals Snag a quality Logitech gaming mouse for as little as $18.99 in these Prime Day deals.

These are the best CPU cooler deals we found this Prime Day, up to 33% off — deals from Cooler Master, Arctic, Tryx, Corsair, and PCCooler for every budget

By Joe Shields Published 23 June 26

Deals There's a cooler on sale for everyone.

A Nintendo Switch 2 console next to its box

The best Switch 2 accessories Prime Day 2026 — controllers, cameras, cases, screen protectors, and more

By Joe Shields Published 23 June 26

Deals Upgrade your Nintendo Switch 2 with these essential accessories.

Save $447 on this 3-item combo from Newegg - just $1,082 buys a speedy, huge 4TB Samsung 9100 Pro SSD, 32GB DDR5 RAM, and an Asus TUF Gaming X870E-Plus motherboard during Prime Day sales

By Joe Shields Published 23 June 26

Deals Spend $1,082 for over $1,530 worth of hardware in this Newegg combo - $447 discount brings pricing back down to earth, if only for Prime Day

Best CPU Coolers 2026: AIO and Air Coolers

By Joe Shields Last updated 22 June 26

These are the best air and liquid/AIO CPU coolers we've tested, for all consumer systems, from small form-factor builds to overclocked big rigs.

These are the best Prime Day deals I've found on tools I use to maintain my PC — from screwdrivers to air blowers, these tools will keep your PC in tip-top shape

By Joe Shields Published 22 June 26

Deals You really do need all of these tools to keep your electronics in good order, and luckily they are all on offer.

Best USB Chargers 2026: Our tested phone and laptop charger picks, from compact GaN to budget charging bliss

By Joe Shields Last updated 18 June 26

We tested 20 laptop and phone chargers, ranging from cheap no-name 15W options to 140W beasts. Find out what stood out as the best.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
View Archive

Other versions of this page are available with specific content for the following regions:

UK
Australia