Articles by Matt Safford | Tom's Hardware

Matt began piling up computer experience as a child with his Mattel Aquarius. He built his first PC in the late 1990s and ventured into mild PC modding in the early 2000s. He’s spent 15 years covering emerging technology for Smithsonian, Popular Science, and Consumer Reports, while testing components and PCs for Computer Shopper, PCMag and Digital Trends. When not writing about tech, he’s often walking—through the streets of New York, over the sheep-dotted hills of Scotland, or just at his treadmill desk at home in front of the 50-inch HDR TV that serves as his PC monitor.

Articles by: Matt Safford

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

By Joe Shields, Matt Safford last updated 23 February 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.

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 19 February 26

Here are the best motherboards we've tested, for recent AMD and Intel platforms.

Fractal Design's new North and North XL Momentum Edition cases sport stealthy black wood slats, promise quieter fans – XL model also supports back-connector motherboards

By Matt Safford published 5 February 26

One of our favorite cases is back in black.

Smart ways to help your PC survive through the PC component pricing apocalypse — check temps, replace old AIOs and PSUs, keep an eye on your boot drive's TBW, and more

By Matt Safford published 2 February 26

As the cost of RAM, GPUs, and storage climbs, do what you can to help make sure your existing PC keeps working as expected until prices drop.

Best Budget Mechanical Keyboards 2026: Our tested picks under $100

By Matt Safford, Sarah Jacobsson Purewal last updated 29 January 26

We've tested dozens of cheap mechanical keyboards and picked the best budget options under $100.

Best CPU Coolers 2026: AIO and Air Coolers

By Matt Safford last updated 15 January 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.

Best AIO Coolers 2026

By Matt Safford last updated 15 January 26

After measuring CPU temperatures and fan noise for dozens of AIO coolers under load, we've chosen the best closed-loop cooler options to keep your PC cool and quiet.

Best PC Cases 2026: Our Tested Picks for Your Next Build

By Matt Safford last updated 15 January 26

Based on cooling, noise, and compatibility tests, these are our favorite PC cases.

Best Mini-ITX Cases 2026: Our Tested Picks for Compact PC Builds

By Matt Safford last updated 15 January 26

Save some space without sacrificing performance or looks with the best compact PC cases we've tested.

SK hynix shows 16-Hi HBM4 memory for AI accelerators — 48 GB at 10 GT/s over a 2,048 interface

By Anton Shilov published 14 January 26

SK Hynix demonstrates 48 GB HBM4 memory with a 2,048-bit interface over at up to10 GT/s

Best Wireless Keyboards 2026: Our Tested Picks for Gaming, Typing, and Traveling

By Sarah Jacobsson Purewal last updated 14 January 26

Whether you’re gaming from the couch, writing a book on the road, or you just want a clutter-free desk, these are the best wireless keyboards we've tested.

Superheat H1, ASIC Bitcoin miner and water heater

This $2,000 Bitcoin mining water heater can pay for itself by slashing your energy bills, company claims — can rake in $1,000 a year in BTC, offset 80% of electricity and water costs

By Mark Tyson published 10 January 26

It also estimates that a 700-apartment community could earn nearly a million dollars a year.

Acemagic presents mini-PCs inspired by the NES and PlayStation 1 — retro shells conceal Ryzen AI 9 465, up to 64GB of RAM, and up to 4TB of SSD storage

By Bruno Ferreira published 9 January 26

Acemagic presents mini-PCs inspired on the NES and PlayStation 1

Keyboard giant Keychron unveils new Nape Pro trackball with programmable buttons — low profile design promotes ergonomic scrolling without leaving your keyboard

By Stephen Warwick published 8 January 26

Keychron's Nape Pro made an appearance at CES 2026.

Frore Systems CES 2026 AirJet and LiquidJet live demo

Frore Systems' LiquidJet and AirJet Pak cooling systems in the flesh — live demo with production hardware display impressive cooling capacity

By Bruno Ferreira published 7 January 26

Frore Systems' LiquidJet and AirJet Pak cooling system live demos at CES 2026

Asus unveils cable-free AIO liquid coolers to streamline PC builds for a cleaner look — ROG Strix LC IV series debuts with proprietary AIO Q-Connector, motherboards to match

By Zhiye Liu published 7 January 26

Asus launches new ROG Strix LC IV series of AIO liquid coolers that don't need any cables, thanks to a proprietary AIO Q-Connector.

Lenovo's top ThinkPads and Yogas go all-in on Panther Lake — business laptops come with Windows and Linux options

By Andrew E. Freedman published 7 January 26

Lenovo is updating its high-end ThinkPad and Yoga laptops with Intel's Panther Lake Core Ultra processors at CES 2026.

Lenovo's CES concept devices include a rollable ultra-wide OLED Legion gaming laptop – ThinkPad concept has an expandable screen that wraps around the outside of the lid

By Matt Safford published 7 January 26

Lenovo keeps rolling out screen-expanding laptop concepts.

Lenovo brings handheld-favorite SteamOS to the flagship Legion Go 2 — the AMD Z2 Extreme gets official SteamOS support for the first time

By Jake Roach published 7 January 26

Lenovo is bringing official SteamOS support to AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor for the first time with an updated Legion Go 2.

Asus' Zenbook lineup gets 2026 refresh — ZenBook 14, Duo return with new AMD, Intel, and Snapdragon chips

By Sayem Ahmed published 6 January 26

A pretty platter of portable PC's pepper CES 2026

Asus puts Strix Halo in the TUF Gaming A14 — strong integrated graphics in a very thin chassis

By Andrew E. Freedman published 6 January 26

Asus is packing AMD's latest Strix Halo processor into its thin and light TUF Gaming A14 laptops.

Asus teams up with HiFiMan for planar magnetic ROG Kithara gaming headset — extremely comfortable and excellent audio, for a price

By Matt Safford published 6 January 26

Asus’ latest ROG Kithara wired headset sports customized, open-back HiFiMan planar magnetic drivers, a removable MEMS boom mic, and a balanced cable with swappable plugs.

Hands-on with Asus’s ROG Falchion Ace 75 HE: Premium gaming, with an emphasis on physical adjustments and web-based configuration

By Matt Safford published 6 January 26

Magnetic switches, 8K polling, and a tactile wheel for fine-tuning switch sensitivity – but I’d like to see a wireless model.

Alienware brings OLED to its gaming laptops for the first time in years — anti-glare OLED display boasts 240Hz refresh rate and 0.2ms response time

By Jake Roach published 6 January 26

Alienware is bringing its 16-inch laptops up to speed with other high-end offerings, introducing a 240Hz OLED panel for the first time ever across its Area-51 and Aurora designs.

Keychron launches wireless Q Ultra keyboard series with up to 660 hours of battery life with 8K polling — plus a keyboard made of marble

By Sarah Jacobsson Purewal published 6 January 26

Keychron's new special edition keyboards are made of (literal) stone.

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