Articles by Zak Killian, Contributor

Zak Killian is a freelance contributor to Tom's Hardware who has also written for HotHardware and Tech Report. Ever since typing in games from magazines in ATARI BASIC on his family's Atari 800XL as a youth, Zak has been deeply fascinated with the capabilities of computers. His passion for gaming as a kid led to more technical engagement with PCs as a teenager, when he first built his own system: an AMD K6. Not long after, he founded his own PC repair shop in the year 2000. Now, decades later, he's still building and benchmarking new boxes, still gaming in every free hour, and still arguing on the internet with almost any opinion anyone has. Something of a modern-day Renaissance man, he may not be an expert on anything, but he knows just a little about nearly everything.

Articles by: Zak Killian

HDD prices spike as AI infrastructure and China's PC push collide — hard drives record biggest price increase in eight quarters, suppliers warn pressure will continue

By Zak Killian published 15 December 25

Despite continual predictions that SSDs will fully displace HDDs, demand for spinning rust is on the rise.

A photo of a rat in a rig for playing Doom.

Experiment to train rats to play Doom reaches a new level; rats can now shoot enemies — wraparound AMOLED screen provides virtual environment for neuroengineers' expanded open source project

By Zak Killian published 14 December 25

The project, led by neuroengineer Viktor Tóth, has evolved into a second-generation setup that significantly expands what the rats can do inside the Doom engine.

A screenshot of the Tiny Core Linux default desktop.

Tiny Core Linux 16.2 still fits a proper Linux desktop into a 23MB download — but it has grown 1MB since the last time we looked at it

By Zak Killian published 7 December 25

Tiny Core Linux is a true example of just how small a functional desktop operating system can be, even in 2025.

A photo of an adapter board adding OCuLink connections to a Framework Laptop 16.

Enthusiast adds OCuLink port to Framework 16 Laptop — offering PCIe 4.0 x8 bandwidth for big GPU performance gains

By Zak Killian published 3 December 25

The project has been bandied about for years, but has finally come to fruition thanks to the dedicated efforts of one modder.

A product image for the MEIRIYFA external power switch.

Awesome $11 power button gadget lets you start your PC from your desk — make your life easier by not having to bend down to reach the power button, super-durable external power switch

By Zak Killian last updated 1 December 25

Deals You could do a lot worse for $11 than this gloriously overbuilt external power switch.

A photo of the PowerColor Reaper Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card.

Radeon RX 9070 16GB GPU drops $30 below MSRP — at $95 off the list price, this is the lowest-ever price we've seen for the capable card

By Zak Killian published 28 November 25

Deals This is the best price we've seen to date on AMD's second-fastest RDNA 4 gaming GPU.

Noctua confirms that Intel's Nova Lake won't need new CPU coolers — coolers for LGA1851 and LGA1700 are compatible with the upcoming LGA1954 socket

By Zak Killian published 27 November 25

A support message from the Austrian heatsink manfaucturer makes it clear that you'll be able to use the same mounting hardware on Intel's new CPUs.

In wake of Windows 10 retirement, over 780,000 Windows users skip Win 11 for Linux, says Zorin OS developers — distro hits unprecedented 1 million downloads in five weeks

By Zak Killian published 24 November 25

The Windows-like Linux distribution claims over a million downloads in the past month for its latest build, most of which came from Windows users.

AMD ditches 'FidelityFX' in favor of apparently-meaningless 'FSR' branding, Fluid Motion Frames also renamed to FMF

By Zak Killian published 22 November 25

AMD has set the full release date for FSR Redstone and also revealed that the full name is now simply 'FSR'.

Korea's Fair Trade Commission reportedly raids Arm's Seoul office amid Qualcomm licensing dispute — stems from allegations of unfair market practices

By Zak Killian published 20 November 25

The raid is purportedly tied to Qualcomm's allegations of unfair market practices by Arm in several jurisdictions.

A photograph of a graphics card being chilled by a portable camping freezer.

Overclocker uses camping freezer to push RTX 5050 to nearly 3.5 GHz, smashes world records — smallest Blackwell GPU gets 23% clock boost

By Zak Killian published 15 November 25

Using a shunt mod and a freezer, Trashbench achieved a 23% boost in clocks on the smallest Blackwell GPU.

A photograph of the Microsoft Mach 10's turbo switch.

The 'worst-selling Microsoft product of all time' sold just 11 times, and eight people returned it — why you've never heard of OS/2 for the Mach 20

By Zak Killian published 11 November 25

A specialized version of the ill-fated OS/2 holds the dubious record, and probably will forever.

A promotional photograph of a Sandisk USB flash drive protruding from a laptop.

SanDisk reportedly jacks up flash prices by 50% as memory makers cash in on AI-fueled demand

By Zak Killian published 8 November 25

As AI datacenters scoop up limited wafer supply, both DRAM and flash prices skyrocket.

Elon Musk's SpaceX to launch reusable "fabships" for orbital chip manufacturing experiments — 'the ultimate egg drop challenge,' Besxar's orbital chipmaking experiments to occur over 12 launches

By Zak Killian published 4 November 25

The new D.C.-based startup is hoping to use the vacuum of space as its clean room for chip fabrication.

AMD confirms its Radeon RX 5000, 6000 series cards will still get some new features 'as required by market needs' — company also says RX 7900 USB-C change was a mistake (Updated)

By Zak Killian last updated 31 October 25

The latest AMD Radeon graphics driver skips older GPUs for feature updates and drops functionality from last-gen flagships.

Two front angles of the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i gaming PC.

Get nearly $600 off on this RTX 5090 gaming PC blowout sale — a high-end gaming setup featuring a Core Ultra 9 285K CPU, 64GB RAM, and a 2TB SSD

By Zak Killian published 25 October 25

Deals Thanks to a discount code, a Legion RTX 5090 desktop is available for a massive $590 discount off the list price.

New Panther Lake Core Ultra X7 358H leaks in new benchmark - Geekbench 6 result shows off 12 Xe3 Core iGPU's chops

By Zak Killian published 21 October 25

The first leak of near-final silicon gives a sneak peek at the integrated GPU performance of Intel's first 18A chips.

A composite image showing two DGX Spark systems, two Mac Studios, and an adorable cat.

Two Nvidia DGX Spark systems fused with M3 Ultra Mac Studio to deliver 2.8x gain in AI benchmarks — EXO Labs demonstrates disaggregated AI inference serving

By Zak Killian published 16 October 25

Using its EXO software, the company was able to split an AI inference workload and run it on three systems simultaneously.

Goodbye, Windows 10 — how a decade of 'progress' eroded users' command over their own machines

By Zak Killian published 14 October 25

Premium As Windows 10 fades into obsolescence, the argument it leaves behind is more philosophical than technical.

A photo of the ASUS ROG Strix XG27UCG gaming monitor.

Save $115 on a killer 4K ROG gaming monitor with this Prime Day deal — have it all with dual refresh rates up to 320Hz at 1080p in one 27" display

By Zak Killian published 8 October 25

Deals ASUS' ROG Strix XG27UCG has seen a major price cut, and offers a fantastic feature set for the money.

A Google Translated image promoting a Japanese extended warranty campaign.

ASRock issues longer warranty amid failing CPU controversy — but only in Japan

By Zak Killian published 2 October 25

Just after Gamers Nexus dropped a video about CPU failures on ASRock motherboards, the company started offering extended warranties.

Two custom PC builds by a boutique PC vendor.

Redditor quoted absurd $11,000 labor fee for $4,000 PC build — bemused customer questions $6,300 labor, $4,700 pre-project labor, and $4,000 cancellation fee

By Zak Killian published 30 September 25

A Redditor received an eye-popping quote for a cute custom PC from a well-known boutique vendor.

A Sandisk MicroSD card resting on top of the ROG Xbox Ally.

Sandisk launches officially licensed SSDs and MicroSD cards for the ROG Xbox Ally series — up to 4TB of storage for new Asus flagship handheld

By Zak Killian published 29 September 25

Sandisk is launching Xbox-branded storage accessories for the new Asus ROG Xbox Ally handheld systems.

An eBay screenshot showing many grossly overpriced ROG Xbox Ally X systems.

Scalpers sell ROG Xbox Ally X preorders for as much as $2,500 even though they are still in stock — stay away from eBay and buy from retailers

By Zak Killian published 27 September 25

While you can spend $2,000 or more on a $1,000 machine, instead, don't.

AMD's memory patent outlining a 'new, improved RAM' made from DDR5 memory isn't a new development — HB-DIMMs already superseded, probably won't come to market

By Zak Killian published 27 September 25

AMD's HB-DIMM concept probably isn't coming to market, as the company has already thrown its support behind the similar JEDEC MRDIMM standard.

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