Zak Killian

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

MSI Radeon RX 6950 XT Gaming X Trio

AMD confirms its Radeon RX 5000, 6000 series cards are not receiving new features — latest patch puts cards in 'maintenance mode,' also disables USB-C functionality on RX 7900 series

By Zak Killian last updated

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

Intel

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

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

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

Woman walking past Windows 10 billboard

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

By Zak Killian published

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

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

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

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

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

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

MCRDIMM

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

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.

A Tom's Hardware Tech Deals image showing the Valve Steam Deck LCD.

Valve's 256GB LCD Steam Deck is an incredible 20% off — big price drop just in time for the Steam Autumn Sale

By Zak Killian published

Deals Valve's original gaming handheld is still a great performer for thousands and thousands of Steam games, and $320 is the cheapest it's been in a while.

A screenshot of the Windows NT Server logon screen, which requires you to press Ctrl+Alt+Del to proceed

Microsoft’s pivotal Windows NT 3.5 release made it a serious contender, 31 years ago today

By Zak Killian published

We cast a glance back at Windows' forebears, as it was 31 years ago today that Windows NT 3.5 released to the public.

A photograph of Micro Center store shelves stocked with PC graphics cards.

GPU sales skyrocketed 27% last quarter — tariff jitters sparked an odd gaming hardware spending surge in Q2 '25

By Zak Killian published

A report from Jon Peddie Research highlights an unusual PC hardware spending surge in the first half of 2025.

The title screen of the classic video game DOOM.

DOOM left running on ASUS MyPal PDA for 2.5 years finally crashes — bug that crashes the game when gametic value hits 2,147,483,647 ticks likely to blame

By Zak Killian published

The crash isn't a surprise nor is it likely to happen by accident, but it's nice to know the world still follows rules.

A marketing image for AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution

Latest FSR 4 source code 'leak' lets you run AMD's AI upscaling tech on nearly any GPU — no Linux required

By Zak Killian published

As it turns out, with some tweaking, you can actually run FSR 4 on nearly any recent GPU thanks to AMD itself leaking the source code last month.

Google

Expect HDD, SSD shortages as AI rewrites the rules of storage hierarchy — multiple companies announce price hikes, too

By Zak Killian published

AI isn't just consuming the GPU market. It's eating storage, too — and the shockwaves are likely to hit both HDD and SSD markets

Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5-5200 C38

Corsair settles lawsuit over advertising XMP memory speeds, and you could get paid — the settlement covers U.S. purchases between 2018 and 2025 for overclocked kits

By Zak Killian published

The gap between memory speed marketing and JEDEC reality landed Corsair in a class-action lawsuit back in 2022—one that is currently accepting applications for payouts from the settlement.

GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition

Nvidia may have ended RTX 50 Founders Edition GPU production — report suggests move is in preparation for 'Super' refresh

By Zak Killian published

Nvidia RTX 50 Founders Edition cards may be sidelined until a Super refresh arrives.

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