This might be the best price I’ve ever seen for a gaming monitor. Today, if you mosey on over to eBay, you can find a refurbished Acer Nitro display going for just $103.55. This is a 27-inch 1440p display with 180Hz of refresh… and it has an IPS panel! That’s an absolute banger of a deal. Normally, even for a refurb, you’re looking at about $200-ish for this. Aside from the color-accurate IPS panel (much better than the VA panels found on most new gaming monitors), this is a pretty basic design. The Acer Nitro KGB271U doesn’t feature any other inputs aside from HDMI and DisplayPort, and it isn’t even rated for AMD FreeSync. But if you don’t need any bells and whistles, you’ll be absolutely gobsmacked by the value here. The popular 27-inch 2560×1440 form factor is a great upgrade to any standard 1080p display, and 180Hz of refresh plus 0.05ms of response time should be enough for smooth playback on any modern game if your desktop or laptop can handle it. I’d add on a VESA monitor arm with the savings. This is a refurbished model coming directly from Acer’s official eBay store, along with a two-year Allstate warranty. The sale price is $108.55 with free shipping, but you can take an additional $5 off with coupon code YUSFSITHZW9NGCCM at checkout (or at least that’s what’s showing for me) for a final price of $103.55. Hot diggity dog, that’s a great price. If it’s not quite what you’re looking for, then check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best monitors. And know that there are plenty of other early October Prime Day monitor deals to be found! Get an Acer 27-inch 1440p IPS gaming monitor for just $104Buy now via eBay Read...

You can never have too much external storage on hand, especially when it’s as portable and performant as this one. I’m talking about the 2TB SanDisk Extreme Pro Dual Drive, which is an eye-catcher for two reasons (more on that below). It’s currently on sale for $149.99 on Amazon (was $189.99), and that’s a great price for this absolute winner. The first big advantage of this portable SSD is that it’s smaller than pocket-sized—extremely compact, extremely fast. You’re basically getting SSD transfer speeds in a flash drive form factor. With read speeds up to 1,000 MB/s and write speeds up to 900 MB/s, you’ll be transferring files (folders, videos, archives, etc.) in a snap. It also has 128-bit AES encryption, keeping your data safe against snoopers. The second big advantage of this portable SSD is that it’s double-sided with both USB-A and USB-C connectors. That makes it supremely versatile, able to connect to pretty much any modern device. Just spin it around as needed, no adapters required. (The clever casing design keeps the unused end protected while it’s plugged in.) It’s the perfect all-in-one portable SSD for use with laptops, phones, gaming consoles, and more. The SanDisk Extreme Pro Dual Drive is okay at retail price, but it’s downright fantastic with this discount. Get it now for $149.99 before this limited-time Amazon deal expires! Get 2TB of ultra-portable SSD storage for $40 off while you canBuy now at Amazon Read...

RAM is one of the components that is often underestimated when gaming—but choosing the right RAM can bring tangible benefits, especially in the gaming sector. DDR5 has long since arrived in the mainstream. However, not every DDR5 RAM module delivers the same performance. If you are setting up your system with speed and future-proofing in mind, you should focus on DDR5-6000 with low latency. Current platforms such as AMD’s Ryzen 7000 and 9000 series or Intel’s Raptor Lake refresh benefit particularly strongly from this combination. DDR5-6000 hits the sweet spot here: the memory controllers work optimally at this clock rate. At the same time, voltage requirements and heat development are kept within limits. Even more important, however, is the CAS Latency (CL). Kits with CL30 or CL28 timings deliver significantly better results than widely used standard kits with CL36 or CL40. The difference is particularly noticeable in CPU-limiting scenarios—for example in competitive shooters such as Valorant or in simulations such as Cities: Skylines II. The memory latencies can be displayed and adjusted via the BIOS (here from MSI). This is crucial for the performance of DDR5 RAM with a low CL.IDG Various benchmarks show performance increases of up to 10 percent with the same CPU clock—simply by switching from a high-clocked, but slow-responding RAM to a finely tuned DDR5-6000 kit with low latency. The system is also subjectively more responsive: programs start faster, loading times are shorter, and even the Windows desktop feels more direct. For most users, a capacity of 32 GB RAM remains the sweet spot—more is currently of little benefit in everyday gaming. The quality of the modules is much more important: Those who rely on EXPO or XMP-optimized kits benefit from stable profiles that do not require manual fine-tuning. The only important thing is that the mainboard and the BIOS or UEFI support these profiles correctly. A quick check on the QVL list (Qualified Vendor List) of the motherboard manufacturer provides clarity here. DDR5-6000 (here from G.Skill) with low latency is currently the sweet spot for gaming PCs – fast, efficient and ideally matched to current platforms. G.Skill In short: DDR5-6000 with CL30 or lower is currently the most efficient and future-proof choice for demanding gamers and power users. If you upgrade now, you’ll not only ensure better performance, but also a stable foundation for future CPU generations. Reading tip: 5 ways I lower my PC RAM usage to boost game performance Read...

If you’re just as tired as I am of the lack of ports in thin-and-light laptops, then the solution you’re looking for is a USB hub (sometimes also called a dock). With a hub, you can turn a single port into many ports, drastically expanding the capabilities of your laptop—and they’re affordable, too. Right now, you can snag this Baseus 9-in-1 USB-C hub, which turns one USB-C port into nine total ports of varying types, for just $39.97 on Amazon (was $63.99). That’s a lovely 38% discount on a versatile accessory that’ll prove itself worthwhile over and over again. Here’s what you get with this USB-C hub: a USB-C with 100W of power delivery (to keep your laptop charged while the other ports are in use), two HDMI (one up to 4K@120Hz and the other up to 4K@30Hz), two USB-A 3.0 (for data and drives), one USB-A 2.0 (for peripherals), SD and microSD card slots, and Gigabit Ethernet. Count ’em up and you get nine. This is an all-in-one adapter that lets you forget about carrying half a dozen different adapters for the rare times you might need this or that. Use this hub for everything! It’s that convenient. And it’s portable, too! Slip it into your bag and take it with you to the café or the office. Get the Baseus 9-in-1 USB-C hub for only $39.97 before this deal expires! Amazon has it marked as “selling fast,” so don’t miss out. Save 38% on this stellar 9-in-1 USB-C hub with double 4K HDMIBuy now at Amazon Read...

The creator of ICEBlock accuses the tech giant of `capitulating to an authoritarian regime` by removing his app. Read...

What’s the first thing you do when you start a fresh Windows install? For myself and many others, it’s installing Chrome (usually using Ninite). I throw Brave and Firefox on there after, but Chrome comes first. It’s part of the ritual. But as useful as Chrome is for downloading drivers and the Steam launcher, you can make it far more capable with the right extensions. After I’ve downloaded it, there are always a handful I install right away. If you’re staring at a fresh—starkly white—Chrome install and would like a few tips about how to make it that bit better, here are some of my favorites. DarkReader: Dark mode for Chrome Give your eyes a break with the Dark Reader extension for Chrome. Jon Martindale Argh my eyes! I don’t know whether I’m just getting older or my laser eye surgery is wearing off, but the stark whiteness of most modern websites feels blinding. I find working in dark mode much more comfortable, but unfortunately there are only so many websites that have a proper dark mode, and even then it’s not always uniformly applied. Pop open a private tab and watch how all your personalized dark modes disappear just as fast. With DarkReader you don’t have to worry about that. Regardless of the kind of blanched-white backdrops a website wants to shine your way, DarkReader nips that in the bud and forces a dark mode that it creates on the fly, inverting brighter colors and whites and making the web a more comfortable place to explore. Grammarly/Prowritingaid: Stop making typos (as much) Listen, I do this for a living typing out thousands of words every single day and I still make use of smart extensions like Grammarly and ProWritingAid to make my writing that extra bit better. Even if you use ChatGPT or other AI to craft emails or longer-form content for you, having a writing assistant like these give it a once over is a real help. Both are better in their paid versions, but they work well enough in the free edition too. And you can even enjoy them outside of Chrome if you like. StayFocusd: Block or limit time wasting sites StayFocusd will hit you with a pithy statement and engaging picture if and when you try to test its capabilities. If you’ve followed my coverage at PCWorld at all, you’ll know I struggle with procrastination and a big part of that is staying on task. If you, like me, find that you can’t quite stay away from Reddit when you’re supposed to be writing a guide on Chrome extensions, then StayFocusd is a great tool. It lets you block websites outright, or time limit your access to them by time or date. It won’t stop you going to another browser for your fix, but it does block you just enough to make you question whether you should get back to work instead. Various password managers: Pick your favorite I’m a big fan of low-fi password managers that keep everything decidedly offline, but I’m not the only one in my family and not everyone feels the same. Other people prefer cloud-based options, so when I install Chrome on a fresh PC, I usually install their password manager too so they can readily access it. Which password you use is down to your personal preferences (though we have a few of our own). Regardless of which one you prefer, though, you can find a Chrome extension for it on the Chrome store. Adguard: Block ads, limit socials     Adguard is an incredibly useful tool to more pleasantly browse the web. Blocking adverts online is a tricky business as sites often don’t like you doing it because it impacts their revenue. That’s why unfortunately, tools like Adguard—which are effective at blocking ads—will often make certain platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and similar unusable. They just don’t want to serve content if they can’t sell it to you. Outside of social media, though, Adguard is an effective way to block some of the more nefarious tracking adverts. It won’t get them all, and some sites might not like it, but if you want a cleaner web experience, Adguard does a great job. It’s particularly useful for YouTube. Raindrop.io: Save to read/watch later Another effective way I’ve found to beat procrastination is to lean into it: I’ll do it later. But instead of that being the work I’m supposed to be doing, I try to do the things I shouldn’t be doing at a more convenient time. Raindrop.io is a really useful tool for that, as it lets you save articles, web pages, videos, and more to look at later. It saves it all in a handy wallet that you can tag in collections for later filtering and you can even sync it up with your phone. Perfect for reading something later on the toilet. Ghostery: A simpler tracker blocker Ghostery is another useful ad blocking tool that might work better for you than AdGuard, depending on your preferences. Although it does block ads, Ghostery’s main function is to go beyond that and remove your personal information from trackers, making it harder for websites to find out about you—whether there’s an advert involved or not. This is particularly useful for stopping behavioral tracking on websites that might monitor what you do across the web. This can actually improve page load times in some cases as all the content that would otherwise need to load is simply blocked at the source. It also helps you make more informed choices about the sites you click through to by showcasing tracking information within search result pages. Onetab: Save memory, reduce clutter Are you spotting a theme here? I’m a messy worker too and as I work on multiple articles throughout the day my tab list can get extremely busy. Multiple browser windows with dozens of tabs in each; not only is it hard to parse through it’s also unnecessarily resource intensive. That’s where OneTab comes in to save the day. By collecting tabs together under a single header tab, you can streamline what you’re working on and better organize them together. This makes it easier to find what you’re looking for, come back to something you were working on earlier, and categorize tabs so that you save time not clicking through them all. Memory use drops by up to 95% with it enabled, too, helping your system respond better. Google Keep: Great for note taking Google Keep lets you save all of those notes you’ll need later—even if they’re just about cats. If you’re researching for a personal or professional project, saving notes for later can be a godsend in retaining the context of what you’re looking at, or helping to craft a narrative from all your research sources. Google’s Keep extension works just like the app on your phone. Along with your personal notes, though, you can also save page links, text, and images, add labels, and sink it up with your phone to work on later. VolumeMaster: Make it LOUD Watching an old YouTube video and the volume’s too low? Find that new Netflix show dialogue is just too quiet to make out what they’re saying? Time to give it a boost. VolumeMaster lets you increase the stock Chrome tab volume by up to 600%. That’s enough to give your ears a beating and your speakers a workout, so be careful with already-load videos. But for anything that’s just too quiet to make out, VolumeMaster is a great way to regain control of your audio. Hive AI Detector: Spot AI images if you aren’t sure Hive AI Detector can even detect what LLM was used in its creation in some cases. Did you try that test out a few months ago to see if you could spot AI images? I figured I was pretty well situated to ace it and barely scraped by with a 60% success rate. That felt like an embarrassing failure, but I’m far from alone. Spotting AI images can be hard, but Hive’s AI Detector can make it a little easier. Don’t let yourself get duped by fake AI generated images. Just run this free extension as a litmus test for what’s real and what’s not. Want even more tips? Here’s how to spot AI images yourself. Read...

If you’ve been thinking of leveling up your PC setup with a massive ultrawide monitor but haven’t yet, it’s probably because you balked at the crazy high prices. But today’s a rare opportunity because one of the best options for an oversized ultrawide monitor is now 45% off on Amazon. I’m talking about this Samsung Odyssey OLED G93SC, which is now $879.99 (was $1,599.99) with Prime. All you have to do is sign up for a free 30-day Prime trial and you can score this amazing win! The Odyssey OLED G93SC is a 49-inch showstopper that’ll take over your entire desk in the best way possible. Boasting an enormous 5120×1440 resolution, this is essentially two 1440p monitors seamlessly merged into one so you don’t have that annoying bezel running down the middle. And with its OLED panel, you’re getting the absolute best colors, deepest blacks, and vivid contrast for the ultimate viewing experience. And if you have a PC that’s powerful enough to push frames at this resolution, rest assured that this monitor goes up to a super-fast 240Hz refresh rate with 0.03ms response time, and it’s also compatible with Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. Long story short, this is an incredible display that’s unlike anything else. The screen has a gentle 1800R curve so it’s easy on the eyes and won’t cause fatigue, it has built-in CoreSync and Core Lighting for ambient RGB goodness, and it has three years of OLED burn-in coverage. You can connect it via HDMI, DisplayPort, and Micro HDMI. It’s one of the best gaming monitors for a reason. If you’re willing to skip the OLED for a lower price, the 49-inch Odyssey G95C is on sale for $679.99. Otherwise, grab the 49-inch Odyssey OLED G93SC for $879.99 while you still can because this deal won’t last long! Save 45% on Samsung`s massive OLED ultrawide gaming monitorBuy now on Amazon Read...

Of all the gaming laptops we’ve reviewed this year, there are few we love more than the powerful Alienware 16X Aurora. We loved it even at retail price, but right now you can score it with a massive $400 discount. With the Alienware 16X Aurora just $1,699.99 at Best Buy, now’s an incredible opportunity if you’re in the market for a beast of a gaming laptop. You’re looking at a powerhouse machine that features a super-speedy Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, 32GB of memory, and a massive 2TB of SSD storage. Even better, it’s user-upgradeable with two PCIe 4.0 SSD slots and two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots, meaning you can push it even further down the line with some added hardware when needed. The 1080p webcam is even Windows Hello compatible for extra security! And let’s not forget that Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 graphics card that paves the way for DLSS 4, ray tracing, and all the other goodies that come with a cutting-edge RTX 50-series GPU. You’ll be able to play whatever games you want and you’ll enjoy them on this laptop’s gorgeous 16-inch 2560×1600 screen with its fast 240Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of brightness. Port-wise, you get two USB-C video ports (one is Thunderbolt 4), two USB-A ports, a full HDMI, Ethernet, and 3.5mm headset. “The Alienware 16X Aurora has a high-end CPU, a fast GPU, and a beautiful display. You’d have a hard time finding comparable hardware at this price,” reads our review of the laptop—and that’s when it was selling for $1,999.99. It’s a downright steal now. Don’t miss this chance to grab the Alienware 16X Aurora for $1,699.99 before this Best Buy deal expires! If you don’t think it’s the right laptop for you, though, I recommend hopping over to our roundup of the best gaming laptops to find one that you’ll love. This incredible Alienware RTX 5070 gaming laptop is $400 off todayBuy now from Best Buy Read...

Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. Missed the shocking topics on our YouTube show or freshest news from across the web? You’re in the right place. Want this newsletter to come directly to your inbox? Sign up on our website! Skepticism is normal. But cynicism is different. It blocks receptivity—as I realized after this week’s discussion about Qualcomm’s launch of its Snapdragon X2 Elite and Elite Extreme processors. TFN regular and my colleague Mark Hachman joined us to chat about the press briefings he attended last week, which included a reveal of phenomenal benchmark results. According to its numbers, Qualcomm’s second-gen Snapdragon Elite chips don’t just smash the baseline set by its predecessors. They smoke Intel and AMD’s laptop CPUs, too. In Cinebench 2024, the X2 Elite Extreme outpaced rival silicon like the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and Core Ultra 7 155H by as much as 56 percent in single-core performance. Meanwhile, in multi-core performance, the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme posted a lead of over a 200 percent. Qualcomm claims this insanity extends to gaming as well, teasing a doubling of performance in games—which would boost the expected output from 1080p 30fps at Low settings to 60fps. For the thin-and-light laptops that Snapdragon Elite chips would power, this shot in the arm for gaming would be impressive. And yet, while guiding the conversation, I poked at the shadows lurking on the periphery of this information. I wanted to know: Where’s the PC vendor support? The software support? (Especially games…) Why didn’t Qualcomm focus more on its battery life performance, where it already stands strong? I still believe these are fair questions. But after the show, I thought back to when another semiconductor company made a fresh push into laptops. We think of this company with positivity today, but five years ago, AMD faced a tough uphill battle.  Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chip looks like it’ll zoom.Mark Hachman / Foundry At the time, Intel held around 90 percent of the market. AMD mobile chips also carried the reputation of being low-performance, found only in cheap budget laptops. So while Team Red had turned around its desktop reputation, this initiative met with reserve and even cynicism. We now know that such unwillingness to consider success for AMD was unfounded. AMD’s mobile chips now sit comfortably shoulder-to-shoulder with Intel’s best—and even set the bar for expectations in high performance (i.e., Strix Halo). AMD has also steadily gained ground in the market—Intel’s now down to just under 80 percent for laptop share, according to recent reports. So yes, my questions were fair. Qualcomm still needs more robust software support. And it can be confident in the Snapdragon Elite reputation for long battery life. But I think it’s worth calling myself out here. I didn’t shine light on these areas with an attitude of curiosity. I was wary—and it’s not yet justified. Because that last piece of the puzzle—PC vendor support—never happens in a vacuum. Laptop makers won’t offer Qualcomm models without interest. And I don’t have independent benchmark results yet to warrant anything more than reserve. If I want to see more innovation, I can’t let skepticism get the better of me. It’ll turn into cynicism, blocking the spirit of The Full Nerd. Gordon always championed the idea of companies pushing into the unknown. In this era of economic turbulence, such an approach is even riskier. It’s up to us in the stands to remain open. We could otherwise accidentally kill off incredible hardware with indifference, before it ever launches. In this episode of The Full Nerd In this episode of The Full Nerd, Alaina Yee, Brad Chacos, and Mark Hachman dig into the details of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X2 Elite and Elite Extreme chips (including the Elite Extreme’s eye-popping benchmarks) and if Windows 10’s looming death is really a big deal. With Will out this week, I take up the mantle of indignant chicken over Microsoft’s [censored] promise of 500 rewards points for using the Bing app. (Yes, yes, I know, more fool me.) I also lowered Brad’s respect for me by confessing I like rubber domes better than mechanical switches. Why? You’ll have to tune into the Q&A section to get the full context. (Also, shoutout to the homies on our Discord server, who’ve been offering great advice about my issues with using a mechanical ergo keyboard.) I had strong feelings this week.Willis Lai / Foundry Missed our live show? Subscribe now to The Full Nerd Network YouTube channel, and activate notifications. We also answer viewer questions in real-time! Don’t miss out on our NEW shows too—you can catch episodes of Dual Boot Diaries and The Full Nerd: Extra Edition now! And if you need more hardware talk during the rest of the week, come join our Discord community—it’s full of cool, laid-back nerds. This week’s confounding nerd news I did a double-take when I heard of Microsoft’s unexpected Game Pass price hike. Same for the idea that the world’s getting literally darker (but not colder). At least we still have pieces of joy out there to take comfort in—like the wonderful hit of nostalgia I got from imagining the sound of 12 56K modems all blaring at once. LinkedIn is training its AI on your data: I almost missed this news. I’m sour about it too, because you can’t retroactively take back any data already in use. These keycaps sound so good: I might have unusual switch preferences (or unnatural, depending who you ask), but I still enjoy the sound of mechanical keyboards. Mike Crider, our resident keyboard guru, recently tested one with ceramic keycaps. I could listen to it on repeat for a while, to be honest. It’s soothing. I’d be down to be serenaded by 12 56K modems: Not indefinitely, mind you. But I’m very onboard with this kick of doing fun stuff with old tech. Earth is getting darker, NASA warns: So we’re gonna roast in perpetual twilight at some point? Cool cool cool. (Read the article; it’s not actually this outcome. Yet.) I’m still wary of AI browsers: But I have to admit, I found it interesting reading someone else’s hands-on experience with one. If you ignore the security and privacy concerns of such an AI browser, the potential to help people with accessibility challenges is cool. Life on Mars, discovered soon? Honestly, I don’t care which country snags a viable sample first. I’m more curious about what we’ll find out. This sleeper build jolted me awake: I admit, I was nodding off a bit while scrolling through r/sffpc this week. Then I saw this one my feed. I rarely take to sleeper builds, but I dig this one’s understated retro flavor. (Also cute: this “itty bitty” $25 build with seasoned parts.) Microsoft slaps Game Pass Ultimate with a staggering 50 percent price hike: Ouch. (I guess Microsoft plans to make money by losing subscribers.) Maybe gamers don’t hate Windows 11: You know, I actually forgot to consider how motivated people are by deadlines. Now I’m wondering what the October and November Steam surveys will look. Will Adam sniff this next? I’m not sure how I feel about an SSD with a built-in oil diffuser. But I am sure Adam would give this a go. Someone owns almost every graphics card ever made: You know that sound made by the claw-machine aliens in Toy Story? Yeah, that was me when I saw the picture of the collection. Catch you all next week—or maybe later today during my first PC build livestream in awhile! (I’m finally getting to build in the Hyte X50!) ~Alaina This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld. Read...

Microsoft Flight Simulator X is a lot of fun, but the game isn’t cheap. If you don’t want to pay for your flight simulator, you might just want to try GeoFS instead. It’s a free flight simulator with a global environment generated by satellite images and digital geographic data. The simulator runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS. There are more than 30 aircraft to fly and navigation charts with 40,000 referenced runways. You can even run it in your web browser without anything to install. Dominic Bayley / Foundry I really dig the realistic physics and the fact you can fly a wide variety of planes—everything from single engine biplanes to giant jumbo jet Airbus A380s. It’s worth noting, though, that it’s a little tricky to get the hang of at first, so you’re really going to want to personalize the controls before you fly. That’s a wrap for this Try This. If you want more recommendations like this one, be sure to sign up to our Try This newsletter. Read...