One of the most important parts of the PC gaming puzzle is the hardware that powers all our experiences, and we take that subject seriously here at PC Gamer. Keeping our commitment to cover everything that makes the PC the best gaming platform on the planet, we've recruited some new editors to our dedicated hardware team, and thought you might like to get to know us.
There are new faces, old faces—some returning faces—and you will notice some changes over the coming months too. But what won't change is PC Gamer's dedication to honest, authoritative, and entertaining coverage of the hardware market as a whole. We'll still be bringing you tech reviews backed up by decades of expertise, guides to help you track down the best and most affordable kit, features to dive into the hardware that makes your rig tick, and up-to-the-minute news about what's happening in the industry.
We promise never to talk down to you, and to explain hardware in terms that always matter to your gaming experience. We're all PC gaming geeks, experts in our field, and you can be sure we love the games just as much as the technology and the brilliant minds that bring our rigs to life.
So, let me introduce you to your dedicated PC Gamer hardware team, starting with me…
Dave James - Hardware Overlord
I've been writing about PC gaming hardware for 15 years now, and a good chunk of that was as PC Gamer's Hardware Editor, weaving words onto mashed-up dead tree for the magazine and the odd sentence or 12 for the website. And I owe it all to my obsession with Football Manager. It's the reason I support the Bolton Wanderers football club, and Football Manager is the reason I get to write about technology for a living.
Or Championship Manager as it was called back in the days I wrote for the official mag in the early 2000s. That's what got me into writing about games for the wonderful PC Format magazine, my home for ten years, and the place that got me into PC hardware.
Though actually signing up to cover the Computex technology show for PC Format in Taipei was the physical place that really got me into the tech scene in a big way. It was all so beautifully aggressive to the senses... and I loved every jet-lagged second of it.
During that time I also launched the PC components channel of Techradar and took over from Adam Oxford as PCG's Hardware Ed. before shifting over to burrow into the rabbit hole of high-end audio and TVs full-time for Techradar.
I then left Future to build the hardware channel of PCGamesN, where I've been for the past four years, honing my craft. And now I'm back, better than ever, and ready to help make PC Gamer the best place to learn about PC tech on the internet.
Alan Dexter - Senior Hardware Editor
Alan's been a technology journalist longer than I have, "since 1996, which means I was there at the coalface when graphics cards first appeared." Back then they actually had to mine the silicon themselves for their graphics cards. Though admittedly not from the coal face.
He actually started life as a cover disc editor. Before the days when all art became free, the world woke up to the web in a big way, and all games became distributed online, there used to be things called demos. And on magazines we used to give a bunch of these demos away free each month to see if you liked a game. So, Alan used to press CTRL + C and then CTRL + V and copy them onto each disc every single month.
He then moved over to become a staff writer, "leaving my programming background behind for the more lucrative world of writing." I still haven't the heart to tell him that he would have earned a lot more as a programmer...
Moving up the ranks he edited PC Format, before moving on to become executive editor of Maximum PC, and has now joined PC Gamer to let the world know about the latest and greatest PC tech on the planet. And World of Warcraft.
"Over the years I've spent far too long playing World of Warcraft, Magic the Gathering, and benchmarking systems. This is probably not the best time to change the habits of a lifetime."
Jacob Ridley - Senior Hardware Editor
You wouldn't know it to talk to him, but Jacob is from the beautiful country of Wales. Yet he is a remarkably well-spoken young man, with not a trace of the tell-tale accent. He has explained that "there's no 'Silicon Valley' there but it is known as 'the valleys' and can therefore be easily confused for a happening place in the tech world," which just goes to show that he's far more suited to writing about PC technology than he is doing anything which requires a solid grasp of global geography.
Jacob actually started his own technology website before joining me at PCGamesN to, in his words, "professionally break things and then write about it for cash." And, because he's one of the best young PC hardware writers in the business right now, he's made the move over to join us at PC Gamer. And also because I couldn't do it without him, obvs.
He sometimes goes by the alter ego of 'Jake' when he's swanning about Spain in a dirty van, playing guitar outside restaurants and by the roadside, but he doesn't like to talk about those days anymore. Not after, what his friends refer to as, 'the incident.' But Jacob's happy place is Sayonara Wild Hearts, and that has got him through the tough times.
Jorge Jimenez - Hardware Writer
Don't worry, there are new faces but Jorge is still with us, "chasing dope hardware deals along with reviewing the latest (and sometimes not greatest) in gaming laptops, accessories, streaming gear and whatever cool thing PC gaming related." That and bashing the metric system all in the name of patriotism.
Before PC Gamer, Jorge worked in the testing lab for Tom’s Guide and Tom’s Hardware where he benchmarked gaming laptops and dropped smartphones into toilets (y'know, for science).
Hailing from "the enchanted lands of New Jersey," you know he's one of the good ones. Because he's got an awesome dog, which will sometimes get on camera with him while he's streaming the baddest of bad games. That despite his delusions about the enchanted nature of New Jersey.
Paul Lilly - Hardware News Writer
Paul has been writing about PC hardware and technology since his early days with Maximum PC in 2006, and subsequently right here on PC Gamer. "It's been a wild ride to say the least," he says. Having started his gaming life on the Commodore 64 (a far superior machine to the ZX Spectrum) he progressed onto the PC at an early age.
"Shortly after, I discovered adventure games, starting with Maniac Mansion. Refusing to dial into a hint-line, it would be several years later before I finally finished the game on an IBM compatible machine."
Paul is a huge Boston sports fan, whether that's Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, or Bruins it's all good. Though no longer living in Massachusetts, he still follows them all from his current home in Tennessee. "I gave my knees to basketball (specifically, both ACLs), so these days I pass the time riding my motorcycle when the weather is nice, or reluctantly hiking the hills (I'm told it's good exercise)."
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That's the core PC Gamer hardware team, and feel free to pop into the PC Gamer forums and say hello too. Come and let us know what you want you want to see more of from us, or if there are things we don't currently cover that you'd like to see us dig into in our own, inimitable style.
