Paul Lilly
Paul is a seasoned geek who was first seduced into the world of computers and technology by the Commodore 64, and through the years he’s courted a number of OSes and platforms from DOS on up to the latest version of Windows. Having joined the HotHardware team in 2011, Paul is now a mainstay of the site covering the news beat and reviews, and resident wiseguy who keeps the mood light. He’s also an experienced freelance technology writer whose work has appeared in a number of online and print publications.
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
Mark our words, this will be the year that we'll finally see a DDR5-10000 (or faster) memory kit offered at retail. It's only a matter of time, especially now that Clock Unbuffered Dual Inline Memory Modules (CUDIMMs) have entered the chat. In the meantime, we're seeing some amazing overclocks, including a DDR5 memory...
Read more...
We're just a few weeks into 2025, or as Microsoft recently called it, the "year of the Windows 11 PC refresh." The comment came in a blog post in which Microsoft made a pitch to rid yourself of your crusty old Windows 10 (or earlier) system and purchase a new PC that supports and runs Windows 11. So color us a little...
Read more...
At first glance, the processor in the photo above appears to be a genuine Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor. It sports AMD's uniquely-shaped integrated heatspreader (IHS) with grooves exposing the PCB on all four sides, it's labeled as a Ryzen 7 9800X3D chip, and it's the correct size. However, a closer examination reveals...
Read more...
If you case you missed Nintendo's big announcement this week, the company's much-anticipated and oft-referenced Switch 2 console is finally official. However, what we got from Nintendo was a "first-look trailer" that showcased the upcoming console's design, but it left out many explicit details such as the underlying...
Read more...
In theory, it is an incredibly awkward time to be shopping for a gaming laptop with NVIDIA having announced a new generation of mobile graphics chips. In practice, however, you can find some great deals as retailers looking to make room for new models. On top of that, it's going to take some time for gaming laptops...
Read more...
Though we're only midway through January (and just scratching the surface of 2025), it feels like the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping season is now a distant memory. Be that as it may, there are always deals out there, even now with holidays having already come and gone. We've rounded up a few that caught our...
Read more...
NVIDIA is once again readying a special version of its flagship consumer graphics card for the Chinese market, which be called the GeForce RTX 5090D. As we saw with the GeForce RTX 4090D, a special version of the previous generation flagship for China, there will be some limitations so as not to run afoul of US...
Read more...
Now that AMD's latest-generation Zen 5 processors have been on the market for a minute or two, the wait is on for the inevitable launch of a new round of Ryzen Threadripper processors. They're presumably coming, as evidenced by multiple leaks. The latest such leak is a shipping manifest that lists out a couple of...
Read more...
Boss battles can be frustrating, but even more infuriating is when your game console gives up the ghost. I had this happen with an Xbox One X back in the day, and fortunately it was under warranty (and thus easy to have replaced). For those who are not so fortunate, Microsoft announced it is expanding its...
Read more...
LG has been heavily invested in OLED displays (even bendable ones) and, especially for gamers, a go-to brand when upgrading a living room TV. Now in a continued attempt to "consolidate its dominance in the premium TV market," LG Display has unveiled its 4th generation OLED TV panel with a major brightness boost along...
Read more...
After playing it coy for several months, Nintendo has finally outed the promised "successor" to its immensely popular Switch handheld game console. In a "first-look trailer," Nintendo showcases several design changes and officially reveals what the next-gen handheld will be called. Are you sitting down? The upcoming...
Read more...
On top of unveiling an onslaught of Ryzen processors at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week, including an expanded lineup of 3D V-Cache models for desktops and laptops, AMD has been busy launching AM5 chips under the radar. The newest one is the Ryzen 5 7400F, which is poised to be its most...
Read more...
NVIDIA's major reveal at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last week was, not unexpectedly, its GeForce RTX 50 series in both desktop and mobile form. Along with the new GPUs, however, NVIDIA also unveiled a new generation of its Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology, now with Multi Frame Generation. At the...
Read more...
A lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accuses AllState and its data analytics subsidiary Arity of illegally tracking drivers without their knowledge or consent, as well as collecting and selling location data. According to the lawsuit, AllState accomplished this through "secretly embedded software" in...
Read more...
Is your smartphone gasping for breath every time you flip on the screen and try to load an app? If so, it's time to consider an upgrade. That can be painful because, let's face it, today's top tier handsets are not exactly cheap. You can, however, save some money by timing your upgrade when there are deals to be had...
Read more...
Well, what do we have here? An overseas product listing has seemingly revealed an as-yet unannounced mobile GeForce RTX 50 series GPU for budget gaming gaming laptops, the GeForce RTX 5050. Assuming the listing is legitimate—and it certainly appears to be real, with a caveat (more on that in a moment)—the budget GPU...
Read more...
At one point, NVIDIA may have considered releasing an RTX Titan Ada or GeForce RTX 4090 Ti graphics card based on its now-last generation Ada Lovelace architecture. Neither card ever materialized, of course, but the rumor persists and even gained some additional traction thanks to the above photo and an accompanying...
Read more...
NVIDIA did gamers a solid by unveiling its GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs in both desktop and mobile form, rather than just announcing desktop parts and then waiting weeks or months to unveil the mobile lineup. And according to NVIDIA, gaming laptops rocking its newest generation mobile GPUs will be available in March...
Read more...
True innovation in the laptop space doesn't happen all the time. Sure, there's a near-constant hardware refresh cycle (both AMD and Intel announced new chips at CES, for example), but game-changing features like the first touchscreen and the 2-in-1 form factor only come around every so often. One that could...
Read more...
If things had gone to plan in the wee hours of the morning today, Jeff Bezos and his Blue Origin team would be celebrating the successful liftoff of the company's towering New Glenn rocket. Instead, celebrations will have to wait for another day after pesky issues ultimately kept the 30-story rocket grounded at the...
Read more...
At this point, ASUS is the main company keeping Intel's Next Unit of Computing (NUC) branding alive, after Intel decided a year and a half ago to stop making its own NUCs and instead adopt a licensing model. Not only did ASUS pounce, but it released its first ROG-branded NUC last year. Proving it wasn't a one-off...
Read more...
As we detailed in our Ryzen 7 9800X3D review, AMD's first consumer Zen 5 chip with 3D V-Cache is a beastly slice of silicon that's an ideal choice to build a gaming PC around. The market agrees, as evidenced by the chip frequently being sold out at places like Amazon and Best Buy. In candid remarks shared at the...
Read more...
