Nick Evanson
Nick, gaming, and computers all first met in 1981, with the love affair starting on a Sinclair ZX81 in kit form and a book on ZX Basic. He ended up becoming a physics and IT teacher, but by the late 1990s decided it was time to cut his teeth writing for a long defunct UK tech site. He went on to do the same at Madonion, helping to write the help files for 3DMark and PCMark. After a short stint working at Beyond3D.com, Nick joined Futuremark (MadOnion rebranded) full-time, as editor-in-chief for its gaming and hardware section, YouGamers. After the site shutdown, he became an engineering and computing lecturer for many years, but missed the writing bug. Cue four years at TechSpot.com and over 100 long articles on anything and everything. He freely admits to being far too obsessed with GPUs and open world grindy RPGs, but who isn't these days?
Latest articles by Nick Evanson
![An Intel Arc A770 Limited Edition graphics card from various angles](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/rSgW4YvezTnrXsd3HEfJX9-320-80.png)
I downloaded Intel's new AI Playground beta and may have finally found something Arc is honestly good at
By Nick Evanson published
news It turns out that Intel's graphics cards are better at doing AI than they are at churning out ultra-high frame rates in games.
![Chrome Browser Logos](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/EdZQfCyReBjSAgbb64XZ9T-320-80.jpg)
Google has changed its mind about dropping support for third-party cookies in Chrome, after years of trying to make it happen
By Nick Evanson published
news Depending on who you listen to, this is either a brilliant decision or a truly horrible one.
![A stylised image of AMD's RDNA 3 GPU design for its Radeon RX 7000-series graphics cards](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/b5hZ3jGxuxwssYSDEA4iLE-320-80.jpg)
AMD RDNA 4 info leak confirms RT performance is getting boosted but could fall short of a major hardware redesign
By Nick Evanson published
news AMD's GPUs are perfect at rasterization but still trail behind Nvidia when it comes to ray tracing.
![An image of Linux's mascot, Tux the penguin.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/i5TSKD2VVirrGsyqqwK4cG-320-80.jpg)
It's not just Windows PCs that have gone belly up, as CrowdStrike's Falcon software has been b0rking Linux-powered computers, too
By Nick Evanson published
news It doesn't matter what operating system you use, a buggy application can seriously ruin your day.
![A photo of an RTX 4070 Ti with its heatsink removed, showing the factory-applied thermal paste on the GPU die](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/wYtS9WUArtiqMeRJEH82u-320-80.jpg)
Nvidia's third-party RTX 40-series GPUs are losing performance over time thanks to rubbish factory-installed thermal paste
By Nick Evanson published
news It's not just about bad hotspots, the whole chip ends up getting hotter, causing it to hit thermal limits quicker.
![A close-up image of an Intel Raptor Lake die.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hHGDd3xd2xfFZxauXbcesH-320-80.jpg)
No E, just the P—Intel quietly launches Raptor Lake Rekked for the embedded market
By Nick Evanson published
news But with the Core i9's reputation looking very iffy, would anyone want to take the gamble and use it in an industrial situation?
![A photo of an AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D processor resting on a metal heatsink](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/9WKMCNYDHRUSMttqUSudUV-320-80.jpg)
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D CPU review
By Nick Evanson published
Cache for cash It's just a 5800X3D, except a bit slower and a whole lot cheaper. Which actually makes it better.
![A stylized, rendered image of the Earth (focus on Europe) represented by little dots, binary code and lines](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XSgWNxzWMtfTHhfqgVfmQZ-320-80.jpg)
The CrowdStrike IT outage is pretty grim but let's hope it's not as bad as the infamous Dyn DDoS attack, Facebook mega-crash, and Rogers network disaster
By Nick Evanson published
news This one looks as bad as they come and there have been some truly massive IT problems in recent years.
![AMD Strix Point APU chip, held in a hand, with the reflected light showing the various processing blocks in the chip die](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VCkwq2FV7M7bUiVenTvcmb-320-80.jpg)
AMD's tweaked RDNA 3.5 GPU is solely focused on improving mobile gaming performance
By Nick Evanson published
news There are plenty of little changes under the hood to help the graphics processor do more for less power.
![A collection of NVMe SSDs on orange.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/TS44xiDUQAMviLKqDZYhgh-320-80.jpg)
Best cheap SSD deals for gaming today
By Jacob Ridley last updated
deal Cheap and speedy NVMe drives to boost your gaming PC's capacity and lower those load times.
![An image showing three internal NVMe SSDs angled and lined together, against a teal background with a white border](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4htRXih7GpVbQyWdJDDi88-320-80.jpg)
Amazon Prime SSD deals
By Nick Evanson last updated
Prime Day SSDs An SSD can do wonders for your load times and there are some great deals on these flashy wonders in the Prime Day sales.
![A pair of Silicon Power SSDs against a teal background, with a white border](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/T54iYj5DDm8snhbXNXjyZM-320-80.jpg)
If you love gaming as much as I do, then load up on NVMe storage with these 4 TB Prime Day SSD deals
By Nick Evanson last updated
Prime Day They're big enough to hold two dozen or so copies of Baldur's Gate 3, my latest storage metric of choice.
![Three Logitech G305 Lightspeed gaming mice against a teal background with a white border](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/m7rTyFsCXmjG9Pv2BqFAFP-320-80.jpg)
The best budget wireless gaming mouse is now even budget-ier thanks to Prime Day
By Nick Evanson published
Prime Day It's as basic as gaming mice get but it's all the better for it.
![A collection of gaming PCs against a teal background, with a white border](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xQvKWyiivCrRBs5629gE2h-320-80.jpg)
A frankly monstrous Prime Day PC 'deal' has made me very, very angry, so here are three far superior gaming PCs I'd buy in a flash
By Nick Evanson last updated
Prime Day Be wary of cheap PCs as not all of them use good components. Some use parts that are over a decade old.
![An AMD Ryzen process packaging box, ASRock AM5 motherboard, and Team Group DDR5 memory kit on a teal background with a white border](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XEGP4eHsU3x64tL2EYzzA3-320-80.jpg)
At less than $400, this AMD Zen 4 CPU, motherboard, and RAM Prime Day combo is the perfect upgrade for any PC gamer
By Nick Evanson published
Prime Day Don't think it's all slow rubbish stuff at this price. You're getting proper hardware that's fast for gaming.
![A collection of modern PC cases against a teal background with a white border](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BGi9BYBy9aUjD7iv5pudgJ-320-80.jpg)
Here are the five best PC cases I'd buy in the Prime Day sales bonanza
By Nick Evanson published
Prime Day Whether you want outstanding looks, masses of airflow, or something simple but great, these deals should suit every PC gamer's needs.
![Three Logitech ergonomic mice against a teal background, with a white border](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/HX73ZzMrpxNgR79GQVT2oG-320-80.jpg)
Make your PC life easier on the wrist with these Prime Day ergonomic mice deals, including my daily ergo rodent of choice
By Nick Evanson published
Prime Day If you spend long hours working at a PC, then give your wrists the support they deserve with a proper ergonomic mouse.
![A Team Group SSD against a teal background, with a white border](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ExbXTGv6KGyFv4Dg5XRtZG-320-80.jpg)
At less than $0.05 per GB, this Prime Day SSD is the perfect way to bag NVMe speed for a HDD price
By Nick Evanson published
Prime Day Who doesn't love a nice SSD bargain? Not me, that's for sure.
![AMD Ryzen 9 retail box with Zen 4 CPU minus its heatspreader against a teal background, with a white border](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GivVFtWaZxSxhGNpyWhGX7-320-80.jpg)
Scared off by Intel's 13th and 14th Gen calamities? These are the AMD chips I'd buy in the Prime Day deals
By Nick Evanson published
Deal Six-core chiplets offer plenty of punch in games so if you're looking to save some money, then either of these CPUs are a great deal.
![Razer DeathAdder V3 HyperSpeed gaming mouse against a teal background with a white border](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ug2RJE9ahUdSmXvLb6ffZg-320-80.jpg)
Who needs Prime Day when the Razer DeathAdder V3 HyperSpeed is already a great deal on the best gaming mouse?
By Nick Evanson published
Prime Day Save even more money by getting a slower DeathAdder that's lighter and better than the V3 Pro.
![An Acer and Gigabyte pair of graphics cards against a teal background, with a white border](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KWLSaL7PiCSX7MpkXJVZAn-320-80.jpg)
Two great GPUs, two great pre-Prime Day graphics card deals, one tough choice
By Nick Evanson published
Prime Day An RTX 4070 for under $500 or an RX 7900 GRE for less than $510—do you want better ray tracing, upscaling and frame generation, or do you want better rasterization performance?
![NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg riding the Canadarm2 robotic arm while maneuvering a roll-out solar array toward the International Space Station’s truss structure 257 miles above the Pacific Ocean](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RRvyKTNszKpk5RtwXQLEFC-320-80.jpg)
Researchers create Dune-like pee-pants for the next generation of astronauts and maybe even wealthy, overly 'dedicated' gamers
By Nick Evanson published
news The design looks far more appealing than the adult diapers spacewalkers currently have to use.
![intel cpu](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Ria5erNerXX8q9PbzyAZvG-320-80.jpg)
It's 2024 and yet Intel is still churning out DUAL CORE CPUs for desktop PCs, and I'm a little in awe of the plucky trooper
By Nick Evanson published
news Two P-cores are all you're getting, but they're speedy little things, so it's not as awful as you might think.