The Hardware Unboxed Podcast

Episode 100: A brief chat on some news topics again, including Intel's announcement of Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs at attractive price points and FSR Diamond. Then we chat about a customer getting screwed over after his DDR5 memory diedCHAPTERS00:00 - Intro01:53 - New Intel Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs11:34 - AMD Announces FSR Diamond14:27 - DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Frame Gen Release15:59 - Umart, Corsair and Memory Failures1:07:02 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 99: A brief chat on some news topics, like Nvidia's recent driver issues and the rumored RTX 5050 9GB, then into our main chat. Is it really no longer possible to future proof your PC? Or is this one of the better times for PC hardware longevity?CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:37 - The RTX 5050 9GB Rumors06:49 - New AMD Ryzen APUs for AM511:55 - Nvidia Driver Issues18:52 - Future Proofing Your GPU, Is It Possible?52:39 - CPU Longevity?1:12:16 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSOURCESJay's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqIf5yvQdbcRTX 5050 9GB: https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-reportedly-plans-geforce-rtx-5050-with-9gb-memory-and-96-bit-busSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 98: Two goobers give their thoughts on AI. We've used it, the marketing claims don't match the capabilities at all. We chat about the financial investments so far, how that's likely going to be a big problem, and the overall status of the 'bubble'.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro10:56 - Our Experiences Using AI29:54 - The Insane Investment into AI38:33 - Are They Going to Run Out of Money?52:40 - The Bubble1:06:00 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 97: Simon from TFTCentral joins us after the wave of announcements at CES 2026 to chat about upcoming monitor technology, the current flaws with WOLED and QD-OLED panels, the types of screens we'd love to see, burn in, G-Sync Pulsar and moreTFTCENTRALCheck out Simon's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@tftcentralCheck out Simon's website: https://tftcentral.co.uk/CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro02:43 - New Ultrawides for 202611:19 - New RGB Stripe WOLED20:36 - Does 5K Gaming Make Sense?30:16 - 500Hz 1440p LCDs36:38 - The OLED Formats We'd Like to See & Future of OLED55:50 - Status of OLED Burn In and Other Flaws1:14:41 - G-Sync PulsarSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 96: Some employees have recently left LTT and their stories have been blowing up, so we thought it might be interesting to give our perspective on running a YouTube tech channel, whether Linus was being unfair and whether the ex-LTT guys made the right choice. Also, we chat about 9800X3D failures and Valve delaying the Steam Machine (and its price reveal)CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:42 - Our Thoughts on Employees Leaving LTT45:50 - What is the Deal With 9800X3D Failures?1:03:09 - Valve Delays Steam Machine1:17:20 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSOURCESJake's video on leaving LTT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqVxgcKQO2EZip Tie Tuning video on LTT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0GPnA9pW8kValve's Steam Machine update: https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/45479024/view/625565405086220583SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 95: The Ryzen 7 9850X3D has been released and at best all we can say about it is that it's inoffensive. Also, more reports have emerged that signal the end of GPUs at MSRP.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:26 - So The 9850X3D Has Been Released16:04 - More GPU Supply Information29:40 - Zotac Might Be In Trouble43:11 - Intel Launching Big Battlemage for Pros?49:09 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSOURCESder8auer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lS1S_VhUK4&pp=2AYBZotac Korea statement: https://videocardz.com/newz/zotac-korea-warns-of-steep-rtx-5090-and-rtx-5060-price-hikes-says-some-models-may-be-unavailable-for-a-whileArc Pro B70: https://x.com/SquashBionic/status/2015648577511629092SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 94: We released a report saying the RTX 5070 Ti is effectively being killed off, and that Asus put the product into end of life status. What happened there? We share the full storyCHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:33 - AMD Officially Launches the 9850X3D05:53 - The RTX 5070 Ti is Effectively Dead, The Story So Far25:38 - It Was From Asus PR, Not a Random Rumor35:08 - Did We Cause Supply Issues?48:57 - Why Didn't We Remove the Video?57:44 - Why Aren't Companies Just Honest About Supply?SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 93: A rumor and news episode to round out 2025. We chat a bit more about 9850X3D expectations, the current and future state of Intel CPUs following some 225F testing, Nvidia cutting GPU supply, potential new GPUs and Steve kills some hardware.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro02:33 - More Thoughts on the 9850X3D06:13 - Where is Intel at With Their CPUs?24:42 - Nvidia Cutting GPU Supply?37:38 - AMD Launches Radeon RX 9060 XT LP43:22 - More Intel Arc B770 Rumors49:12 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 92: Edward Crisler from Radeon-exclusive AIB Sapphire joins the podcast to chat about the current GPU market. How will rising DRAM prices affect gaming GPUs? Can the GPU makers and AIBs absorb some of the increased cost? Also we talk about RDNA 4 and how successful it's been compared to previous generations, AMD's true market share, and of course, the Sapphire Puke box artCHAPTERS00:00 - Intro01:03 - RDNA 4 Launch at Sapphire05:11 - RDNA 4 vs Older Generations Success11:32 - The DRAM Crisis20:25 - AIBs Want More Control24:48 - Thoughts on 12VHPWR26:32 - How Are SKU Decisions Made?32:35 - Sapphire Puke35:27 - DRAM Pricing: What Can AMD and AIBs Do?44:50 - AI-Focused GPU Makers Owe Everything to Gamers50:56 - AMD's True Market Share59:05 - The Key to RDNA 4's Success1:03:13 - Outro with Ed's Favorite Sapphire GenerationSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 91: Troubling signs in the PC gaming space with DRAM prices continuing to skyrocket and the surprising death of Micron's Crucial brand. Also we chat about the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Nvidia ending driver support for Pascal.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:31 - DRAM Demand for AI Kills Micron's Crucial Brand29:39 - AMD Confirms Ryzen 7 9850X3D41:08 - Nvidia Ends Pascal and Maxwell Driver Support45:20 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.socialTombstone image on thumbnail: www.freepik.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 90: Some of you were upset we said the Steam Machine could be dead on arrival, so did we get it wrong? Steve also discusses recent RAM testing, and we look at gaming revenue for both Nvidia and AMD.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:28 - More thoughts on the Steam Machine?22:27 - People didn't understand some RAM testing40:50 - AMD vs Nvidia gaming revenue and sales share54:04 - Updates from our boring livesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 89: Valve has announced a new Steam Machine, which includes entry-level PC gaming hardware at an unknown price. We give our thoughts on whether this sounds any good and what prices would make sense. Steve also shares a motherboard story.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:40 - Initial Thoughts on Steam Machine14:42 - No Upgrade Path20:29 - Game Compatibility and Value35:35 - AMD Roadmaps39:43 - Steve Finds a Motherboard Flaw55:15 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 88: AMD does AMD things.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:22 - Microsoft Improves a Few Things04:15 - AMD's Disastrous Driver Fumble23:31 - What About Feature Support?46:03 - Reputational Damage vs Nvidia Drivers1:01:39 - How Big of a Mistake? Who to Blame?01:19:52 - Impact on Review Recommendations01:52:59 - Quick Boring Life StuffSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 87: We revisit some discussion from last week as we've found more dodgy stuff Microsoft has done, before chatting about the current situation Intel is in with CPUs. They aren't anywhere near as competitive up against AMD now, as AMD were with Ryzen when Intel was dominant. (Note: This podcast was recorded before the recent AMD RDNA 2 driver decision, we'll discuss that in the future)CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:29 - Microsoft Does Dodgy Stuff Again11:34 - Intel CPUs when AMD is Dominant vs AMD CPUs when Intel is Dominant21:35 - The Discounts Aren't Enough34:53 - Platform Longevity is Crucial41:33 - Platform Support is Always Better1:04:34 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 86: You all told us what you hated about Windows 11, and we fully agreed. So in this episode we go through all our grievances with the current state of Windows.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro06:21 - Unnecessary Microsoft accounts10:39 - Search is broken15:49 - Splash screens and ads20:52 - The right click context menu26:53 - Pre-installed bloatware33:21 - Windows updates hurting performance38:41 - Telemetry capture and data mining42:28 - Copilot AI integration45:45 - Updates breaking things48:14 - Inability to dismiss pop-ups and updates50:25 - Janky monitor issues58:21 - Removing useful customization options1:01:06 - Driver updates via Windows Update breaking things1:05:17 - Microsoft Store1:09:21 - Is Linux an alternative for gaming PCs?1:14:36 - Summary of the current state of Windows1:17:44 - Updates from our boring livesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 85: We chat about Battlefield 6 testing and explore the difficulties with testing one-click overclocking features in benchmarks, such as PBO and 200S Boost. We also discuss the latest Intel graphics announcements including Xe3 and XeSS 3, as well as motherboard vendors beginning to say Zen 6 will be supported on AM5SOURCEShttps://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/intels-xe3-graphics-architecture-breaks-cover-panther-lakes-12-xe-core-igpu-promises-50-percent-better-performance-than-lunar-lakehttps://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/intel-takes-the-wraps-off-panther-lake-first-18a-client-processor-brings-the-best-of-lunar-lake-and-arrow-lake-together-in-one-packagehttps://videocardz.com/newz/intel-confirms-xe3p-will-mark-arc-naming-switch-to-c-serieshttps://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/intel-announces-xess-3-with-multi-frame-generation-putting-it-ahead-of-amd-in-the-ai-powered-graphics-performance-race/https://videocardz.com/newz/asrock-confirms-b850-motherboards-to-directly-support-future-zen-6-cpushttps://videocardz.com/newz/asus-officially-confirms-zen6-desktop-support-for-am5-based-b850-motherboardCHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:43 - Battlefield 6 testing thoughts09:11 - Battlefield 6 VRAM leak11:31 - Questionable Battlefield 6 CPU benchmarks?20:49 - Issues with overclocking CPUs29:59 - Why we don't test with PBO or 200S Boost, but do test with XMP40:45 - Overclock tweaking can be a grift50:34 - Intel graphics updates, Xe3 and XeSS 358:32 - Motherboard makers confirm Zen 6 on AM5 publicly1:09:10 - Updates from our boring livesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 84: Tim and Steve respond to their internet crimes of using DLSS while testing and saying APUs suck. Then we chat more about Intel fixing B580 CPU overhead in some games, AMD's FSR 4 INT8 version and Microsoft destroying the value of Game Pass.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:27 - Why we tested Borderlands 4 with DLSS enabled08:58 - APUs are not a good option for desktop gaming today29:26 - Intel fixes B580 CPU overhead in some games45:47 - AMD FSR 4 INT8 is pretty good54:07 - Microsoft makes Game Pass way more expensive1:03:57 - Updates from our boring livesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 83: Intel and Nvidia have formed a partnership, but because APUs are not that relevant to desktop PC gamers, we discuss whether this deal will actually impact gaming significantly. Also, we put Intel's Arc GPUs into our GPU rankings, and chat about some newsCHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:33 - Intel and Nvidia APU team up, but gamers don't use APUs37:00 - We add Intel Arc GPUs to the rankings45:38 - Ryzen 7 9800X3D drops in price49:52 - RX 9070 BIOS mod52:01 - Updates from our boring livesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 82: A quick update on the YouTube views situation, then into a Borderlands 4 discussion. What is the state of the game currently? What do we make of Randy Pitchford's comments? Is DLSS being used as a crutch instead of proper optimization? Can it be fixed?CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro01:05 - Update on the YouTube views situation17:17 - Initial thoughts on Borderlands 428:27 - The crutch of DLSS upscaling and frame generation44:17 - Bizarre development choices53:01 - Can Gearbox fix Borderlands 4?1:07:14 - Updates from our boring livesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 81: We're back! Lots to discuss in this video, including YouTube weirdness, the future of AMD and Intel's CPU platforms, the good old CPU core debate, upcoming GPU rumors and more.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro03:13 - Our YouTube views are down, this is what the stats say31:14 - Zen 7 on AM5 and Intel's competing platform54:13 - How important is platform longevity?1:07:58 - Six core CPUs are still powerful for gaming1:17:27 - Will Intel make an Arc B770?1:26:22 - No RTX Super any time soon1:29:14 - Updates from our boring livesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.