Episode 79: We chat with Daniel Owen about all sorts of stuff affecting PC gaming right now. His thoughts on the worst parts of the GPU market, plus opinions on upscaling and frame generation (including Optiscaler and driver-based frame gen), game optimization and misleading marketing. We round it out with some listener questions submitted by Patreon members.

DANIEL OWEN

Check out Daniel's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@danielowentech

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Welcome to the Podcast: Daniel Owen

10:03 - Current State of the GPU Market

22:04 - How Good is Optiscaler?

29:58 - Thoughts on DLSS 4 and FSR 4 Upscaling

39:02 - Frame Generation, Does Daniel Use It?

55:07 - Are Gamers Buying the Marketing?

1:05:19 - Game Optimization: Developers vs Hardware Makers

1:16:38 - Listener Questions

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast

Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfw

SUPPORT US DIRECTLY

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxed

LINKS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 78: Steve gives an update about B850 testing, Tim talks about a new phone that he's bought, and then we chat about whether we've been too negative about the current state of PC graphics cards.

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro

00:50 - Steve's B850 Testing Struggles

16:44 - Tim Bought a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7

27:41 - Are We Too Negative About PC GPUs?

1:21:17 - Updates From Our Boring Lives

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast

Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfw

SUPPORT US DIRECTLY

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxed

LINKS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 77: We chat about future plans for this GPU generation, including the latest RTX 50 Super series rumors, the latest benchmarks of the RX 9070 GRE, and the potential for a lower cost RX 9060 model from AMD. Also we give a few updates on the AMD FineWine situation from last week.

EXTRA STUFF

ComputerBase AMD driver testing: https://www.computerbase.de/artikel/grafikkarten/nvidia-geforce-amd-radeon-treiber-vergleich-2025.93443/#abschnitt_benchmarksergebnisse_im_standardparcours

Mostly Positive Reviews driver testing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_WbA6ZyoG4

RTX 50 Super GPU rumors: https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-also-planning-geforce-rtx-5070-ti-super-with-24gb-gddr7-memory

ComputerBase RX 9070 GRE testing: https://www.computerbase.de/artikel/grafikkarten/amd-radeon-rx-9070-gre-china-test.93409/seite-2

PCGH RX 9070 GRE testing: https://www.pcgameshardware.de/Radeon-RX-9070-GRE-Grafikkarte-281249/Tests/Review-Benchmarks-Details-Performance-1474877/

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro

00:30 - AMD FineWine updates

12:28 - Tim's Networking Situation

15:07 - Chat About the GeForce RTX 50 Super Series

28:52 - Checking in on the Radeon RX 9070 GRE

38:34 - Should AMD Make an RX 9060?

48:53 - Steve's Been Testing Nvidia GPU Overhead

56:02 - Updates From Our Boring Lives

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast

Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfw

SUPPORT US DIRECTLY

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxed

LINKS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 76: This week we give an update on the RX 9070 XT FineWine situation after some people called out Steve's testing. Also we look further into the mainstream GPU market, where typically buyers have not received a lot of love lately.

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro

03:27 - AMD 9070 XT FineWine Situation

27:01 - Further Thoughts on the RTX 5050

40:51 - Comparisons Between Mainstream GPUs Over the Years

52:30 - Updates From Our Boring Lives

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast

Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfw

SUPPORT US DIRECTLY

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxed

LINKS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 75: Jarrod from Jarrod's Tech joins us to talk about gaming laptops. We discuss the situation with horrible laptop GPU names, poor VRAM configurations, absurd pricing for higher tier models and whether gaming laptops actually make sense to begin with.

JARROD'S TECH

Check out Jarrod's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@jarrodstech

Check out Jarrod's website: https://gaminglaptop.deals/

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro

01:32 - VRAM on Laptops

06:25 - RTX 5090 Laptop vs Desktop

18:22 - Absurd Laptop Pricing

30:37 - Do Gaming Laptops Make Sense?

38:43 - Laptop Displays

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast

Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfw

SUPPORT US DIRECTLY

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxed

LINKS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 74: Simon from TFTCentral joins us at Computex to discuss everything we saw at the show, our favorite upcoming monitors, impressions from various products, the future of OLED monitors and more.

TFTCENTRAL

Check out the video Tim filmed with Simon on his channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1KDWb0tWcM

Check out Simon's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@tftcentral

Check out Simon's website: https://tftcentral.co.uk/

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro

01:47 - Our Favorite Monitors from Computex

19:01 - Thoughts on More Glossy WOLED Displays

28:34 - Other New Monitor Developments

38:50 - Current State of Ultrawides

48:02 - The Short Term Future of QD-OLED

58:24 - Panel Roadmaps, Expectations for Late 2025 and Early 2026

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast

Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfw

SUPPORT US DIRECTLY

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxed

LINKS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 73: Now that the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT is released and we have reviewed both models, we give some further thoughts on the 16GB card, the 8GB card, the weirdness around the launch (samples, NDAs) and where AMD have gone wrong

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro

03:50 - The RX 9060 XT 16GB is Decent

14:11 - The RX 9060 XT 8GB is Problematic

31:26 - RX 9060 XT 8GB vs RTX 5060 Ti 8GB

40:50 - AMD Stuffs Up The Review Program

1:10:56 - Updates From Our Boring Lives

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast

Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfw

SUPPORT US DIRECTLY

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxed

LINKS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 72: Live from Computex in Taipei, we discuss the latest in graphics cards, including how we managed to review the GeForce RTX 5060 from our hotel room, and what we think about the Radeon RX 9060 XT now that it's been officially announced.

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro

03:21 - We Reviewed the RTX 5060 in Taiwan

19:54 - Thoughts on the 9060 XT Launch

37:58 - Outro

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast

Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfw

SUPPORT US DIRECTLY

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxed

LINKS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 71: We chat about potential upcoming Intel Arc GPUs including the B770 and B580 24GB, discuss the RX 9060 XT and what AMD might do with pricing, and round out the chat with some discoveries about laptop GPUs.

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro

05:13 - Intel Arc B770, Is It Real?

22:10 - New Arc B580 Configurations?

26:18 - Lead-Up to the RX 9060 XT

39:04 - Price Considerations and Concerns with 9060 XT

1:04:30 - The RTX 5090 Laptop is a Joke

1:14:25 - Updates From Our Boring Lives

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast

Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfw

SUPPORT US DIRECTLY

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxed

LINKS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 70: Not content on just hiding the RTX 5060, Nvidia have decided to bury reviews through questionable timing and a lack of drivers. So we discuss that on today's podcast.

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro

00:38 - Nvidia Buries the RTX 5060 Even Deeper

20:15 - But the Steam Survey!

32:22 - Is The RX 9060 XT Even Worse?

39:13 - 8GB is Holding PC Gaming Back

58:52 - Updates From Our Boring Lives

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast

Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfw

SUPPORT US DIRECTLY

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxed

LINKS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.