The PC let its freak flag fly at CES despite the RAM crunch

Wow. After the miserable final couple of months in {hardware}, CES 2026 was precisely the breath of recent air and optimism I wanted.

To be clear, shopper desktop CPU and GPU information was largely a bust—for brand new structure bulletins, anyway. Intel targeted on cellular processors, speaking up Panther Lake throughout its press conference and taking potshots at AMD’s handheld chips. AMD barely talked about shopper throughout its two-hour+ keynote presentation, as an alternative leaning arduous into enterprise. (At a “consumer” present, sure.) Team Red did announce Ryzen AI 400 processors on stage, in addition to showcase an ultra-compact Ryzen AI Halo mini-PC, however the reveal of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D trickled out on the side. As for Nvidia, it straight up informed everybody that it could not announce new GPUs throughout its community update stream.

But AMD additionally hinted that we may probably drop a mobile Ryzen CPU into a desktop PC someday sooner or later. (Wut.) Intel says the built-in graphics in its Panther Lake chips can go toe-to-toe with discrete RTX 4000-series GPUs—and initial benchmarks appear to back up the claim. And Nvidia dropped each upscaling upgrades and new monitor tech that made Brad a believer in DLSS 4.5 and G-Sync Pulsar instantly.

And outdoors of that, CES 2026 was nonetheless a lot filled with the bizarre, surprising tech it’s recognized for. HP’s easy but fascinating EliteBoard PC stuffs a whole system into a keyboard. Cooling firm Ventiva demoed a fanless (!) handheld for completely silent cellular gaming. Dell’s 52-inch ultrawide monitor laughs within the face of desk area limits. Asus took “Por que no los dos” actually and packed its new Zephyrus Duo with two full OLED touchscreens. Not unhinged sufficient? The present ground was crammed with all kind of bonkers gear in the perfect manner. (I’m pining arduous for that Jackery Solar Mars Bot. I don’t even spend a lot time in daylight.)

So positive, Intel, AMD, and Nvidia all signaled that their focus could be on cellular, AI, software, AI…and AI. (By the way in which, once we took a rely at every press convention, AMD dominated with 207 mentions in two hours. Two hundred and 7.) Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang even informed our personal Adam Patrick Murray throughout a Q&A session that “The future is neural rendering. That’s the way graphics ought to be.”

And the RAM shortages nonetheless hold within the background of all of the enjoyable information, silent however heavy. Few costs had been introduced through the present. Analysts confirmed coming price increases of 15 to 20 percent on PCs. Both AMD and Nvidia hinted at the return of older chip technologies.

But we as fans nonetheless have loads of neat issues to sit up for. Lots to make our lives easier, tons that adapt higher to the constraints (and pressures) of recent residing. Also, a stunning variety of $5,000+ robots that I’d take into account inviting into my house. I didn’t have that on my 2026 bingo card.

In this episode of The Full Nerd 

In this episode of The Full Nerd, Brad Chacos, Adam Patrick Murray, Mark Hachman, and Michael Crider recap their CES 2026 experiences—the perfect, the worst, and probably the most insane issues they noticed whereas traipsing by means of Las Vegas.

(My nomination, sitting at house? Brad’s drink through the present, which was three toes lengthy. I requested him what number of ounces it was. He responded in distance. It’s a lot liquid that it transcends the standard measuring system.)

Willis Lai / Foundry

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This week’s flood of nerd information

So within the final e-newsletter, once I predicted there could be plenty of information for this one, I had ballparked greater than traditional. Boy, did I find yourself understating that.

Much of the massive tech information is packed within the link-filled ideas above, in fact. But there was loads of smaller, attention-grabbing tidbits too—some enjoyable, some sobering. And some downright harmful, relying in your viewpoint.

Noctua

• Cheap, but good: Tom’s Hardware did a little bit of hands-on testing to evaluating the Noctua’s legendary followers and Arctic’s equally legendary various. (I personal a number of packs of Arctic’s P-series followers, as a result of, yeah. That worth.) Turns out, us frugal varieties aren’t lacking out on an excessive amount of.

• I’m glad for this news: Magnetic switches are all the fad, and Cherry continues to be preventing the great struggle for its survival with not one, however two new magnetic TMR keyboards.

• Happy birthday, Blu-ray: First, I can’t consider it’s been 20 years since Blu-ray first appeared. Second, how on earth has it been 20 years?

• So cute: The deep nerdery of making artwork throughout the intersection of time and area is weirdly profound, with lovable outcomes. (The effort creates pictures of cats. Meow.)

• Computer Chronicles rocked: Producer and host Stewart Cheifet handed away at age 87 this previous December. In addition to being a part of PBS’s stellar instructional programming, there’s additionally a PCWorld connection. Both Gordon and Will had been on an episode back within the day!

• I’m glad I’m not alone: Game writer Hooded Horse’s head honcho says that any titles it releases can’t have AI property, as a result of because the CEO says: “I [censored] hate gen AI artwork.” I really feel much less by myself in a universe presently filled with infinite AI slop.

• Who’s a good pup? I’m extra of a cat particular person, however I nonetheless assume canine are nice. Even extra so after studying this Ars Technica article. And a few of the hilarious feedback from Ars readers—significantly this one a few canine who is aware of the names of about 100 toys: “Okay, there’s being an excellent boy, an excellent boy, after which simply being a showcase.”

InWin

• InWin showed off yet another bonkers case? I’m in: The Aeon seems to be like an egg, sports activities a ton of glass, and requires an RFID card to open? Already a fan.

• Thank you, Mr. Rosen: I used to be all the time extra of a Nintendo child, however Sega was an enormous a part of my childhood nonetheless.

• Here we go again! Pebble lives as soon as extra, and now it’s revived its spherical smartwatch. I personal an authentic Round, and boy, this Round 2 is tempting…regardless that it lacks some essential options I’ve come to anticipate from my smartwatches. (Really, no coronary heart fee monitoring?!) Man, I’m so on the fence.

• Some welcome news: Color me stunned, particularly after so many distributors mainly kill getting older {hardware} by refusing to assist it. Good on Bose for permitting folks to take additional updates into their very own arms.

• Weird, but cool: Keychron is well-known for its mechanical keyboards, however this CES 2026, they determined to deliver one thing a bit totally different with them to the present… (Yes, I’ve notified Adam of this.)

• Y’all, I’m in trouble: Brad wore a cool circuit-patterned shirt throughout CES. I requested him the place he acquired it. He gave me the hyperlink. The web site might be ThinkGeek reborn. I’ve already instantly fallen in love with probably the most improbable and completely ugliest Excel cardigan. (Help.)

Gosh, what a banger of a begin to the brand new yr. I assumed I’d spend most of this week sneaking in complaints about crowded gyms. Yes, it’s completely different folks’s fault I ate an excessive amount of and drank a ton of Will’s glorious eggnog. (Thanks once more for sharing that with us!)

Catch you all subsequent week!

Alaina

This e-newsletter is devoted to the reminiscence of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and government editor of {hardware} at PCWorld.