The FPS Review Weekender Review Roundup – May 9, 2026

NewsTech
By David Schroth

The FPS Review may receive a commission if you purchase something after clicking a link in this article.

This week’s review landscape is unusually diverse: a forgotten Arrow Lake CPU finally getting its day of reckoning, a wave of Z890 motherboards hitting landing to support the Plus series refresh, and the launch review landslide for Valve’s long-awaited Steam Controller. Fractal’s new Pop 2 Vision case also drew strong multi-channel coverage, and the monitor segment had two fresh OLED entries worth paying attention to.

Intel Core Ultra 5 225

Written reviews:

Consensus summary: Tom’s Hardware’s Jake Roach gave this chip the thorough look it never received at launch (Ed: Isn’t that because Intel didn’t sample it to anyone to review?). The verdict is roughly what you’d expect from a locked, non-K Arrow Lake part at $180: gaming performance trails the Ryzen 5 9600X by around 14% at 1080p, productivity work is competitive with prior-gen Intel i5 chips, and power efficiency is legitimately excellent, with the chip drawing 30% less power than the Ryzen 5 9600X in multi-threaded workloads. The conclusion is that the 225 needs a price cut to be compelling.

FPS Review take: Arrow Lake was a rough generation for Intel on the gaming front. If you’re building an HTPC or a light workstation where TDP matters more than frame rates, the 225 gets a bit more interesting. The comparison to the 250K Plus is the right one for our readers: for roughly $40 more you get unlocked overclocking, more cores and meaningful gaming headroom.

MSI MPG 322UR QD-OLED X24

Written reviews:

Video reviews:

Consensus summary: All outlets are in strong agreement: this is a better monitor than its MPG 322URX predecessor and, crucially, it costs $200 less at $1,099 while bringing a Gen 4 QD-OLED panel. TechPowerUp noted the jump to 273 cd/m² maximum SDR brightness (up from 202 cd/m² on the prior model) as the most noticeable real-world upgrade, alongside cleaner text clarity from the denser subpixel arrangement. TFTCentral confirmed the DarkArmor coating handles reflections measurably better than older QD-OLED surfaces. Both reviewers flagged DP 2.1 UHBR20 connectivity and 98W USB-C power delivery as differentiators at the price.

FPS Review take: 32-inch 4K 240Hz QD-OLED at $1,099 is where this class starts to make real sense for readers who’ve been waiting. The price-to-spec ratio is the best the 32-inch OLED segment has seen. If you’re in the market for a primary display upgrade that’ll hold up for years, this has moved to the top of the consideration list.

Gigabyte GO27Q24G

Written reviews:

Consensus summary: The GO27Q24G uses an older-generation LG WOLED panel rather than the flashier Gen 4 Tandem panels showing up in premium 2026 monitors, and both outlets call that out plainly. PC Gamer describes it as coming at “an image quality cost” compared to pricier siblings while acknowledging it’s still a solid monitor. TechPowerUp’s take is more measured, noting that for the price it delivers genuine OLED advantages, clean build quality, and a design that doesn’t scream “gaming peripherals aisle.” The $100 savings versus the step-up Gigabyte M-series model is where you make your decision.

FPS Review take: The value angle is the reason to recommend this one. Not every reader needs the absolute best OLED panel when a very good one costs meaningfully less. For 1440p gaming at 240Hz with true OLED contrast, the GO27Q24G delivers on the fundamentals. Just know going in that Gen 4 Tandem panel brightness and some finer image quality details belong to the monitors above it on the spec sheet.

Intel Z890 Motherboard Mini Roundup: ASRock Phantom Gaming / ASUS ProArt / Gigabyte Aorus Elite Duo X / MSI Z890 Gaming Plus

Written reviews:

Consensus summary: Four Z890 reviews in one week tells a story: Motherboard makers are pushing refreshed Z890 boards to pair with the Core Ultra Plus Refresh chipperies. The standout value finding comes from TechPowerUp on the ASRock Phantom Gaming Z890 Lightning Wi-Fi, which now retails for $180, down from $250, and earns a strong recommendation for its PCIe Gen 5 support, Wi-Fi 7, Thunderbolt 4, and eight fan headers. Tom’s Hardware called the Gigabyte Aorus Elite Duo X a “solid value under $280” with its CQDIMM support adding niche but real appeal for high-density memory users. The ASUS ProArt Z890-Creator at $489 is the outlier, targeting content creators specifically with Thunderbolt 5 and 10GbE, and TechPowerUp found it genuinely compelling for that audience.

FPS Review take: If you’ve been sitting on an Arrow Lake Refresh build plan, this week is a good reminder that the platform is now significantly more affordable than it was at launch. The ASRock Lightning at $180 in particular looks like a smart foundation for a Core Ultra 7 270K Plus build, and we’ve been following the 270K Plus’s strong gaming performance since our own coverage earlier this year. The ProArt is fascinating but genuinely niche: if you need TB5 and 10GbE in an Intel box, your options are slim elsewhere.

Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision RGB

Written reviews:

Video reviews:

Gamers Nexus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYFO_xSeafc

Consensus summary: The Pop 2 Vision lands as a dual-chamber mid-tower with 270° tempered glass, four pre-installed Aspect 12X Reverse RGB fans, BTF motherboard support, and a $90/$100 price tag that consistently earns praise from all reviewers. Gamers Nexus benchmarked thermals alongside build quality and cable management, finding solid airflow results for a glass-heavy design. TechPowerUp appreciated the metal mesh dust filter (rather than the usual plastic), the grommet for BTF cabling, and the clean exterior design. KitGuru gave it an 8.5/10, calling out the no-integrated-GPU-bracket and RPM-only (not PWM) fans as the main gripes. The USB-C front port being limited to 5 Gbps due to its 20-pin header is a consistent complaint across all three outlets, but none considered it a deal-breaker given the price.

FPS Review take: Fractal continues to hit the value case sweet spot with Gamers Nexus backing it up on the thermal benchmarking side, which is exactly the kind of coverage that moves product for a case at this price. For builders who want a clean dual-glass look without paying $150+, this is a strong option. The BTF support is a particularly welcome addition as reverse-connector motherboards have gone more mainstream.

Valve Steam Controller (2026)

Written reviews:

Video reviews:

Consensus summary: The consensus is positive but measured. Gamers Nexus focused on latency benchmarking and repairability, finding input lag performance competitive with premium controllers and the magnetic puck charger genuinely clever. WCCFTech’s headline “It Just Works…Most of the Time” captures the general sentiment: the trackpads, gyro, TMR thumbsticks, and back-grip buttons all deliver on paper, but niche use cases (primarily non-Steam games and competitive FPS play where a mouse isn’t an option) expose limits. The $100 price point is a recurring sticking point: it’s a premium ask for a peripheral that sold out in 30 minutes but still needs some caveats in its conclusion. We covered the launch chaos and the CAD file release this week at The FPS Review.

FPS Review take: Valve took the lessons of the original 2015 Steam Controller, added a decade of Steam Deck input development, and produced something that actually works for the audience it targets: PC players who want controller support without abandoning the Steam ecosystem. It isn’t replacing a mouse for FPS games, but it was never meant to. For strategy, RPG, and couch gaming on a PC, the trackpad implementation is still the best in class for a standard-form controller.

Inland QN450 1TB NVMe SSD

Written reviews:

Consensus summary: Tom’s Hardware found the QN450 to be a surprisingly capable Gen 4 drive, beating out the Kingston NV3 on all-around performance and standing out for its power efficiency numbers. The catch is hardware uncertainty: Inland lists the controller as a Realtek RTS5772DL but shipped a Phison E21T in the review sample, and the 300 TBW per TB endurance rating is low for TLC flash, suggesting hardware swaps may occur across batches. The six-year warranty is a plus, and pricing across the 1TB–4TB range is competitive (Ed: Insert eyeroll here vs last year’s pricing).

FPS Review take: Inland’s house-brand drives have long been a reliable value pick for Micro Center shoppers and Amazon buyers alike, and the QN450 continues that tradition. The hardware-swap concern is worth noting for readers who care about long-term endurance, but for a gaming boot drive or secondary storage partition, the performance and price make a solid case.

ASRock Phantom Gaming PG-850PSF 850W SFX PSU

Written reviews:

Consensus summary: Funkykit reviewed ASRock’s compact SFX power supply, which brings 80 Plus Platinum and Cybenetics Platinum ratings, full ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 compliance, and a 10-year warranty in the compact SFX form factor. The cable-over-temperature protection feature, which ASRock has been highlighting as a differentiator in their PSU lineup, is present here. At its retail price, it competes with the NZXT C850 SFX and Corsair SF850 in the premium SFX tier.

FPS Review take: SFX power supply options at 850W with modern PCIe 5.1 compliance are still a relatively short list, and ASRock’s Platinum certification plus 10-year warranty puts this in serious contention. Solid pick for ITX or SFF builds pairing an RTX 5080 or RX 9070 XT with a compact case.

SteelSeries Aerox 3 Wireless Gen 2

Written reviews:

Consensus summary: Strong multi-outlet agreement that the Gen 2 is a meaningful upgrade over the original Aerox 3 Wireless, primarily via the jump to the TrueMove 26K sensor and 4000Hz wireless polling. PC Gamer praised it as “a lovely update to one of my favourite gaming mice,” highlighting 120-hour battery life and the IP54 rating for travel durability. Tom’s Hardware’s verdict was “really good but a little sluggish,” pointing to switch responsiveness rather than sensor performance as the slight limitation relative to top-end competition.

FPS Review take: The 4000Hz wireless polling is the headline upgrade and it’s real. For FPS players who want a lightweight option with strong connectivity and long battery life, the Aerox 3 Gen 2 is a legitimate recommendation. The IP54 rating and Bluetooth dual-mode make it one of the more versatile mice in the ultralight category. The switch responsiveness caveat from Tom’s Hardware is worth noting, but in our experience it’s unlikely to matter to the majority of players below the professional competitive level.

Join the discussion in The FPS Review Forums...

David Schroth
David is a computer hardware enthusiast that has been tinkering with computer hardware for the past 25 years and writing reviews for more than ten years. He's the Founder and Editor in Chief of The FPS Review.

Recent News