It is the last week before Computex, which means the review pipeline has gone about as quiet as a stock Intel cooler at 100% load. (Ed: Are you saying they’re fanless now? Or they aren’t in the retail box anymore?) Manufacturers are saving their big announcements for the show floor, so what we got this week is a slightly eclectic mix of coolers, storage, and keyboards — plus one comparison piece that very gently asked, “hey, remember DDR4?” That said, there’s still reviews to read, and Hardware Unboxed’s updated GPU comparison alone makes the week worthwhile.
Radeon RX 9070 XT vs. GeForce RTX 5070 Ti — 52-Game Benchmark (2026 Update)
Written reviews:
Video reviews:
- Hardware Unboxed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBNwDg9WkT8 — YouTube ID: IBNwDg9WkT8
Consensus summary: TechSpot’s updated 52-game rasterization and ray tracing comparison at 1440p and 4K finds the RTX 5070 Ti holding a consistent overall lead, though the margin tightens considerably in GPU-bound rasterization scenarios where the RX 9070 XT punches well above its street price. The cooresponding Hardware Unboxed’s video comparison covers similar ground and lands in the same neighborhood, with both outlets (Ed: You mean the same outlet, but in a different form?) agreeing that for pure rasterization at 1440p the 9070 XT is the better value, while the 5070 Ti pulls ahead meaningfully in ray tracing and at 4K.
FPS Review take: This is the comparison you send the person who still hasn’t decided between these two. The two-GPU mid-range is in a competitive place right now, and updated data with a proper game library behind it is more useful than any single-game launch review. If you are sitting on the fence, start here and don’t sit on fence posts.
be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 6 CPU Cooler
Written reviews:
- Guru3D: https://www.guru3d.com/review/bequiet-dark-rock-pro-6-cpu-cooler-review/
- OC3D: https://overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/be-quiet-dark-rock-6-and-dark-rock-6-pro-cpu-cooler-review/
- Club386: https://www.club386.com/be-quiet-dark-rock-pro-6-review/
- Madshrimps: https://www.madshrimps.be/review/be-quiet-dark-rock-pro-6/
Consensus summary: Across four outlets, the Dark Rock Pro 6 lands as a polished, competitive dual-tower at $129.90 that puts pressure on the Noctua NH-D15 G2 at the same price tier. Thermal performance is excellent, the semi-passive mode works as advertised, and be quiet!’s decision to include liquid metal TIM support and an AM5 offset mount shows the company is paying attention to where the market has moved. The one consistent note of hesitation is that it does not clearly dethrone the NH-D15 G2, which remains the reference point everyone is comparing it against. But it gets very close, and some reviewers prefer the aesthetics and the quieter fan profile.
FPS Review take: The air cooler segment is more interesting than it has been in years, and the Dark Rock Pro 6 is a alternative to the Noctua if you want the performance without the beige tax. Worth a close look if you are building or upgrading an AM5 system and want to stay off water.
Lian Li HydroShift II OLED Curved 360P AIO Cooler
Written reviews:
- TechPowerUp: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/lian-li-hydroshift-ii-oled-curved-360p-aio-liquid-cpu-cooler/
Consensus summary: TechPowerUp’s review finds the HydroShift II OLED Curved 360P performing competently as an AIO, with the 6.67-inch curved OLED display and motorized tilt head being the obvious features. Thermal results are solid for a 360mm class unit, and the display is genuinely impressive in person. The recurring issue with the HydroShift line, cable management, has not been fully resolved; TechPowerUp flags the wiring situation as the primary friction point for builders who want a clean install. At its price, you are paying a premium for that screen.
FPS Review take: If you want a showpiece AIO and are prepared to wrestle with the cabling, the HydroShift II OLED delivers something genuinely novel. If you just want good cooling and a clean build, the Dark Rock Pro 6 above will treat you better and cost you less.
KIOXIA EXCERIA PRO G2 PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSD
Written reviews:
Consensus summary: Guru3D’s Hilbert Hagedoorn puts the EXCERIA PRO G2 through a thorough workup and finds a mature Gen 5 SSD that leads with peak sequential reads up to 14,900 MB/s while putting noticeably more emphasis on thermal efficiency and sustained workload stability than some earlier Gen 5 entrants. KIOXIA’s own BiCS FLASH TLC NAND and a DRAM cache architecture contribute to consistent real-world behavior. It is not a radical departure from what the Gen 5 category already offers, but it is a refined one.
FPS Review take: Gen 5 SSDs are no longer the exotic curiosity they were at launch, and the EXCERIA PRO G2 is evidence that the segment has matured. Whether you actually need the sequential bandwidth ceiling is a separate question, but at least the thermals are less of a fire hazard now. Worth watching for pricing as the competition intensifies.
Tom’s Hardware $100 CPU Shootout: Ryzen 5 5500 vs. Core i3-14100F vs. Core i3-12100F
Written reviews:
Consensus summary: Yes, this happened. With the hardware industry collectively holding its breath ahead of Computex next week, Tom’s Hardware has deployed a full review suite on three DDR4 budget CPUs that collectively cost less than a midrange GPU. The results are what you would expect if you have been following CPUs for a decade: the Ryzen 5 5500 at $80 wins multithreaded workloads handily with its six Zen 3 cores, while Intel’s Core i3-14100F at $100 leads in gaming and single-threaded tasks, posting around 12% better average frame rates than the 5500 with a high-end GPU in the loop. The Core i3-12100F at $90 sits between them, closer to the 14100F in gaming than it is to the 5500, and offers essentially identical performance for a $10 savings. The piece is thorough and includes a practical dual-GPU methodology: benchmarks with both a top-end RTX 5090 to isolate CPU differences, and an RTX 4060 8GB to ground the results in what a budget builder actually pairs with a $90 CPU. The DDR4 angle is timely given that DDR5 kits are currently running roughly double the price of equivalent DDR4 capacity. (Ed: We are thrilled that someone did this so we did not have to.)
FPS Review take: DDR4 compatibility is a real cost advantage for builders working on tight budgets, and rising RAM and SSD prices have pushed more people into this tier than expected. If you are helping someone spec a first build or a cheap secondary rig, Tom’s Hardware has done the legwork. The short version: get the Core i3-14100F if gaming is the priority, grab the Ryzen 5 5500 if you do multithreaded work and can live with weaker single-core performance, and skip the Core i3-12100F unless it is significantly cheaper than the 14100F at time of purchase.