Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardcore hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. In it, we dive into the hottest topics from our YouTube show, plus interesting news from across the web.
This week, we’re still riding high from visiting Micro Center on opening day, but not so excited that we can’t talk shop (or complain) about SteamOS and USB-C headaches.
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In this episode of The Full Nerd…
In this episode of The Full Nerd, Adam Patrick Murray, Alaina Yee, and Will Smith recap our Micro Center tour, dig into GeForce Now on SteamDeck, lament about SteamOS testing, and kvetch about Windows’ proposed USB-C fix.
Alex Esteves / Foundry
- In the words of a TFN fan, Micro Center is awesome. Adam, Will, and I went to look for ourselves during the grand opening last Friday, and not only did we find scores of components, but we ran into more than one viewer just browsing the aisles, too! (It’s pretty fun standing next to Will when someone tells him they’ve followed his work for more than a decade—you can simultaneously see the delight at the introduction, and also the dismay at the indirect reminder of his age.) Keep an eye on the PCWorld YouTube channel, as we’ll be posting our interviews and store walkthrough there.
- Brad is off on vacation this week, but both he and Adam had many good things to say about GeForce Now on the Steam Deck. For Brad, the proof in the pudding was Doom: The Dark Ages, which is atrocious on the Steam Deck. Think frame rates in the low- to mid-20s in sparse tutorial areas. (Choice quote: “[It feels] like the Doom Slayer is a container ship you’re trying to steer while blackout drunk. Hard pass.”) But play it through GeForce Now, and the experience flips 180 to beautiful graphics and buttery smooth gameplay.
For Adam, the main sticking point is the game support—and when asked, I admitted to reservations around the subscription format. But largely, this feels like a win for anyone who wants the portability (and lower price) of a Steam Deck, plus the ability to dive into games with tough performance requirements. (Also, a good internet connection and positioning relative to the GFN servers helps, as Will notes.)
- Adam is still a bit grumpy about SteamOS’s wider launch, as the topic returns for a second week in a row. This time around we dive deeper into the history, with me explaining to Adam why I have a more patient outlook, a decade after the Steam Machine initiative. (Will shares my patience, a possible indicator of our collective trauma.) The pieces on the board feel like they’re in a better position this time around—stronger user awareness and interest, the right hardware, and more polished software. We also stray into discussion about Linux (among other things…), making this surprisingly the longest segment of this week’s episode.
- Despite our SteamOS chat dominating our conversation, most of our fire and vitriol apparently was saved for our discussion about Microsoft’s plan to bring some uniformity to USB-C ports on Windows 11 machines. A good idea, but what starts as a grudgingly positive outlook quickly turns into a complaint session about USB-C cables and how their specs aren’t clear. As Will says, we could buy a cable tester (as Gordon did), but most people won’t. Why can’t manufacturers (or device makers) throw us a bone?
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This week’s wild nerd news
Hardware launches, rising prices, postage-sized vintage hardware reproductions—I spent a lot of time reading in fascination. My favorite? An Ars Technica writer’s touching tribute to a favorite local Radio Shack-esque store, currently facing economic troubles.
- AMD’s Radeon 9060 XT is generally a win: The mid-range has needed a graphics card like this, especially in counter to Nvidia’s RTX 5060 and 5060 Ti. But not all reviewers are happy with the pricing—the MSRP appears to be another aspirational number for now.
- Will AM4’s stunning run come to an end because of DDR4 RAM prices? Between reduced production, trade war fallout, and economic uncertainties, DDR4 memory prices have shot up as much as 50 percent recently. That could have sad effects on our good ol’ reliable pick for budget PC builds, which leaned on AM4 mobos. Some may celebrate this change, but I’m gonna be pouring one out.
- This CD ripping software makes me feel nostalgic: Also old, because in getting an update after 16 years I had to do uncomfortable arithmetic. If I have to suffer, I may as well do it with you all, while also giving a well-deserved shout out to a fellow writer, who gave us this gem of a line: “Please excuse the rest of the linked developer’s page being mostly about dolls.”
- I would not answer my door for a robot delivery person: Amazon is apparently testing the use of “humanoid robots” for dropping off packages. You know when you’d hide as a little kid when you saw something that didn’t look right? That’d be me. Also, those robots will definitely get messed with by randos.
- Dozens of sealed Zotac RTX 5090s contained…backpacks: This nasty switcheroo dimmed the shine of Micro Center’s new store opening—buyers of the $3,000 Nvidia flagship GPU at the new Santa Clara, CA location opened their 5090 boxes to discover rolled up bags instead. The story’s still unfolding, with the last development being that this appears to originate at Zotac’s factory. (Buyers were made whole, too.)
- Meta spied on Android users’ private browsing, even in incognito mode: I feel both vindicated and irritated that I’m justified in my refusal to install Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Google and Mozilla have pledged to disable this behavior, but if you’re on Android, be wary of Meta apps. (Maybe also consider Firefox with the uBlock Origin add-on installed, too. It’s a thing for Android.)
- This Radio Shack/science outlet/curio collection store is in trouble, and it’s sad to see: We nerds lost something special when Radio Shack withered away and then finally died. Hearing about how this small chain of stores that’s been keeping that spirit alive, with its own quirky personality, struggles to stay in existence hurt. As do my memories of walking through aisles of wires and connectors, seeing the promise and potential for more.
- Modder straps CPU cooler to Nvidia GTX 960 with a 3D-printed bracket, breaks 3DMark benchmark record: We debate a lot on the show about specs and limitations, so this bit of fun news was the perfect anecdote to internet cynicism. Sometimes the answer to “Why not…” is just perfect.
- A Polish engineer created a postage-sized 1980s Atari computer: It’s not often a project immediately puts a smile on my face, but seeing this itty-bitty reimagining of a classic PC managed to do so. Former PCWorld contributor Benj Edwards, who wrote about retro hardware for us, also dives into the fascinating history of the Atari in the Soviet era, too.
That’s all for this week—stay tuned for those Micro Center videos, which include interviews with Linux users (yep!) and a showcase of a very special keyboard we found in the store.
-Alaina
This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld.