Joe Shields

My Experience

From my first PC in the mid-1980s (a Tandy TR-86) to today’s productivity, gaming, and LED-laden monster in use now, I’ve always been interested in electronics and computers. My gaming days started with early consoles (think Intellivision, Atari 2600/5200) and eventually moved on to PC as my controller skills diminished and age crept up. I got back into PCs when AMD was the fastest CPU around (read, before the Intel Core days), and from there, it’s history. Overclocking, sub-ambient/extreme and competitive overclocking: If it had to do with benchmarking, I wanted to be a part of it.

I started writing reviews around 2010 for Overclockers.com, a site that I and two others eventually ended up owning. After a few years of reporting news, and writing motherboard, storage, video card, and PC chassis reviews as a side gig, I eventually quit IT (working in mainframe and data center pperations) to work for AnandTech doing editing work, writing news, and working up motherboard reviews, and doing much the same for Tom’s Hardware. The allure of playing with the latest and greatest hardware does not fade!

My Areas of Expertise

• Motherboards

• Video cards

• Storage

• Chassis, system builds, and configuration

• Benchmarking methodologies

The Technology I Use

My daily driver is a PC built around a 12th Generation Intel processor and a humble Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 (the MSI Suprim Liquid X) for gaming on a 28-inch, 1440p Acer Predator 165Hz primary monitor and a similar 75Hz model as a secondary. I use an Asus ROG Strix Scope mechanical keyboard (Cherry MX Red switches!) and an EVGA X17 mouse, which keep me gaming and typing at peak performance…for a 40-something.

On my test bench, you find a slew of tools, including a powered screwdriver set, a digital multimeter, an Extech SDL200 thermometer, and an anti-static mat to work on. My office, a 12-by-12-foot workspace, is air-conditioned to ensure the environment remains stable during testing. Pictures for my articles are taken with an older Canon EOS Rebel or my trusty Samsung Galaxy S22+.

Outside of work, I enjoy supporting my kids in club-level sports, playing golf and disc golf, hiking with my wonderful wife, and watching movies in my home theater. My goal as a writer is to bring readers facts and data to help choose your hardware for any budget.