One of the most important pieces of the PC gaming puzzle is the hardware that powers all of our experiences, and here at PC Gamer we take that subject seriously, keeping true to our commitment to covering everything that makes the PC the best gaming platform on the planet, We've welcomed several new editors to our team of hardware experts.

There are new faces, old faces, and returning faces, and you'll also notice a few changes over the next few months. But PC Gamer's commitment to honest, authoritative, and entertaining coverage of the hardware market as a whole will not change. We'll still bring you tech reviews backed by decades of expertise, guides to help you find the best and most affordable kit, features that get to the hardware that makes your rig tick, and the latest news on what's happening in the industry.

We promise to never talk down to you and always describe your hardware in terms that matter to your gaming experience. We are all PC gaming geeks and experts in the field, and there is no doubt that we love gaming as much as the technology and brilliant minds that bring our rigs to life.

So let me introduce you to PC Gamer's team of hardware experts. Let me start with me...

I've been writing about PC gaming hardware for 15 years, mostly as PC Gamer's hardware editor, spinning words into mashed-up deadwood for the magazine and writing the odd sentence or a dozen for the website. And it's all thanks to my obsession with Football Manager. It is because of Football Manager that I support a soccer club called Bolton Wanderers, and it is because of Football Manager that I can write about technology for a living.

Or 'Championship Manager' as it was called when I contributed to the official magazine in the early 2000s. That led me to write about games for PC Format, the wonderful magazine that has been my home for a decade and that got me hooked on PC hardware.

However, it was actually in Taipei, the physical location where I signed up to cover PC Format magazine's Computex technology show that got me hooked on the tech scene. Jet lag was nothing to sneeze at.

During that time, I launched Techradar's PC Components channel and took over for Adam Oxford as PCG's hardware guy.

I then left Future to start PCGamesN's hardware channel, where I've spent the past four years honing my skills. And now he's back, better equipped than ever to make PC Gamer the best place to learn about PC technology on the Internet.

Alan has been a technology journalist longer than I have, "Since 1996, which means I was there when graphics cards first appeared. Back then, you had to mine your own silicon for graphics cards. I wasn't mining coal, though.

In fact, he started his life as a coverdisc editor. Before all art was free, before the world woke up to the Web in a big way, and before all games were distributed online, there was something called a demo. Magazines used to give away lots of free demos every month to see if you liked the game. So Alan would press CTRL + C and then CTRL + V each month to copy them to their respective disks.

He then switched to being a staff writer, "abandoning my programming background and jumping into the more lucrative world of writing. I still haven't had the courage to tell him that I would have made more money if I had been a programmer.

He then became editor-in-chief of PC Format and then executive editor of Maximum PC. And World of Warcraft.

"Over the years, I've spent far too much time playing World of Warcraft and Magic the Gathering and benchmarking systems. Now would not be the best time to change the habits of a lifetime."

You wouldn't know it by talking to him, but Jacob is from the beautiful country of Wales. However, he is an extremely well-spoken young man with not the slightest hint of an accent. He explains that "Silicon Valley' doesn't exist, but it is known as 'The Valley' and is easily confused with the happening spots of the tech industry," which indicates that he is far better suited to writing about PC technology than to a job that requires a firm grasp of the world's geography. This indicates that he is much better suited to writing about PC technology than to a job that requires a firm grasp of global geography.

Jacob had his own technology site before joining PCGamesN. And he has now moved to PC Gamer because he is one of the best young writers in the PC hardware industry. And because we can't do it without him.

When he's roaming Spain in his dirty van, playing guitar outside restaurants or on the side of the road, he sometimes goes by his alter ego, "Jake," but he doesn't want to talk about those days anymore. Not since "that incident," as his friends call it. But Jacob's happy place is Sayonara Wildhearts, and it got him through the tough times. [He] follows dope hardware deals, reviewing gaming laptops, accessories, streaming gear, and all the cool stuff related to PC gaming." And he bashes the metric system in the name of patriotism.

Before PC Gamer, he was benchmarking gaming laptops in Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware test labs and dropping smartphones down the toilet.

Hailing from the "Land of Enchantment in New Jersey," you can tell he's one of the good guys. That's because he has a great dog, who sometimes appears on camera with him while streaming bad games of bad games. This despite his delusions about the enchanting nature of New Jersey.

Paul has been writing about PC hardware and technology since he first joined Maximum PC in 2006, and later here at PC Gamer. It's been a wild ride, to say the least," he says. He started his gaming career on a Commodore 64 (a far superior machine to the ZX Spectrum) and switched to the PC at a young age.

"Not long after that, I discovered adventure games, starting with Maniac Mansion. Refusing to dial the hint line, it was only a few years later that he finally completed this game on an IBM compatible machine.

Paul is a big fan of Boston sports, whether it be the Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, or Bruins. He no longer lives in Massachusetts, but follows sports from his current home in Tennessee. He says, "I hurt my knees playing basketball (specifically both ACLs), so I've been killing time lately by riding my bike and hiking in the hills when the weather is nice (good exercise, apparently).

_____________________________________ That's the PC Gamer Core Hardware Team, feel free to stop by the PC Gamer forums, and if you're ever in the PC Gamer forums, feel free to stop by and say hi.