2026 Is Shaping Up To Be A Big Year For PC Gaming Hardware
With memory prices climbing and GPU generations slowing down a little, it might feel like PC hardware is in a weird spot. But look a little closer and 2026 actually has a lot lined up for gamers. From new Valve hardware and ARM powered devices to brighter OLED gaming monitors and faster CPUs from AMD and Intel, the next couple of years could change what we think of as a gaming PC.
Let us walk through the most interesting developments and what they mean if you play on PC or plan to upgrade your rig soon.
Valve’s New Hardware: Steam Machine, Steam Frame And Steam Controller
Valve is gearing up to launch three new products in early 2026: a living room PC, a VR headset and a controller.
Steam Machine
The Steam Machine is Valve’s new compact gaming PC for the living room. It runs SteamOS on Linux, packs a discrete GPU and uses a simple cuboid case aimed at console style couch gaming.
- Target: bring PC style performance to the TV without Windows
- Runs SteamOS with Proton translation for Windows games
- Main concern is price because RAM and SSD costs have gone up sharply
If memory prices stay high, it might not come in as cheap as some people hope, but it will not be any worse off than other PCs or consoles that rely on the same components.
Steam Frame
The Steam Frame is Valve’s new VR headset and a big step away from the original Valve Index. Instead of being a heavy, tethered PC VR headset, Steam Frame uses an ARM chip and SteamOS inside the headset.
- Inside out tracking for easy setup and no base stations
- Wireless streaming and a lighter design
- Powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 ARM chip
Because it is ARM based, it needs a translation layer to run traditional PC games, which is where Valve’s FEX project comes in. FEX lets games built for Windows and x86 CPUs run on ARM chips, similar to how Proton lets Windows games run on Linux.
New Steam Controller
Valve is also returning to its most controversial gadget: the Steam Controller. The new version keeps the spirit of the original but behaves more like a standard gamepad.
- Dual trackpads and gyro controls like the Steam Deck
- Overall layout is familiar to console style controllers
- Uses a removable puck for wireless connectivity and charging
Expect Valve to offer preorder queues similar to the Steam Deck launch. If you want any of these on release, securing a preorder slot early will likely matter.
Displays, Switches And ARM Gaming Devices
Cheaper And Brighter OLED Gaming Monitors
Samsung and LG are still locked in a race to improve OLED tech, and PC gamers are starting to see the benefits.
- Brightness used to be the main weakness of OLED monitors
- Newer panels can hit over 300 nits full screen, with TV panels pushing 400 nits
- 1440p OLED gaming monitors have already dipped under 500 dollars
In 2026 we should see more affordable models, and hopefully 4K OLEDs come down to more reasonable prices. Higher resolution is especially attractive on OLED because it helps reduce text fringing, which can be annoying on older panels.
ARM Powered Gaming: Beyond x86
ARM is starting to make serious moves into PC style gaming, especially for handhelds and VR devices.
The Steam Frame uses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 ARM chip and relies on the FEX translation layer to run x86 Windows games. Valve is also planning to release SteamOS for other ARM devices, and some games built natively for ARM are already landing on Steam.
The potential benefits of ARM for gaming devices include:
- Much better battery life compared to x86 APUs
- Cooler and quieter handhelds and headsets
- Native support for Android games and mobile style features such as multiple cameras
There is also talk of more powerful ARM chips on the horizon. Nvidia is rumored to be pairing strong graphics with ARM CPU cores and Qualcomm is working to improve discrete GPU support. If Windows on ARM matures and one of these chips lands in a well designed device, the idea that PC must equal x86 could change very quickly.
Keyboard Trends: TMR Switches And Split Spacebars
Mechanical keyboards are also getting fresh tech. TMR or Tunnel Magnetoresistance switches are starting to appear in gaming peripherals. Compared to Hall effect switches, TMR promises:
- More consistent response
- Lower power consumption
Brands like MonsGeek already offer TMR keyboards, and it is likely that more gaming boards will adopt them as the technology becomes easier to source. Big names like Cherry, Razer and Wooting are sticking with their own preferred switch types for now, but the market tends to follow once a few strong products show up.
On the layout side, Wooting has pushed split spacebars into the spotlight with the Wooting 60HE v2.
- One long spacebar is replaced by two shorter keys
- An extra key or even a knob can fit between them
- Each half can be remapped for different functions
For compact boards, this is powerful. You can keep one side as space and turn the other into delete for typing, then swap it to melee, crouch or another macro for your gaming profile. With good software to back it up, this sort of flexibility is likely to spread.
Next Gen CPUs From AMD And Intel
AMD Zen 6 And More 3D V Cache
AMD has confirmed that Zen 6 CPUs are coming in 2026 for the AM5 platform. That is important if you already own an AM5 motherboard and DDR5 memory, because you can upgrade just the CPU rather than buying into a whole new platform again.
Based on recent history, we can expect:
- Mainline Zen 6 CPUs first
- Gaming focused X3D models with 3D V Cache a few months later
There is also the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, a higher clocked version of the 9800X3D. Its existence raises questions about AMD’s exact timing for Zen 6. If RAM stays expensive and motherboard sales slow down, AMD may choose to stagger some launches into 2027.
Intel Nova Lake: Aiming For Gaming Leadership
Intel’s Nova Lake desktop CPUs are expected around late 2026 into 2027. Traditionally, Intel launches K series gaming chips first, with the rest of the lineup following later.
After the underwhelming Arrow Lake launch, Nova Lake has more to prove, but there are two big points of interest for gamers:
- Intel claims it will regain desktop performance leadership with Nova Lake
- Rumors suggest large amounts of vertically stacked cache, similar in spirit to AMD’s 3D V Cache, to boost gaming performance
One leaked configuration mentions up to 52 cores and 288 MB of cache, which would be a serious statement if it ships. The downside is a new LGA 1954 socket, so anyone building now has to weigh that against AMD’s longer lived AM5 platform. There are rumors that Intel will extend socket support, but we will have to see how that plays out.
Between Zen 6 and Nova Lake, plus the ongoing memory price swings, CPU upgrades in the next couple of years will require a bit of timing and planning. The payoff should be noticeable gains in gaming performance, especially from cache heavy chips.
All told, 2026 looks less like a quiet year and more like a reset point. New CPU architectures, ARM powered devices, smarter peripherals and better OLED monitors are all pushing PC gaming in fresh directions, even if GPUs take a bit of a breather. If you are planning upgrades, it is a good time to keep a close eye on announcements and be ready to strike when the right combo of price and performance appears.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/forget-what-you-heard-theres-plenty-of-pc-hardware-to-be-excited-about-in-2026/
