Tom's Hardware

Tom's Hardware has been a fixture of PC enthusiast culture since 1996, when it launched in Germany under the name Tom's Hardware Guide. The site earned early credibility with detailed CPU and GPU benchmarks at a time when most technology journalism was thin on measured data, and that commitment to rigorous testing became its defining characteristic. Founders and editors ran actual hardware in controlled conditions, published detailed charts, and called out manufacturer marketing claims when the numbers did not support them. Future plc acquired the site in 2018, adding it to a portfolio of technology media properties.

The site today covers CPUs, GPUs, storage, memory, cooling, cases, monitors, peripherals, and the full spectrum of PC building components with a depth that few publications match. Tom's Hardware forums have been a community gathering point for builders seeking advice, troubleshooting help, and component comparisons for nearly three decades. The benchmarks database — covering years of comparative performance data across CPU and GPU generations — is a research tool that builders and system integrators actively consult when making hardware decisions. Launch day review embargoes lift simultaneously across the hardware press, and Tom's Hardware is among the sites readers specifically refresh to access new performance data.

Tom's Hardware availability failures are most painful on review launch days and around major hardware releases. When a new GPU generation launches and Tom's Hardware is inaccessible, readers cannot access the benchmark comparisons that inform whether a card is worth buying at its launch price — decisions that for enthusiasts represent hundreds or thousands of dollars. Forum outages disconnect a community that provides peer-to-peer troubleshooting support for builders working through difficult hardware problems. Search indexing disruptions from downtime periods can affect how long it takes for new review content to become discoverable through organic search.

Outage.gg tracks Tom's Hardware website availability using community reports from PC builders, hardware enthusiasts, and technology professionals. If the site is down, benchmarks are inaccessible, or the forums are returning errors, the live status page shows current impact from the reader community.