Sep 30, 2026 DISPATCH // HARDWARE, CODE & PLATFORMS
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Ethan Cole

Senior Technology Editor
Ethan.Cole@nerdsmagazine.com UPDATED // 29.09.2026

Ethan Cole is a Senior Technology Editor at NerdsMagazine covering Windows, PC hardware, troubleshooting, upgrades, gaming PCs, and system performance. His hands-on IT background shapes a diagnostic, reader-first approach that favors safe fixes, measurable improvements, and sensible upgrade decisions over hype or unnecessary replacement.

 Ethan Cole studied computer science and graduated from Portland State University before beginning his career in hands-on IT support for small businesses and home-office users in Oregon. He later worked in systems administration for a midsize software business and moved into independent technical documentation and technology publishing, dealing with Windows deployments, desktop hardware, local networks, backups, drivers, and the everyday failures that rarely match a manual. At NerdsMagazine, Ethan covers Windows troubleshooting, PC hardware, component upgrades, gaming PCs, system performance, compatibility, and problems that appear after operating-system or driver updates. His approach is deliberately practical: reproduce the problem, rule out simple causes, make the safest reversible change first, and check whether it actually helped. He is skeptical of upgrades presented as universal fixes and prefers to explain when repairing, reconfiguring, or simply keeping an existing system is the better decision. 

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Education

Portland State University

Topics

  • Microsoft Windows The desktop operating-system family at the center of Ethan's coverage of updates, drivers, configuration, compatibility, recovery, and everyday Windows troubleshooting.
  • Computer hardware Physical computer components including processors, memory, storage, graphics hardware, motherboards, power supplies, cooling systems, and peripherals, with emphasis on PC upgrades and compatibility.
  • Computer performance The measurement and improvement of how effectively a computer performs useful work, including responsiveness, bottlenecks, resource use, performance tuning, and before-and-after validation.

15 latest articles by Ethan Cole

Gaming

How Much RAM Do You Need for Gaming?

16GB of RAM is still enough for many games, but newer AAA titles, Windows 11, and background apps are pushing memory use higher. Here is when 32GB makes sense and who may need 48GB or 64GB.