Privacy & Affiliate Disclosure
Effective date: October 15, 2025 · Last updated: May 2026
The short version: PerfGamer is an independent gaming hardware and optimization blog. I run it to share what I actually test, not to push products. Affiliate commissions mainly through Amazon help cover the cost of hardware, hosting, and the time it takes to run proper benchmarks. You never pay more. My recommendations don't change based on who pays.
How We Make Money - Affiliate Links
Running a site like PerfGamer has real costs: hardware to test on, hosting, software licenses, and a lot of hours spent benchmarking, writing, and maintaining guides. To keep everything free for readers, I use affiliate marketing.
When you click a product link on PerfGamer and buy something, I may earn a small commission. It costs you nothing extra the price you pay is exactly the same whether you use my link or go directly to the store. The commission comes out of the retailer's margin, not your pocket.
Affiliate income is what lets me keep buying gear to test instead of just writing about spec sheets, keep guides updated when hardware prices or availability changes, and keep the site ad-light. I'd rather have one honest affiliate link than six banner ads cluttering the page.
Affiliate links never change my recommendations. If a product isn't worth buying, I say so even if it has a higher commission rate. The whole point of this site is to give you an honest picture of what's worth your money.
Amazon Associates Program
Amazon is the main affiliate program I use, for a simple reason: it's where most people already shop and prices are easy to compare. When an article links to a RAM kit, a GPU, an NVMe SSD, or a benchmark tool on Amazon, that's typically an affiliate link.
I also work with other affiliate programs for products not on Amazon things like direct GPU manufacturers, peripheral brands, or software tools. The same rules apply everywhere: clearly labeled, no cost to you, and the recommendation comes first.
Wherever you see a link in an article that goes to a product for sale, assume it may be an affiliate link. I don't label every single one inline that gets cluttered and annoying but the disclosure on this page covers all of them. If you ever want to verify, you can check whether the URL contains referral parameters.
How We Choose and Test Products
I focus on gear that regular players can actually afford and set up. Most of what I test falls in the mid-range the budget-to-enthusiast zone where most people are actually shopping, not the $1,500 GPU territory that gets clicks but helps nobody building a real rig.
When testing hardware, I look at: real-world gaming performance (not just synthetic benchmarks), thermals and noise under sustained load, build quality over time, ease of setup, and value relative to alternatives at the same price point. For software guides like the Windows optimization articles, I test changes on actual mid-range systems and measure before-and-after using 3DMark, HWiNFO64, and in-game frametime logging.
If two products are genuinely close, I say so and explain the trade-offs. I'd rather give you a clear decision framework than pretend one option is obviously better when it isn't.
Samples, Sponsorships, and Review Units
Sometimes brands send hardware for review. I always disclose when that happens either at the top of the article or in a note near the product. Receiving a loaner doesn't guarantee a positive review. If I keep a sample after reviewing it, it still gets judged the same way as something I bought myself.
Sponsored posts where a brand pays for placement are labeled clearly at the top of the page so you can factor that in immediately. I don't do "native advertising" that disguises paid content as editorial. If money changed hands, you'll know.
What Data We Collect
We collect only what's needed to run the site and understand what's useful to readers. That includes: pages you visit and how long you stay, your rough location (country or city level not street address), your device type and browser, and any details you voluntarily send (like a name and email through a contact form or newsletter signup).
We use this to fix bugs, plan what content to write next, and send updates to people who signed up. We don't sell your data. We don't share it with advertisers. We use a small set of trusted third-party tools (like analytics and newsletter platforms) that have their own privacy policies.
Cookies and Tracking
We use cookies and similar tools to remember your preferences and see which content is useful. You can block or clear cookies in your browser settings at any time some features may work less smoothly without them, but the core content is always accessible.
Affiliate links to Amazon and other retailers may set their own tracking cookies when you click through. Those are governed by the respective retailer's privacy policy, not ours.
Your Rights and Choices
You can ask us to show, update, or delete any personal information you've shared with us. If you're in the EU, California, or a region with similar data protection laws, you have additional rights including access, portability, and deletion. Email us at [email protected] and we'll help no hoops, no auto-replies.
If you signed up for the newsletter, you can unsubscribe from any email with one click. We send short, useful notes no daily spam.
Community, Copyright, External Links
Community rules: Be kind. No hate, spam, or personal attacks. Keep language clean and on topic. We remove posts that break these rules. If we made a mistake, polite corrections are welcome and we'll fix it.
Copyright: Don't copy our articles in full. You can quote short passages with a clear link back to the source page. Brands may link to or cite our reviews as long as they don't change the meaning or remove attribution.
External links: We link to stores and other sites for your convenience. We don't control those sites and their privacy practices may differ from ours. Check their pages directly if you have questions about how they handle your data.
Kids: PerfGamer is for teens and adults. If you're under 13, please don't send us personal information or sign up for the newsletter.
Accessibility: Everyone should be able to use this site. If something is hard to read or use, tell us and we'll work to fix it.
Changes to this page: We update this page when our practices change. Major changes will be noted at the top of the page with a new effective date.
Questions? Contact us at [email protected]