In this yearly penultimate episode of The Full Nerd, Gordon Ung, Brad Chacos, Alaina Yee, and Adam Patrick Murray slipped on their boxing gloves to verbally brawl over what gear moved the needle for the PC in 2023. Performance? Value? Raw availability? Everyone might solely agree on one level: The lack of worth in graphics playing cards continues to be a large bummer.
Everyone has their very own definition of what “best” means, however every participant introduced his or her personal picks for the very best PC {hardware} and software program of 2023 earlier than all of us hashed out a single winner in every class. It’s not at all times straightforward; the talk over the very best CPU of 2023 took almost an hour all by itself. I can’t even think about what Oscars voters undergo!
We trimmed down the record a bit this yr so Gordon might be a part of us. Note that this record is separate from PCWorld’s wider best PC hardware and software of 2023; this record is the opinion of our Full Nerd crew solely. Peep the classes under, the total episode under that, and a short description of winners afterwards if you need the outcomes with out all of The Full Nerd gang’s screaming and hand-wringing.
- Best CPU
- Best GPU
- Best PC accent
- Best innovation
- Worst development
…avert your eyes for those who don’t need the spoilers (and winners!) lurking under!
Best CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
This was a hotly contested battle between a trio of main contenders: AMD’s ferocious 16-core, V-Cache-infused Ryzen 9 7950X3D, its smaller (but nonetheless great) Ryzen 7 7800X3D sibling, and the AMD Z1 Extreme chip powering a wave of handhelds just like the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go.
It took almost an hour of passionate debate earlier than we settled on a victor, and even then, there was nonetheless loads of grumbling. But ultimately, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D’s mixture of a dual-chip, 16-core design and 3D V-Cache on a kind of dies allows a real no-compromises work-and-play expertise not like every other. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a greater worth for most individuals, certain, however no different chip pulls off what the Ryzen 9 7950X3D accomplishes.
Best GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
For chips, it’s a clear sweep for AMD! In a bizarre yr and a bizarre technology for graphics playing cards — one so unorthodox that the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 was thought of for this honor for an unprecedented second yr — solely the Radeon RX 7800 XT emerged as a standout. It’s the one true worthwhile 1440p graphics card of this technology after Nvidia fumbled the RTX 4060-series design and RTX 4070’s value. The Radeon RX 7800 XT is a lot sooner than its equally priced RTX 4060 Ti rivals and even manages to typically outpunch the RTX 4070, which prices $100 extra. Its ray tracing is fairly darn good too, rivaling the RTX 3080. It’s the clear winner.
Best accent: Corsair Xeneon Flex
Valve’s modest, but game-changing Steam Deck swept our Full Nerd awards final yr, so in 2023, we needed to crown an OLED monitor because the ultra-luscious panel know-how has exploded in availability over the previous two years. The Xeneon Flex is just not the most affordable OLED round at $1,500-plus, however Corsair’ large, bendable, mind-blowing monitor was simply the very best we’ve examined in 2023, incomes itself a victory right here. An excerpt from my Xeneon Flex overview:
The Corsair Xeneon Flex 45WQHD240 immerses you in ways in which tangibly elevate the PC gaming expertise. I’ve by no means performed on a monitor that made me really feel really inside recreation worlds the best way this one does. Its delectable mixture of blisteringly-fast speeds, elite movement readability, sterling picture high quality, good blacks, and plush HDR will make your jaw drop, particularly enveloped inside the custom-tuned curvature of its uniquely bendable show. The connectivity is top-notch, too.
When it involves multimedia, this monitor oozes excellence. The Corsair Xeneon Flex is among the best possible gaming screens we’ve ever seen, full cease.
Best innovation: Frore AirJet
We noticed the very best innovation of 2023 proper because the yr started, witnessing Frore Systems’ radical solid-state AirJet PC cooling at CES in January. Adam noticed it essentially the most all year long, and right here’s how he summed AirJet up in our PCWorld Best Of 2023 Awards:
When we first noticed Frore Systems’ strong state energetic cooling module at CES, known as AirJet Mini and AirJet Pro, we knew that this had an opportunity to really revolutionize cooling in electronics. Without getting too deep into the specifics of the way it works, know that the AirJet makes use of MEMS know-how, is way thinner than a standard fan present in one thing like a laptop computer, however far outperforms it due to immense again strain that simply can’t be achieved with in the present day’s skinny followers.
In the months since that present we’ve seen numerous demos with varied product classes. The launch of the primary product that includes this method comes from Zotac within the firm’s ZBOX pico PI430AJ with AirJet. It’s going to take lots to vary an trade, however I’d love this know-how to be commonplace sooner or later and proceed to drive efficiency and cooling for our digital gadgets for years to return.
Fingers crossed we see extra programs (and laptops!) emerge with Frore’s AirJet inside in 2024.
Worst development: New GPU worth
It’s been the very best of instances and the worst of instances for PC avid gamers in 2023. The excellent news: You can lastly choose up offers on last-gen graphics playing cards and get gaming with out promoting an arm and a leg. The downright terrible information: The new technology of graphics playing cards is a snoozer. Not solely are the Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series and AMD Radeon RX 7000-series each painfully excessive priced, particularly on Nvidia’s facet, however a number of of those new GPUs truly run no sooner (and generally slower) than their predecessors. Nvidia doesn’t even subject a real 1440p contender for underneath $700. It’s a disappointing mess.
Even for those who handle to avoid wasting up sufficient nickels to seize a brand new GPU, the gaming expertise hasn’t been all that nice both, as 2023 was stricken by technical mishaps in a slew of high-profile video games, like Last of Us and Hogwarts: Legacy, amongst many others.
Sigh. Why will we at all times finish this on a bummer? At least these OLED screens certain are good.