The Full Nerd awards: Our favorite PC hardware of 2025

Arguing over the most effective {hardware} of the 12 months is normally enjoyable. That’s as true as ever in 2025, when Brad Chacos, Adam Patrick Murray, Will Smith, and Alaina Yee (hello, it’s me) rolled up our sleeves and received all the way down to the messy enterprise of naming our prime {hardware} picks.

This annual tradition on The Full Nerd at all times includes twists and turns, particularly given our particular person variations on how we outline “best.” But you may see the impact of a mess of wearying traits—tariffs, AI, elevated reminiscence prices—on the debates. In previous years, alliances shaped quicker and positions softened much less. More shouting occurred, too. But Brad had no purpose to invoke journalistic integrity this time round. We all noticed the intense spots for {hardware} clearly; so too with the ugly information within the business.

Instead, we argued extra gently. We rallied collectively to recollect Gordon Mah Ung, the creator and long-time host of The Full Nerd, with a brand new award class in his honor. And all of us left feeling glad with the winners. Mostly.

Here are the outcomes.

(Note: This record is separate from PCWorld’s nominees for the best PC hardware and software of 2025. The winners of “Nerdies,” as we prefer to name these awards, are chosen by The Full Nerd crew alone, and focus extra particularly on fanatic tech. If you’d prefer to catch our present in actual time, make sure you subscribe to the Full Nerd channel on YouTube!)

And The Full Nerd 2025 award winners are…

As long-time viewers of the present could have anticipated, we as soon as once more barely retooled the classes for this 12 months. We expanded on “accessory,” selecting to make that slot open to elements or equipment. And as talked about, our crew determined to honor Gordon with a brand-new class, meant to embody his love for (and fascination with) any expertise that furthered innovation. No restrictions on how area of interest or extensively relevant.

The classes we brawled over this 12 months:

• Best CPU
• Best GPU
• Best PC element / accent
• Best pattern
• Worst pattern
• Gordon Mah Ung Wild Card

Best CPU: AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (Strix Halo)

If you outline “best” as {hardware} that pushes boundaries, then no different CPU stood out as clearly as AMD’s boundary-shattering Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (aka Strix Halo). Was it solely out there in choose merchandise? Sure. But it confirmed how CPUs with built-in graphics don’t need to play second fiddle to typical discrete GPU setups. 

Strix Halo (and future chips prefer it) might upend our assumptions about what an excellent gaming PC seems like. In this cellular processor, AMD packed in a Radeon GPU able to comparable efficiency to Nvidia’s RTX 4070 or 5070. A most of 128GB of embedded reminiscence can gasoline it as properly.

And so gadgets we noticed sporting the AI Max+ 395, just like the Framework desktop and the ASUS Rog Flow Z13, weren’t simply beasts at gaming. They additionally signify kind components that haven’t actually packed such a robust punch earlier than. For instance, the Flow Z13 is a pill pocket book able to gaming in ways in which far exceeds different tablets. So whereas Adam believes in Strix Halo’s promise for handheld gaming PCs, the general TFN crew anticipates an enormous splash throughout the board. Enough in order that Brad thinks that Nvidia’s partnership with Intel happened partly to compete on this entrance.

Best GPU: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT

Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry

Despite Will’s valiant try to elevate the Tegra T239 (the Switch 2’s SoC) above all different GPUs, our debate quickly centered on Nvidia and AMD’s main PC graphics card launches this 12 months. In distinction to the muted rivalry on the CPU facet, the 2 largest shopper GPU makers took off their gloves, with Nvidia launching its ferocious 50-series lineup and AMD its personal monstrous 9000-series choices.

Ultimately, AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 XT took the highest spot, regardless of back-and-forth over the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090’s sheer madness and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti’s mixture of efficiency, worth, and availability. Team Red earned this second award for 2025 as a result of 9070 XT’s combo of sturdy uncooked efficiency and main strides with its FSR upscaling tech. 

True, FSR Redstone can’t fairly ship the identical polish as Nvidia’s extra seasoned DLSS enhancements. But AMD had one other factor going for it that held sway with this judging panel: higher help on Linux. You could not but have the ability to formally name 2025 the 12 months of Linux, however the working system positive instructions extra consideration lately.

Best PC accent: MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED 4K monitor

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Sometimes whenever you pair a PC with the fitting accoutrements, you may not even discover that you simply lack flagship {hardware} in your rig. Other occasions, the fitting secondary gear elevates the utter pleasure of proudly owning blazing-fast components.

Our winner for 2025’s finest element or accent is an instance of the latter—and what a phenomenal one at that. Despite its unpronounceable identify, MSI’s MPG 272URX QD-OLED monitor breaks boundaries. It’s among the many first 4K OLED shows to sport a refresh price at 240Hz, mixing beautiful, wealthy coloration with buttery-smooth output. You can’t get significantly better than this for speedy refresh price 4K screens—and as our reviewer says, it’s not only a very good 4K gaming monitor, however a improbable all-around show for workplace duties, HDR motion pictures, and artistic work, too.

Also getting nods as runners-up: The ASUS Rog Falcata, a wonderful off-the-shelf possibility for a luxe ergonomic mechanical keyboard, and SilverStone’s vintage-vibes FLP-02 PC case, which brings again the most effective of the 90s and all its beige glory.

Best pattern: Linux will get gud

Pexels

An extended-standing joke has been the awaited rise of Linux. (We even requested “Is this the year of Linux?” whereas among the many nerdiest of nerds at a Micro Center opening earlier this 12 months.) But by the top of this 12 months, the meme felt…actual.

A confluence of circumstances led to this unusual new world. Windows 10’s demise sparked curiosity in various working methods, because of Windows 11’s bloat and outright incompatibility with older but nonetheless usable {hardware}. A higher variety of newbie-friendly distros exist. And, maybe most significantly, demographics have additionally shifted among the many consumer base, with friendlier voices turning into louder, setting a extra nice tone for the Linux-curious.

We’ve seen this pattern up shut and private on The Full Nerd’s own Discord server, with an inflow of Linux customers who found us via our Dual Boot Diaries show. Our latest members have added extra depth and dimension to our neighborhood, providing a wealth of information (and all kinds of distro recommendations) to the uninitiated and skilled alike.

Worst pattern: AI ruins every part

Zoomik / Shutterstock.com

Last 12 months, we voted for “enshittification” (pardon our French) because the worst pattern of the 12 months, a phenomenon pushed by AI’s rising insertion into, properly, every part. You couldn’t flip any course with out working into an app or service that had deteriorated in high quality.

You might argue that this 12 months, AI fashions and the insertion of AI-powered options have improved. That’s true to a level, however not sufficient to repair the messy output, buggy software program, or in any other case worsened high quality of the tech we use each day. (Even extra aggravating, we’re usually now paying corporations for subscriptions that use our knowledge to coach AI fashions.)

More regarding, AI has contributed to a sudden, speedy decline in affordability and accessibility of shopper PC {hardware}—most notably reminiscence, which has exploded in worth (and is present in nearly every part we take without any consideration in life these days). We’re now not sure of the longer term for the PC as we all know it, with all of us feeling a point of concern about constructing, upgradability, and affordability within the coming months. The concept that we might return to a time when solely the very well-to-do might afford trendy expertise is unsettling.

Gordon Mah Ung Wild Card: “What is a frame?”

AMD

For many years, lovers solely mentioned gaming when it comes to frames, and easy phrases at that: Those rendered natively by a graphics card, and their amount per second. But extra not too long ago, corporations and players alike have begun to problem that strategy, digging with higher precision into the main points. And that matches Gordon’s model of fine-tuned nerdery.

So whether or not flipping on Nvidia’s multi-frame technology tech or firing up applications that file microstutter in games, rethinking what constitutes high-quality gaming efficiency is strictly the type of factor that Gordon would have cherished. I feel he would have been championing these new approaches himself, even.

In this episode of The Full Nerd

As you already know, in this episode of The Full Nerd, we duke it out over the most effective {hardware} of 2025—however the outcomes detailed above pass over the twists and turns (and random alliances) in our discussions. Plus hilariously alternative quotes, courtesy of 1 Will Smith. For instance:

Adam: All proper, inform us why the 5090 is the most effective GPU of 2025.
Will: It’s actual quick, Adam.

You ought to catch the complete episode (together with the preshow!) for extra of those debate hijinks. We could not have compelled chat to interrupt any ties (particularly in ways in which Brad nonetheless has not forgiven me for), however we nonetheless had a number of enjoyable regardless of the bummer 12 months.

Also, keep tuned for not only one however TWO streams subsequent week! (Details in my sign-off under.)

Willis Lai / Foundry

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Don’t miss out on our NEW exhibits too—you may catch episodes of Dual Boot Diaries and The Full Nerd: Extra Edition now!

And when you want extra {hardware} speak throughout the remainder of the week, come be part of our Discord community—it’s filled with cool, laid-back nerds.

This week’s ominous nerd information

According to analysts, we’ll quickly see laptops mirror the continued woes with reminiscence availability and affordability. I’m not wanting ahead to a regression in configuration choices. Nor am I completely satisfied to listen to that RAM pricing hurts so unhealthy that DDR4 appropriate processors (just like the AMD 5800X3D) now price a ton, too.

Never thought I’d cross my fingers for AMD to start out producing extra Zen 3 chips quickly, however right here we’re.

Thiago Trevisan / IDG

• Mid-range laptops may return to 8GB RAM as default: I hate it. I additionally hate that Windows 11’s bloat is the rationale finances laptops aren’t but set to slip again all the way down to 4GB.

• Also, Kingston says to buy your RAM now: In an interview with our very personal Mark Hachman, an organization consultant warns that costs will solely go up. We all knew this to be true, however nonetheless. Ouch.

• &*#% yeah: I’m glad now we have science proving the advantages of swearing. I plan to utilize this information when struggling via my push-ups subsequent Tuesday.

• A $100 Steam Machine with Bazzite? This undertaking sounds completely up Will’s alley. I hereby nominate him for giving it a go and reporting again to us on the way it went.

• You can get a Raspberry Pi to train you in chess: Here’s a neat undertaking, courtesy of my German colleagues at PCWelt. But as miraculous as Raspberry Pis might be, I don’t assume they’ll do the unimaginable. (That is: Train me in chess.)

Adam Patrick Murray / IDG

• Feels like the pandemic again: Never thought I might have bought an outdated webcam for excess of I paid, however such was 2020. Now apparently 5800X3D homeowners have the identical possibility.

• I don’t even have a wall big enough for a 100-inch TV: But you already know what, I’d nonetheless be fascinated by seeing one in all these OLED opponents up shut. Who wants home windows or daylight, proper?

• That’s nuts: Micron stated in a current earnings name that it could actually solely meet about 50 to 66 % of demand. Makes extra sense now why Crucial received axed so abruptly, I assume.

• Who needs a graphics card, anyway? Each 12 months, Mike Crider updates his useful information to video games that don’t want a graphics card. It’s an ideal factor to maintain in your again pocket when serving to dole out tech recommendation throughout the holidays (as all of us inevitably do).

• What even happened over there: If you may’t deal with miserable PC carnage, keep away from this story a few man who apparently misplaced 50 SSDs to a damaging younger little one. The footage are brutal.

Coming subsequent week…

By the best way, now we have a shock for you all subsequent Monday—we’re having a tribute stream to Gordon beginning at round 11am Pacific! Come hang around for a range present, set to span a number of hours. What precisely we’ll be doing? Just a little constructing, a bit chatting, and extra! 🍕

And after all, on Tuesday, it’s time for us to attain how properly we did at foreseeing the longer term. Will has lots of 2025 predictions on the board. Like double the remainder of us. I for one am to see how correct he was.

Catch you all quickly!

~Alaina

This e-newsletter is devoted to the reminiscence of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and govt editor of {hardware} at PCWorld.