TechPowerUp Best of 2023

[btarunr]

As we look back at 2023, we unveil our picks for the best in PC hardware and gaming technology. Join us as we explore our favorite choices across various components that define the contemporary gaming PC, accompanied by the cutting-edge software that powers these systems.

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[ZoneDymo]

Cant say I agree with the list, but then it is a "best of" and of all the terrible a few still have to be the best.....

thanks though, good to see what 2023 had to offer in the pc space.

 

[Onasi]

Agreed with most picks, though I really would not have picked the 14900K as a runner-up. The 14700K is a bit more deserving, IMO. Yes, the i9 is not a “bad” CPU overall, but the fact that it IS the same CPU as the previous two i9 flagships really hurts it in terms of celebrating innovation.
The 4070 is, undoubtedly, the overall best GPU for most, but it being essentially “best of the worst” stings a bit, not gonna lie.
The coolers category still suffers from the lack of Thermalright. Come on guys, get some in for testing.
The Corsair monitor is a meme, I am sorry. It’s a poster child for “pointless innovation”.
Still, great job this year. Here’s to another good one!

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Very surprised at the mother board choice seeing apex encore is a 700.us board
Last decent price apex was z490- 400.us after that they darn near doubled in price making them silly as hell to buy

So after that cheapest ROG board was/ is The z590 or 690 I forget Hero which had fire in the hole issues so I'm glad I stopped upgrading before I bought that one which I was very close to doing

M.2 wise no way there's a better m.2 than the sn850x 4tb at 230.us

Damn WD back up to 295.us
Glad I got 2 at 230.

 

[Deleted member 229121]

Honestly TPU why does Thermalright keep getting looked over in CPU coolers, especially for price/performance?
The PA-120 SE is $32 on Amazon right now and the 140mm Frost Commander is $45...

 

[TheLostSwede]

M.2 wise no way there's a better m.2 than the sn850x 4tb at 230.us

Damn WD back up to 295.us
Glad I got 2 at 230.

SSD prices are expected to increase further in price in the new year, so you'll most likely be even more pleased in a few months time.

 

[ThrashZone]

SSD prices are expected to increase further in price in the new year, so you'll most likely be even more pleased in a few months time.

Hi,
Yep saw the list price numbers and said wtf

 

[trsttte]

SSD prices are expected to increase further in price in the new year, so you'll most likely be even more pleased in a few months time.

Good to know, I suspected that to be the case since I saw the prices stay up after black friday on some drives that have been discounted for months but nice to have more confirmation. Probably missed my shot to buy cheap but I have no immediate need either

 

[Frick]

Great idea for end of the year stuff.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Pretty good list overall... At current pricing the 4070 in the us is pretty much a no brainer although waiting for the super version is probably the best play. Definitely it and the 7800XT are the two best offerings at somewhat ok pricing at the very least.

7800X3D is the cpu I like the most out of the current offerings but anything from the 14600k and 7600 and above is pretty darn good these days.

Motherboard choice is interesting does the 700 Apex perform well enough to justify itself over a 300-400 usd board same with the Ace on the amd side.....

I guess if Liquid nitrogen is the benchmark for a good board lol...

 

[Deleted member 223428]

Would have loved to see a review of the Apex. I had it in my cart a few different times when I was still considering the 14900k.

Oh well, at least the board I ended up received a 'Notable Mention'.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Giving garbage such as the 14900K a runner-up slot is rewarding Intel for their despicable, reprehensible behavior. Massive and rare TPU editorial L

 

[Gameslove]

Ryzen 7 5800X3D the best upgrade as well

 

[Guwapo77]

Ryzen 7 5800X3D the best upgrade as well

Its too old. I did buy its baby brother the 5600X3D to replace my son's 3600, 5800X3D has had its time in the spotlight.

 

[ir_cow]

Would have loved to see a review of the Apex. I had it in my cart a few different times when I was still considering the 14900k.

Oh well, at least the board I ended up received a 'Notable Mention'.

I have both the white and Encore. Unfortunately no time to review either properly. Either is a banger if your into memory overclocking. Also a bit of CPU OC too. I got water all over the board (VRM area mostly) and didn't notice. Instead of blow up, the safety kicked in and refused to boot until dry. Working just fine after. That alone was worth the $$ I think.

would you settle for a cut down review ? I could probably sneak that in.

Motherboard choice is interesting does the 700 Apex perform well enough to justify itself over a 300-400 usd board same with the Ace on the amd side.....

Yes and yes.

 

[Deleted member 229121]

Its too old. I did buy its baby brother the 5600X3D to replace my son's 3600, 5800X3D has had its time in the spotlight.

No it isn't. It's all relevant to case use and it makes sense for a lot of AM4 users.
It's in between a 12900K,13900K in terms of gaming performance and plenty enough for the latest higher end GPUs.

 

[Deleted member 223428]

I have both the white and Encore. Unfortunately no time to review either properly. Either is a banger if your into memory overclocking. Also a bit of CPU OC too. I got water all over the board (VRM area mostly) and didn't notice. Instead of blow up, the safety kicked in and refused to boot until dry. Working just fine after. That alone was worth the $$ I think.

would you settle for a cut down review ? I could probably sneak that in.

Appreciate the offer - when I was unable find any reviews on the Encore, I couldn't bring myself to spend $1100+ on the board and a worthy DDR5 kit, so I ended up going a different direction for my upgrade.

Possibly someone else could use a cut down review/overview of the Encore though.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Yeah z790 hero 530.us list is 610.us lol

 

[Tomgang]

I will nominate Gigabytes rtx 4060 low profile card as a candidate for best low profile gpu.

I have the card and since there are not much else beside rtx A2000 that are worth buying for a gaming gpu in that size.

Sure there two downside that is the cooler is a bit longer that normal low profile once and that it needs a seperat power connection as PCIe cant handle the card it self. I also think it's i will nominate it as Gigabytes has done something no one has done in years of ever. Made a low profile card that use more that 75 watt. Some may see it as a negative as its longer and need additional power. But its a full rtx 4060 in a low profile size. Not that rtx 4060 is a good card in the big picture, cause its still a rather slow card and slower that previous gen rtx 3060 ti.

 

[d0x360]

In related news... Never install an aio the way these images show it. It's not as bad as a bottom mount or same mount with tubes on bottom but it's not good for the rather cheap yet effective motors in an aio. You're going to wear it out faster and it also won't cool as well because what way does air travel? Up? Yes.

Mount it at the top of your case for the love of sanity. Id also take anything am5 x3d over the Intel 14 series. If it has E cores I'm not really interested but I primarily use my PC for gaming & work goes on the laptop where I'd still prefer AMD but it's not quite as important because performance isn't a massive consideration like it is with my on PC.

 

[ThrashZone]

Warranty doesn't care how a aio is mounted.

 

[15th Warlock]

Not even a mention of the amazing Audeze Maxwell headphones? They're respected even by audiophiles, and on a league of their own ...

 

[VSG]

Not even a mention of the amazing Audeze Maxwell headphones? They're respected even by audiophiles, and on a league of their own ...

I can only speak for headphones I've reviewed. Audeze kept saying they'll send units for review but never did.

 

[Godrilla]

Hi,
Yep saw the list price numbers and said wtf
View attachment 327653

The 990pro 4 terabyte went up by $80 since last month back to $359. Even the 970 evo plus 2 terabytes is wait for it $159 same price as the 990 pro 2 terabyte. Samsung caused the prices to plummet by as much as 65% within a year; eg 990pro 2 terabyte launched 11/22 @ $289 and last month was as low as $100. The price of this drive cut by half as soon as their was an outcry from life degradation. Now they are the ones increasing the prices across the board very drastically significantly faster than anyone else I noticed.
Update Samsung is also the only one to date to verbally publicly to state that the price hikes are coming as far as I've seen.

 

[Chry]

Bought Razer Deathadder V3 and can confirm it's great.
However, I am surprised Razer Viper V3 Hyperspeed or Razer Cobra were not picked as the best and wonder why?

Having 7800XT can definitely understand why it's #1 for AMD cards.

Also am a proud owner of Seasonic Prime PX-650W, glad the series are in the first place!

And finally while I agree my Samsung 990 Pro is working perfectly and truly fast, I would not have picked it as the best for the sole reason that mine arrived with old firmware that still contained the bug that irreparably damages the drive through usage (and this is despite the fix being released months before I bought it). Glad I flashed mine's firmware through USB flash software, before even installing the OS but I'm very certain many people will have used theirs with the old firmware.