Tom’s Hardware editors have chosen the best computer hardware and devices of 2023. Despite the hype surrounding AI, the site considers the year that is passing to be a good one for PCs, computer technology and enthusiasts.
Best processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
AMD Ryzen 7000X3D processors deliver the best gaming performance on the market. These processors use AMD’s revolutionary 3D V-Cache, which increases gaming performance by increasing L3 cache memory. The new X3D chip family has a more modern Zen 4 architecture. The 16-thread Ryzen 7 7800X3D is the best choice for modern games. In addition, it allows you to create a relatively quiet and economical system.
Best motherboard: ASRock Z790 Nova Wi-Fi
ASRock boards are distinguished by wide capabilities and not a very high price. Also, other manufacturers haven’t bothered to update their motherboards to 14th Gen Intel, while ASRock has offered the new ASRock Z790 Nova Wi-Fi.
Best graphics card: NVIDIA RTX 4070
Among all the new NVIDIA RTX 4070 graphics cards, the optimal combination of price and quality is distinguished. The main complaint against both older and younger ones is that they are too expensive. The RTX 4070 has all the features of the new Ada Lovelace architecture, including DLSS 3, improved ray tracing and AV1 video support. 12 GB of video memory allows you not to worry too much about the aging of the video card in the near future.
Best SSD: Crucial T700
In 2023, the prices of solid-state drives reached the bottom, SSD PCIe 5.0 M.2 also appeared. The Crucial T700 drive received a Phison E26 controller and Micron’s new 232-layer TLC NAND. Against the background of other SSDs on the same platform, the Crucial T700 has a higher speed and a moderate price.
Best monitor: Samsung Odyssey OLED G9
The wide-format Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 has a diagonal of 49 inches and supports HDR10/HDR10+. The monitor received an aspect ratio of 32:9 and a resolution of 5120×1440 (double QHD). The 240Hz refresh rate Odyssey OLED G9 is compatible with AMD FreeSync Premium and NVIDIA G-Sync. Additional features: remote control, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support, compatibility with Apple AirPlay, Samsung TV Plus and Gaming Hub.
Best 3D Printer: Bambu Lab A1
Bambu Lab entered the 3D printer market in 2022, and in 2023 the company introduced the Bambu Lab A1, which made high-speed multi-color printing accessible to most people. For $399, it has excellent speed, and another $160 is the 4-material automatic switching unit.
Best single-board computer: Raspberry Pi 5
The Raspberry Pi 5 has a 64-bit Arm Cortex-A76 processor clocked at 2.4GHz, but can easily be overclocked to 3GHz. It comes with 4 or 8 GB of storage, with 1 and 2 GB models coming in 2024. The Pi 5 is PCIe, which can be used with NVMe SSDs and other devices.
Best Headset: Razer BlackShark V2 Pro (2023)
As the site’s senior editor Andrew E. Friedman said of speaking with the BlackShark V2 Pro (2023), “You sound better than you do in real life.”
Best keyboard: Asus Rog Strix Scope II 96 Wireless
The Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless has the best switches and a nice MSRP of $180. The keyboard is compact, comfortable and supports an extraordinary autonomy of 1500 hours.
Best gaming laptop: Acer Nitro 16
Acer offers a powerful gaming laptop for $1000. The Nitro 16 is equipped with a Ryzen 5 7650HS processor and an NVIDIA RTX 4050 graphics card, 16 GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512 GB SSD. There are many ports on board, including modern USB4 Type-C. Acer Nitro 16 supports battery life of more than 8 hours and has a bright 165 Hz display.
Best gaming handheld: Steam Deck OLED
Steam Deck received a 7.4” OLED display with a frequency of 90 Hz, as well as up to 1 TB of storage, a 50 Wh battery and a longer power cable. The speed of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth has also increased. There are more powerful analogues, but they use not too optimized Windows 11.
The most productive laptop: MacBook Pro
The 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 Max processor provides long battery life, excellent performance and best-in-class build quality.
