2022 is shaping up to be another exciting year of tech but, before we get too stuck in, let’s take advantage of that 20/20 hindsight to nominate the best consumer PC tech of 2021 – because most of these products are current, and there’s no better buying guide than a list of the very best of the best.
It’s the annual Australian PC Awards, and it’s underway right now.
The experts at TechRadar, APC, TechLife, PC Gamer, PC PowerPlay and T3 have combined forces to concentrate a huge year of innovation into a short and sweet list of the top tech.
Below is the shortlist of ripper finalists – PC companies, products and technologies that are really pushing the boundaries of what computers can do. That includes everything from the best processors to the most fanciful custom cases – if you can put it in a computer or plug it into one, it was considered for an award.
For anyone more interested in the meta than wading into the nitty gritty of PC components, look no further than our top two extra-special awards:
Excellence Award: Presented to the person, product or technology that advanced the PC more than any other in 2021.
Gold Award: For the best overall company operating in the PC space for 2021. This list includes every one of the finalists across all the other categories – and has been carefully considered by our expert panel of judges.
While many will be keen to put NFTs and component shortages in the rear view mirror, there were some pretty impressive technological achievements in 2021, and this shortlist of finalists is the perfect cheat sheet for skimming off the cream of the 2021 crop.
I want to know who won!
And you will, quite soon in fact!
We’ll be announcing all the winners right here on TechRadar on Friday, March 11, 2022, or you can head straight to the official Australian PC Awards site.
See you on the 11th!
(Image credit: Future)
Finalists: Best motherboard maker
Finalists: Best value motherboard
Nzxt N7 B550 MSI MPG B560i Gaming Edge Wi-Fi Asus ROG Strix B560-F Gaming Wi-Fi MSI MEG B550 UnifyGigabyte B560M Aorus Elite Asrock B560 Steel Legend Asus TUF Gaming B560-Plus WIFI
Finalists: Best premium motherboard
Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Pro MSI MEG Z690 Unify Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming Wifi Asrock Z690 Taichi MSI MPG X570S Carbon Max WIFI MSI MPG Z590 Gaming Carbon WIFI Asus TUF Gaming Z590-Plus WIFI Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Master Asrock Z590 PG Velocita
(Image credit: Future)
Finalists: Best video card maker
Asus Gigabyte Aorus Inno3D MSI Nvidia Sapphire Technology
Finalists: Best value video card
Nvidia RTX 3060 12GB PowerColor Radeon RX 6600 Fighter Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Eagle OC Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming X AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
Finalists: Best premium video card
Nvidia 3080Ti Founders Edition Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Ti AMP Holo Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Master Aorus GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Xtreme MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Gaming X Trio 8G
(Image credit: Future)
Finalists: Best value CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Intel Core i5-11400 Intel Core i3-10105F Intel i5-11500
Finalists: Best premium CPU
Intel i9-12900K Intel i5-12600K Intel i9-11900K Intel i5-11600K AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
(Image credit: Future)
Finalists: Best internal storage maker
Adata Kingston Crucial by Micron Samsung Seagate MSI
Finalists: Best external storage maker
Adata Crucial by Micron Samsung SanDisk Seagate Western Digital
Finalists: Best SOHO or home NAS
QNAP TS-130 NAS QNAP TVS-675 Asustor AS3302T 2-Bay Terramaster F5-221
(Image credit: Future)
Finalists: Best value laptop or 2-in-1
Lenovo Chromebook Duet Acer Chromebook Spin 311 Asus Vivobook Pro 15 OLED Acer Swift 3X i7 Microsoft Surface Laptop Go
Finalists: Best premium laptop or 2-in-1
Apple MacBook Pro 14- & 16-inch LG Gram 17 (2021) Asus ZenBook Duo 14 HP Spectre x360 14 Microsoft Surface Pro 8 MSI Creator Z16 Dell XPS 15 Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Pro 14-inch (AMD) Razer Blade 14 Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Carbon
Finalists: Best gaming laptop
MSI GE76 Raider Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 (GA503) Asus TUF Gaming A15 (FA506) Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition (G513) Aorus 15P YD Acer Nitro 5 Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YC
Finalists: Best desktop PC builder
Apple Thermaltake Dell Corsair MSI Aftershock PC Scorptec Nzxt
(Image credit: Future)
Finalists: Best memory maker
Adata Corsair Crucial by Micron Geil G.Skill Kingston Team Group
Finalists: Best cooling product
Cooler Master Air MA624 Asus ROG Ryujin II 360 TT ToughLiquid Ultra 360 AIO MSI CoreLiquid K240 Corsair H170i Elite Capellix be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim 2 Zalman CNPS10x Performa Black DeepCool AK620
Finalists: Best monitor
MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD Samsung Odyssey G7 Philips Brilliance 329P1H BenQ EW3880R ultrawide monitor Asus ProArt Display 14 Aorus FI32U Aorus FO48U Dahua DHI-LM28-F420 Acer Predator X25 Aorus FV43U Asus ROG Swift PG32UQX AOC U34G3X BenQ Zowie XL-K Dell 4K S3221QS Samsung Odyssey G9 MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR
Finalists: Best keyboard
Akko 3098B Logitech MX Keys Mini HyperX Alloy Origins 60 Percent Asus ROG Falchion 65 percent Corsair K65 Mini Keyboard Roccat Magma SteelSeries Apex 3 TKL Razer Huntsman V2 Corsair K70 RGB TKL Asus ROG Strix Scope RX
Finalists: Best mouse
Razer Basilisk V3 Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless HP Omen Vector Wireless Mouse Steelseries Rival 5 Razer Viper 8K Logitech G Pro X Superlight Steelseries Aerox 3 wireless Cooler Master MM720 MSI Clutch GM41 Lightweight Wireless Thermaltake Argent M5 RGB
Finalists: Best gaming headset
Creative SXFI Air Gamer SteelSeries Arctis 7P/7X HyperX Cloud II Wireless Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless XT Corsair HS75 XB Wireless Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 Epos H3 Hybrid Razer Kraken V3 X Asus ROG Delta S
Finalists: Best PC case
Lian Li PC-O11 Air Mini Nzxt H510 Flow Corsair Airflow 7000D MSI Sekira 100R Lian Li Q58 Cooler Master NR200P Max Antec P82 Silent Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact Thermaltake The Tower 100 Mini Case
Finalists: Best router
TP Link GX90 DrayTek VigorAP 1060C D-Link DIR-X3260 AX3200 TP Link Deco X20 DSL Asus Zen WifI XD6 Mercusys MR70X DrayTek Vigor2927ac D-Link Covr-X1873 AX1800 Netgear Nighthawk XR1000 TP Link Deco X90 Tenda MW3 AC1200 Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Netgear Nighthawk MR5200 QNAP QMiro-201W
(Image credit: Future)
Finalists: Best reseller
Aftershock PC Computer Alliance JW Computers Mwave PC Case Gear PLE Scorptec Umart
(Image credit: Future)
Finalists: Excellence Award
For the person, product or technology that advanced the PC more than any other in 2020.
Intel Alder Lake architecture DDR5 OLED laptop screens Apple M1 Pro / Max (2021) Windows 11 AMD FidelityFX AMD Smart Access Memory
(Image credit: Future)
Finalists: Gold Award
The company that impressed us the most, overall, in 2021.
This list comprises all of the companies that made the finalist lists, plus more that the editorial team felt deserved to be included.
Acer Aftershock Akko AMD Apple Asus Corsair Creative Crucial by Micron Dahua Dell G.Skill Gigabyte Hyper X Intel Kingston Lenovo Lian Li Logitech Microsoft MSI Mwave Nvidia Nzxt PC Case Gear PLE QNAP Razer Samsung SanDisk Seagate Team Group Thermaltake TP-Link WD
Last year’s winners
See who won last year right here!
