Call us pedantic, overly critical, picky, fussy, whatever. The simple truth is that everyone at PC Gamer not only has very high standards, but also a lot of experience in many different fields. So when it comes to reviewing hardware, every piece of kit that passes through our hands is examined in detail.
We only give the highest review scores to products that truly meet or exceed these standards, and in all of 2023, only 25 products were given a review score of 90% or higher.
You may be surprised to find some brands on the list that you wouldn’t expect to see or have never heard of before. While there are a few key names missing, this means competition is very healthy across most PC hardware sectors.
Minor spoilers: There isn’t a single graphics card on our list below. You probably won’t be surprised, as GPU prices are generally too high for our liking. And the reasonably priced ones don’t stand out in terms of performance. Maybe next year this will change and there will be some very nice graphics cards on the 2024 list.
But pretty much everything else is there: gaming headsets, CPUs, full-blown PCs, monitors, and more. There’s a good range of kit to tempt and it’s a nice way to end the year.
But because I’m a total grump, I’ve also included an extra list: the five lowest-rated products we reviewed in 2023. It’s a joyful end to the year and it’s not me!
Top 5 products of 2023
Docking Station for Sabrent 6-Port Steam Deck
Not everything needs to be state-of-the-art to achieve the highest review score. This sturdy, well-built dock is much better than its price suggests. While you don’t get Ethernet connectivity, it doesn’t suffer from the lack of USB Type-C that rivals suffer from. It’s a fair trade, especially since you won’t get anything as good for the same low price of $30.
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Philips Evnia 34M2C8600
Philips may not be a brand you normally associate with PC gaming, but it hit the ball right out of the stadium with this OLED monitor. It’s still very expensive and doesn’t have a super high resolution, but the panel itself is absolutely gorgeous. It’s the monitor we’d choose over anything else for HDR gaming. Get one and you’ll never use a non-OLED display again.
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Glossy panel makes OLED technology sing
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Super fast performance
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Fewer OLED disadvantages than its competitors
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Damn, does it overclock?
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Audio-Technica ATH-M50xSTS StreamSet
Most gaming headsets have pretty weak microphones, but that’s not the case here. In fact, it’s probably the most well-rounded headset we’ve tried. Sure, they’re expensive and the lack of volume controls takes some getting used to, but the build and sound quality more than make up for it. Don’t let the fact that it’s wired put you off, either.
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Alienware 34 AW3423DWF
This or Philips Evnia 34M2C8600? Both use Samsung’s exact same QD-OLED panel, and both feature an anti-glare glossy coating that really makes HDR gaming shine. In fact, the differences are very small: This Alienware is slightly cheaper, but not as fast as the Philips model. They are too closely matched to be separated, so they have the same scores.
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Still quite expensive
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Mediocre pixel density
ThunderX3 Core gaming chair review
Few gaming chairs delight owners as much as the ThunderX3 Core, especially at this price. There are plenty of plush materials with a wide range of ergonomic features; There’s little not to like here. It makes the office favorite, the Secretlab Titan Evo, seem quite expensive.
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The highest-rated PC gaming hardware of 2023
A total of 25 products reviewed in 2023 achieved a 90% higher review score. That’s just 15% of everything we use, play, sit, write, and tinker with inside. So, be sure that even if they are not in the top five, the remaining 20 places are taken by excellent products.
VRLA Technology Titan
Durable. Imposing. Built. Very balanced hardware features. The VRLA Tech Titan has it all, and it does it without being too expensive, which explains why we rate this gaming PC so highly.
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Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless
Full size and compactness may seem like contradictory terms when it comes to keyboards, but the Scope II 96 is exactly both. It is also an extremely adept gaming keyboard with top-notch typing experience. Shame on the software, but nothing is perfect, right?
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Audeze Maxwell
If you were told that this provided the best audio experience you can get in a gaming headset, you’d think something was wrong. But there isn’t (except for suspicious software) and even the microphone isn’t that bad. There is nothing to touch them for money.
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stunning sound
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Long battery life
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Fast charging
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Comfortable
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good microphone
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Intel Core i5 13400F
Less than $200 for a ten-core CPU that’s actually good at gaming? Yes, this is a great little processor, even though you can’t overclock it and there’s no integrated graphics chip. However, it can use a lot of power when running at full speed.
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Higher power consumption compared to the 12th Generation model
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No hidden overclocking 🙁
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AMD’s cheapest Zen 4 CPUs are best for content creation
ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi
In recent years, ASRock has completely changed its reputation. Their latest motherboards are just like that: great value for money without compromising on features. This isn’t the best choice if you’re interested in heavy overclocking, but the storage options and network connectivity are near-perfect.
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LG OLED Flexible 42
How wild is this? At the touch of a button, the panel switches between curved or completely flat. Choose the former for gaming and the latter for movies and media. Add in the glorious OLED colors and it’s a great experience. Of course, you will pay a very high price for such luxuries.
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Very expensive
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No DisplayPort
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Want the best CPU for anything but gaming? Then you get the Ryzen 7 7800X3D; There is no if or but. There are better options if you want to be more versatile, but this thing will quickly make its way through every game you own.
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Best gaming performance
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super efficient
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great run
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Meta Mission 3
Comfortable, affordable and easy to use, Quest 3 is the perfect headset for you if you want to take your first steps into the world of VR gaming. If you’re already a serious virtual gamer, you’ll want something more powerful.
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Framework 13 (2023) AMD motherboard
Are you looking for a laptop that requires office work and gaming? What about privatization? Framework 13 offers all this and more. It’s not a truly modular laptop, but you’ll be able to keep upgrading it for many years to come.
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Original 1080p performance
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Stellar productivity cuts
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Cheaper than Intel’s best
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And it also outperforms it
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Better battery life
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Logitech Chorus
Logitech’s Chorus is a fairly niche product: It’s an additional speaker system for VR headsets. However, if you have Meta Quest 2, Chorus will completely transform audio cuts. It’s a little pricey, but it’s much more comfortable than using a pair of headphones over your VR headset.
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Asus ROG Azoth
Sometimes hardware reviews make you make tough decisions. The ROG Azoth is the best gaming keyboard Asus has ever made, and one of the best enthusiast-level keyboards you can buy. But you really need a solid reason to buy one at $250. Luckily what they offer makes up for the price tag.
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How much?!
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Damn Ammo Crate
Nextorage NEM-PA 2TB
Nextorage may be a brand you’ve never heard of, and yes, it’s just an SSD, but it’s built by former Sony engineers and features the latest hardware on the market. Despite this, the price tag and performance are quite competitive. And look at that chunky cooler!
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The five lowest-rated products of 2023
It wasn’t all sweetness and beauty in the world of PC hardware. Here are the five lowest-rated products we reviewed in 2023. As you’ll soon see, there was a bit of a common theme among our lowest-rated products.
MSI Titan GT77 HX
This is what happens when you cram an ugly case full of the most expensive, powerful and power-hungry hardware. Hot and loud, there isn’t much refinement to justify the sky-high price tag.
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Laptop roars when pressed
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The chassis is ugly
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Mini LED screen was a bit disappointing
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$5,300 is a ridiculous price
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So much software
MSI MEG Trident X2
Another MSI product and another model that shows the same flaws as the Titan GT77 HX. Some of the hardware inside is the best you can get, but not all of it is, and the entire package isn’t worth its $5,999 price tag.
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MSI Cyborg15
Yes, 2023 was not the best year for MSI. This Cyborg laptop looks very stylish and is very quiet to use, but the performance is well below average for the hardware inside. Add in software issues and poor storage options and you’ve got something pretty disappointing.
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silent operation
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It doesn’t get very hot
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Asus ROG Raikiri Pro
For something that’s more than twice the price of the standard Xbox controller, you expect magic touches and special features all around. Asus managed to get some of this right, but what’s the point in trying if the buttons on the controller aren’t in place?
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Maingear MG-1 | Arc A750
It looks like a well-designed and stylish gaming PC, right? Because it is, but beyond its appearance there is only disappointment. Budget-level parts battle a stubborn Intel Arc GPU, and all at a price that makes you think it should be a lot better than it actually is.
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Too expensive for GPU
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Intel Arc driver problems
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Many games are not optimized for Arc
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Lacks the quality assurance of an original LEGO product