The critiques you learn on TechRadar, and certainly throughout the household of Future websites and magazines that cowl the PC, are meticulously crafted with the best ranges of professionalism. Our many seasoned specialists, with their huge data and a few years of expertise, share their ideas and opinions with you right here on daily basis. Their expertise for writing nicely and speaking complicated matters with readability and perception lets you realize what’s actually occurring when a brand new product is launched, or a brand new expertise or characteristic is revealed for the primary time.
We work onerous on daily basis, testing new PC merchandise of each description, utilizing rigorous methodology that has been refined and up to date continuously, and is checked and verified earlier than publication. We’re happy with what we do and the way we do it, and we all know it’s a service that’s genuinely useful to you.
Article continues under
You might like
(Picture credit score: Future)
Why the TechRadar Australian PC Awards matter
1000’s of recent merchandise that fall into the orbit of ‘the PC’ are launched annually. We won’t check all of them, however we’ve examined a number of hundred. Some shone, some sunk. However general the standard of engineering, manufacturing and innovation is as excessive as ever on the planet of the PC, so it’s usually tough to separate the really nice from the superb. However that’s what we’ve achieved.
The crew right here at TechRadar has joined forces with our fellow PC specialists at PC Gamer, Tom’s Information, Home windows Central and APC journal to shortlist the distinctive, then make the large name to find out the final word winners. All throughout 40 classes, masking every little thing that issues in and across the PC.
Now greater than ever, it’s important to decide on what to purchase fastidiously. We’re right here, with these awards, that will help you select with confidence. Our winners are linked to our critiques, so you may rapidly discover out extra.
Choosing these finalists and winners was a protracted and thorough course of — one we consider is necessary. We need to acknowledge the onerous work of the folks behind the scenes on the firms that made nice gear or delivered distinctive companies, too. Loads of onerous work by intelligent folks introduced you this gear, so nicely achieved to everybody concerned and congratulations on being a TechRadar Australian PC Awards winner!
How we choose the winners
Final yr’s winners
What to learn subsequent
What are the Australian PC Awards?
Our awards cowl all the principle classes that have an effect on a PC, in addition to our particular awards:
Excellence Award: Introduced to the individual, product or expertise that superior the PC greater than every other in 2025.
Gold Award: For the perfect general firm working within the PC house for 2025. This listing consists of each one of many finalists throughout all the opposite classes — and has been fastidiously thought of by our knowledgeable panel of judges.
And naturally there should be steadiness with all issues, which leads us to this yr’s Epic Fail Award. Might probably the most dismal failure win!
TechRadar 2026 Australian PC Awards winners
The place potential, we have linked to probably the most related on-line protection from throughout the Future community for every finalist, that will help you discover out extra about why we like them a lot.
And now, on to the present!
And the winners are…
(Picture credit score: Future)
The yr in assessment: Motherboards
2025 was a yr of maturing lineups for motherboards, with chips and provides that had been launched in 2024, truly getting shipped in quantity throughout 2025. Intel’s LGA1851 ecosystem broadened early due to the announcement of B860 and H810 at CES 2025, making Core Extremely 200S builds barely extra interesting.
AMD continued to flesh out AM5 for Ryzen 9000 with B850 and B840 boards. We particularly preferred that many midrange boards began providing the sort of connectivity that was reserved for flagships, like Wi-Fi 7, 5GbE and USB4.
These placing collectively an Intel construct received extra selection, however actually the fear over how lengthy LGA1851 might be viable for isn’t diminished. AMD builders have a nicer improve path, however costs for the most recent fashions saved older B650 boards surprisingly related within the finances finish.
As at all times, producers saved showcasing (admittedly superior) ultra-high-end boards that most individuals would by no means purchase, however the mid-range received some nice focus.
One in all 2025’s most seen developments was the rising tendency in the direction of cleaner builds with hidden-connector designs out there from a number of manufacturers and really backed by quickly bettering case assist.
Greatest motherboard maker
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Greatest AMD motherboard
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest MSI MEG X870E Godlike offers
Greatest Intel motherboard
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest ASRock B860 Metal Legend Wi-Fi offers
(Picture credit score: Future)
The yr in assessment: Graphics
2025 was a bumper yr for brand spanking new graphics playing cards, with each the principle contenders, Nvidia and AMD, and a newcomer to the scene, Intel, releasing new merchandise. Nvidia was probably the most prolific, with eight new entrants for desktop use and a number of other extra for laptops. AMD had a modest six desktop choices, and Intel scraped in with only one.
Whereas Intel offered one other SKU of its earlier Battlemage-based structure, Nvidia and AMD launched solely new architectures that provided extra efficiency and visible constancy than earlier than.
Nvidia introduced the spectacular DLSS 4.0 expertise to market, making it a characteristic many would contemplate leaving on on a regular basis as a result of it’s so good at what it does. Multi-frame technology 2.0 additionally got here alongside for the experience, protecting Nvidia’s characteristic set clearly out within the lead, very like its top-end GPUs, which AMD couldn’t match.
Not that AMD was sitting nonetheless. RDNA5 proved wildly widespread largely due to its superb price-to-performance, elevated ray-tracing efficiency to lastly match its friends, and the introduction of FSR4, AMD’s much-needed upscaling expertise to catch as much as Nvidia’s DLSS.
Notably, throughout all camps, there have been no entry-level choices. With built-in graphics getting so good now, APU-style options are consuming up entry-level GPU market share, making it financially unviable to launch merchandise in that phase anymore.
Greatest graphics card maker
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Greatest finances graphics card
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest Asus Prime RTX 5060 TI offers
Greatest mid-range graphics card
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Need to see extra choices? Check out our information to the greatest mid-range graphics playing cards.
Greatest premium graphics card
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest MSI RTX 5090 Suprim SOC offers
(Picture credit score: Future)
The yr in assessment: CPU
The CPU entrance was vibrant in 2025, with each AMD and Intel releasing many new choices throughout a broad spectrum of classes. AMD caught to releasing newer SKUs of its Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000 collection, whereas Intel ushered in a considerably underwhelming new Arrow Lake-based Core Extremely 200 collection.
AMD’s technique of long-term platform assist stays a powerful swimsuit, with a brand new processor launched for AM4, which was outdated some 4 years in the past. Even the Ryzen 7000 collection noticed a brand new entry.
AMD additionally proved very talked-about within the laptop computer and thin-and-light house with its Strix Halo-based Ryzen AI Max 300 collection, providing what AMD sought to do when it purchased ATI all that point in the past: make an APU with a big iGPU inside. And thus creating a brand new class of SoC that we beforehand might have solely dreamed of.
Not that Intel is out of the battle by a protracted shot, with nearly all of its choices delivering substantial multithreading efficiency that AMD can’t match in most segments, giving us hope for a wholesome battle and, hopefully, a resurgent Intel persevering with into 2026.
Greatest finances CPU
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D offers
Greatest mid-range CPU
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest Intel Core Extremely 7 265K offers
Greatest premium CPU
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 offers
(Picture credit score: Future)
The yr in assessment: Storage
The way it was purported to occur: speedy PCIe 5.0 SSDs would supercharge gaming, creator and productiveness PCs, providing ridiculously fast 14,000 MB/s drives. What is definitely taking place: Whereas many good PCIe 5.0 SSDs have been launched, rising prices have saved PCIe 4.0 drives nicely in play, and most often these 4.0 drives are the smarter selection.
Longer improve cycles will gradual the penetration of PCIe 5 SSDs, although for top efficiency wants the advantages are indeniable and if firm cash is being spent, it’s a no brainer. For players and virtually all productiveness customers this isn’t actually an issue, as many customers discover that PCIe 4 speeds are nonetheless lots fast for every little thing.
And for fundamental bulk information storage, there are at all times onerous drives, proper? Sadly, no. As you’ve got in all probability heard, information centres have additionally snapped up nearly all of HDD manufacturing, with WD not too long ago reporting that the majority of its 2026 manufacturing has been allotted to information centre consumers.
For brand spanking new PC builds right this moment, the usual is normally 2TB for many off the shelf PCs, with 1TB now reserved for finances programs.
Greatest inner storage maker
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Greatest exterior storage maker
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Need the perfect drives? Take a look at our storage Consumers Guides.
Greatest NAS
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest Synology BeeStation Plus offers
(Picture credit score: Future)
The yr in assessment: Laptops
2025 was a enjoyable experience for laptops. Intel’s Core Extremely (Sequence 2) unfold past a handful of premium fashions into extra mainstream machines and confirmed us Intel might nonetheless make good CPUs. AMD’s cell Ryzen chips additionally noticed some nice new additions, just like the higher-end Ryzen AI Max designs that provided genuinely spectacular efficiency in thinner laptops.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus CPUs helped convey stable efficiency and glorious battery life to extra inexpensive machines. Home windows on Arm continued to enhance as nicely, regardless of Microsoft’s greatest efforts to bother everybody in different methods, and up to date Floor laptops are nice choices with few downsides.
The M4 MacBook Air launched early within the yr, with small however welcome enhancements on the basic design, and at occasions, discounted costs that made it very inexpensive.
OLED screens received more and more widespread, Wi-Fi solidified because the baseline spec and choices like Thunderbolt 5 had been more and more out there on premium machines.
RAM pricing shenanigans began to hit laptops by the top of 2025, however even earlier than that upgradeable reminiscence was getting uncommon, and soldered had develop into the default.
Gaming laptops lastly had a correct replace cycle, with RTX 50-series GPUs arriving in new and present fashions that provided fairly first rate boosts, although additionally barely steeper costs.
Need much more laptops? Take a look at the perfect in our Consumers Guides.
Greatest finances laptop computer or 2-in-1
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest MSI Fashionable 14 offers
Greatest premium laptop computer or 2-in-1
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Greatest gaming laptop computer
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest Lenovo Legion 5i (Gen 10) offers
(Picture credit score: Future)
The yr in assessment: Programs
From the graphics card shortages at the beginning to the RAM shortages on the finish of 2025, PC retailers endured lots final yr. They wanted to adapt to an unusually risky market with the intention to survive and consequently, we noticed a number of examples of each good and unhealthy choices round pre-built programs, all looking for an edge or a distinct segment by which to promote them.
Many had been arising with creative methods to shoehorn the ever-more-expensive graphics playing cards into beforehand steady worth tiers. Corporations like Mwave impressed us with the standard and steadiness of their builds whereas additionally retaining a variety of merchandise. Photech did nicely right here, too, with some admirably good system choices that had nice worth for cash whereas being nicely thought out and never reducing again in sure areas when others had been.
The most important enchancment we noticed was from MSY, which, after an internet site overhaul, went from a horrible on-line buying expertise to an ideal one in a single day. The breadth of retailer choices and their choices, together with their willingness to adapt to market situations, provides us hope that our PC retailers will soldier on because the 2026 RAM apocalypse deepens.
Need extra PCs? Take a look at the perfect in our Consumers Guides.
Greatest desktop PC
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest Geekom A8 AI offers
Greatest handheld
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Need extra gaming goodness? Take a look at our information to the greatest handheld consoles.
At the moment’s greatest Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS offers
Greatest pill
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Need extra of the perfect tablets? Take a look at the complete vary in our consumers guides.
At the moment’s greatest Apple iPad Professional 11-inch (M5) offers
Greatest retailer for PC fans
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
(Picture credit score: Future)
The yr in assessment: Parts
First the necessary information — PC type is trending strongly in the direction of white, with matching white graphics playing cards and motherboards being a powerful style assertion in 2026.
In much less vital information, the RAMpocalypse continues to play havoc with each nook of the PC trade. It’s fairly potential that rising element prices will get rid of the finances sub-$500 (USD) phase virtually solely by the top of the yr (in line with a forecast revealed by analysis agency Gartner on February 26). Element prices may even gradual the expansion of AI PCs, being people who require extra reminiscence to run native inference workloads. AI is one space the place elements have an particularly susceptible sufferer, and one which simply occurs to be the poster-child of the PC advertising scene during the last yr or extra. Sarcastically, shopper AI PCs will endure on account of AI information centre enlargement.
Larger-end elements will give programs integrators the margins they should survive, that means premium PC builds outfitted with onerous to search out and costly reminiscence and storage will develop into the norm and the finances phase might be pushed apart.
Need extra reminiscence? Take a look at our information to the perfect DDR5 RAM
Greatest reminiscence maker
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Greatest air cooling product
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest Thermalright Royal Pretor 130 offers
Greatest AIO cooling product
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest Thermalright Grand Imaginative and prescient 360 offers
(Picture credit score: Future)
The yr in assessment: Screens
The relentless march of OLED continues, and with good cause. These panels are a present to PC players, with vivid colors and perfect-black distinction. Any sport expertise is enhanced with an OLED. It’s simply undeniably superior. Enhancements in panel tech have regularly led to OLEDs being a viable alternative for LCD for productiveness, although some tweaking continues to be wanted to get a easy black font wanting good in opposition to a white background. Those that don’t sport are nonetheless higher off with LCD.
In LCD, IPS nonetheless dominates, with virtually half of all monitor gross sales utilizing that panel tech. VA is now virtually completely reserved for insanely-high refresh fee shows. These days are numbered, although, as refresh charges maintain getting higher for OLED.
1440p continues to be the candy spot decision, and we count on it to stay that approach for a number of extra years, because the slowing launch of higher new GPUs and basic graphics card market shortage will imply folks will maintain onto the cardboard they’ve and improve much less ceaselessly, slowing the transfer to excessive decision panels. That stated, ultrawides maintain getting cheaper, and attention-grabbing new resolutions maintain rising, like LG’s wondrous 5K2K display.
We even have hundreds extra of the perfect displays in our complete shopping for guides.
Greatest monitor maker
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Greatest productiveness monitor
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest Dell 32 Plus S3225QS offers
Greatest gaming monitor
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Greatest creator/professional monitor
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest ASUS ProArt Show PA27JCV offers
(Picture credit score: Future)
The yr in assessment: Peripherals
The winds of change are blowing internationally of keyboards, and we adore it. Gone are the times when all the highest rated keyboards got here completely from the standard gamers. Whereas the likes of Corsair and Logitech are nonetheless pumping out nice gear, the ascendancy of ‘area of interest’ keyboard firms like Keychron, NuPhy, McHose and Wobkey has been most welcome. The market is now awash with lovely colors and designs, and the vary and customisation choices are wonderful.
The reverse is true with mice, the place it’s nonetheless very a lot the area of the likes of Razer, Logitech, Corsair, Asus and SteelSeries. Sensors are pushing into polling charges as much as and even past 8000Hz, which is the realm of solely elite esports gamers. Small and light-weight is the development, which we respect, and so is having fewer buttons, which we don’t like in any respect.
Gaming headphones are seeing a number of planar driver fashions sneak into play, which is a development we hope continues, because the crystal clear constancy may be very nicely suited to gaming.
Fish tank-style circumstances stay in vogue, with engaging examples from lots of the prime case manufacturers.
Greatest keyboard
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest Keychron V6 Max offers
Greatest mouse
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
It’s additionally price testing our information to the perfect mice in Australia.
At the moment’s greatest Razer DeathAdder V4 Professional offers
Greatest gaming headset
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest Razer BlackShark V3 Professional offers
Greatest case
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest Lian Li O11 Imaginative and prescient Compact offers
Greatest router
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
It’s additionally price testing our information to the greatest mesh Wi-Fi programs.
At the moment’s greatest TP-Hyperlink Deco BE68 Wi-Fi 7 offers
(Picture credit score: Future)
The yr in assessment: Web
The NBN acquired a significant shake up in the direction of the top of 2025 with the arrival of its “Speed up Nice” initiative, which noticed a lot quicker obtain and add speeds being delivered to prospects with eligible connection sorts. These pace upgrades arrived at no additional value too, leading to some nice worth for Australians wanting to enhance their dwelling web.
That sentiment is particularly true when you think about official pace reporting information compiled by the Australian Competitors & Shopper Fee (ACCC), which discovered that the brand new 500Mbps tier, specifically, is definitely overdelivering on pace guarantees, whereas the equally new NBN 750 pace tier is exceptionally near hitting 100%.
Aussie-owned web service supplier, Exetel, beat everybody else to the punch with an NBN 500 plan launch in July 2025, forward of the broader September rollout. The telco additionally made the stunning transfer to eradicate all its different NBN plans, leaving it with only one. We had questioned if different suppliers would comply with swimsuit however, thus far, Exetel maintains its distinctive place.
Elsewhere, costs for very-high pace NBN plans continued to drop, with the common month-to-month value of an NBN 1000 plan being round $5 much less yr on yr. On the different finish of the spectrum, slower NBN plans — corresponding to NBN 25 and NBN 50 — continued to extend in worth, highlighting the improved worth of quicker plans. With the variety of related units solely anticipated to extend over the approaching years, getting your self related to a superior NBN plan is virtually a necessity.
It’s additionally price having a look at our consumers guides for all the perfect NBN and web choices.
Greatest NBN Supplier: Total
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Greatest NBN Supplier: Price range
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Greatest NBN Supplier: Excessive-speed
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Greatest NBN Supplier: Gaming
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
Greatest Safety Suite
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
At the moment’s greatest Bitdefender 2022, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, Bitdefender Web Safety and Bitdefender Whole Safety offers
(Picture credit score: Future)
For the individual, product or expertise that superior the PC greater than every other in 2025.
Excellence Award
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
- Gabe Newell: Not promoting out
- AI in every single place: For higher or worse…
- Intel Arc B-series (Battlemage): An truly aggressive GPU different to Nvidia and AMD
- AMD Radeon RX 9000 collection: Made mid-range GPUs attention-grabbing once more
- Valve: SteamOS is advancing Linux gaming in big strides. Microsoft is apprehensive
- AMD Strix Halo: Top-of-the-line cell chips in years
- MSI: Venture Zero made cable-hiding stealth boards a hit
- Nvidia: By no means gave up on CUDA, now it drives most AI
- ARM: Slowly however certainly taking over each sort of processing
- QD OLED: Excessive refresh fee, excessive PPI, falling value
(Picture credit score: Future)
The corporate that impressed us probably the most, general, over the previous yr
Gold Award
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
PC Builders
Finalist manufacturers (so as of look)
Web suppliers
Safety suites
(Picture credit score: Future)
Epic Fail Award
Extremely Recommended
All Finalists
- Apple: Apple Intelligence is the present that retains on not giving
- AI: Overpromising and under-delivering for the buyer, inflicting the RAM apocalypse. AI slop. Grok deepfakes. And extra…
- Borderlands 4: Sport runs poorly however Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford stated it is “fairly rattling optimised”, “Use DLSS. It is nice”.
- Cloudflare outage: Wiped many web sites and companies offline. An excessive amount of of the web depends on it!
- Intel: Nonetheless hasn’t correctly handled Raptor Lake points
- Reminiscence scarcity and worth surge: AI pushed madness
- Meta AI stage fail: Zuck’s glasses did not work dwell on stage
- Micron/Essential: Abandoning customers at their time of want
- Microsoft: A number of Home windows replace fails, Agentic AI integration, efforts to kill Home windows 10, together with updates that brick your SSD!
- Nvidia: RTX 5000 collection launch, melty connectors 2.0, crappy drivers, outrageous pricing
- Optus 000 outages: Folks died, nuff stated
