After years of shortages and product delays, the PC trade slammed on the fuel pedal in 2022, unleashing bleeding-edge {hardware} at a very frenetic tempo.
A wave of long-lasting, heavy-hitting laptops began the yr with a bang. Then the battle turned to desktops, the place Intel, Nvidia, and AMD rolled out new generations of processors and graphics playing cards alike, bolstered by pleasant advances in SSDs and new displays that push pixels tougher than ever earlier than. And people are simply the tip of the iceberg.
We examined some really spectacular {hardware} this yr—however you’ll solely discover absolutely the biggest on this listing. And that’s not all: Our high picks embrace the very best software program accessible, as a result of what you employ all that computing energy for is simply as very important.
For this listing, we requested PCWorld’s tech consultants to share their favourite picks of their areas of experience. With out additional ado, that is the very best PC {hardware} and software program of 2022 and 2023. Sure, we’re trying ahead to subsequent yr, as a result of till even newer merchandise start launching in 2023, most of the champions on this listing will stay very related for months to come back. We’ve additionally rounded up our favourite work-from-home tech of 2022 should you’re inquisitive about a extra productivity-focused have a look at the yr’s greatest choices.
Greatest thin-and-light laptop computer: Dell XPS 13 Plus
In the event you’re on the hunt for a very spectacular ultraportable, the Dell XPS 13 Plus is the laptop computer to focus on. It’s featherlight at below three kilos, the 13.4-inch 3456×2160 OLED show is an actual sight to behold, and the Intel Core i7-1280P CPU delivers modern efficiency. That’s the total bundle proper there. It has sufficient oomph to whiz by picture modifying work in addition to day-to-day duties like shopping the online and checking e-mail. And the hidden haptic trackpad—a singular design alternative that’s totally different from earlier iterations—helps the Dell XPS 13 Plus look really subtle. You actually can’t go mistaken right here. —Ashley Biancuzzo
Greatest graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
It’ll value you a small fortune to get your fingers on one, however the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 deserves the very best accolades potential. Nvidia’s 40-series flagship is blow-your-hair-back-and-melt-your-face quick—so quick, it unlocks experiences by no means earlier than potential.
With the RTX 4090—and solely the RTX 4090—you possibly can max out a 4K, 144Hz monitor with all the attention sweet turned on in your video games. You may play essentially the most strenuous ray traced video games with out even bothering to flip DLSS on—however you need to, as a result of DLSS delivers an enormous pace increase with few visible compromises. DLSS 3’s new Body Era function faucets into AI to double body charges in suitable video games for unparalleled visible smoothness. And content material creators will adore the RTX 4090’s 24GB of mega-fast VRAM and juggernaut productiveness chops.
Sure, the GeForce RTX 4090 prices $1,600. However this GPU is price each penny. It’s so quick that AMD’s flagship Radeon RX 7900 XTX isn’t even attempting to compete at its stage. This can be my favourite graphics card I’ve ever examined in all my years at PCWorld.
Greatest high-end CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K
AMD’s 16-core Ryzen 9 7950X could have landed the primary blow on this new CPU era, and it’s a mighty foe certainly—however Intel’s 24-core Core i9-13900K is healthier. The last-gen Core i9-12900K already impressed, however Intel managed to cram twice as many efficiency-focused “E” cores into the brand new chip, whereas concurrently cranking clock speeds to blistering new 5.8GHz ranges. Consequently, the Core i9-13900K holds the efficiency crown in gaming and single-threaded efficiency, whereas dashing by closely multi-core duties at a 40 p.c sooner clip than earlier than. Sizzling rattling.
Tipping the scales even additional in Intel’s favor, the Core i9-13900K additionally enjoys sturdy software program help for its onboard media engine (useful for content material creators!) and someway prices lower than its Ryzen rival. Including insult to damage, Intel’s Thirteenth-gen Core CPUs additionally help cheaper DDR4 reminiscence when utilizing choose motherboards, not like AMD, which mandates DDR5 with Ryzen 7000. Quicker, cheaper, and higher software program help? The Intel Core i9-13900K is completely the very best CPU of this new era. —Brad Chacos
Greatest SSD: Adata Legend 960
Certain, some rival PCIe 4.0 SSDs edge out the Adata Legend 960 in uncooked benchmark efficiency—however solely by the slimmest of margins. But someway, Adata managed to cost the Legend 960 at considerably lower than the bleeding-edge competitors, at simply $120 for 1TB or $220 for 2TB capacities, whereas additionally tossing an optionally available warmth sink within the field and providing a surprisingly substantial guarantee and TBW ranking. Our reviewer summed it up completely: “The Adata Legend 960 is a top-performing NVMe SSD at a mid- to lower-tier price. What’s not to like about that?” —Brad Chacos
Greatest antivirus: Norton 360 Deluxe
Norton 360 Deluxe might not be essentially the most new or thrilling, however the well-established safety software program continues to reign supreme on the high of our listing for the very best antivirus for Home windows. With latest function updates equivalent to Darkish Net Monitoring and VPN entry, it has made itself the safety suite to beat. The worth of $105 for a yr subscription, whereas not insignificant, isn’t prone to break the financial institution both.
Norton additionally features a ton of extras in its antivirus suite together with file cleanup, startup supervisor, and choices for gamer particular options as nicely. Final however not least, Norton 360 Deluxe is among the least obtrusive or annoying antivirus applications we’ve examined—no pointless pop-ups or notifications in sight. For the piece of thoughts and full function set that Norton offers, we predict it represents glorious worth and high of the road safety. —Sam Singleton
Greatest gaming laptop computer: Razer Blade 17
The Razer Blade 17 (2022) delivers severe gaming energy. Because of the Intel Core i7-12800H CPU and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU inside, this laptop computer can chew proper by most video games on extremely settings with out breaking a sweat. It additionally incorporates a drop useless attractive 240Hz panel, which deserves its personal call-out, full with Nvidia G-Sync help to remove any display tearing by matching the show’s body price to the GPU’s. And did we point out the drool-worthy aesthetic design? This laptop computer will certainly present the last word gaming expertise. —Ashley Biancuzzo
Greatest monitor: Asus ProArt PA348CGV
In terms of all-around monitor greatness, it’s exhausting to beat the Asus ProArt PA348CGV. The ultrawide 34-inch, 3440×1440 IPS panel is focused at professionals, and as such it presents unbelievable coloration accuracy and a large coloration gamut, in addition to in depth customization choices.
The monitor stand is straightforward, however stable, with good connectivity choices, together with 4 video inputs and a USB hub, the total complement of ergonomic changes, and built-in audio system. That alone would make it price its $729 worth.
However what makes this monitor significantly excellent, is that it matches its pro-graphics chops with gaming capabilities within the type of a 2mm response time, 120Hz refresh price, and official help for AMD’s FreeSync. We will’t consider one other monitor this satisfyingly versatile. —Katherine Stevenson
Greatest gaming headset: SteelSeries Arctis Nova Professional Wi-fi
“Make me a gaming headset that does everything” should have been the design temporary behind the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Professional Wi-fi. This top-notch gaming headset presents essentially the most compelling mix of consolation, type, and performance I’ve skilled in 2022. The headset’s snugness comes courtesy of a multipronged ComfortMAX system consisting of peak adjustable sides, a central versatile rigidity band, and rotating earcups that present your head with ample room to maneuver. These options sit alongside plush leatherette ear coverings, and exceptionally fashionable gun steel earcup covers that ooze high-end type.
The Nova Professional Wi-fi additionally goes the additional mile with connectivity, sporting twin wi-fi (2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) performance, in addition to wired connectivity— the latter for Hello-Res 96KHz/24-Bit audio. The twin wi-fi functionality not solely lets you entry your audio untethered but in addition enables you to concurrently take calls, take heed to music or chat while gaming – an actual deal with for multitaskers. Plus, the headset comes with a handy base controller that allows you to swap between your PC and Xbox One and Xbox X/S on the swap of a button.
In terms of the all-important audio efficiency, the Nova Professional Wi-fi nails it. The headset at all times sounding incredible, with Lively Noise Cancellation, a wealthy and heat audio profile and a sizeable bass presence that by no means disappoints. On high of all that, the headset advantages from SteelSeries’ glorious GG software program app, which you should utilize to personalize your gaming audio precisely the way you prefer it. – Dominic Bayley
Greatest VPN: ExpressVPN
It isn’t simple to pick the very best general VPN. There are a ton of contributing components to think about equivalent to privateness, consumer interface, server unfold, and pace. Whereas earlier than it was frequent to sacrifice a few of these options to realize others, that’s now not the case.
ExpressVPN has all of it, simply making it our best choice for greatest VPN. Not solely is it one of many quickest VPNs we’ve ever examined, but it surely has loads of nation places to select from, it’s very simple to make use of, and it presents extensive machine help. ExpressVPN additionally repeatedly has third-party auditors evaluate their providers with a purpose to reinforce their privateness credentials. Presently there aren’t some other VPNs on the market providing the identical stage of options and worth as ExpressVPN. —Sam Singleton
Greatest Chromebook: Acer Chromebook Spin 713
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is a incredible convertible laptop computer for work or play. You may prop it up like a tent for watching motion pictures or rotate the display round and use it like a handheld pill. The laptop computer itself weighs just a bit over three kilos, making a wonderfully succesful journey companion. It additionally has a colourful 2256×1504 touch-enabled show, all-day battery life, and a wide selection of ports. The construct is surprisingly sturdy as nicely. In the event you don’t want Home windows, the Spin 713 is a good on a regular basis laptop computer. —Ashley Biancuzzo
Greatest keyboard: Keychron Q5
One keyboard stood out for each high quality and worth this yr: the Keychron Q5. That isn’t to say that it’s low-cost — it begins at $175, and it’s a bit of over $200 absolutely loaded. (Which continues to be cheaper than many “gaming” designs!) However that will get you an unbelievable quantity of options and a lot high quality you’ll discover it exhausting to return to a “normal” board.
Full aluminum development, high-quality switches, glorious keycaps, and a foam gasket mount make the keyboard really feel unbelievable proper out of the field. Sizzling-swap switches and VIA programming make customization simple and alluring. And the factor’s so stable you would use it as an anchor.
You may prolong this advice to Keychron’s complete Q sequence, which all use the identical design for a wide range of layouts. Take a look at the Keychron Q8 and Q10, if you wish to mix these options with some refined ergonomics. —Michael Crider
Greatest recreation streaming service: Nvidia GeForce Now
No graphics card? No downside. Of us blessed with good Web have an abundance of recreation streaming providers to select from today, however for PC players particularly, Nvidia’s GeForce Now’s the very best of the bunch.
When you do need to buy most of the video games that you would be able to play on this service—GFN hooks into your current PC retailer accounts, like Steam, as a substitute of offering a library of “free” video games like Xbox Cloud Gaming (or Netflix)—GeForce Now brings a number of the greatest visible high quality, an enormous recreation compatibility listing, and a free membership plan possibility. With that in thoughts, there’s actually no purpose to not bounce in and at the very least check out some free video games like Fortnite or League of Legends to see if it really works for you. And should you do dig it (or can’t discover an reasonably priced GPU), the top-tier RTX 3080 providing brings the would possibly of that kick-ass graphics card to bear, full with ray traced visuals, help for increased resolutions at sooner speeds, and precedence server entry. —Brad Chacos
Greatest price range SSD: Essential P3
In the event you don’t transfer huge quantities of ultra-large recordsdata, you in all probability don’t must splurge on an expensive cutting-edge PCIe 4.0 SSD—an ordinary PCIe 3.0 drive will do you simply wonderful. One of the best discount we’ve reviewed this yr? The Essential P3. It presents glorious on a regular basis storage efficiency for gaming, content material creation, and extra, and higher but, it’s one of many first quick NVMe drives to drop below 10 cents per gig—you possibly can choose up a 500GB mannequin for $43, whereas a 1TB model prices a paltry $74 at press time. The Essential P3 presents a complete lot of quick storage for a very compelling worth. —Brad Chacos
Greatest mainstream CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K
This yr, not one however two incredible mainstream processors launched, with each the Intel Core i5-13600K and AMD Ryzen 5 7600X posting ridiculous numbers. However as spectacular as AMD’s newest is, Intel edges it out with sooner gaming efficiency and cheaper suitable {hardware}. For PC builders on a price range, it’s exhausting to beat Intel’s wider choice of reasonably priced motherboards, particularly once they help cheap DDR4 reminiscence. Intel’s Core i5-13600K earns our simply advice for PC players who don’t have an infinite price range. —Alaina Yee
Greatest password supervisor: Lastpass
In the event you’re not already utilizing a password supervisor, try to be. Create lengthy, random passwords turns into a snap, with the exhausting work of remembering them left to the service. You may use your cellphone or browser’s built-in supervisor, however upgrading to LastPass supercharges the options you get. Its $36-per-year paid plan is price the price—and among the many most reasonably priced choices on the market.
Merely set up its browser plugin and/or cellular app for a mixture password generator, password vault, and type filler. It really works throughout all units, so transferring between your PC, cellphone, and pill needs to be seamless. You may retailer different information too, like bank card information or normal notes. LastPass’s premium options additionally embrace file uploads as much as 1GB, safe password sharing, emergency entry for trusted contacts, and extra. With its user-friendly interface tying all the things collectively, managing your digital life is a lot simpler and safer. —Alaina Yee
Greatest gaming monitor: Alienware AW3423DW
In the event you take your PC gaming significantly, you need a show that elevates the expertise with glorious coloration and distinction, superior movement efficiency, and an ultrawide display expanse that absolutely immerses you within the motion. Alienware’s AW3423DW checks all these packing containers, after which some.
All of it begins with the cutting-edge OLED panel utilizing Quantum Dot expertise (a primary of its sort), which supplies the 34-inch, 3440×1440 show some key benefits over its IPS counterparts: backlight-free deep, inky blanks alongside the panel’s wealthy coloration replica, and near-instant pixel response instances (aided by a refresh price as much as 175Hz).
And whereas the curved monitor surpasses the competitors in gaming, its 1800R radius continues to be serviceable for non-gaming use. Mix that with a stand that gives peak, tilt, and swivel changes, a pretty and durable design, and a good worth for its premium function set, and you may see why our reviewer proclaimed: “The Alienware AW3423DW makes every other 34-inch ultrawide gaming monitor obsolete.” —Katherine Stevenson
Greatest PDF editor: Adobe Acrobat Professional DC
Who else might or not it’s however the OG PDF editor? Adobe Acrobat Professional DC has been, and continues to be, the undisputed king of PDF Editors. Its mixture of options for modifying, creating, reviewing, and safety are the trade normal and what most of its opponents can solely try to emulate.
Within the newest model, they redesigned the interface to make it simpler to navigate the sturdy toolset. Moreover they added a cloud subscription possibility and a cellular app for each iOS and Android—each nice providers for people and small companies. Adobe Acrobat Professional DC is a subscription-based service, that means that you’ll at all times have entry to the most recent model and don’t have to purchase new software program yearly. —Sam Singleton
Greatest Thunderbolt dock: Kensington SD5500T Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C Docking Station
Our choose for the very best Thunderbolt dock of 2022 is the Kensington SD5500T Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C Docking Station, and right here’s why: good compromises. One of many complaints readers have is that Thunderbolt docks are helpful, however they’re so rattling costly, pushing north of $300. Kensington’s SD5000T (a barely cheaper clone of the IOGear Thunderbolt 3 Dock Professional) is about $215 at press time. Value issues.
The benefit of a more recent, dearer Thunderbolt 4 dock isn’t bandwidth, however stricter compatibility restrictions. On this case, we haven’t had any points with this Thunderbolt 3 dock in any respect. You would possibly discover that our choose solely features a pair of DisplayPort choices for exterior monitor connectivity — whereas we recognize extra flexibility, all however bargain-basement displays now embrace DisplayPort ports. With a wise mixture of ports and 60W of laptop computer charging energy, we predict that is the very best Thunderbolt dock for the most important viewers proper now. —Mark Hachman
Greatest price range monitor: NZXT Canvas 27Q
Yow will discover an honest monitor for lower than NZXT Canvas 27Q, however a latest $70 worth drop makes this already spectacular debut show a fair higher worth. As with our different monitor picks, the 27Q can meet the calls for of labor and play.
The 27-inch, 2560×1440 IPS panel has a 165Hz refresh price and help for adaptive sync with each AMD and Nvidia graphics playing cards. Movement readability in video games is nice at default settings, and may be additional enhanced with an “MPRT” backlight-strobing mode.
For content material creation duties, you’ll discover that the 27Q delivers nice picture high quality and a large coloration gamut that’s spectacular for the value. It’s additionally distinctive in providing black or white coloration choices, which may be combined and matched between the panel itself and the stand (bought individually for $40). —Katherine Stevenson
Greatest gaming mouse: HyperX Pulsefire Haste Wi-fi
I maintain returning to this esports-friendly 2.4GHz wi-fi mouse for its mixture of light-weight dealing with, consolation, precision, and predictability in a spread of various video games. Beneath the hood, it’s powered by a 16,000 DPI Pixart PAW3335 sensor. You’d be forgiven for considering is a bit of underpowered in comparison with some 20,000 to 30,000 DPI sensors in the marketplace, but it surely’s not, offering an especially quick 1000Hz (1ms) polling price, and proving fast and responsive in fps video games like Overwatch and Counter-Strike: International Offensive.
The switches are good and clicky, the mouse is rated for an extended 100-hour battery, and the bizarre honeycomb design feels each light-weight and responsive in your hand. It’s a fantastic gaming mouse, full cease, however the worth makes it even higher: The HyperX Pulsefire Haste Wi-fi prices simply $60 in an period the place top-notch gaming mice go for $100 or extra. You may’t go mistaken. —Dominic Bayley
Greatest Home windows backup software program: R-Drive Picture 7
All the time a favourite of ours right here at PCWorld, R-Drive Picture is a persistently stable Home windows backup software program. Nevertheless it wasn’t till the most recent model 7 was launched that it jumped forward to take our high spot.
It not solely consumes pleasantly few system sources, but it surely’s ultra-reliable when creating backup pictures of partitions and disks. The newest model improves upon this with a extra trendy, user-friendly interface and provides a welcomed partition administration in addition to new file and folder backup techniques. It has virtually made itself a one-stop answer for backing up on Home windows. At lower than $50 for a license, it’s fairly reasonably priced as nicely and is a no brainer for folks searching for dependable backup software program. —Sam Singleton
Greatest on-line backup service: iDrive On-line Cloud Backup
When you find yourself paying for a web-based backup service, you need it to be complete and versatile. Out of all the very best on-line backup providers we’ve examined, none are extra full or feature-rich than iDrive On-line Cloud Backup. It has you coated with on-line, native, sync, and snapshots. They’ll even ship you backup drives along with your saved information for fast restoration if one thing have been to occur to your information domestically.
iDrive additionally has a easy and simple to make use of interface that lets you backup your necessary information with a minimal of fuss. Moreover, all of their most superior options are included of their fundamental service stage making it a greater worth than it seems to be at first look. It’s a one-stop store and prone to be the one on-line backup service you’ll ever want. —Sam Singleton
Greatest sprint cam: Cobra SC 400D
The Cobra SC 400D is an excellent product. Day or night time, entrance or again views, it’s received you coated with best-in-class video captures.
The standard of the machine itself is top-notch. The principle unit has a stable heft and makes use of a semi-permanent mount with a built-in GPS unit. On the again is a 3-inch coloration touchscreen that’s simple to make use of; voice management can be an possibility.
Being a premium product, it has all of the bells and whistles: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, mapping, an SD card, and three.5mm jack for an optionally available $80 1080p, 120-degree FOV inside digicam. However the true stars of the present are the extremely clear and detailed 4K, 140-degree FOV entrance captures and 1080p, 120-degree FOV rear captures. As our reviewer described it: “The Cobra SC 400D is experientially one of the nicest dash cams I’ve ever tested.” —Katherine Stevenson
Greatest distant desktop software program: TeamViewer or RemotePC by iDrive
This yr’s greatest distant desktop software program is a toss-up between the free to make use of TeamViewer and the premium RemotePC by iDrive. TeamViewer is our alternative for people as a result of this can be very simple to make use of, comes with nearly each remote-desktop software program further you’ll ever want, and is free to make use of for private/occasional use. It additionally doesn’t require set up making it excellent for the informal consumer.
RemotePC by iDrive then again is a premium service that could be a nice alternative for companies—particularly these with combined working techniques. RemotePC edges out the competitors by providing a full feature-set together with servers for all main desktop OSes, multi-monitor help, drag-and-drop file transfers, display recording, whiteboard, distant sound and printing, amongst others. And it offers all of this at a extra reasonably priced price than most different providers. —Sam Singleton
Greatest USB-C hub: Yeolibo 9-in-1 USB-C Hub (RU9A)
USB-C hubs needs to be low-cost and versatile, and this dongle has each in spades. At only a hair over $20, this hub presents a wide range of USB Kind A and USB-C ports, plus a microSD and SD slot for transferring images. It’s additionally rated for as much as 100W of enter energy, so you possibly can join your USB-C laptop computer charger to this hub, and from there to your PC.
Let’s face it: shopping for expertise may be costly. However a USB-C hub like it is a necessity priced like an afterthought, and for that reason it earns our endorsement. —Mark Hachman
Editor’s observe: This text initially revealed on November 4, however was up to date December 13 to incorporate the RTX 4090 as the very best GPU and hyperlink to our different year-end awards.
