The Full Nerd awards: Our favourite PC {hardware} of 2025

Arguing over the perfect {hardware} of the yr is often enjoyable. That’s as true as ever in 2025, when Brad Chacos, Adam Patrick Murray, Will Smith, and Alaina Yee (hello, it’s me) rolled up our sleeves and acquired all the way down to the messy enterprise of naming our high {hardware} picks.

This annual custom on The Full Nerd at all times entails twists and turns, particularly given our particular person variations on how we outline “greatest.” However you possibly can see the impact of a mess of wearying tendencies—tariffs, AI, elevated reminiscence prices—on the debates. In previous years, alliances shaped quicker and positions softened much less. Extra shouting occurred, too. However Brad had no purpose to invoke journalistic integrity this time round. All of us noticed the brilliant spots for {hardware} clearly; so too with the ugly information within the business.

As an alternative, we argued extra gently. We rallied collectively to recollect Gordon Mah Ung, the creator and long-time host of The Full Nerd, with a brand new award class in his honor. And all of us left feeling glad with the winners. Principally.

Listed here are the outcomes.

(Notice: This record is separate from PCWorld’s nominees for the perfect PC {hardware} and software program of 2025. The winners of “Nerdies,” as we prefer to name these awards, are chosen by The Full Nerd crew alone, and focus extra particularly on fanatic tech. In case you’d prefer to catch our present in actual time, remember to subscribe to the Full Nerd channel on YouTube!)

And The Full Nerd 2025 award winners are…

As long-time viewers of the present might have anticipated, we as soon as once more barely retooled the classes for this yr. We expanded on “accent,” selecting to make that slot open to parts or equipment. And as talked about, our group determined to honor Gordon with a brand-new class, meant to embody his love for (and fascination with) any expertise that furthered innovation. No restrictions on how area of interest or extensively relevant.

The classes we brawled over this yr:

• Greatest CPU
• Greatest GPU
• Greatest PC part / accent
• Greatest development
• Worst development
• Gordon Mah Ung Wild Card

Greatest CPU: AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (Strix Halo)

In case you outline “greatest” as {hardware} that pushes boundaries, then no different CPU stood out as clearly as AMD’s boundary-shattering Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (aka Strix Halo). Was it solely out there in choose merchandise? Positive. However it confirmed how CPUs with built-in graphics don’t must play second fiddle to typical discrete GPU setups. 

Strix Halo (and future chips prefer it) may upend our assumptions about what a great gaming PC seems like. On this cellular processor, AMD packed in a Radeon GPU able to comparable efficiency to Nvidia’s RTX 4070 or 5070. A most of 128GB of embedded reminiscence can gas it as effectively.

And so units we noticed sporting the AI Max+ 395, just like the Framework desktop and the ASUS Rog Circulation Z13, weren’t simply beasts at gaming. In addition they signify type components that haven’t actually packed such a powerful punch earlier than. For instance, the Circulation Z13 is a pill pocket book able to gaming in ways in which far exceeds different tablets. So whereas Adam believes in Strix Halo’s promise for handheld gaming PCs, the general TFN crew anticipates a giant splash throughout the board. Sufficient in order that Brad thinks that Nvidia’s partnership with Intel took place partly to compete on this entrance.

Greatest GPU: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT

Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry

Regardless of Will’s valiant try and elevate the Tegra T239 (the Swap 2’s SoC) above all different GPUs, our debate quickly targeted on Nvidia and AMD’s main PC graphics card launches this yr. In distinction to the muted rivalry on the CPU aspect, the 2 largest client GPU makers took off their gloves, with Nvidia launching its ferocious 50-series lineup and AMD its personal monstrous 9000-series choices.

In the end, AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 XT took the highest spot, regardless of back-and-forth over the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090’s sheer madness and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti’s mixture of efficiency, worth, and availability. Workforce Crimson earned this second award for 2025 because of the 9070 XT’s combo of sturdy uncooked efficiency and main strides with its FSR upscaling tech. 

True, FSR Redstone can’t fairly ship the identical polish as Nvidia’s extra seasoned DLSS enhancements. However AMD had one other factor going for it that held sway with this judging panel: higher assist on Linux. You might not but be capable of formally name 2025 the yr of Linux, however the working system certain instructions extra consideration lately.

Greatest PC accent: MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED 4K monitor

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Typically once you pair a PC with the correct accoutrements, you won’t even discover that you simply lack flagship {hardware} in your rig. Different instances, the correct secondary tools elevates the utter pleasure of proudly owning blazing-fast elements.

Our winner for 2025’s greatest part or accent is an instance of the latter—and what an exquisite one at that. Regardless of its unpronounceable title, MSI’s MPG 272URX QD-OLED monitor breaks limitations. It’s among the many first 4K OLED shows to sport a refresh charge at 240Hz, mixing beautiful, wealthy shade with buttery-smooth output. You possibly can’t get significantly better than this for fast refresh charge 4K screens—and as our reviewer says, it’s not only a excellent 4K gaming monitor, however a improbable all-around show for workplace duties, HDR motion pictures, and artistic work, too.

Additionally getting nods as runners-up: The ASUS Rog Falcata, a superb off-the-shelf choice for a luxe ergonomic mechanical keyboard, and SilverStone’s vintage-vibes FLP-02 PC case, which brings again the perfect of the 90s and all its beige glory.

Greatest development: Linux will get gud

Pexels

An extended-standing joke has been the awaited rise of Linux. (We even requested “Is that this the yr of Linux?” whereas among the many nerdiest of nerds at a Micro Heart opening earlier this yr.) However by the top of this yr, the meme felt…actual.

A confluence of circumstances led to this unusual new world. Home windows 10’s dying sparked curiosity in different working programs, because of Home windows 11’s bloat and outright incompatibility with older but nonetheless usable {hardware}. A better variety of newbie-friendly distros exist. And, maybe most significantly, demographics have additionally shifted among the many person base, with friendlier voices turning into louder, setting a extra nice tone for the Linux-curious.

We’ve seen this development up shut and private on The Full Nerd’s personal Discord server, with an inflow of Linux customers who found us by our Twin Boot Diaries present. Our latest members have added extra depth and dimension to our neighborhood, providing a wealth of information (and all kinds of distro strategies) to the uninitiated and skilled alike.

Worst development: AI ruins all the things

Final yr, we voted for “enshittification” (pardon our French) because the worst development of the yr, a phenomenon pushed by AI’s rising insertion into, effectively, all the things. You couldn’t flip any path with out working into an app or service that had deteriorated in high quality.

You might argue that this yr, AI fashions and the insertion of AI-powered options have improved. That’s true to a level, however not sufficient to repair the messy output, buggy software program, or in any other case worsened high quality of the tech we use each day. (Much more aggravating, we’re usually now paying firms for subscriptions that use our information to coach AI fashions.)

Extra regarding, AI has contributed to a sudden, fast decline in affordability and accessibility of client PC {hardware}—most notably reminiscence, which has exploded in worth (and is present in nearly all the things we take without any consideration in life these days). We’re now not sure of the long run for the PC as we all know it, with all of us feeling some extent of concern about constructing, upgradability, and affordability within the coming months. The concept we may return to a time when solely the very well-to-do may afford trendy expertise is unsettling.

Gordon Mah Ung Wild Card: “What’s a body?”

AMD

For many years, fans solely mentioned gaming by way of frames, and easy phrases at that: These rendered natively by a graphics card, and their amount per second. However extra just lately, firms and players alike have begun to problem that method, digging with better precision into the main points. And that matches Gordon’s model of fine-tuned nerdery.

So whether or not flipping on Nvidia’s multi-frame era tech or firing up applications that file microstutter in video games, rethinking what constitutes high-quality gaming efficiency is precisely the type of factor that Gordon would have cherished. I feel he would have been championing these new approaches himself, even.

On this episode of The Full Nerd

As you already know, on this episode of The Full Nerd, we duke it out over the perfect {hardware} of 2025—however the outcomes detailed above pass over the twists and turns (and random alliances) in our discussions. Plus hilariously selection quotes, courtesy of 1 Will Smith. For instance:

Adam: All proper, inform us why the 5090 is the perfect GPU of 2025.
Will: It’s actual quick, Adam.

You must catch the total episode (together with the preshow!) for extra of those debate hijinks. We might not have pressured chat to interrupt any ties (particularly in ways in which Brad nonetheless has not forgiven me for), however we nonetheless had numerous enjoyable regardless of the bummer yr.

Additionally, keep tuned for not only one however TWO streams subsequent week! (Particulars in my sign-off beneath.)

Willis Lai / Foundry

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Don’t miss out on our NEW reveals too—you possibly can catch episodes of Twin Boot Diaries and The Full Nerd: Additional Version now!

And if you happen to want extra {hardware} discuss throughout the remainder of the week, come be a part of our Discord neighborhood—it’s filled with cool, laid-back nerds.

This week’s ominous nerd information

Based on analysts, we’ll quickly see laptops replicate the continued woes with reminiscence availability and affordability. I’m not trying ahead to a regression in configuration choices. Nor am I glad to listen to that RAM pricing hurts so unhealthy that DDR4 suitable processors (just like the AMD 5800X3D) now value a ton, too.

By no means thought I’d cross my fingers for AMD to start out producing extra Zen 3 chips quickly, however right here we’re.

Thiago Trevisan / IDG

• &*#% yeah: I’m glad now we have science proving the advantages of swearing. I plan to utilize this data when struggling by my push-ups subsequent Tuesday.

Adam Patrick Murray / IDG

• Feels just like the pandemic once more: By no means thought I’d have offered an outdated webcam for way over I paid, however such was 2020. Now apparently 5800X3D house owners have the identical choice.

• That’s nuts: Micron stated in a current earnings name that it may well solely meet about 50 to 66 % of demand. Makes extra sense now why Essential acquired axed so abruptly, I suppose.

• Who wants a graphics card, anyway? Annually, Mike Crider updates his helpful information to video games that don’t want a graphics card. It’s an ideal factor to maintain in your again pocket when serving to dole out tech recommendation in the course of the holidays (as all of us inevitably do).

• What even occurred over there: In case you can’t deal with miserable PC carnage, keep away from this story a couple of man who apparently misplaced 50 SSDs to a harmful younger youngster. The photographs are brutal.

Coming subsequent week…

By the best way, now we have a shock for you all subsequent Monday—we’re having a tribute stream to Gordon beginning at round 11am Pacific! Come hang around for a range present, set to span a number of hours. What precisely we’ll be doing? A bit of constructing, a little bit chatting, and extra! 🍕

And naturally, on Tuesday, it’s time for us to attain how effectively we did at foreseeing the long run. Will has quite a lot of 2025 predictions on the board. Like double the remainder of us. I for one am to see how correct he was.

Catch you all quickly!

~Alaina

This text is devoted to the reminiscence of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and government editor of {hardware} at PCWorld.