The annual Australian PC Awards gives us a wonderful opportunity to consider the year just passed, and spotlight the things that were very much better than the others. It’s always fun for us to do this here at APC, and we hope you’re inspired to do an upgrade or two as we run through the finalists, highly commended, and winners.
These awards cover products released in Australia through 2021, and were judged by the editorial team here at APC, along with our friends at sister Future publications TechRadar, PC Gamer, TechLife Australia and PC PowerPlay.
Narrowing down the finalists took a long time, and the many pros and cons were carefully considered. In this year in particular, value played a larger than usual role in determining the winners. Where we feel it was deserved, some almost-winner products and companies scored a highly commended if they didn’t win, though not all categories yielded standout gear to occupy the lower steps on the podium.
We extend a huge congrats to the teams behind the winners, always striving to make good gear, and that pleases us immensely to see and be able to acknowledge.
MOTHERBOARDS
2021 was a big year for motherboard releases, though mostly on the Intel side, with not one, but two major launches during the year. Things were quieter on the AMD side, with the refreshed X570S chipset and a few B550 latecomers.
Intel’s 500 series motherboards may have been overshadowed by Z690 and 12th Gen CPUs late in the year, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some excellent 500 series boards. Just as noteworthy was the long-awaited inclusion of memory overclocking on B560 boards. Many B560 boards surprised us with their step up in quality.
But in the end, Z690 was Intel’s hero. Z690 boards include more storage and cutting-edge connectivity options compared to Z590. Add DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support and Intel leads the way. Z690 boards took a step up in price, but the high quality Z690 boards blur the line between mainstream boards and the neglected HEDT segment.
AMD X570S boards represent the best and last AM4 motherboards. For the most part, they are fully mature, with refined BIOS and up to date feature sets. And they’re not done yet, as AMD’s V-cache CPUs are still to come in 2022.
BEST MOTHERBOARD MAKER WINNER: MSI
MSI consistently produced high quality motherboards during 2021. A refined BIOS and a great blend of features and value for money were a hallmark, with quality offerings at every price point.
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Asus
FINALISTS: Asus, Asrock, MSI, Gigabyte Aorus
BEST VALUE MOTHERBOARD WINNER: Asus ROG Strix B560-F Gaming Wi-Fi
This redefined what we expect from an Intel B series motherboard. Its strong VRM, networking and connectivity features give many Z590 boards a serious run for their money.
HIGHLY COMMENDED: MSI MEG B550 Unify
Nzxt N7 B550,
