Australian PC Awards 2021 winners: The best of the best in PC
The last year has been a massive one for PC gaming and home computing and we can finally now get 20/20 hindsight vision for which products of 2020 and the start of 2021 were the absolute best in their field.
The Australian PC Awards has finally kicked off, with livestreams airing at 7:30pm (AEST) on the 23rd, 24th and the 25th of June.
Tune in to the APCA 2021 livestreams for a chance to win some excellent prizes, or watch the post-show video for some great debate on the state of PC components.
The Australian PC Awards is presented by computing experts from TechRadar, APC, TechLife, PC Gamer, PC PowerPlay and T3. Representing a broad collection of computing veterans from some of Australia's best PC publications, there's no better way to get a complete snapshot of the highs and lows of personal computers in 2020/21.
Anyone here purely for the results of the 2021 Australian PC Awards, read on. Below is the final list of products that beat all the competition in their field to take out an APCA 2021 best product award.
Whether you're looking to build the best value rig around, or you simply want to tick off any components you might already have in your current build, all of the following products are the best in the business.
Winners lists are updated following their awards ceremony livestream, so set a reminder to check back in to see the other winners if you haven't already.
Motherboards
Best Motherboard Maker 2021
Asus
Great BIOSes and a consistently good physical layout across the range. Asus has proven to their motherboard owners time and time again that they are both reliable and capable of the highest performance.
Best Value Motherboard 2021
Asrock A520M-ITX/AC
The perfect partner for one of AMD's lower-priced CPUs (or APUs), this $150 board offers a great feature set for the price and even has AC Wi-Fi.
• Read the full PC Gamer review
Highly Commended
MSI MAG Z490 Tomahawk
A great choice for a user looking to build a powerful system without spending the big bucks.
• Read the full AnandTech review
Best Premium Motherboard 2021
Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Master
Mega VRM and huge heatsinks that give lots of surface area for outstanding cooling, great quality components and even 10G LAN, which is unheard of at this pricepoint.
• Read the full Tom's Hardware review
Highly Commended
Asus Crosshair VIII Dark Hero X570
The best AM4 motherboard we've yet tested, we're so enamoured with it that it's become our AMD testbed. Fantastic memory support, supporting frequencies that other boards just don't. Insane amount of USB ports. Does have a couple of weaknesses, but they're acceptable trade-offs.
• Read the full PC Gamer review
Graphics Cards
Best Graphics Card Maker 2021
MSI
Consistently first-rate coolers from top to bottom across the whole range, and often priced a bit cheaper than other brands.
Highly Commended
Nvidia
30-Series features genuine engineering innovation and reasonable cooling for a reference card.
Best Value Graphics Card 2021
MSI RTX 3060 Ti Gaming X Trio
A mid range card with a triple-fan flagship design. One of the quietest gaming cards you'll find and punches well above it's weight.
• Read the full PC Gamer review
Highly Commended
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Vision OC
The gorgeous Gigabyte 3060 Vision OC is a great choice for gaming or creating.
Highly Commended
PowerColor Radeon RX 6700 XT Hellhound
Why spend more when you can get a great performing and cool running option for less.
• Read Tom's Hardware's coverage
Best Premium Graphics Card 2021
Asus ROG Strix RTX 3080 O10G Gaming
A quiet, cool, powerful and feature loaded card. It's got the lot.
Highly Commended
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim
A powerhouse of high clocks and quality cooling to tame it.
• Read TechRadar's coverage
CPU
Best Value CPU 2021
Intel Core i5-11400F
With impressive performance for less than half the price of a 5600X, for those on a budget, this is a slam dunk.
- Read full PC Gamer review
Highly Commended
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X
It's a special little gem if you can get your hands on one.
- Read full TechRadar review
Highly Commended
Intel Core i5-10600K
This CPU offers the performance of a flagship CPU from just a couple of years ago.
- Read full PC Gamer review
Best Premium CPU 2021
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
A great enthusiast processor, Intel can't beat it and does everything pretty well without breaking the bank.
- Read full TechRadar review
Highly Commended
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
For a gaming-only focus the 5600X is perfect.
- Read full PC Gamer review
Highly Commended
Intel Core i5-11600K
This powerful hexa-core CPU offers very competitive performance at this price point
- Read full TechRadar review
Storage
Best Internal Storage Maker 2021
Samsung
An unblemished record of quality, value and choice.
Highly Commended
Adata
A smaller brand gunning to take on the premium makers.
Best External Storage Maker 2021
WD
Thoughtfully engineered storage products covering every conceivable need.
Highly Commended
Seagate
Innovative products like the Firecuda Gaming Dock demonstrate Seagate's commitment to innovation.
Best SOHO or Home NAS 2021
Synology DS1621+
A great combination of performance, capacity, features, expandability and price point for any SMB.
- Read full TechRadar Pro review
Highly Commended
Synology DS920+
Simultaneously a great expandable entry point for NAS newbies and a powerful, feature-laden office server for SMBs.
- Read full TechRadar Pro review
System
Best Value Laptop or 2-in-1 2021
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M1)
A $1,499 Ultrabook with 11th Gen i7 performance, light gaming capabilities and a 19 hour battery. The biggest generational laptop innovation we've seen.
- Read full T3 review
Highly Commended
Asus TUF A15 (2021)
An AMD gaming laptop that's ahead in performance, price and perks.
- Read full TechRadar review
Highly Commended
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 Chromebook
A great cheap alternative to Windows 10 for browser-based workers.
Best Premium Laptop or 2-in-1 2021
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1)
Impressive performance bump, massive GPU improvement, double the battery and cheaper. What more could you want?
- Read full T3 review
Highly Commended
MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M
Great all-round professional device with fast Gen 4 PCIe storage.
- Read full AnandTech review
Highly Commended
Asus ZenBook Duo 14 (UX482)
A unique premium product offering, if money is no object.
- Read full Tom's Guide review
Best Gaming Laptop 2021
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
The turning point for AMD Mobile CPUs in a perfectly executed package by Asus.
- Read full T3 review
Highly Commended
Aorus 17G XC
An extremely powerful gaming laptop, this machine is a weapon with exceptional cooling to tame its powerful components.
- Read full TechRadar review
Highly Commended
Alienware m15 R3
A seriously well engineered, premium device with a wide range of options and a great looking chassis.
- Read full TechRadar review
Best Desktop PC Maker 2021
Aftershock
Aftershock has to take it for its insane personalised builds. There's a price premium, but you get a custom-built Ferrari for it. They also have the quality sewn up.
Highly Commended
PC Case Gear
Well balanced and value builds, PC Case Gear is typically always on the ball.
Highly Commended
MSI
We like that MSI pushes the boundaries of PC case design not only in terms of looks, but also functionality and interactivity.
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