A lot can change in a year concerning PC gaming technology, and the preceding twelve months have yielded a wealth of new components for the PC Gamer team to sink its metaphorical teeth into. Even though we haven’t introduced a new generation of graphics cards this year from either Nvidia or AMD, we’ve witnessed new processors emerge from both companies, the genuine introduction of Windows on Arm, and a significant progression in gaming handhelds as well.
On the subject of portable gaming, 2024 marked the point when gaming laptops began to mature. This was also the year Asus managed to overshadow Razer concerning the most sought-after gaming laptops, replacing the Blade models as our shared desire. Razer will need to elevate its performance in 2025 if it aims to reclaim its title, and I’ve heard rumors that something might be revealed at CES in January.
Asus also overcame a significant customer service debacle involving bricked ROG Ally handhelds and a multitude of repair failures, transforming its RMA process and releasing an updated Ally X device that soared to the top of our best gaming handhelds list after resolving its issues and incorporating several minor enhancements as well.
Nvidia also updated its GPU lineup with the RTX 40-series Super models, rectifying some of its earlier mistakes concerning the initial cards, particularly regarding the pricing of the RTX 4080 and the performance of the RTX 4070 Ti. However, while neither Nvidia nor AMD presented anything completely novel for the GPU market, Intel managed to launch its first Battlemage graphics card before the end of 2024. Yet, based on my own evaluations, the Arc B580 may have benefitted from a bit more refinement, as it struggled during our benchmarking tests, making it tough to recommend at this moment.
This year, we’ve also experienced some superb peripherals gracing our desktops, with Keychron undoubtedly dominating the keyboard segment. It has been an exceptional year for hardware, so let us proceed to celebrate the absolute pinnacle of technology that 2024 has presented.