The 15 Best Pieces of Video Game Hardware and Tech in 2020
The year 2020 gave many people good reason to stay inside and enjoy gaming, so it's fitting that it was also a fantastic year for developments in gaming tech. From practical, affordable ray-tracing and groundbreaking software to next-gen consoles and exciting new peripherals, it's tough to single out the most important new tech of the year. Even so, Game Rant would be remiss not to round up a list of the most impressive flagship products and best bang-for-your-buck buys that made this year so good for anyone looking to upgrade their setup.
The following 15 items range from the best gaming GPUs and PC components to next gen consoles and everything in between. Whether it's a hefty mechanical keyboard or a brand new VR headset, all the items on this list share one key criteria in common: any one of these pieces of tech is a big upgrade to practically any gaming space. Rather than try to order items by importance, this list is alphabetical.
A high end gaming PC, and now next gen consoles too, can't display all of their graphics capabilities on a normal TV or low-end monitor. In order to benefit from high resolution capabilities and buttery-smooth framerates that new hardware can provide, many gamers will have to upgrade their displays to match. Running a game in 4K or 144FPS doesn't matter at all if a 1080P, 60FPS TV is holding performance back. There are plenty of great monitors available, but one of the best is the Acer Nitro XZ322QU.
Despite its daunting alphanumeric name, this Acer monitor is a good choice because it offers everything a good monitor should while still not breaking into the high-end price range. For gamers, its 1440p display is a great compromise: it's not as high resolution as 4K, but allows for much faster framerates which often matter more to the gaming experience. The monitor is capable of 165FPS, another respectable compromise performance figure. It's well over the 120FPS that the Xbox Series X and PS4 will push out, and most monitors that can reach above 200FPS offer diminishing returns for a much higher price. With good ergonomics and adjustability plus better-than-average built-in speakers and an industry-standard curved 32" display, the Acer Nitro XZ322QU is all a gamer really needs for a reasonable price.
The market seems to be awash with new graphics cards options as the holidays approach, but many of these groundbreaking cards are suffering from supply shortages because of their popularity. While Nvidia's 30-series cards shook up the PC gaming space earlier in the year, AMD also shattered the norm by offering GPUs that aren't just budget oriented, and can genuinely compete in the high-end market that is usually Nvidia's home turf. The AMD Radeon RX 6800XT won over reviewers with excellent performance and impressive features.
The 6800XT is positioned just under the price point of the Nvidia RTX 3080 and offers very competitive performance figures. When it comes to 4K and ray tracing, it falls a little behind, but for 1440P performance, the 6800XT is hard to beat, especially for the price. With good thermals and the addition of features like Smart Access Memory, which boosts performance when the card is paired with am AMD CPU, this card should be especially enticing for gamers who also bought into AMD's newly-dominant processors. Once unrivaled, Nvidia can no longer claim total supremacy in the high-end GPU space because of cards like the 6800XT, and for that alone this GPU deserves to be listed as one of the best pieces of gaming tech in 2020.
AMD's new GPUs are important because they can go toe to toe with the competition, but this year the traditionally budget-oriented company's new CPUs blew their competition out of the water. AMD has been gaining ground on Intel in price to performance ratio for years, but its 3000 series chips gave intel a serious black eye, and this year's 5000 series CPUs finally surpassed even the best performance Intel can offer. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is not its flagship, but it just may be the best all-around choice for gamers building a new PC.
8-core CPUs used to be less useful for gaming and more applicable in productivity, but anyone building a new gaming PC should now buy an 8-core CPU. Next-gen consoles have 8-cores, while systems with 4- and even 6-core chips are starting to age noticeably. The AMD Ryzen 5800X is, simply put, the best 8-core CPU on the market right now. Intel's 10-core 10900K can eke out a win in gaming performance, but it's considerably more expensive and bumps up against AMD's higher-end options. For anyone building a high-end gaming rig, AMD's 8-core juggernaut is almost certainly the way to go.
Many gamers don't have the luxury of building their own desktop PC, and for them a gaming laptop offers the benefits of portability and respectable performance to boot. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Gaming Laptop is perfect for anyone who needs to balance productivity with gaming performance in a laptop form factor. While not the most powerful gaming laptop available, it is a perfect middle-of-the-road option with good aesthetics, a customizable display on the back, and clever cooling features.
With an RTX 2060 and a modern AMD 8-core mobile CPU, it will easily hit a respectable 60FPS in most games. It also offers a silent mode for productivity, web browsing, and word processing in public, but can easily be switched to higher performance modes for gaming. Its sleek design and solid performance make it a winner, and it would serve any gamer on the go admirably.
There are countless peripherals to choose from when creating a gaming setup, but a good keyboard is one of the most vital, and most overlooked, pieces of a desk space. Whether it's for PC gaming or productivity, a keyboard is an important tool that is used constantly. It stands to reason then, that upgrading one's keyboard is a major improvement to any gamer's experience. The Corsair K100 Keyboard stood out as one of the best peripherals of this year. With an aluminum case and silent switches, the K100 is a worthy centerpiece to any desk.
The K100 is a full size board with extra macro keys and media controls, all housed in a hefty metal chassis that makes it feel high quality and prevents it from sliding around. With fast, light, and silent switches, it keeps an unobtrusive sound profile and provides all the performance even the most fast-paced FPS player would ever need. On top of its functionality, the Corsair K100 offers all the RGB and software customization expected of a gaming keyboard.
With the massive boom in Zoom calls, streaming, and online voice-chat that the events of 2020 ushered in, a good microphone has become important to far more people than just content creators. The Elgato Wave:3 has enough quality for professional use, but is still affordable enough for regular consumers to consider for everyday use. Elgato certainly has a top-notch audio pedigree as the go-to brand for capture cards, stream decks, and other content-creation products, and the Wave:3 lives up to the brand's stellar reputation at a very reasonable price.
No list of the top tech of the year would be complete without mentioning Nvidia's new 30-series graphics cards. These cards have some competition from AMD's 6000 series, but they bring practical ray tracing and DLSS to even their mid-range options. The RTX 3070 is just such a product- more affordable than the flagship 3080 and 3090, but still putting out performance numbers that totally outstrip the high-end cards from last generation. Real-time ray tracing used to be a gimmick, but with cards like the 3070 it is genuinely usable in more and more games, and attainable at a much lower price point than it once was.
There are many partner manufacturers making their own version of the RTX 3070, but iGame GPUs are actually made by Colorful, a more well-known brand, and they are good quality cards offered at a reasonable price. Colorful has traditionally sold cards in international markets and not the US, but they are just as trustworthy as any other major Nvidia partner.
The RTX 3070 may be the smart buy for a discerning PC builder, but there is nothing quite like having the flagship card. The RTX 3080 may not be as powerful as the productivity-focused 3090, but it is the top of Nvidia's line of gamer-oriented cards. When the RTX 3080's performance numbers were revealed earlier in the year, they seemed almost too good to be true, and so far it has largely lived up to the hype. The RTX 3080 represents the next generation of PC gaming in much the same way that the new consoles will usher in games that go beyond the limits of what used to be possible.
With performance that nearly doubles the original 2080 and is a significant leap over the old 2080Ti, it is understandable that demand for the 3080 was ravenous. Nvidia was completely unable to keep up with all the eager customers waiting for a 3080, which led to rampant scalping and serious supply shortages. It may not be until next year that anyone who wants one can buy a 3080 for the normal retail price, but its announcement and initial launch remain some of the biggest gaming events of 2020.
When building a PC, good cooling is arguably the most important way to boost performance. As ever more powerful CPUs are launched, AIO water coolers are becoming ever more popular, and NZXT's Kraken coolers with LCD displays stand out as the most impressive option. NZXT products are always sleek and good looking, but these Kraken coolers step it up a notch with a fully customizable display at the center of the cooler directly above the CPU. Any image or .gif can be displayed in full color, as well as real-time performance data. With cooling performance that rivals any other AIO cooler and a touch of added flair, it's hard to go wrong with this product.
VR has seen an explosion in popularity in the last few years, but it has largely been a plaything only for those who can afford exorbitant prices for expensive headsets and high-end gaming PCs. That is changing, and it won't be long until VR is as ubiquitous as other formerly rare tech like motion control. The Oculus Quest 2 is a big step in the right direction, with a relatively low price tag of around $300 and the ability to run on its own or just act as a traditional headset while tethered to a PC.
Unfortunately, the Quest 2's technical achievements may have been overshadowed by controversy that sprang from its integration with Facebook, requiring users to always be logged in to a Facebook account to use the device. The very warranted uproar over that fatal flaw- seen by many as an abuse of customers' trust and privacy- may have drowned out the upsides of a truly standalone VR headset with accessible pricing. Even so, the Oculus Quest 2 remains an important step towards putting the future of gaming in the hands of more people.
The new consoles listed below will be the highlight of many gamers' year, and many of the components listed above will allow amateur PC builders to step up their game. However, not everyone will be willing to step up to the daunting task of building their own PC, but still may want to dive into the world of high-end PC gaming. As Microsoft continues to integrate Xbox subscriptions and exclusives with Windows, people considering a new Xbox might be tempted to splurge on a PC instead. The Origin PC Chronos offers the performance of a top-notch gaming PC in a small form factor, all shipped in a pre-built, pre-configured package as convenient as any console.
There are many options for pre-built PCs, but Origin has good reputation and offers a lot of customization. Perhaps most importantly, a Chronos can be configured with the new Nvidia 3080, a card that is nearly impossible to buy on its own currently. For a premium price, the Origin PC Chronos has stunning good looks, a convenient form factor, nearly unrivaled performance, and comes with all the warranties and customer service that a pre-built PC should. It may just be the most convenient way to jump into cutting edge gaming.
The release of the PS5 is nothing short of the biggest Sony console launch ever. It's a major event every time a new console generation comes out, but the PS5 represents a new direction in console gaming. Rather than just putting affordable gaming power on the market, Sony has focused in on creating a rich feature set that differentiates their new console from anything else on the market. It's one thing to buy up studios and create exclusive deals in order to sell consoles, but Sony has ensured that even games available on every platform will play completely differently on PlayStation.
While ray tracing on consoles still can't match up to how it looks on high-end PCs, when used cleverly by developers it still looks stunning. The presence of the technology on consoles will push more developers to make use of it too. A proprietary SSD makes loading and streaming in assets smooth, keeping gameplay fluid and allowing for use of higher resolution textures and larger areas. New audio technology is also a major benefit, to say nothing of the tactile feedback from the new controllers. While Microsoft has taken an approach akin to making the Xbox an affordable and streamlined PC, the PS5 has its own identity and will be driving the way that games are developed for years to come.
The PS5's new controller deserves its own spot on the list. A huge number of selling points for the PS5 are directly linked to its controller, which has highlighted all the advantages that a controller has over other input devices. Controllers may suffer in accuracy and functionality, but they are better for ergonomics, intuitive layouts, and tactile feedback. The new PS5 controller is heftier and more solid than previous versions, and its layout is another iteration of a tried and true design. Its biggest upgrades, though, are in haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
More than just a reassuring rumble or a bit of resistance on the triggers, the tactile and haptic changes to the DualSense controller are genuinely able to add to the experience of a game. From a smooth trigger pull followed by a crisp break in shooting games to heavy brakes and a light throttle in racers, the adaptive triggers add extra control and immersion that blends seamlessly into gameplay when done right. Things as subtle as stepping off of flagstones and onto grass can be conveyed through gentle rumbles and slight vibrations throughout the controller, all of which combines to make the DualSense perhaps the most groundbreaking piece of the PS5 package.
RTX Voice may go completely unnoticed and unused by most gamers, but it will nonetheless make their lives better for two main reasons. Firstly, RTX voice is an AI-driven technology that helps isolate human speech and scrub out even loud background sounds, making broadcasting easier and improving the quality of things like livestreams and video calls. Secondly, it is a demonstration of just how much potential ray tracing tech has. The RT cores that were built to make games prettier can also accelerate AI processes like real-time sound processing and DLSS, but the potential only expands from there. Not only has RTX Voice silently improved the lives of countless streamers and their audiences, it is also paving the way for the power of new graphics tech to expand far beyond our screens.
Where Sony's tactics for the PlayStation 5 have been to create a closed-loop console full of platform exclusive games and features that can't be found anywhere else, Microsoft has opted to create an open family of platforms that share features, services, and games across a wide array of devices. The Xbox Series X has almost identical specs to the PlayStation 5, but it looks and behaves less like a console and more like a streamlined gaming PC. One Xbox Game Pass subscription provides games on both the console and on Windows, making it one of the best values of the year as well.
With a massive focus on cross compatibility, backwards compatibility, shared libraries, and cross-platform subscription services, Microsoft's product lineup is less like a holistic console experience and more like a scalable array of options for consuming games. While it may move fewer individual units than the PlayStation 5, this sort of approach might just be the future of gaming as more people demand more choice in how they do their favorite hobby.
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